I'm in a group in which, due to various circumstances, my character will not be involved with the main party (scheduling mostly). As such I will be doing a solo PBP thing that will have some relevance to the main story until my scheduling issues get resolved.
Thing is I want to play as a vampire. I already have permission to play as a Vampire Spawn which... I wasn't the most enthusiastic about since it means several big weaknesses with few major upsides but I am willing to abide by it. And no, I'm not gonna have them be sparkly or anything like that.
I still need to make the character though. Keep in mind this will be a largely solo character and will be starting at level 5. My initial thoughts were to try and make them a variant human with a Way of the Kensi monk path and use the VH feat to get devil's sight; except I'd have no way to cast darkness which seems really crippling to me as a vampire. I switched it up and went three levels in warlock, three in monk, to get devils sight and darkness but the lock spell slot numbers are so few. Darkness twice per long rest didn't seem all that good even if the monk would be a murder-machine while inside of the darkness. I could go way of the shadows which would allow for additional darkness casts and the ability to teleport; but it feels distinctly less potent (though this may be the final choice) and leaves me with a feat I don't really know what to do with. Way of the Long Death feels like it would fit the theme perfectly but I have no way to generate darkness I so desperately crave.
I could also go with a different class as nothing is set yet; but I'm not sure what. Please help. I'd like to be able to generate darkness for protection from the light, have a way to see in said darkness, fit a vampiric theme, and be viable solo.
ASI growth pattern: Dex 20, Wis 18, Wis 20. By level 20 you should be able to pick for yourself, but I recommend Alert over Con 18, as this build is particularly weak against enemy Warlocks (anything with Devil's Sight and ranged spell attacks), and Alert helps mitigate that.
I'll have to ask my DM if I can use the optional class feature; but assuming he does my only question would be 'why the half-drow'?
You qualify for elven accuracy, one of the top two racial feats (the other is bountiful luck) and excellent on this build.
You're a half-elf, which gives you an extra stat point to deal with how MAD monks are.
You can cast Darkness 1/long rest without spending Ki. The other two racial spells are largely for flavor, but they also both give you some utility in helping the party fight in environments you might be the only one qualified to fight in, like complete natural darkness and against invisible foes. Dancing Lights will let you turn off having Disadvantage to see in darkness when you use darkvision.
Dhampir race from UA as the poster above me says, is a Vampire form for player characters so you really have unlimited options.
I wouldn't recommend building a character around a combat gimmick. It will quickly feel old, and the thing that keeps combats fun is when you have options and versatility. I'd advise that you choose a character that you want to play for RP reasons.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I'm in a group in which, due to various circumstances, my character will not be involved with the main party (scheduling mostly). As such I will be doing a solo PBP thing that will have some relevance to the main story until my scheduling issues get resolved.
Thing is I want to play as a vampire. I already have permission to play as a Vampire Spawn which... I wasn't the most enthusiastic about since it means several big weaknesses with few major upsides but I am willing to abide by it. And no, I'm not gonna have them be sparkly or anything like that.
I still need to make the character though. Keep in mind this will be a largely solo character and will be starting at level 5. My initial thoughts were to try and make them a variant human with a Way of the Kensi monk path and use the VH feat to get devil's sight; except I'd have no way to cast darkness which seems really crippling to me as a vampire. I switched it up and went three levels in warlock, three in monk, to get devils sight and darkness but the lock spell slot numbers are so few. Darkness twice per long rest didn't seem all that good even if the monk would be a murder-machine while inside of the darkness. I could go way of the shadows which would allow for additional darkness casts and the ability to teleport; but it feels distinctly less potent (though this may be the final choice) and leaves me with a feat I don't really know what to do with. Way of the Long Death feels like it would fit the theme perfectly but I have no way to generate darkness I so desperately crave.
I could also go with a different class as nothing is set yet; but I'm not sure what. Please help. I'd like to be able to generate darkness for protection from the light, have a way to see in said darkness, fit a vampiric theme, and be viable solo.
I'm not sure what you're after, but here's a build that sounds like what you're after:
Build now: Half-Drow Fighter 1 / Shadow Monk 4; assumed statline 17 Dex/16 Wis/16 Con
--Fighting Style: Blind-Fighting; Feat: Elven Accuracy
Growth pattern: Shadow Monk 5, Fighter 4 (Battlemaster: Trip/Riposte/Brace), Shadow Monk 20
ASI growth pattern: Dex 20, Wis 18, Wis 20. By level 20 you should be able to pick for yourself, but I recommend Alert over Con 18, as this build is particularly weak against enemy Warlocks (anything with Devil's Sight and ranged spell attacks), and Alert helps mitigate that.
I apologize if I misunderstood.
I'll have to ask my DM if I can use the optional class feature; but assuming he does my only question would be 'why the half-drow'?
Alright. I'll heavily consider it if I get permission.
My GM has given permission to use the Blindfighting as well as two optional monk features.
Good! Get yourself a battleaxe and a warhammer for 1d10 damage out the gate (won't buff your bonus action unarmed strikes, of course).
There is also the dampher UA which is pretty much a vampire. Add the stuff to that.
My only good homebrews: Races, Subclasses.
An aspiring DM and Homebrewer. Ask me if you need anything.
Dhampir race from UA as the poster above me says, is a Vampire form for player characters so you really have unlimited options.
I wouldn't recommend building a character around a combat gimmick. It will quickly feel old, and the thing that keeps combats fun is when you have options and versatility. I'd advise that you choose a character that you want to play for RP reasons.