Medium Undead, Lawful Evil
- AC
- 16
- Initiative
- +14 (24)
- HP
- 195 (23d8+92)
- Speed
- 40 ft., Climb 40 ft.
| Score | Mod | Save | |
|---|---|---|---|
| STR | 18 | +4 | +4 |
| DEX | 18 | +4 | +9 |
| CON | 18 | +4 | +9 |
| INT | 17 | +3 | +3 |
| WIS | 15 | +2 | +7 |
| CHA | 18 | +4 | +9 |
Traits
Legendary Resistance (3/Day, or 4/Day in Lair). If the vampire fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Misty Escape. If the vampire drops to 0 Hit Points outside its resting place, the vampire uses Shape-Shift to become mist (no action required). If it can't use Shape-Shift, it is destroyed.
While it has 0 Hit Points in mist form, it can't return to its vampire form, and it must reach its resting place within 2 hours or be destroyed. Once in its resting place, it returns to its vampire form and has the Paralyzed condition until it regains any Hit Points, and it regains 1 Hit Point after spending 1 hour there.
Spider Climb. The vampire can climb difficult surfaces, including along ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
Vampire Weakness. The vampire has these weaknesses:
Forbiddance. The vampire can't enter a residence without an invitation from an occupant.
Running Water. The vampire takes 20 Acid damage if it ends its turn in running water.
Stake to the Heart. If a weapon that deals Piercing damage is driven into the vampire's heart while the vampire has the Incapacitated condition in its resting place, the vampire has the Paralyzed condition until the weapon is removed.
Sunlight. The vampire takes 20 Radiant damage if it starts its turn in sunlight. While in sunlight, it has Disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.
Actions
Multiattack (Vampire Form Only). The vampire makes two Grave Strike attacks and uses Bite.
Grave Strike (Vampire Form Only). Melee Attack Roll: +9, reach 5 ft. Hit: 8 (1d8+4) Bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) Necrotic damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it has the Grappled condition (escape DC 14) from one of two hands.
Bite (Bat or Vampire Form Only). Constitution Saving Throw: DC 17, one creature within 5 feet that is willing or that has the Grappled, Incapacitated, or Restrained condition. Failure: 6 (1d4+4) Piercing damage plus 13 (3d8) Necrotic damage. The target's Hit Point maximum decreases by an amount equal to the Necrotic damage taken, and the vampire regains Hit Points equal to that amount. A Humanoid reduced to 0 Hit Points by this damage and then buried rises the following sunset as a Vampire Spawn under the vampire's control.
Bonus Actions
Charm (Recharge 5-6). The vampire casts Charm Person, requiring no spell components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 17), and the duration is 24 hours. The Charmed target is a willing recipient of the vampire's Bite, the damage of which doesn't end the spell. When the spell ends, the target is unaware it was Charmed by the vampire.
Shape-Shift. If the vampire isn't in sunlight or running water, it shape-shifts into a Tiny bat (Speed 5 ft., Fly Speed 30 ft.) or a Medium cloud of mist (Speed 5 ft., Fly Speed 20 ft. [hover]), or it returns to its vampire form. Anything it is wearing transforms with it.
While in bat form, the vampire can't speak. Its game statistics, other than its size and Speed, are unchanged.
While in mist form, the vampire can't take any actions, speak, or manipulate objects. It is weightless and can enter an enemy's space and stop there. If air can pass through a space, the mist can do so, but it can't pass through liquid. It has Resistance to all damage, except the damage it takes from sunlight.
Legendary Actions
Vampire can take 3 Legendary Actions per round, regaining all uses at the start of its turn.
Beguile. The vampire casts Command, requiring no spell components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 17). The vampire can't take this action again until the start of its next turn.
Deathless Strike. The vampire moves up to half its Speed, and it makes one Grave Strike attack.
How to run Vampire
An allied vampire is the morally compromised patron arc. The most plausible setup is a gothic-horror campaign where the party has agreed to help a vampire reclaim a stolen relic, hunt a lich, or feed only on murderers under a binding pact, and the alliance lasts exactly as long as the pact holds. The vampire is Lawful Evil. It will keep its word to the letter, and the letter is where the trouble lives.
In a fight on the party's side, the vampire is your tactical apex predator. Charm (DC 17, recharge 5 to 6) puts an enemy commander on the vampire's leash for the rest of the encounter. Two Grave Strikes plus a Bite per turn, with Deathless Strike as a legendary for a third Grave Strike, mean the vampire personally drops one boss-tier enemy per round. Beguile via Command (DC 17 Cha save) shuts down the enemy cleric the round before the party closes. Spider Climb 40 ft. and Stealth +9 mean the vampire can be on a balcony watching for two rounds, then drop on the back rank without warning.
Out of combat, the vampire is a terrible houseguest and a brilliant intelligence asset. It cannot enter a residence without invitation (Forbiddance), takes 20 acid per turn ending in running water, and 20 radiant per turn starting in sunlight, plus disadvantage on attacks and ability checks while in the sun. The party plans around the daylight hours. The vampire holds court at night.
The pact ends the moment the party violates it or the named target is dead. After that, the vampire is no longer an ally. The party should know this from the start.
Have the vampire offer to bite a willing PC for "a small loan of strength" in a non-combat scene, and let the player decide. Whatever they answer is the next arc.
A vampire is a long-game villain who happens to have a stat block. CR 13, 195 HP, AC 16, initiative +14, and a list of weaknesses (Forbiddance, Running Water, Stake to the Heart, Sunlight) that the party will need to research before they fight it. Run the vampire across multiple sessions: the encounter at the manor is the third or fourth scene, not the first. The party should already know whose home they cannot enter without invitation and which river the vampire cannot cross.
In combat, the opener is Charm as a bonus action on the most charismatic-looking PC (DC 17 Wisdom save, 24-hour duration, the target becomes a willing recipient of the Bite). If Charm sticks, that PC is now a problem the party has to solve before they can solve the vampire. The Multiattack is two Grave Strikes (+9, reach 5 ft., 15 average bludgeoning plus necrotic, escape DC 14 grapple on Large or smaller) plus a Bite. The Bite (DC 17 Con save, 6 piercing plus 13 necrotic, max-HP reduction equal to necrotic, vampire heals same amount) is the engine. Grapple, then Bite, then heal back whatever the cleric just put in.
Legendary actions are the lockdown layer. Beguile fires Command (DC 17 Cha save) at the end of an enemy turn, costing the cleric a heal or the rogue a sneak attack. Deathless Strike moves half speed and lands an extra Grave Strike, perfect for following a fleeing PC. Burn Legendary Resistance (3 per day, 4 in lair) on Hold Monster, Banishment, or anything that strips the vampire from the fight. Spider Climb means there is no high ground; the vampire fights on the ceiling.
When the vampire drops to 0 HP outside its resting place, Misty Escape triggers automatically (no action). It becomes mist for up to 2 hours and returns to its coffin. The party has not killed it. They have inconvenienced it. To finish it, they need to find the resting place, drive a piercing weapon through its heart while it is Incapacitated there (Stake to the Heart paralyzes), then destroy the body in sunlight or running water. That's three sessions of work, and that's the point.
Have the vampire address one PC by their childhood name in the first scene, with no explanation. Reveal the explanation four sessions later.
Stat block from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 © Wizards of the Coast LLC, used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.