Dhampir
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 (usually sorcerers with the undead bloodline).
Regardless, they 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. 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.
Physical Description
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.
Society
Dhampirs have no culture of their own, nor do they have any known lands or even communities. Often born in secret and abandoned at orphanages or left to die on the outskirts of town, they tend to live solitary lives as exiles and outcasts. Individuals acquire the cultural beliefs and teachings of the regions in which they grew up, and adopt additional philosophies over the course of their complex lives. This ability to adapt to a variety of circumstances provides dhampirs with a social camouflage that hides them from both predators and prey. In rare instances, dhampirs might gather to form small groups or cabals dedicated to resolving their joint issues. Even so, the philosophies of such groups reflect the interests of the individuals involved, not any common dhampir culture.
Alignment and Religion
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.
Adventurers
The life of an adventurer comes naturally to most dhampirs, since constant persecution condemns many to spend their days wandering. Evil dhampirs keep moving to maintain their secrecy and evade lynch mobs, while those who follow the path of vengeance venture forth in search of their despised fathers. Regardless of their reasons, most dhampirs simply feel more at home on the road than in a settlement. Almost universally, those inclined toward magic pursue the field of necromancy, though dhampir alchemists have been known to obsess over transforming their own bodies. Those who feel the call of the hunt often become inquisitors.
Dhampir Hunger
Every dhampir knows a thirst slaked only by the living. Those who overindulge their thirst risk losing control and forever viewing others as prey. Those who resist might find exceptional ways of controlling their urges or suppress them through constant, molar-grinding restraint. In any case, temptation haunts dhampirs, and circumstances conspire to give them endless reasons to indulge.
While most dhampirs thirst for blood, your character might otherwise gain sustenance from the living. Roll or choose an option to determine what tempts your character to feed.
| d6 | Hunger |
|---|---|
| 1 | Blood |
| 2 | Flesh or raw meat |
| 3 | Cerebral spinal fluid |
| 4 | Psychic energy |
| 5 | Dreams |
| 6 | Life energy |
Dhampir Origins
Dhampirs often arise from encounters with vampires, but all manner of macabre bargains, necromantic influences, and encounters with mysterious immortals might have transformed your character. The Dhampir Origins table provides suggestions for how your character gained their lineage.
| d8 | Origin |
|---|---|
| 1 | You are the reincarnation of an ancestor who was a vampiric tyrant. |
| 2 | Your pact with a predatory deity, fiend, fey, or spirit causes you to share their hunger. |
| 3 | You survived being attacked by a vampire but were forever changed. |
| 4 | A parasite lives inside you. You indulge its hunger. |
| 5 | Tragedy interrupted your transformation into an immortal. |
| 6 | You are a diminished form of an otherworldly being. Slaking your hunger hastens your renewal. |
| 7 | One of your parents was a vampire. |
| 8 | A radical experiment changed your body, making you reliant on others for vital fluids. |
Racial Traits
Your dhampir character has certain traits deriving from your vampiric ancestry.
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Age. Dhampirs mature at the same rate as humans but live to be into their 300s.
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Size. Dhampirs stand between 5 and 6 feet tall and weigh on average 140 pounds. Your size is Medium.
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Languages. You know Common and one other language.
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Unnatural Resilience. You have advantage on poison saving throws and resistance against necrotic damage.
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Low-light Vision. Born into a twilight world, you are not inconvenienced by the night. You can see in dim light as if it were bright light, and an additional 60 feet into darkness as if it were dim light.
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Optional
Instead of Low-light Vision, you may select to have both the Darkvision and Sunlight Sensitivity traits.
Darkvision. For 30 ft around you, you can see in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.
Sunlight Sensitivity. You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Invetigation and Perception checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to see is in direct sunlight.
Dhampir Subtypes
The varieties of different vampire bloodlines have resulted in three types of dhampir. The stryg is most common, with most stryg simply referred to as dhampir. The nosferatu and obiri are related to the vampires of the same name. The former prefer to hide their existence, while the latter are harder to identify as a dhampir and go unnoticed.
Stryg
Descended from common vampires, the Stryg are often considered synonymous with perceptions of dhampir. You have the unearthly beauty and charm of your progenitor. You have pale skin, sharp features, and your eyes have a slightly crimson iris that catches the light like a cat’s.
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Ability Scores. Your Charisma ability score, both current and maximum, increases by 2.
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Natural Grace. Add Speechcraft to your class skills if not already there, and gain 1 skill point to spend on that skill.
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Tainted Blood. You know the friends cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the misty step spell once between rests. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Nosferatu
Kin to nosferatu vampires, you have the long life of other dhampir but seemingly age normally, if not faster. While you retain your vigor until late in life, you eventually appear ancient and decrepit. You do not look human, being unnaturally pale, bald, and have pronounced fangs. You may have sharp canines, but some nosferatu have elongated incisors.
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Ability Scores. Your Charisma ability score, both current and maximum, is reduced by 2.
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Fangs. Your fanged bite is a natural weapon, which counts as a simple melee weapon with which you are proficient. You add your Constitution modifier, instead of your Strength modifier, to the attack and damage rolls when you attack with this bite. It deals 1d4 piercing damage on a hit. While you are missing half or more of your hit points, you have advantage on attack rolls you make with this bite.
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Blood Drinker. When you deal damage with your bite, you may use a bonus action to expend a hit die. Roll that die and add your Constitution modifier. You regain Hit Points equal to the total.
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Spider Climb. You have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed. In addition, at 3rd level, you can move up, down, and across vertical surfaces and upside down along ceilings as long as your hands are free.
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Obiri
You look more human than other dhampir, lacking red eyes, pallor, fangs, and aversion to light of other vampire-kin. You have coarse hair and are stockier than other dhampir, but retain the agility and piercing eyes.
Obiri vampires are feared by even experienced vampire hunters. Known as daywalkers, for their ability to ignore the light of the sun, obiri possess varied powers that seem to vary between individuals. Thankfully, the obiri bloodline is rare.
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Daywalker. If you have the Sunlight Sensitivity trait, you can expend a Hit Dice to ignore it for 10 minutes.
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Broken Mind Insight. After you make a saving throw against a charmed or frightened effect but before the DM declares whether you succeeded or failed you may spend a Hit Dice to roll a die of that type and add it to the result.
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Tainted Blood. You know the friends cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the disguise self spell once between rests. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Dhampir Class Options
A dhampir approaches some classes is a bit different than other races. When you select on of these classes, it is modified as follows:
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Alchemist
Your blood can act as a powerful component in your healing potions. When creating healing concoctions, you can add a few drops of your blood, making them more potent when healing non-dhampir humanoids. By sacrificing 1 hp during preparation, a healing concoction heals 2 additional hp.
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Barbarian
A dhampir barbarian can enter a bloodrage. When entering a rage, fighting an enemy that is bleeding (wounded) or the first time during a rage when an enemy is below max hp, you can choose to enter a bloodrage. If you do, your AC is reduced with the rage damage from the barbarian class table, and your hit chance is increased by the same number.
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Bard
A dhampir bard gains the following ability:
Inspired Compliance
You can use your action to direct one of your companions or a creature charmed by you to strike or perform a simple task. When you do so, choose a friendly creature who can see or hear you and expend one Hit Die. That creature may make a Wisdom saving throw. If it fails the saving throw, it uses its reaction to make one weapon attack or ability check, adding the expended Hit Die to the attack roll or ability check.
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Cavalier
Dhampir have a harder time becoming cavaliers, as animals can be unnerved by your undead nature.
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Cleric
You can use your own blood as a powerful material component for any of your spells that deal necrotic damage.
As a bonus action, you may cut yourself, dealing 1d4 damage. If you cast spell that deals necrotic damage before the end of this round, you may add twice the damage taken to the total necrotic damage dealt.
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Cursed
As a dhampir you are already cursed, but life is unfair and you are doubly cursed. Whenever the cursed class description mentions your Intelligence modifier (i.e. for spellcasting), you may instead use your proficiency bonus.
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Druid
A dhampir druid gains the following ability:
Beast Shape
You can use an action and expend a Hit Dice to turn into a bat or wolf. This feature follows all the rules of the druid’s Wild Shape feature save that it ends only when you choose to return to your normal form as a bonus action or when the sun rises.
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Fighter
A skilled fighter can easily defeat a ten times stronger, but unskilled brute. It is not how hard you hit, but the precision of your strikes.
At 1st level, select Strength or Dexterity. Whenever the Fighter class description mentions your ability modifier for this ability, you may instead use that modifier +3 or your proficiency bonus, whichever is lower. This also applies to attack and damage rolls using this ability.
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Inquisitor
You may add the following judgement to your list of judgements:
Kinslayer’s Brand
When using this judgment, you gain the ability to brand undead creatures with divine energy. To do so, make a successful melee spell attack against the undead creature. This attack deals an amount of radiant damage equal to 1d6 + your Wisdom modifier, and burns your personal symbol into the undead creature’s flesh, bone, or even its incorporeal form.
From that point onward, you can sense the existence of the branded creature as if it were the target of a locate creature spell. The brand lasts until the undead creature is destroyed or until you use this ability on another creature.
Greater Kinslayer’s Brand. You have advantage on all attacks against the branded creature for 1 minute.
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Paladin
A dhampir paladin has access to an exclusive oath, the Oath of Blood.
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Professional
No change.
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Ranger
A dhampir ranger can track wounded enemies by smell of blood. You have advantage on survival checks when tracking a bleeding (wounded) target.
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Rogue
If you have the Blood drinker feat, you can bite and drain blood instead of making a sneak attack. When you do, you deal damage equal to the number of sneak attack dice, and gain the temporary hit points as mentioned in the feat.
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Sorcerer
You can use your own blood as a powerful material component for any of your spells that deal necrotic damage.
As a bonus action, you may cut yourself, dealing 1d4 damage. If you cast spell that deals necrotic damage before the end of this round, you may add twice the damage taken to the total necrotic damage dealt.
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Swashbuckler
Dhampir are naturally graceful and clever.
Whenever the Swashbuckler class description mentions your Intelligence modifier, you may instead use your proficiency bonus.
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Warlock
You can use your own blood as a powerful material component for any of your spells that deal necrotic damage.
As a bonus action, you may cut yourself, dealing 1d4 damage. If you cast spell that deals necrotic damage before the end of this round, you may add twice the damage taken to the total necrotic damage dealt.
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Wizard
You can use your own blood as a powerful material component for any of your spells that deal necrotic damage.
As a bonus action, you may cut yourself, dealing 1d4 damage. If you cast spell that deals necrotic damage before the end of this round, you may add twice the damage taken to the total necrotic damage dealt.