Living Vampirism

Living Vampirism

Awakened to an endless night, normal vampires hunger for the life they have lost and sate that hunger by drinking the blood of the living. Vampires abhor sunlight, for its touch burns them. They never cast shadows or reflections, and any vampire wishing to move unnoticed among the living keeps to the darkness and far from reflective surfaces.

However, a Living Vampire gains nearly all of the traits of a vampire while not fully transitioning into an undead. An abomination and a fluke of nature, a living vampire never truly died in the transformation process; as such, their race remains unchanged and they are not affected by things that target undead or benefit from any undead features unless specified. They continue to need food, drink, and sleep, in addition to a new need for blood. They have stopped aging, but remain susceptible to disease and poison, as any other living creature.

Only good aligned creatures have a chance of becoming a Living Vampire.

Living Vampire Features

You are filled with vampiric strength and speed, boosting your natural and biological livelihood as a living abomination. You gain the following benefits.

Increased Power. After your turning, your stats gain significant increases. You have +2 to STR, CON, DEX, and CHA scores.

Blood Points. As a Vampire, you have access to Blood Points. You gain an amount of Blood points equal to your level, not to surpass 20. Blood points are necessary for the use of several vampire features and abilities and using them requires no action, being treated as a free action.

You may regain blood points by drinking blood, with the amount as follows:

Fresh humanoid blood will refill 2 points per liter consumed. Draining a humanoid completely dry (killing them by feeding) will refill all remaining blood points. Stored human blood (as in contained on your person or in a safe environment outside the body) will refill one point per liter consumed. The blood of an animal will refill half a point per liter consumed.

You cannot drink more than 4 liters of blood in one sitting, lest you risk vomiting. Should you attempt to drink more than 4 liters, you must make a DC 15 Constitution Save, with the DC increasing by 5 for every liter drank afterwards. On a failed save, you vomit all the blood you have drank that sitting. If you vomit, you lose all the blood points you gained from blood expunged, and can no longer drink any blood until you have taken a long rest. You will also regain one point every long rest you take, but not on a long rest following the vomiting of blood.

The DM has discretion on how many liters of blood any creature may have, but the general rule is that a standard medium sized humanoid will possess 4 liters of blood.

Shapechanger. If you aren't in sunlight or running water, you can use your action to metamorph into a Tiny bat, a Medium cloud of mist, or back into your true form.

While in bat form, you can’t speak, your walking speed is 5 feet, and you has a flying speed of 30 feet. Your statistics, other than your size and speed, are unchanged. Anything you are wearing transforms with you, but nothing you are carrying does. You revert to your true form if you die.

While in mist form, you can’t take any actions, speak, or manipulate objects. You are weightless, have a flying speed of 20 feet, can hover, and can enter a hostile creature’s space and stop there. In addition, if air can pass through a space, the mist can do so without squeezing, and it can’t pass through water. It has advantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws, and it is immune to all nonmagical damage, except the damage it takes from sunlight.

Regeneration (2 points). You regain 10 hit points at the start of your turn if you have at least 1 hit point and aren't in sunlight or running water. If you have taken radiant damage or damage from holy water since your last turn, you cannot use this trait. The amount regenerated increases to 20 hit points at level 12.

Spider Climb (1 point). You can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

Stalking Proficiency. You are now twice as proficient, gaining expertise, in stealth checks.

Enhanced Resistance. You are now resistance to Necrotic damage.

Enhanced Sight. You gain Darkvision up to 60 feet. You are also proficient in perception checks.

Enhanced Durability. Your unarmored AC is now 16.

Living Vampire Abilities

As a Living Vampire, you have access to the following actions.

Multiattack (2 points). You can make two attacks, only one of which can be a bite attack. If you have the feature Extra Attack, Multiattack can be used to add one more additional attack to your action for one additional blood point.

Claw Attack. You can make attacks against enemies with your vampiric claws. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit:  (2d4 plus your strength modifier) slashing damage. Instead of dealing damage, you can grapple the target.

Bite Attack (1 point). You can make attacks against enemies with your fangs. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 5 ft., one willing creature, or a creature that is grappled by you, incapacitated, or restrained. Hit: (1d6 plus your strength modifier) piercing damage plus 3d6 necrotic damage.
The target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken, and you regain hit points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
After draining the targets blood, you may gain Blood Points mid combat. Roll (1d4-1), rerolling on a 4, to determine how many points you regain after a successful bite attack.

Charm (2 points). You can target one humanoid you can see within 30 feet of you. If the target can see you, the target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against this magic or be charmed by you. The charmed target regards you as a trusted friend to be heeded and protected. Although the target isn’t under the your control, it takes your requests or actions in the most favorable way it can, and it is a willing target for the your bite attack.

Each time the you or your companions do anything harmful to the target, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. Otherwise, the effect lasts 24 hours or until you are dead, are on a different plane of existence than the target, or take a bonus action to end the effect.

Metamorph (1-2 points). You may polymorph into a Tiny bat, a Medium cloud of mist, or back into your true form. Changing into an animal costs 2 blood points, changing into a cloud of mist costs 1 blood point, and changing back into your true form does not expend any blood points.

Children of the Night (3 points - 1/Day). You magically calls 2d4 swarm of bats or swarm of rats, provided that the sun isn’t up. While outdoors, you can call 3d6 wolf instead. The called creatures arrive in 1d4 rounds, acting as allies of you and obeying your spoken commands. The beasts remain for 1 hour, until you die, or until you dismiss them as a bonus action.

Living Vampire Weaknesses

As a Living Vampire, you have the following flaws.

Forbiddance. You can't enter a residence without an invitation from one of the occupants.

Harmed by Running Water. You take 20 acid damage when you end your turn in running water.

Stake to the Heart. You are destroyed if a piercing weapon made of wood is driven into your heart while you are incapacitated in your resting place.

Sunlight Hypersensitivity. You are vulnerable to radiant damage, disregarding any previous condition regarding the damage type. You take 20 radiant damage (this accounts for your vulnerability) when you start your turn in sunlight. While in sunlight, you have disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.

Living Vampire Traits

Dark Desires. Whether or not a vampire retains any memories from its former life, its emotional attachments wither as once-pure feelings become twisted by undeath. Love turns into hungry obsession, while friendship becomes bitter jealousy. In place of emotion, vampires pursue physical symbols of what they crave, so that a vampire seeking love might fixate on a young beauty. A child might become an object of fascination for a vampire obsessed with youth and potential. Others surround themselves with art, books, or sinister items such as torture devices or trophies from creatures they have killed.

Born from the Space Between Life and Death. As opposed to a normal Vampire, a Living Vampire cannot turn their victims into Vampire Spawn. Any victim of their bite must make a Constitution save, the DC being (8 + your prof bonus + your CON mod). On a success, they can recover without issue. On a failed save, they begin to fall victim to the Dark Desires trait listed above. They do not gain any other effects, and you are unable to control them the way a normal Vampire would be able to control their Vampire Spawn.

Chained to the Grave. Every vampire remains bound to its coffin, crypt, or grave site, where it must rest by day. If a vampire didn’t receive a formal burial, it must lie beneath a foot of earth at the place of its transition to undeath. A vampire can move its place of burial by transporting its coffin or a significant amount of grave dirt to another location. Some vampires set up multiple resting places this way. However, Living Vampires can afford no such luxuries.

Stuck in a perpetual limbo, they are inherently unable to set roots anywhere. If they attempt to settle, they will begin to feel an overwhelming an irresistible urge to relocate. Since A Living Vampire is still bound to its coffin, it is forced to carry its coffin on its back everywhere it goes. The coffin itself must weigh 50 pounds and contain 50 pounds of Grave Dirt from the site of their turning.