Ricean Vampire

Monster Template

This template presents rules for vampires according to the popular Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, specifically for use in Ravenloft 3.5 or any Dungeons & Dragons Campaigns.

Ricean Vampires appear similar to what they did in life, though the dark blood subtly changes the base creature to resemble a more attractive, more seductive version of the original. It is different for each ricean vampire, but regardless, the base creature, if not already young, will recapture the essence of youth. The base creature's skin becomes a pale white, which becomes paler with age, and more glossy. The fingernails become glassy and reflective, and the eyes become preternaturally coloured, drawing people in, and often reflecting light.

The body changes to become more appealing, and hair will stay forever at the length it was in death. Cutting hair will cause it to grow back within 24 hours, usually as the vampire sleeps.

They often embrace finery and decadence and may assume the guise of nobility, if they weren't already. Despite their human appearance. Unlike conventional vampires, ricean vampires cast shadows and reflections and are not so easily identified.

Ricean vampires speak any languages they knew in life.

CREATING A RICEAN VAMPIRE

"Ricean Vampire" is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature).

A vampire uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Size and Type: The creature's type changes to undead (augmented humanoid or monstrous humanoid). Do not recalculate base attack bonus, saves, or skill points. Size is unchanged.
Hit Dice: Increase all current and future Hit Dice to d12s.
Speed: Speed increases by +20 ft.
Armor Class: The base creature's natural armor bonus improves by +6.
Attack: A ricean vampire retains all the attacks of the base creature and also gains a slam attack if it didn't already have one. If the base creature can use weapons, the vampire retains this ability. A creature with natural weapons retains those natural weapons. A vampire fighting without weapons uses either its slam attack or its primary natural weapon (if it has any). A vampire armed with a weapon uses its slam or a weapon, as it desires.
Full Attack: A ricean vampire fighting without weapons uses either its slam attack (see above) or its natural weapons (if it has any). If armed with a weapon, it usually uses the weapon as its primary attack along with a slam or other natural weapon as a natural secondary attack. Damage: Vampires have slam attacks. If the base creature does not have this attack form, use the appropriate damage value from the table on p252 of the MM, according to the vampire's size. Creatures that have other kinds of natural weapons retain their old damage values or use the appropriate value from the table found under the vampire template in the D&D 3.5 Monster Manual, whichever is better.
Special Attacks: A ricean vampire retains all the special attacks of the base creature and gains those described below. Saves have a DC of 10 + 1/2 ricean vampire's HD + ricean vampire's Cha modifier unless noted otherwise.

Blood Drain (Ex): A ricean vampire can suck blood from a living victim with its fangs by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution drain each round the pin is maintained. On each such successful attack, the vampire gains 5 temporary hit points. The ricean vampire's blood drain is also erotically pleasurable for both victim and vampire. The victim must make a will save vs a DC equal to 15 + the ricean vampire's age category, or be unable to resist the grapple.
Improved Haste (Su): Ricean vampires are capable of moving at increadibly fast speeds. 3/day, ricean vampires can haste themselves. This improved form of the spell haste doubles the vampire's speed instead of just increasing it by 30 ft. In addition, the ricean vampire can improved haste one additional time per day for each age category they are above Fledgeling.
Create Fledgeling (Su): To create another ricean vampire, the ricean vampire can, after draining a humanoid or monstrous humanoid to 0 Consitution, infuse the victim with a quantity of her own blood. Over the course of an hour, the blood will alter and transmute the victim's body into that of a ricean vampire in fits of pain and agony. After 4d10+20 minutes, the victim is completely transformed into a fledgeling ricean vampire. Unlike a normal vampire, the ricean vampire has no control over its flegelings minds or emotions. Ricean vampires are completely free-willed.
Energy Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by a vampire's slam attack (or any other natural weapon the vampire might possess) gain two negative levels. For each negative level bestowed, the vampire gains 5 temporary hit points. A vampire can use its energy drain ability once per round.

Special Qualities: A vampire retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains those described below.

Suggestion (Su): Unlike conventional vampires, ricean vampires do not need magic to compel their victims. They use natural charm and a form of telepathic suggestion to lure their victims to an appropriate place to drain them. This ability works like a suggestion spell, and can be used at will.
Mind Fog (Su): Ricean vampires can also fog the minds of those victims that they take blood from and do not kill ('the little drink'). They can remove memories of the event, leaving a confused victim blank of any memories of the vampire or its attack.
Damage Reduction (Su): A ricean vampire has damage reduction 10/magic or fire. A ricean vampire's natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Fast Healing (Ex): A vampire heals 5 points of damage each round so long as it has at least 1 hit point. If reduced to -10 hit points in combat, it automatically goes into stasis and is helpless. It regains 1 hit point after 1 hour, then is no longer helpless and resumes healing at the rate of 5 hit points per round. Only fire or direct sunlight can kill the vampire without it regerating.
Resistances (Ex): A vampire has resistance to cold 10 and electricity 10.
Spider Climb (Ex): A vampire can climb sheer surfaces as though with a spider climb spell.
Turn Resistance (Ex): A ricean vampire has +8 turn resistance.
Telepathy (Ex): A ricean vampire can use mental telepathy to communicate with other creatures. However, a ricean vampire cannot communicate this way with either it's maker or its fledgelings. The range of this power increases with age. The base fledgeling range is 100 ft. The vampire's suggestion power can be used at a range via telepathy.

Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +8, Dex +6, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +6. As an undead creature, a ricean vampire has no Constitution score.
Skills: Ricean vampires have a +8 racial bonus on Bluff, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot checks. Otherwise same as the base creature.
Feats: Ricean vampires gain Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, and Lightning Reflexes, assuming the base creature meets the prerequisites and doesn't already have these feats.

Environment: Any, usually same as base creature.
Organization: Solitary, pair, coven (3-5), or great coven (5-12)
Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +5.
Treasure: Double standard.
Alignment: Usually evil or chaotic neutral.
Advancement: By character class.
Level Adjustment: Same as the base creature +3.

Vampire Weaknesses

For all their power, vampires have a few weaknesses.

Vulerability to Fire: Ricean vampires are especially vulnerable to fire and it overcomes their damage reduction. If a vampire is reduced to -10 hit points by fire damage, they turn to ash and are destroyed.

Fire damage stunts the vampire's natural fast healing, leaving the vampire particularly vulnerable. Damage recieved from fire cannot be healed naturally. A vampire must consume 25 consitution points worth of blood to restore a single hit point that was lost to fire, making healing a process that can often take many years. The fire leaves the vampire horribly sacarred, often to the point of being just a blackened, flaky walking corpse. This appearance improves as the vampire's hit points are restored.

A vampire reduced below 0 hit points due to fire damage cannot use any salient powers, nor can she use any of her special qualities except telepathy and suggestion. Additionally, for every point below 0 that the vampire's hit points have reached, the creature recieves a cumulative -1 ability penalty to Str, Dex and Cha. These ability penalties decrease gradually back to normal as hit points are restored.

Alternatively, if the vampire goes into stasis, hit points recover by 1 hp for every year spent in stasis.
Vulnerability to Sunlight: Sunlight is the natural bane of ricean vampires, and can incinerate vampires with fire. Vampires who become incinerated spontaneously combust into flames, taking 3d8 points of fire damage per round. If they are reduced to -10 hit points they turn to ash, and are deceased.

As the ricean vampire ages, her resistance to sunlight increases. Eventually, as a vampire becomes older and older, the sun has less and less effect until eventually, only fire can destroy it. Fledgelings exposed to sunlight instantly burst into flames. As vampires age, the time taken for them to burst into flames and the damage taken per round decrease until they only experience a tanning, even if left in the sun for days.

Fledgeling: Fledgelings immediately begin to burn on contact with sunlight.
Child of the Century: Children of the Century begin to burn after 1d4+1 rounds and take 3d6 points of fire damage per round instead of 3d8.
Elder: Elder vampires begin to burn after 1d4+1 minutes and take 3d4 points of fire damage per round.
Old: Old vampires begin to burn only after 3d4+5 minutes and take 2d4 points of fire damage per minute.
Venerable: Venerable vampires begin to burn only after 4d10+20 minutes and take 1d4+1 points of fire damage every 10 minutes of exposure.
Child of the Millenia: Children of the Millenia take no sun damage for 1d4+1 hours of exposure to sunlight (save a light tan). After this point, they take 1d2 points of fire damage per hour. Children of the Millenia are also capable of healing 1 hit point/day of fire damage + 1 hit point/day for every 1000 years of age they are beyond 1000. This does not stack with the Ancient's ability to heal fire.
Ancient: Ancients take no damage for 1d4+1 days of strait exposure to sunlight. After this point, they take 1 hit point per hour of fire damage. Ancients also are capable of healing 3 hit points/day of fire damage + 1 hit point/day for every 1000 years of age they are beyond 3000.

Vampire Characters

Vampires are usually evil, which causes characters of certain classes to lose some class abilities. In addition, certain classes take additional penalties. A shift of alignment does not occur when a creature becomes a ricean vampire, however, their new lifestyle can cause an alignment shift. Feeding on mortal creatures alone can be enough to shift a creature's alignment from lawful good to either lawful neutral or neutral good.
Clerics: Vampire clerics lose their ability to turn undead but gain the ability to rebuke undead. This ability does not affect the vampire's controller or any other vampires that a master controls. A vampire cleric has access to two of the following domains: Chaos, Destruction, Evil, or Trickery.

Improving With Age

Ricean vampires improve with age. When they reach a particular milestone, they recieve salient powers in addition to experiencing abilitiy increases, and an increase in the potency of their existing powers.

Salient Powers

NOTE: Additional salient powers will be added over time.

Mind Gift (Venerable+): The mind gift allows the vampire to make an attack on other vampires that causes them to burst into flame as if they were in sunlight. This ability can also be used on other creatures, though it deals only 2d8 points of fire damage per round instead of 3d8. The target can make one will save per round to resist damage verses 10 + the vampire's age category + the vampire's wisdom modifier. Vampires assualted by this power are destroyed upon reaching -10 hit points.

Flying Gift (Old+): The vampire is able to attain flight, with a flying speed equal to her speed multiplied by her age category. Maneuverability also improves with age, starting with Poor for Old vampires, increasing to Average, Good and Perfect for venerable, child of the millenia and ancient vampires, respectively.

Speed Reading: The vampire can read and absorb information many times faster than mortal creatures. This ability also allows them to spend only 1/2 the time required to prepare spells, and they can learn new classes three times faster than normal.

In addition, every 50 years of life, the ricean vampire's speed improves by +5 ft. and they experince an ability increase, just as if they would by gaining four levels.

Note

The rules presented here represent the natural evolution of a Ricean Vampire's powers. In the future, new rules may be installed to detail a ricean vampire gaining power through drinking the blood of older vampires.

Original artworks and materials are © Copyright 2004 to Ben Mowbray. Artwork above taken from the cover of Blood Canticle by Anne Rice © Anne Rice.
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