Monsters of Eberron: Vampires

Posted on October 25, 2024

“The first vampire was an elf named Vol. After living for centuries, Vol
saw the end of his life approaching and was determined to escape death.
He prayed to the Sovereigns, but they dismissed his prayers. All journeys
have an end, Kol Korran told him. Do not fear what lies beyond, Arawai
said. Trust in our love. But Vol had no faith in the Sovereigns, and so he
turned to the Dark Six in his quest for immortality. They were willing to
aid him… but they had demands. The Keeper pledged not to take Vol’s
life, but only so long as Vol continued to add to the Keeper’s hoard,
sending him a steady stream of innocent souls. The Fury made Vol a
natural predator, but charged him to prey upon his own kind. The
Mockery made Vol a master deceiver able to move unrecognized among
the living, but demanded that he spread terror with his deeds. And the
Shadow made Vol the master of the night, able to command its creatures,
to dissipate into mist, to enforce his will upon weak minds. They made
Vol a champion of the shadows, a corpse imbued with a semblance of life
 so it could kill and kill again, spreading terror and feeding the Keeper.
The Sovereigns could not simply undo what the Six had created, but they
laid their own bans upon Vol. Dol Arrah cursed Vol; he might be the king
of the night, the light of day would burn him to ash. Boldrei forbade Vol
from entering any home, unless he was invited within. And Arawai said
that as Vol had broken the cycle of nature, wood and water would be his
enemies. Running water reflects the endless motion of nature, and it
would tear away the vampire’s false life. And a simple stake of wood,
driven through the heart, would lay the vampire to rest.”

This is a story the Vassals tell. The elves of Aerenal don’t believe in the
Sovereigns; they say it is Mabar that empowers a vampire to live on
after death so long as they feed the Endless Night with a steady stream of
blood and souls. Gift of the Shadow or the Endless Night, it makes little
difference. The vampire is a corpse animated in violation of nature,
which must consume the blood and essence of the living to sustain its
undead existence. They hide among the living in order to prey upon them,
and have the power to spread their corruption—consuming the souls of
those they drain of blood, allowing them to rise as hungry spawn. But
they cannot stand Arrah’s light, and they cannot enter a home without an
invitation. So cling to the light and take care you know those you
welcome into your home—for the vampires are waiting in the shadows,
and they are hungry.

—Dorius Alyre ir’Korran, The Manual Maleficent

Vampires are an iconic undead creature. Canonically, vampirism has become a
practical tool in Eberron: the Bloodsails, the Seekers of the Divinity Within, and the Line
of Vol all make use of vampirism as a way of extending life after death. It’s not
surprising to find a vampire leading an Emerald Claw cell. But such a vampire is
typically relevant as a threat in combat; the Emerald Claw usually isn’t very subtle. With
this article, I want to start by exploring what makes vampires distinct from other
common forms of undead and considering how this can apply to stories you might tell…
and then to look closer at the role of vampires in everyday life in Khorvaire, and different
sorts of vampires one could encounter.

VAMPIRE STORIES
Set aside mechanics for a moment. What is it that makes a vampire spooky? What are
hooks you can work into a story? Here’s a few.

Walking Dead. A vampire is an animated corpse. Aside from the various

immunities this grants, it highlights the fact that they are deeply unnatural.
They should be dead and yet they aren’t. It’s easy to ignore this—in part because
typically, they don’t rot like a zombie—but when you stop and think about it, it’s
disturbing. They are DEAD, but some power moves through them and makes their
dead flesh move, sustaining them as long as they continue to feed on the living.
There’s lots of little ways you can play with this. Cold flesh. They don’t drink…
wine. Most notably, in combat I will typically describe a creature’s loss of hit points
and nicks and grazes, near misses and deflected blows. In the case of undead
creatures like vampires I may choose to highlight that an attack strikes true and
just has minimal effect. You drive your dagger into his side, piercing the kidney. It’s
a perfect, crippling blow… but he just laughs, and no blood flows as you pull the
blade free from his body.
Predators. Vampires consume the life force of the living, typically through the
medium of blood. They are wolves among sheep, and mortals are their prey. Often
this is reflected by their appearance; not only can they conceal their undead
 nature, but they are charming or attractive, able to lure mortals to their doom.
Now, specific vampires may resist their predatory urges—but it’s the fact that they
are driven by their hunger that makes that a compelling story, as they strive to
hold onto their humanity and not to become a ruthless predator.
Infestation. Specifics vary by tale, but under the mechanics of 5E, if a humanoid
creature is slain by the life-draining bite of a vampire and buried in the ground,
they will rise as a vampire spawn under the control of their sire. Depending on the
needs of the story, a vampire may already have a network of spawn when it is
encountered by adventurers—or a tale could involve the slow spread of a
vampire’s reach throughout a community. This is especially effective when
someone near and dear to the adventurers becomes spawn, or when the spawn is
someone who was a hero in life—a friar of the Silver Flame who helped organize
the fight against the vampire, or a young poet who wouldn’t hurt a fly. The point is
that the vampire doesn’t just kill its victims—it turns them into tools, mocking who
they were in life.
Age and Influence. Vampires don’t have to be old. But part of the story of the
vampire is eternal life, and this can be a compelling part of a vampire’s story. Did
this vampire fight alongside Tira Miron when she founded the Church of the Silver
Flame? Was it there when Halas Tarkanan collapsed the old towers of Sharn? Did
the vampire know an adventurer’s parents—has it been watching them, all this
time? A secondary aspect of this is the fact that a vampire may
have resources that can play a major role in a story. A vampire may have caches
of gold and supplies hidden around Khorvaire. It could have a family of loyal
servants that have been bound to it for generations. It could have friends in very
high places, or very low ones. In Aundair, Lady Talon is an elf noble who advised
King Galifar during the war of unification. She just had lunch with Minister Adal.
And you want me to believe that she’s some kind of monster? This influence could
also be maintained through the use of a faithful (humanoid) familiar with a hat of
disguise—King Kaius just gave a speech in the plaza while the sun was at its
height. And he regularly speaks out against the Blood of Vol. The idea that he
could be a vampire is preposterous. Often, part of what drives a vampire hunting
story is the fact that no one else but the adventurers can or will pursue the
vampire; either no one believes what the adventurers know, or the vampire’s
influence is so strong (reinforced by Charm and by well-placed spawn) that the
forces that should help are turned against the party.
Weakness. A vampire regenerates 20 hit points a turn, and can escape in mist
form when it needs to get away. It cannot be killed by brute force… unless its
weaknesses are brought into play. If cannot enter a home unless it is invited—
giving adventurers ways to find a safe haven even when facing an overpowering
foe. The vampire’s efforts to overcome its weaknesses and the adventurers’
attempts to take advantage of them add flavor to a story—especially if those
weaknesses aren’t what the adventurers assume them to be.

Keeping all those things in mind, let’s consider some of the ways adventurers might
encounter a vampire.

The Random Encounter. The adventurers are racing to reach an artifact in Xen’drik
before the Order of the Emerald Claw finds it… and the captain of the Emerald Claw
force is a vampire. In such a scenario, the fact that the enemy is a vampire may only
become relevant in battle; they’re just a powerful foe to be overcome. Of course, they’ll
primarily want to move at night and will have difficulty with water. But the DM might also
emphasize their ability to charm people to get the things they want… or play up the
infestation aspect as a weapon in their arsenal. Perhaps the artifact is hidden
somewhere in a region populated by small villages of tabaxi. The adventurers discover
a village that appears to be completely empty; the Emerald Claw has clearly passed
through, but there is absolutely no sign of the tabaxi inhabitants. Then as night falls, the
former villagers burrow up out of the ground, red eyes gleaming in the moonlight; the
vampire killed them all, and left them to return as spawn as a trap for the adventurers.
Such a scenario is both an opportunity for a challenging fight and a chance to showcase
the utter cruelty and bloodthirst of the vampire, who’s willing to drain an entire village
just to mock their rivals.

They Are The Land. The vampire is in a position of unquestioned authority in an

isolated place. The Lhazaar Principalities are an easy option for this, allowing a vampire
to have entrenched power stretching back for generations. But they could just as easily
be the lord of a remote community in the Five Nations… or the captain of a ship, or the
foreman of a factory. The point is that they hold power; they have a secure stronghold
and considerable resources; and that the local population supports them, whether due
to actual devotion or simply because of overwhelming terror. Such a vampire might
have supernatural connections that go beyond their typical powers. Perhaps the
vampire can see through the eyes of every rat in their domain. Maybe they control the
weather. Perhaps they have shadow-minions that can possess the shadows of
residents or visitors. The adventurers can’t figure out how the count seems to know their
every plan… and then they realize the wizard’s shadow is moving on its own!

The Spreading Cult. You have a quest that’s brought you to this small town, and that’s
going to keep you there for a while, a quest that has nothing to do with vampires. But
some of the people are acting strangely. When a blood-drained corpse shows up on the
edge of town, you suspect there’s a vampire about… and perhaps you even have a
clash with a spawn that proves it. But how do you go about discovering the identity of
the vampire, and how do you balance it with your primary quest? How do you deal with
it if someone vital to your quest becomes a spawn—or if you discover the identity of the
vampire, only to realize that you need their help to accomplish your quest? I’ve
suggested this as a small town scenario, but in a large town the spread of a vampire’s
brood could be lost amid the noise of everyday activity. Perhaps the vampire targets a
local gang; they’re already prone to violence, so a few deaths will go unnoticed. Once
they’ve secured the gang, they start spreading throughout the entire underworld. Or
perhaps they’re pursuing a political agenda… and once again, what do you do if you
discover this, but you and the vampire both want the same political outcome? Do you
destroy the vampire if it means losing that crucial vote? An interesting secondary
question is what you do about the spawn after you defeat the master vampire. Do you
hunt them all down, even those that used to be your friends or loved ones? Or do you
believe that they can resist the hunger and retain their humanity?

The Ancient Enemy. By the Monster Manual entry, a vampire spellcaster is a CR 15

creature—not something a low level character could face. I’ll talk more about this below,
but one option is to say that there’s a vampire that has feuding with your family for
countless generations, killing each member of your bloodline as soon as they have a
child. The vampire shows up occasionally, to see how you’re doing and to mock you
before vanishing in mist. Perhaps you go to sleep in an inn, only to wake up to find the
innkeeper turned to spawn. Hopefully its overconfidence will be the end of it!
Alternatively, the vampire in this scenario could be an agent of the Emerald Claw in
addition to being the scourge of your bloodline; in addition to haunting you, they are
also carrying out missions for Lady Illmarrow. If you cross paths, they won’t kill you,
because it’s not time yet; but they can still make you suffer!

The Desperate Spawn. A vampire exerts control over the spawn that it creates. But
some spawn cling to their humanity and seek to defy their undead master. Your
adventurers could receive assistance from just such a spawn. They might be very
limited in the help they can provide, or only able to assist in certain places or at certain
times. But this can be a compelling way to have a vampire as an ally. Of course, the
question is whether the adventurers can trust the spawn… does it truly seek to retain its
humanity? Or does it simply want its master slain so it can be independent and pursue
its own malevolent path?

The Repentant Monster. Vampires don’t have to do evil or to be evil. The hunger of
Mabar—or whatever power animates the vampire—drives them to prey on the living,
but they can fight these urges. The vampire mentors of the Blood of Vol are an example
of this; they are sustained by blood freely given by the faithful, and (at least in theory)
devote their undead existence to guiding and protecting Seekers. While there’s nothing
wrong with having a vampire who’s never done anything bad in its entire existence, a
repentant monster can be a compelling character. Most vampires begin as spawn under
the control of a sire, who might make them do terrible things; consider a certain vampire
king in Eberron canon who was forced to murder his beloved spouse. Or consider Angel
from the Buffy series; his infamous past highlighted his currently heroism and also
served as a lingering threat. This ties to a vampire’s longevity. How will adventurers
react when they learn that the vampire NPC who’s serving as a patron or mentor now
was an infamous murderer when they served alongside Malleon the Reaver? Do they
believe that they are truly repentant?

In considering these stories—I should call out the following concept from Chronicles of
Eberron:

Once you have one vampire, it’s easy to make more … so why aren’t
vampires more common? The primary reason is that it’s not easy being a
vampire. A vampire is bound to Mabar, and Mabar is hungry. This fuels
a vampire’s thirst for both the blood and life energy of the living, and
over time, it becomes increasingly difficult for a vampire not to see all
living creatures as prey. A weak-willed vampire quickly devolves into a
feral predator; such creatures use the statistics of vampire spawn, but
their Intelligence is more a measure of cunning than of rational thought.
It takes strong will to maintain your personality as a vampire, and
stronger still to maintain any empathy or compassion for other
creatures. This is why vampires are seen as monsters, for many do
become ghoulish killers that need to be hunted down by templars of the
Silver Flame, the knights of Dol Arrah, or the Aereni Deathguard. This is
an additional reason most vampires don’t make legions of spawn; all it
takes is one spawn going feral and drawing templars to town to lead to a
deep purge. Undead have no rights under the Code of Galifar, and
destroying a vampire isn’t considered murder; you’d just better be sure
the mayor is a vampire before you kill him.

You don’t have to embrace this idea, and it’s also something that could vary by strain. In
the case of a cult, the idea is that the willpower of the sire sustains the spawn, but that if
the master is slain the spawn could devolve into monsters. Likewise, in cultures like the
Blood of Vol or the Bloodsails where vampirism is an accepted tool, a newborn will be
guided through their new existence, so the feral collapse is rare. But it’s a reason
people aren’t lining up to become vampires… and a challenge you’ll have to deal with
when facing a cult.

VAMPIRIC POWER
The default vampire in the Monster Manual has a Challenge Rating of 13-15… far too
powerful for a starting party of adventurers. It also feels pretty dramatically powerful to
use in many of the situations that have been described above. Is every vampire
Bloodsail CR 13? Are you going to run up against a CR 15 vampire “mentor” if you start
a brawl in a Seeker community? The CR 15 vampire spellcaster works great for The
Ancient Enemy or They Are The Land… but it can be overpowering when you just want
to have a vampire leading a small Emerald Claw cell.

The simplest answer is that most of the vampires in Khorvaire—Seeker guides,

Bloodsail pirates, Emerald Claw officers—aren’t vampires; they’re vampire spawn. With
both the Bloodsails and the Blood of Vol, there are a few full vampires—Grim Lords of
Farlnen, members of the Crimson Covenant—who turn the mortal aspirants who have
earned a vampiric existence. In those cultures, the sire typically doesn’t enforce their
will over their spawn, though they could. And in time, the spawn might earn the blood of
their sire and unlock greater power. Nonetheless, the “typical” vampire you’re likely to
encounter as a Seeker guide or an Emerald Claw enforcer would actually be a vampire
spawn… which, at CR 5, is a more reasonable challenge for a low level group of
adventurers.

While this is a practical solution to the power level of a vampire, the default vampire
spawn lacks many of the classic vampire powers and isn’t the most interesting
opponent. I’m posting a companion article on my Patreon that provides additional
options for vampire spawn to make them more interesting enemies.

STRAINS AND BLOODLINES

There are many different forms of vampire that can be found across Khorvaire. The
Qabalrin strain is the most widespread and well known, and it’s what the common
person thinks of when they hear the word “vampire”. This section discusses the
Qabalrin vampire and a few of the other bloodlines out in the world.

Qabalrin: The Common Vampire

When the typical citizen of the Five Nations, they think of an undead creature with
fangs, an affinity for bats and wolves, an aversion to sunlight and an inability to enter
homes unless invited. Academics refer to this strain as the Qabalrin Vampire, as it was
believed to have been created by the necromancers of the Qabalrin elves in Xen’drik.
The Line of Vol revived this strain in Aerenal, and there were a number of such
vampires among the elf refugees and exiles who fled following the destruction of the
Line of Vol. Some went north and helped found the Bloodsail Principality on the island
of Farlnen. Other exiled vampires traveled inland and helped establish the faith now
known as the Blood of Vol. But there were a handful of vampires who broke ties with
their fellow elves and carved their own paths… and they and their spawn spread out
across Khorvaire and into infamous legend. While the oldest Qabalrin vampires are
elves, over the course of their migration they have created spawn of many different
species. It’s worth noting that “Qabalrin Vampire” is an academic term; even among the
Seekers and the Bloodsails, most people simply refer to these creatures as “vampires.”

Qabalrin vampires use the Vampire and Vampire Spawn stat blocks from the Monster
Manual, and have the standard weaknesses. Their Charm effect involves manipulation
of desire and allure; their victims adore them. The Bloodsails have developed a magic
item they call the Torc of Blood and Salt. When attuned, this protects a vampire from
being harmed by running water; however, water dramatically bubbles and steams when
in contact with the vampire.

Qabalrin Example: The Phantom of the Grand Stage. An adventurer in Sharn is

approached by an old friend who works at the Grand Stage in Upper Menthis. This
friend has only been working at the Stage a little while, but it’s an excellent job they
want to keep. But they’ve noticed something strange. The beloved leading man often
seems pale and weak after major performances. There’s a surprising turnover in
stagehands. The director absolutely refuses to make changes to a particular script, and
the manager refuses to take the actor’s concerns seriously. Can the adventurers get to
the bottom of this? One or more members of the stage crew are vampire spawn… and
the investigation shows that their sire is a powerful Brelish noble. They finally come face
to face with the Phantom, who wears a mask and has no desire to fight them; she
appreciates how well they’ve played their roles. She tells them she’ll be leaving town for
a decade now… and if the adventurers stop digging into her affairs, she’ll let them live.
Perhaps if there’s a bard in the party, she even offers to sponsor their work; she would
be an influential patron. At CR 13 the Phantom is too powerful for the adventurers to
defeat; if they attack she might toy with them before making her offer again. Do they let
her go? Do they fight until one or more of them are dead, at which point she laughs and
mists away? Or do they agree to her terms, but then seek out allies—templars, knights
of Dol Arrah—who can help them bring down the Phantom?

Barrowbones: Vassals of the Bone King

Do y’know the story of King Odakyr, lad? This was before Karrn the Conqueror, before
anyone ever sought the Divinity Within. Odakyr was a warlord and a tyrant, and he drew
power from the darkness in the land. It was said the shadows obeyed his beck and call.
He was a cruel man, and his own son eventually brought an end to his reign with a
sharp length of steel. But just one day after Odakyr was laid beneath the stones, he
rose from his barrow and slew the young prince. He ruled on then, holding court only at
night, and his council had more shadows than it did ministers. It was Halon Harn who
finally did him in, the greatest grandsire of House Deneith, the model for the Sentinel
Marshals of today. But some say Odakyr’s shadow slipped away after the battle… and
that he still lingers, haunting his long-buried barrow.

The Bone King of Mabar can transform chosen mortals into vampires. Often this starts
with a warlock-like pact. As with the story of Odakyr, the mortal might gain powers tied
to the shadows of Mabar—abilities in line with those of a Hexblade or Undead warlock.
When the individual dies, they rise again, infused with the hunger of the Endless Night.
This is the source of the academic name for the line, as old stories speak of tyrants
rising in their barrows. This can be a useful option for a recurring villain; the adventurers
may bring an enemy down or see them die, only to have them return later in the
campaign as a vampire. When a barrowbone vampire is finally destroyed, its spirit is
drawn to the domain of the Bone King in Mabar, where it lingers as a wraith.

Barrowbone vampires don’t have dainty fangs. When they reveal their true nature, their
jaws distend to reveal rows of needle-like teeth. Long bone talons extend from their
fingers; barrowbone vampires inflict slashing damage with their unarmed attacks. When
a barrowbone is struck with a grievous wound, shadow leaks from them instead of
blood. Barrowbone vampires don’t cast shadows—but the Bone King typically grants a
vampire an undead shadow that accompanies the vassal, concealing this absence.

A barrowbone vampire may use the vampire or vampire spawn stat block as a
foundation, reflecting the power of the vassal. Make the following changes to the base
stat block.

Barrowbone vampires aren’t Harmed By Running Water and don’t have the
Forbiddance weakness. However, they are vulnerable to Radiant damage.
A barrowbone can only use its Shapechange to assume mist form; for the
barrowbone, this manifests as transforming into a shadow.
A barrowbone’s Children of the Night trait summons 1d4 Shadows.
 While the barrowbone’s Charm action causes a creature to become charmed,
the experience for the victim is one of abject terror; the victim feels that they must
do what the vampire asks of them or they will be destroyed.
A humanoid drained and slain by a barrowbone’s bite returns after burial with the
statistics of a ghoul. These ghoul-spawn retain their appearance and memories
from life, though like vampire spawn they are under the control of the vampire that
made them. They cannot create other ghouls.

Barrowbone Example: King Odakyr. As described in the legend above, Odakyr ruled
as a tyrant long before the Seekers of the Divinity Within settled in the region that still
bears his name. Over the centuries he has occasionally returned and sought to
dominate the mortals that dwell in his ancestral domain, but Seeker champions have
driven him back. Yet no one has ever found his resting place, hidden deep below the
Mabaran manifest zone at the heart of the region. Odakyr is now the site of Fort Bones.
Adventurers could get drawn into Odakyr’s attempt to return and seize control of Fort
Bones; perhaps the Bone King has given him power over the Karrnathi undead! Or
perhaps it’s a dungeon crawl, and adventurers need to delve into his deep crypt to
recover an artifact the Bone King gave to the fallen tyrant long ago…

Souldrinkers: The Keeper’s Chosen

Legends say Souldrinkers are bound to the Keeper and the Shadow, as described in
the myth that starts this article. However, it may well be that they are creations of the
dracolich Mazryalyx, the master of the Keeper’s Lair. Either way, the fact is the same.
They are undead predators who pay for their eternal life by consuming innocent souls.
Because of this, souldrinkers are often solitary wanderers, traveling from place to place,
moving on after they have fulfilled their appetites. Souldrinkers often have a particular
taste; a souldrinker might only drain poets, or soldiers, or people in the depths of
despair.

Souldrinkers don’t have fangs. They have a second tongue with a barbed end that can
extend up to a foot from their mouth. In their vampiric form they appear to be ancient,
with papery skin stretched over bone and eyes of pure darkness sunk deep in their
sockets. They can use either the vampire or vampire spawn stat blocks as a foundation,
with the following changes.

Souldrinkers aren’t harmed by Running Water or by Stakes to the Heart. They are
vulnerable to psychic damage, as they feel things very intensely. They can only be
truly destroyed by psychic damage, eradicating their will to return.
A souldrinker can use Shapechange to assume the form of a beast that can be
summoned with Find Familiar. Each souldrinker has a specific beast form it can
take; once chosen this cannot be changed.
Souldrinkers retain traces of the memories of the creatures they drain. A
Souldrinker can speak with the voices of its victims, using these to taunt
adventurers with those they’ve lost. A Souldrinker can cast speak with
dead targeting its victims, as if their bodies were present. When the sun sets, a
Souldrinker can choose one skill or tool that one of its former victims was
proficient in; for the next 24 hours, the Souldrinker has proficiency and expertise
with that skill.
Souldrinkers do not have the Children of the Night trait.
Souldrinkers don’t create spawn. Someone reduced to zero hit points by a
Souldrinker can only be restored to life by a wish spell. The DM must decide if the
souls remain within the Souldrinker—in which case, the victims could be restored
to life through normal methods if the Souldrinker is destroyed—or if they are
channeled to a specific place or power, such as the Lair of the Keeper.
Malefic Vampires: Spawn of the Overlords
Ultimately, vampires are creatures that appear to be humanoids and prey on humanoids
in order to prolong their unnatural existence. Many of the overlords can corrupt mortals
to create predators. Such malefic vampires may be undead, or they may be fiends; it’s
up to the DM to decide if they are a corpse animated by demonic forces, or a mortal
husk possessed by fiendish power. There’s a few examples of malefic vampires, but it’s
not a conclusive list.

The Cold Sun. Vampires created by the overlord Masvirik manifest serpentine
traits. When they reveal their vampiric nature their jaws distend and reveal long,
serpentine fangs; they shed their skin, revealing scales underneath. In addition to
the standard effect, someone bitten by a Cold Sun vampire must make a
Constitution saving throw (DC 17 for a vampire, DC 14 for spawn) or be paralyzed
for one minute; the victim repeats the saving throw at the end of each of their
turns, ending the effect on success and gaining immunity to that vampire’s venom
for one minute. Poison Dusk vampires aren’t harmed by running water, but they
are vulnerable to fire damage. A Poison Dusk vampire can shapechange into mist
or into a tiny snake; the Children of the Night action can be used to summon 1d4
swarms of poisonous snakes.
The Heart of Winter. Vampires created by the overlord Draal Khatuur have veins
filled with frozen blood. They don’t actually drink blood, but instead absorb the
heat from creatures they embrace. When they reveal their vampire form, their
flesh is encased in frost and they radiate an aura of cold, inflicting 5 cold damage
on any creature that starts its turn adjacent to the vampire. Iceblood vampires are
immune to cold damage and vulnerable to fire damage. In place of Charm, they
can use an effect that mimics hold person; the victim is actually frozen for the
duration of the spell. Icebloods don’t have the Forbiddance weakness, but they
cannot move within 5 feet of a source of fire equal to or larger than a torch. The
only form an iceblood vampire can take with shapechanging is a cold mist.
Iceblood vampires don’t have the Children of the Night trait, but they can cast Ray
of Frost, which manifests as the vampire trying to suck the warmth from the target
at a distance.
The Oathbreaker. Eldrantulku loves to sow strife and intrigue among allies, and
oathbreaker vampires use their gifts to set feuds in motion and cause vendettas.
Once an oathbreaker vampire has tasted a humanoid’s blood, it gains a number of
benefits. It can use its Shapechanger ability to duplicate the appearance of the
victim (or to assume a misty form). It can cast dream on the victim once per day.
And it can cast detect thoughts on the victim from any distance, provided they are
both on the same plane. The victim feels that they are being watched when this
occurs, but cannot identify the source of the sensation. If a victim makes a
successful saving throw against either dream or detect thoughts, they are immune
to the oathbreaker’s manipulations for 24 hours. Oathbreaker vampires don’t have
the Children of Night trait.
The Gatekeeper. Katashka delights in spreading fear of the undead among
mortals, and prefers its minions to be ghastly and dramatic. The nosferatu
presented in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft is a good example of a vampiric
creature Katashka would create; the Gatekeeper is also known to create Spawn of
Kyuss, though in Eberron these are “Spawn of Katashka.”

Abominations: Creations of the Daelkyr

The daelkyr have created their own variations of vampires and vampire spawn. Often,
these creatures are alien entities animating corpses, and are aberrations rather than
undead. Kyrzin vampires are a form of ooze that replaces the victim’s blood; when they
use Misty Escape, they actually abandon their host body in vaporous form and have to
animate a new corpse; they summon oozes instead of rats and bats. Valaara’s vampires
are insect colonies animating corpses, a more subtle form of the Spawn of Kyuss. Dyrrn
creates psychic vampires that consume thoughts instead of blood.

Thelanian Vampires: Storybook Villains

While academics use the term “Thelanian,” most Thelanian vampires are natives of the
material plane. Often they are transformed due to a connection to an archfey, similar to
the relationship between the Bone King of Mabar and the barrowbone vampires. Lady
Talon is an example of a Thelanian vampire; she is tied to the fey of the Riverwood, and
has become something more than mortal. Thelanian vampires are considered to be fey
as opposed to undead, but the key is that they are still unnaturally extending their life by
consuming the blood or energy of others. The cosmetic details of a Thelanian vampire
should reflect the Archfey or tale that has spawned them. The Archfey of the Riverwood
is tied to owls, and so is Lady Talon; and as a spirit of the Riverwood, she enjoys
running water. Typically, every Thelanian vampire will be unique; learning about the fey
or the tale they are tied to will be the key to understanding their powers.

ALTERNATE WEAKNESSES
Chronicles of Eberron suggests a number of alternative weaknesses for vampires.
Here’s a few ideas that could be used instead of or in addition to the standard options.
These ideas aren’t especially restricted to vampires; they could be tied to oathbound,
death knights, or any other undead with an appropriate story.

Anchors. The Monster Manual suggests that a vampire must be tied to its coffin and to
grave dirt from the site of its original burial. But depending on the strain of the vampire
and its personal story, it could be connected to something other than a coffin. This could
be similar to a lich’s phylactery, an object that facilitates the vampire’s return if it is
destroyed. Perhaps a barrowbone tyrant doesn’t flee in mist form, but they are tied to
their spiked adamantine crown. They will only truly be defeated (and condemned to
wraithdom) if the crown is destroyed; otherwise, some weak-willed mortal will be
compelled to put on the crown, and their body will be reshaped into that of the vampire.
Or perhaps specific abilities of the vampire are tied to an object. A handsome vampire
keeps a portrait made of them in life in their mansion; if it is burnt, the vampire will be
unable to conceal their true nature, becoming hideous and withered. A Thelanian
vampire might be tried to a tree. They meld with the tree when they rest or retreat, and
the sap of the tree is instead all the blood the vampire has drained from its victims.

Ghostlight. Something familiar to players of Phoenix Dawn Command, this is the idea
that certain undead are vulnerable to relics and reminders of their original death. By
learning the history of the creature, adventurers can learn how to effectively defeat it.
King Odakyr was first killed by his son, a human wielding a dagger. The closer
adventurers can get to recreating this original death, the more bonuses they should
receive. At the simplest level, a human attacking Odakyr with a dagger could get
advantage to attack rolls. If the human is wearing a piece of clothing or jewelry that
belonged to Odakyr’s son, the king might be vulnerable to the damage they inflict. If
they can find the actual dagger originally used to kill him, they might get all of that and
negate his regeneration, or score critical hits on an 18-20. Conversely, you could say
that Odakyr cannot be permanently slain any other way, which is why he lingers to this
day; the dagger is lost and has never been found. The point of this is to encourage and
reward investigation; the only way to defeat the undead creature is to understand it, and
to confront it with its own mortality.

The Power of Faith. While many divine spellcasters have ways to harm undead, on its
own a holy symbol has no power over a vampire. In my campaign, I like to give such
symbols power based on the faith of the vampire. If a vampire (or other sentient undead
creature) was an especially devout follower of a particular faith, it must make a Wisdom
saving throw (DC 13) when someone uses an action to brandish a holy symbol of that
faith and castigate them. If it fails the saving throw, the undead creature is frightened of
the symbol until the end of the brandishing character’s next turn. For a more intense
situation, a DM could allow a character of strong faith to take a bonus action to engage
in an opposed Religion check with the vampire; if the adventurer wins the contest, the
vampire has disadvantage on attack rolls against them and they have advantage on
saving throws against its attacks until the end of their next turn. In both of these cases,
the key is that the vampire has to have once had faith, and the adventurers have to
know what it was they believed in. The point is that if a Souldrinker vampire believes its
power comes from the Keeper, there is a level at which it believes it is an abomination
in Dol Arrah’s eyes—and thus it responds to being cursed in her name. But a Qabalrin
vampire that never believed in any power greater than itself won’t be shaken by your
invocation of Aureon or the Flame.

WHAT ABOUT DHAMPIRS?

Dhampirs possess vampiric traits but aren’t actually undead. In Chronicles of Eberron I
suggested that dhampirs could mortals born in Mabaran manifest zones and touched by
its all-consuming hunger, or that they could be shaped by pacts with Katshka or the
Keeper. These ideas still work, but another option is that you became a dhampir due to
extended contact with a vampire. Perhaps you were kept prisoner by a vampire, drained
just to the edge of death time and again; you survived and eventually escaped, but you
were forever changed by the experience. Maybe you were actually slain and returned
as a vampire spawn… but due to a quirk of your sire’s bloodline, when it was destroyed,
all of its spawn were returned to the half-life of the dhampir. Or perhaps you were a
familiar who willingly bound yourself to a vampire… and through this bargain, you
gained a fraction of your vampire’s power.