Homebrew Dhampir Species Details

 

Love is a mighty and powerful thing. It is beautiful, flowering through despair and destruction to bring hope to anyone who experiences it. Love triumphs valiantly, putting aside all things from the differences in race to the tempest of time. The love a parent has for their child is one of the strongest kinds of love. It burns hot throughout trial and tribulation, binding families and holding fast against the storm—

—But the blood of immortals is stronger...
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 — Anonymous

Mixtures between races are common in most societies. However, under the cover of night, a person occasionally wanders where they shouldn't and stumbles into the company of a creature of the night. Those who fall prey to them are fortunate, for falling in love with a vampire is a fiery but dangerous endeavor. The offspring of a pure-blood vampire and a mortal is a dhampir, a child balanced between the living and the dead, possessing great amounts of power but often being at odds with both a mortal and immortal parent. Dhampir often choose one or the other, integrating themselves into broader society or shutting themselves away until their immortal blood runs dry.

A Glimpse of Mortality

Having a mortal parent from any conceivable race makes dhampir incredibly physically diverse. They almost always take on the characteristics of their mortal parent, meaning that whatever physical characteristics are common within their mortal parent's race present themselves in combination with typical vampire traits such as fangs and skin on the lighter side for the race of their mortal parent. Their connection to mortality ends there, however, as they exhibit a menagerie of traits that set them apart as a child of undeath. Dhampir have a very wide range of lifespans, and those who embrace their mortal side tend to live a shorter life. However, dhampir are always long lived with the youngest dhampir living well past 1500 years.

Hiding in Plain Sight

Dhampir are incredibly adaptable people, hiding in plain sight and blending with ease among the common races. They tend to lead simple lives, conforming to the culture in which they live in an attempt to not draw attention to themselves. When living among common people, dhampir make an attempt to do well where they can and leave no impact on society. They live immersed in peace and simplicity but do what they think is best, so although they thrive in comfortability, it would take an army to stop a dhampir from defending their mortal kin. No matter their circumstance, dhampir are strongly connected to their mortal blood and rarely forsake their mortality to live in solitude as vampires often do.

Living in Solitude

Occasionally, dhampir will leave the mortal world behind to pursue the interests of their immortal parent. These dhampir often receive a form of inheritance (typically either land or money) as they come of age and leave their parent's estate. Although dhampir have no need to consume blood, those who choose to do receive an increase in their already potent abilities but shed a piece of their mortality with every drink. Eventually, their connection to their mortal blood is lost, consumed by their hunger and fully achieving immortality. Dhampir that go through this transition are typically considered true vampires regardless of any mortal heritage.

The Strength of Mortal Bonds

Dhampir who set their comfortability aside for the better of mortals are the most courageous and loyal members of a typically timid and solitary race. Above all, they hold strongly the preciousness of mortal life and a sense of living a long life with purpose. Dhampir that believe in the cause of servitude rally behind a common purpose: the betterment and survival of all the mortal races in the faces of immense and immortal dangers.

Dhampir Traits

Dhampir have a variety of physical characteristics, but commonly share these traits.

Creature Type

You are a humanoid.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and two extra languages of your choice. Dhampir typically learn the language of their mortal parent and the language of the people that they choose to live around, including obscure dialects. They tend to blend their languages together, sprinkling their speech with words borrowed from other tongues: Orc curses, Elvish musical expressions, Dwarvish military phrases, and so on.

Ability Score Increase

You choose one ability score to increase by 2, and another ability score to increase by 1.

Age

Dhampir are long-lived, reaching maturity at the same rate as their mortal parent despite their increased lifespans. Dhampir that follow in their immortal parent's footsteps eventually lose their mortal blood and live until they are killed. However, if they embrace their mortality, dhampir can still live well over 1500 years.

Size

Dhampir vary widely in height and build, taking on the physical size of their mortal parent. Regardless of your position in that range, your size is Medium or Small.

Speed

Your base walking speed and climbing speed are 35 feet.

Bite Attack

Your immortal parent passes down some traits to you, including a sharp set of fangs. You're granted a bite attack that deals 1d4 piercing damage. When a humanoid takes damage from this attack, they must make a Constitution saving throw. The DC for this saving throw is 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a failed save, the target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the damage taken. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0. A humanoid that dies before taking a long rest rises as a vampire thrall under your control until the next dawn, after which they die.

The damage of your bite attack increases to 1d6 at 5th level,  increases again to 1d8 at 10th level, and again to 1d10 at 15th level.

Vampiric Essence

As the child of a creature of the night, you take on vampiric physiology from your immortal parent. You can see up to 120 feet in nonmagical darkness, do not need to breathe, and are resistant to necrotic damage.

Wall Walking

The blood of an immortal strengthens your movement. Starting at 3rd level, you gain the ability to move up, down, and across vertical surfaces and upside down along ceilings, while leaving your hands free. You have climbing speed equal to your walking speed. Any spell effect that impacts your walking speed also impacts your climbing speed.

Sanguine Feast

If you partake of the blood feast as your immortal parent would, your power increases at the cost of your mortality. Starting at 5th level, when you successfully bite a humanoid and drink their blood, or drink a humanoid's blood in any other way, you gain a +2 to all ability scores and all ability score maximums, and gain sunlight sensitivity until you finish a short or long rest. If you see blood during the duration of this buff, no matter it's origin, you must make a Wisdom saving throw. The save DC is 8 + the amount of consecutive days you've gained a buff from Sanguine Feast. On a failure, you do everything in your power to consume the blood, which causes Sanguine Feast to persist through your next long rest.

In the Character Builder, set the option for Sanguine Feast to Well Fed to activate the bonuses for that form on the character sheet.