DCC Bestiary - Vampire

Okay, I’m going to tackle the big monster now -- vampires.  Since the earliest days of D&D, vampires have been a thing.  There’s a great article on Dump Stat Adventures that chronicles the history of the vampire in the various incarnations of D&D.

https://dumpstatadventures.com/blog/deep-dive-the-vampire

The problem is, from a game design standpoint, through the decades of gaming, vampires have accumulated all sorts of special rules – both powers and weaknesses, and various mythologies through history all tell a different kind of tale of a fiend that thirsts for the blood of the innocent.  And brought into an RPG, those rules can become both complex and hard to manage.

For DCC, the Core Rulebook mentions vampires a few times, but it isn’t in the bestiary section – in fact, it was only this past year that an official DCC adventure from Goodman Games finally detailed a vampire, a loving conversion of their 3E version of The Crypt of the Devil-Lich by the amazing Bob Brinkman.  However, because it’s a conversion, the foundation stat block traits of 3E can be seen – the monster entries are long and detailed.  Including all the standard rules at the back of the adventure about universal vampire powers and vulnerabilities, if put together it would be at least a whole page of text.  I was thinking, what would be the best way to run a vampire that gets back to the old school D&D vibe without being a headache for a Judge to run at the table?

Well, let’s build a conceit into the vampire stat block – they aren’t all the same.  In various mythologies and fictions, the vampyr, the strigoi, the nosferatu – they all had different abilities.  Variety is a huge DCC trope, and is easily seen in their bestiary entries for the Primeval Ooze, Demon and Dragon monsters.  You can create a sense of wonder and stress for players by making every vampire unique.  So, why aren’t they the same you ask?  Well, let’s build in another conceit from more modern fiction involving vampires – they have various lineages, each with their own strain of abilities, and as well, they also get stronger the older they are.  This plays well into keeping the 3E concept of Vampire Spawn, Vampires, and Vampire Lords, but let’s make it all chaotic and organic with a DCC vibe. 

Bonus feature -- mysterious and unfathomable monsters are terrifying to players.

So, newly risen vampires all have a baseline stat block, based on the AD&D version with 8 HD, an AC of 19, a movement of 60’, the universal abilities un-dead traits, drinking blood, some aversion to sunlight, and a stake to the heart will kill them.  On top of that, every vampire starts out with 1d4 dark gifts and 1d4 anathemae from the random tables below.

IIf a Judge wants to create a venerable vampire lord, such as Strahd or Dracula for their game, take the Dark Gifts and Anathemae as a shopping list, and go nuts … but even then, a stat block at worst is going to be a quarter page, and still fun for the Judge to run, as the players wonder ‘what can this horrible creature do to us?  How do we kill it?’ … which feels right to me.

Thoughts, ideas, tweaks, or horror stories from your game using this vampire?  Drop me an email at archadethered@gmail.com.

 

Vampire

     An un-dead that has been cursed by fiends of the Lower Hells to take on a semblance of life, lurking in shadows and rising from their graves with a thirst for the blood of the living.  The stories of vampires vary wildly in the telling, for the truth is that a vampire grows more powerful the longer it exists, and it passes on its’ dark gifts to its spawn, should it be able to pass the curse of the vampire on to others.  Vampires are gaunt, corpse-like, have yellow eyes, and possess sharp teeth.

     Newly created vampires gain 1d4 dark gifts and 1d4 anathemas, either randomly from the attributes of their vampire sire if known, as all vampires of the same lineage possess similar abilities and vulnerabilities, or just from the table below if their sire is unknown.  Dark gifts or anathema marked with an asterisk that are duplicated have cumulative effects.  For each 100 years a vampire exists, they gain a further 1d2 dark gifts.

     Dark gifts and anathema marked with an asterisk (*) can be selected more than once, and cumulative benefits or penalties are possible.  If a repeat result is not possible, re-roll.

 

     Vampire: Init +4; Atk powerful strike +6 melee (1d6) or grapple +6 (opposed grapple check to break free) or drink blood +6 melee (1d3 Stamina); AC 19; HD 8d10 (36 hp); MV 60’; Act 2d20; SP anathema, dark gifts, drink blood, hide in shadows +7, infravision 120’, sneak silently +8, un-dead traits; SV Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +6; AL C;  Crit U/d12.
     All vampires are un-dead, and as a result can be turned by clerics.  They do not eat or drink as mortals, or breathe, and are immune to critical hits, disease, and poison. As un-dead, they are immune to sleep, charm, and hold spells, as well as other mental effects and cold damage.
     Vampires have a strong aversion to the sun, suffering a -2d penalty when exposed to sunlight, and possibly more serious effects depending on their anathema.
     To sustain themselves, vampires drink the blood of the living, which they can do to either a helpless victim, or one that they have successfully grappled.  Each action taken to drink blood damages their victim’s Stamina by 1d3, and grants an equal number of temporary hit points to the vampire which last until the next sunrise.  Victims reduced to 0 Stamina die, unless the vampire sacrifices a 1 hp permanently, in which case they will rise as a vampire in 1d6 days after burial.
     A stake to the heart of a helpless vampire will kill them automatically, but it does require a successful attack roll versus their Armor Class to strike true.  Against a non-helpless vampire, any critical hit with a sharp wooden object results in a strike to the heart, also killing them.

  1d20     Dark Gifts
     1         The bite of a vampire can create spawn from those who are reduced to 0 Stamina, rising from their graves 1d7 days after burial.
     2         An unearthly vitality, regenerating 1d10 hit points every round on their turn, and only damage from a wooden stake to the heart, or from one of their anathemas can cause permanent damage.*
     3         The focused gaze of a vampire can mesmerize some victims, requiring an action against a targeted foe within 30’.  Victims may attempt a DC 16 Will save or be charmed.  To determine who their gaze affects, roll 1d5: (1) maidens, (2) children, (3) lawful clerics, (4) animals up to 4 HD, (5) undead up to 4 HD.*
     4         Long talons or sharpened nails do 1d8 damage if used in melee.
     5         Unholy strength and unbending will, +1 HD, +1d10 hp, and +1 to any attacks.*
     6         Uncanny speed and reflexes, +10’ movement, +1 to Reflex saves, +1 to Initiative.*
     7         Unearthly beauty – instead of a cadaver like form, the vampire has marble like skin, +1 to AC.*
     8         Beast-like strength, +1 to hit, damage, and grapple.*
     9         Mortal weapons have less effect on their un-dead form, granting resistance to non-magical weapon damage.  If this dark gift is possessed twice, it grants immunity to non-magical weapon damage.*
     10       The ability to climb sheer surfaces, as the spider climb spell (spell check result 20+)
     11       Bathing in blood heals any wounds, regenerating 1d6 hit points per round.*
     12       Drinking the blood of a victim also consumes a portion of their soul, permanently draining 1d4 XP as well as Stamina damage.*
     13       The ability to take on a form of fog or smoke, granting a fly speed equal to their move, and immunity to non-magical weapons.
     14       The ability to take on the form of a bestial form and gaining their movement.  Roll 1d10: (1) bat, (2) rat, (3) wolf, (4) toad, (5) raven, (6) owl, (7) cat, (8) giant spider, (9) giant rat, (10) blackvole.  Transforming to or from the bestial form requires an action.*
     15       Great bat-like wings sprout from the vampire’s arms, granting them the ability to fly at their move rate.
     16       The touch or bite of a vampire carries foul disease, and any victim must attempt a DC 14 Fortitude save or suffer 1d4 damage to an ability – roll 1d3: (1) Strength, (2) Agility, (3) Stamina.
     17       The children of the night can be summoned if nearby and do their dark masters’ bidding, requiring an action to call them, and then relevant travel time.  Roll 1d4 for the type of creatures: (1) bat swarm, (2) insect swarm, (3) rat swarm, (4) 1d6 wolves.*
     18       Dark idol magic serves them gain a caster level of cleric and two cleric spells.*
     19       An infernal patron grants arcane magic, gaining a caster level of wizard and two wizard spells.*
     20       Time has allowed the vampire to overcome one anathema, removing it’s negative effects.*



  1d14     Anathemas
     1         Cannot enter a building uninvited.
     2         Cannot enter a church.  Roll 1d4: (1) a lawful church, (2) a neutral church, (3) a chaotic church, (4) any church.*
     3         Can only bear the presence of old things – if entering a building under 100 years old, or touching an object less than 10 years old causes them to suffer great pain, and 1d3 hit points damage per round.
     4         Cannot cast a shadow or a reflection.
     5         Harmed by holy sounds (Lawful clerics praying, church bells, singing of the faithful, etc), suffering 1d8 damage per round if within 30’.*
     6         The touch of Lawful relics, lawful holy symbols, or lawful magic items causes burns, and an additional 1d4 points of damage.*
     7         Vulnerable to silver weapons, which cause double damage.
     8         The smell of garlic causes suffering, causing 1d3 hit points damage each round if within 30’.*
     9         Running water such as a river or stream causes harm, and 3d4 hit points damage per round.*
     10       Harmed by the light of the sun, causing 3d10 damage each round. *
     11       Without the blood of the living to sustain the vampire, it eventually weakens and becomes corpse-like – must feed every week or suffers a cumulative -1 to Initiative, AC, and all saves, and appears to age 10 years each day after.  Each feeding removes one -1 of penalty.
     12       Must sleep in their coffin, sarcophagus, tomb, or burial place from when they first died, or suffer 1d6 hit points damage every dawn.*
     13       Vulnerable to fire, suffering double damage.
     14       Obsessively compelled to stop and count any quantity of a specific object, taking 1 round per 20 items, if they fail a DC 18 Will save, Roll 1d6: (1) grain seeds, (2) church bell tolls, (3) lit candles, (4) grains of sand passing through an hourglass, (5) wild flowers, (6) berries, (7) holes in a fishing net, (8) rose petals.*