Vampire, Unkilled (3.5e Template)
Unkilled Vampire
3e Summary::LA 0 vampire template. These vampires do not get many undead bonuses and are still mostly mortal. Designed for player characters or low-level enemies.
Unkilled vampires are a unique kind of vampire. They lack some of the limitations of the ancient, powerful vampire lords, but also lack many of those abilities and powers. Unkilled vampires appear just as they did before being turned, and speak any languages they previously knew.
Either from resoluteness of body, purity of spirit, or some kind of fluke, an individual did not die during their vampiric turning process. As such, they did not lose their sense of self and their soul did not leave their body. Because of this, they still cast a shadow and a reflection. They are essentially the same person as they were before being turned, but their body has new limitations and abilities; most imperatively, a need to consume blood. For those who did not want it, the transformation is traumatic and damaging.
Creating an Unkilled Vampire
“Unkilled vampire” is an acquired template that can be added to any creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature).
Size and Type: The unkilled vampire is considered undead for the purposes of spells designed to affect undead (such as turn undead), but it does not recalculate any of its features as an undead normally would. They retain their Constitution score. The only undead features they gain are as follows:
- Darkvision out to 60 feet.
- Not affected by raise dead and reincarnate spells or abilities. Resurrection and true resurrection can affect unkilled vampires. These spells turn the unkilled vampire back into the base creature they were before being turned.
Hit Dice: Same as the base creature.
Speed: Same as the base creature.
Armor Class: Same as the base creature.
Attack: An unkilled vampire retains all the attacks of the base creature. If the base creature can use weapons, the unkilled vampire retains this ability.
Special Attacks: An unkilled vampire retains all the special attacks of the base creature and gains those described below.
Bite: The unkilled vampire grows a pair of fangs upon turning, and gains a natural bite attack. If the base creature has a beak instead of teeth, the unkilled vampire's beak sharpens to a deadly point and grows serrated edges.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, the unkilled vampire must hit with their bite attack. They can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity.
Blood Drain (Ex): An unkilled vampire can suck blood from a living victim with their fangs by making a successful grapple check. If they pin the foe, they can drain blood, dealing 1d6 points of lethal damage each round the pin is maintained. On each successful attack, the unkilled vampire gains a number of temporary hit points according to the chart below.
| Character Level | Temporary HP |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | 1 |
| 4-6 | 2 |
| 7-9 | 3 |
| 10-12 | 4 |
| 13-15 | 5 |
| 16-18 | 6 |
| 19-20 | 7 |
| 21+ | 10 |
Special Qualities: An unkilled vampire retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains those described below.
Resistances (Ex): An unkilled vampire has resistance to cold 5 and electricity 5.
Turn Resistance (Ex): An unkilled vampire has +2 turn resistance.
Hematophagy (Ex): Unkilled vampires must drink blood to remain alive, just as a living creature must eat food. However, if desperate, unkilled vampires can temporarily sustain their selves on vegetable or fruit juice, water, and mundane food. If the unkilled vampire sustains their self in this way but goes without drinking blood for two days, they are fatigued, after four days, exhausted, and after six days, begin to starve.
Vampiric Vigilance: If the base creature needs to sleep (or meditate, as an elf), the unkilled vampire needs to do the same and is susceptible to fatigue and exhaustion. However, an unkilled vampire cannot pass out from exhaustion. Instead, they simply remain exhausted until they decide to sleep.
Slow Heart: Unkilled vampires only need to inhale breath once every 30 minutes under relaxed or low-intensity conditions. In high-stress conditions (such as running or in combat) they need to breathe once every 15 minutes. Their heart beats infrequently and their skin is cold.
Skills: Unkilled vampires have a +2 racial bonus Move Silently checks. Otherwise same as the base creature.
Environment: Any, usually same as base creature.
Alignment: Any, though most are evil or assumed evil by the general populace.
Level Adjustment: +0
Unkilled Vampire Weaknesses
When an unkilled vampire reaches -10 hit points, their body dissolves into ash.
Repelling an Unkilled Vampire: Unkilled vampires recoil from a strongly presented holy symbol. A recoiling unkilled vampire must stay at least 5 feet away from a creature holding the holy symbol and cannot touch or make melee attacks against the creature holding the item for as long as he continues to present the holy symbol. Holding an unkilled vampire at bay takes a standard action.
Sunlight Intolerance: Exposure to direct sunlight disorients an unkilled vampire. They can take only a single move action or attack action per round. If an unkilled vampire remains in direct sunlight for more than 1 hour, they must make a DC 15 Fortitude save or begin taking 1 fire damage every round. Abrupt exposure to sunlight (such as the daylight spell) blinds the unkilled vampire for 1 round. On subsequent rounds, they are dazzled as long as they remain in the affected area.
Staking: Driving a wooden stake through an unkilled vampire's heart immediately drops them to 0 hit points. Vampire slayers often stake an unkilled vampire before decapitating or burning them.
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