Foul Presence. Any non-undead creature that starts its turn within 10 feet of the garkain must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is poisoned until the end of its next turn. If a creature's saving throw is failed by 5 or more, it's also frightened until the end of its next turn. If a creature's saving throw is successful, the creature is immune to the garkain's Foul Presence for the next 24 hours.
Spider Climb. The ekimmara can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
Stain. If a humanoid is wounded by the garkain, it must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or contract a supernatural disease. The diseased target can't regain hit points, and its hit point maximum decreases by 10 (3d6) for every 24 hours that elapse. If the disease reduces the target's hit point maximum to 0, the target dies. The disease lasts until removed by a lesser restoration spell or other magic.
Multiattack. The garkain makes two attacks, only one of which can be a bite attack.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) slashing damage plus 10 (3d6) necrotic damage. Instead of dealing damage, the garkain can grapple the target (escape DC 15).
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature that is grappled by the garkain, incapacitated or restrained. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) necrotic damage. The target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken, and the farkain regains 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.
Description
Vampire
Contrary to popular belief, monsters are not all alike. Like people, individual members of the same species can each have their own unique traits, preferences and weaknesses. A good example of this is the many species of vampires, some very different from the others, and only connected by their mandatory diet: fresh blood. Vampires are often referred as of the lower or higher variant. There seem to be some disagreement in the academic world as to what makes a vampire belong to either category. Most scholar qualifies a vampire of higher ascendancy when they show the ability to shapechange into a humanoid, but other base their assumption on their intelligence and capacity to use magical abilities. Other deny entirely the aforementioned classifications and state that higher vampires are an entirely different species, immortal and human looking.
Blood Addiction
When a vampire loses control of itself because of its Blood Addiction weakness the vampire enters a state called blood frenzy. In order to control itself near a source of blood, the vampire must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw, on a failed save it loses control and enters blood frenzy. The blood frenzy ends when the vampire use its bite attack successfully and inflicts necrotic damage to a target, unless noted otherwise in its individual description. If a vampire's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the vampire is immune to the blood frenzy for the next 24 hours. While under the blood frenzy the vampire gains the following:
- The vampire shapeshifts back to its vampire form and cannot use its shapechanger feature until the frenzy ends.
- The vampire has advantage on melee weapon attack rolls, but attack rolls against it have advantage until the frenzy ends.
- The vampire cannot use its Innate Spellcasting or Spellcasting feature until the frenzy ends.
- The vampire becomes immune to the charmed and frightened condition until the frenzy ends.
Garkain
Face of Evil
No one in their right mind would qualify any of the bestial lesser vampires as beautiful, or pleasant to look at. They all are mockery of an overgrown bat, twisted monsters that defy the laws of nature. Still, none other reaches the grotesque ugliness of the garkain. Similarly to fleder and ekimmara the garkain looks like a giant, somewhat humanoid looking bat. Their face is always a nightmare to look at, the simple vision of a garkain inspires dread. Regardless of their powers, it is the garkain nasty feeding habits that makes them truly loathsome adversary. The bite and claws of a garkain can transmit deadly diseases, poisoning the blood at alarming speed after a single scratch.
Corpse-Eater
Garkain infestations are often mistaken for a ghoul problem. The two creatures do share a similar taste for the rotten flesh of corpses and favor cemeteries and catacombs for their hunting ground. Garkains do not seem to mind sharing their territory with other undeads, especially ghouls, wraiths and other garkains. The nature of this phenomena is unknown but some comparisons have been made with the ability of higher vampires to call other undeads to serve them. It's rare, but not unheard of, to find garkains outside of cities. In most stories they were found in battlefields, feeding on the wounded and devouring the fallen.
Optional: garkain's stain
The undead body of the garkain is like a walking incubator, brewing terrible afflictions, empowered by the entropic nature of the monster.
- Contagion: A creature affected by the garkain's stain quickly start to develop open wounds that never stop bleeding and festering boils. Any humanoid creature that spend more than 1 minute within 10 feet of an infected creature must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or also become infected with the disease. Once a creature succeeds on this save, it is immune to the garkain's stain of that particular infected creature for 24 hours.
- Serum: A character that has proficiency with Alchemist's Tools or Herbalism Kit, and access to the proper equipment, can prepare a serum from the fangs on the initial garkain. The serum has a value of 40gp when its comes to crafting (see crafting rules p.187 of the Player's Handbook). One batch of serum is enough to cure 10 patients.
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