Homebrew Dhampir Species Details

I pulled back my sleeve. Scars without a hint of pigment criss-crossed my pale forearm, following the faint blue trails of my veins.  A map of Caliphas's slums would have been less chaotic. Most of the marks were tiny nicks, just enought to make the blood flow. Others were longer trails, languorous, deliberate slices that had, for a time, split my skin into yielding lips.  The worst were a pair of savage gashes that had dug indulgently deep, almost crippling my arm.  I hadn't inflicted even one of the marks upon myself - though I'd considered it often enough.

I hated them.  Looking at the ugly marks turned my stomach. Sometimes I almost forgot about them, my leathers proving quite effective at simulating a second skin. Invariably I'd catch some glimpse, though - along my wrist, at my ankle, slipping from under my collar. When I did, every track, every crime across my body caught fire. I could feel them all - ghosts of violence that never faded. Memories of the nightmare that was my youth. The life he - they - had made for me.

— F. Wesley Schneider, Bloodbound

 

The half-living children of vampires birthed by human females, dhampirs are progenies of both horror and tragedy. The circumstances of a dhampir’s conception are often called into question but scarcely understood, as few mortal mothers survive the childbirth. Those who do often abandon their monstrous children and refuse to speak of the matter. While some speculate that dhampirs result when mortal women couple with vampires, others claim that they form when a pregnant woman suffers a vampire bite. Some particularly zealous scholars even contest dhampirs’ status as a unique race, instead viewing them as humans suffering from an unholy affliction. Indeed, this hypothesis is strengthened by dhampirs’ seeming inability to reproduce, their offspring inevitably humans.

Twilight Childhood

Dhampirs live and die just like any other mortal creatures, despite possessing a supernatural longevity akin to that of elves. Hardship and suffering fill a dhampir’s formative years. Most grow up as orphans, and despite their exquisite features and innate charm, they face a lifetime of prejudice, mistrust, fear, and persecution. Humans who witness the seemingly sinister nature of a dhampir child’s supernatural powers or sensitivity to daylight display an array of reactions ranging from awe to terror to outright hatred. Eventually, a dhampir must learn to cope with these difficulties in order to find his place in the world.

A Hard Middle Road

While most dhampirs succumb to the innate evil of their undead heritage and devolve into the monstrous fiends depicted by society, a few reject their unholy conceptions, instead vowing to avenge their mothers by hunting the very creatures that sired them. Dhampirs keep few, if any, close companions. Ultimately, the majority of evil dhampirs regard their allies as little more than tools or fodder. Those whom they deem useful are judged by their merits as individuals, not by their race. However, even with those they feel attached to, most dhampirs are sullen and reserved. Some fear the persecution heaped upon them may be transferred to their companions, whereas others worry their own bloodlust will one day overwhelm them and they’ll inadvertently turn upon their friends. In any case, an alliance with a dhampir almost always leads to an ill-fated conclusion.

Dhampir Names

Lacking a culture and unified traditions, dhampirs share humans’ predilection for a diversity of names, and most keep their human birth names. Many dhampirs take their mother’s surname, while others take the surname of the towns or regions in which they were born, or use a surname derived from a significant event.

 

The Exquisite Dead

Tall and slender and with well-defined musculature, dhampirs look like statuesque humans of unearthly beauty. Their hair, eye, and skin colors resemble unnerving versions of their mothers’; many possess a ghastly pallor, particularly in the sunlight, while those with dark complexions often possess skin the color of a bruise.

While many dhampirs can pass as humans in ideal conditions, their features are inevitably more pronounced and they move with an unnaturally fluid grace. All dhampirs have elongated incisors. While not true fangs, these teeth are sharp enough to draw blood, and many suffer a reprehensible desire to indulge in sanguinary delights, despite the fact that the act provides most no physical benefit.

Dhampir Traits

Dhampir share certain racial traits as a result of their immortal descent.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 1, and your Charisma score increases by 2.

Age

Dhampir mature at the same rate as humans but thanks to their unnatural heritage can live for decades longer than their truly mortal kin.

Alignment

Most dhampirs succumb to the evil within their blood. They are unnatural creatures, and the foul influence of their undead heritage makes an evil outlook difficult to overcome. Those who struggle against their wicked natures rarely progress beyond a neutral outlook.

Size

Dhampir are about the same size and build as humans. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision

Thanks to your undying heritage, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Dark Resistance

You have resistance to necrotic damage.

Sunlight Sensitivity

You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight.

Mistborn Legacy

You know the minor illusion cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the enthrall spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the misty step spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language (usually the language of their mother).

The Hunger

You can cast the false life once per long rest.  Alternatively you can recharge this ability by feeding off of a wiling or helpless sentient creature.  Such a feeding takes at least 1 minute and inflicts 1 point of Constitution damage on the target.