Class: Vampire
The Vampire
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| Nihilism | ||||||
| Level | Special | Max Depth | Wu Wei | Max Void Debt | Mysteries | Katas Known |
| 1 | Genome Drain | Cursory | +0 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Blood Power | Cursory | +1 | 5 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | Cursory | +2 | 5 | 2 | 5 | |
| 4 | Blood Power | Cursory | +2 | 6 | 2 | 6 |
| 5 | Shallow | +3 | 6 | 2 | 7 | |
| 6 | Blood Power | Shallow | +4 | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| 7 | Shallow | +4 | 7 | 3 | 9 | |
| 8 | Blood Power | Yawning | +5 | 7 | 3 | 11 |
| 9 | Yawning | +6 | 8 | 3 | 12 | |
| 10 | Vampire Talent | Yawning | +6 | 8 | 3 | 13 |
| 11 | Deep | +7 | 8 | 4 | 14 | |
| 12 | Vampire Talent | Deep | +8 | 9 | 4 | 15 |
| 13 | Deep | +8 | 9 | 4 | 16 | |
| 14 | Vampire Talent | Abysmal | +9 | 10 | 4 | 17 |
| 15 | Abysmal | +10 | 10 | 5 | 19 | |
| 16 | Vampire Talent | Abysmal | +10 | 10 | 5 | 20 |
| 17 | Tenebrous | +11 | 11 | 5 | 21 | |
| 18 | Vampire Talent | Tenebrous | +12 | 11 | 5 | 22 |
| 19 | Tenebrous | +12 | 12 | 6 | 23 | |
| 20 | Vampire Talent | Tenebrous | +13 | 12 | 6 | 24 |
Vampire
- "Your blood? No, don't be absurd. It's your soul that interests me... which, admittedly, I'll get to by drinking your blood."
Not all who follow the path of the Void do so because of strong personal convictions; instead, some are drawn to it for the power that it can grant. "Through nothing, all things can be achieved," or so it is said in Nihilist philosophy, and those who take those words literally sometimes find themselves walking down a dangerous road, flirting with the danger that is the Void while seeking to reap all the power they can gain from it. However, the Void exacts its toll from all, even those who seek to abuse it; though they may suffer less than those who give themselves over to the Void entirely, the price is often higher than they would like.
Vampires, or so they are called, are those individuals who seek to wrest from the Void its power while paying as little personal cost as possible. Through immense force of will and strength of body, they are able to withstand reaching their hand into the abyss to pull forth... something. Their willingness to take from the Void becomes translated into the ability to take from others: through the application of Nihilist power, vampires can temporarily acquire the abilities of people and beast alike, using the power of the Void to fuel these abilities where other means may be necessary. Ever eager, the Void also grants these individuals some measure of power over nothingness itself, but vampires cannot command it to the extent that most other nihilists can, and risk annihilation significantly faster than those who dedicate themselves to nihilcraft.
Vampires are not intrinsically evil, but almost all have their start in the pursuit of power, whether it be for their own personal gain or for the betterment of all. Some vampires hope to use the Void against itself, using their powers gleaned from staring the abyss in the eye to fight against the encroaching non-existence, while others seek to use this unusual power to gain the upper-hand against their opposition and impose their strong will on others. The reputation of vampires, and the common image associated with them, comes from those few in the past who rose to prominence, letting their shadows grow long in the minds of men, twisting and distorting the truth. While some vampires seek to emulate these ancient individuals - after all, most seemed to have a strong sense of style - this is by no means a requirement.
The nature of vampirism is such that it lends itself to being passed through "generations" of vampires; a would-be teacher may find a likely student and introduce him into the ways of the vampire through subjecting him to it. Some of these individuals choose to forsake their mortal families and refer to their teacher as their parent, with some such lineages stretching back hundreds of years. However, the secrets of vampirism are not so secret that they cannot be found out by lone individuals seeking power by any means.
Game Rule Information
Vampires have the following game statistics.
Force Alignment: Void.
Force Resistances: DI 5 + level, NI 5 + level.
Abilities: Charisma and Constitution are the most important abilities for a vampire. Charisma modifies his ability to manipulate the Void, while Constitution enables him to invoke the abilities of those whose blood he consumes.
Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + Con score.
Hit Points at Each Additional Level: 7 + Con modifier.
Healing Surges: 8 + Con modifier.
Defenses: Fort +2; Ref +2; Will +2; Det +2.
Starting Age: Simple.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the vampire.
Proficiencies
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Weapons: Any four.
Armor: Light.
Implements: Spreads.
Nihilism
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Vampires are nihilists, which means they make use of katas, a term used for the abilities culled from the Void, and called as such because they are reminiscent of the movements of martial arts, in which one must blank one's mind - a necessary precaution before attempting to access the Void.
A vampire can release - use - any kata they know at any time. However, when to do so, he must make a wu wei check. This check represents how much the vampire can imitate the Void's emptiness of mind and soul; the better he is able to do so, the less backlash he suffers from the Void seeking to wrest its way into reality. The result of the wu wei check indicates how much void debt the vampire accumulates for using that kata, per the table below. Once a vampire has made the wu wei check, he cannot back out: the action is done, and any void debt accrued is real.
A vampire gets a bonus to his wu wei checks equal to the bonus listed on the table, above, plus his Wisdom modifier.
Wu Wei and Void Debt
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| Wu Wei Check | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kata Depth | 1- | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37+ |
| Cursory | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Shallow | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Yawning | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Deep | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Abysmal | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Tenebrous | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ominous | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
Nihilism Depths
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| Depth | Minimum Charisma |
| Cursory | 11 |
| Shallow | 13 |
| Yawning | 15 |
| Deep | 17 |
| Abysmal | 19 |
| Tenebrous | 21 |
| Ominous | 23 |
Void debt represents the pull of the Void on the vampire: once he has accrued any amount of void debt, the Void has taken notice of the abuse of its powers and lashes out at the very existence of the creature in question. A vampire suffers a penalty to all d20 rolls, including his wu wei checks, equal to the amount of void debt he has.
If at any time the vampire has accrued more void debt than his max void debt, he is immediately reduced to 0 hit points, loses a healing surge, and is dying. If a vampire dies with more void debt than his max void debt, his death is permanent and irrevocable, and in place of his body a nihimental of his level is spawned.
A vampire automatically reduces his void debt to 0 with a short rest.
When not in a combat or stressful situation, the vampire can opt to take 10 on his wu wei check when using a kata.
To release a kata of a given depth, you must meet its minimum Charisma requirements, per the table on the right.
The vampire begins with three known katas. He gains knowledge of additional katas each level, as per the class table, above. At fourth level and every four levels after, he can trade out up to two katas for new katas from any mystery he can access, of any depth he can access.
If you would gain access to a mystery, you can choose to instead gain a bonus feat, which must be a feat for which you qualify. If you would gain access to a mystery and already have access to six mysteries, you gain a bonus feat instead.
The vampire's key ability for his void attacks is his Charisma.
Genome Drain
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The signature ability of vampires is the power to pull out the essence of other creatures; not in a physical sense, but the essence of what makes them an individual entity in the world. The vampire can take this metaphysical concept and, in combination with their understanding of the Void, turn it into power for themselves. This "genome drain," as it is known, allows the vampire to make use of abilities it has literally stolen from the metaphysical concept of other creatures.
The vampire gains a bite attack, which deals potency 2 piercing damage; this is a natural weapon, and the vampire is proficiency with it, but making an attack with this bite is always a standard action, and requires that you are currently grabbing the target, or that the target is currently helpless, unconscious, or otherwise restrained.
Whenever the vampire hits a creature with this attack, he also gains a healing surge if the target is living (and thus not a construct or undead); if the target has healing surges, the target loses one. In addition, the vampire chooses one class feature, racial ability, or specific maneuver or Force ability (spell, power, etc) the creature knows; the vampire gains that ability for 5 rounds.
The vampire substitutes his vampire level for class level, and his nihilist level for spark or initiator level. If the ability requires an expenditure of a Force-specific resource, such as MP, PP, Memory, or similar, that cost is translated directly into the an accrual of void debt on a 1:1 basis. If the ability requires an expenditure of a class-specific resource (such as the akashic's memory surge), the vampire instead must expend one healing surge.
- Special: If an ability calls upon absolute limit, the vampire's absolute limit is treated as his vampire level times the number of healing surges he has remaining.
The ability functions exactly as though the vampire had acquired the ability naturally, be it as though from being a member of a particular race or having levels in a particular class. If the ability has restrictions on its use (such as a recharge die for Blue memes), the vampire obeys those restrictions.
Blood Power
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The common personality trait amongst all vampires is the thirst for power, at least initially; for vampires, this power is found through the consumption of blood, in which the essence of creatures resides (see Genome Drain, above). As he grows in personal power, he can reach deeper into the Void and accrue more abilities for himself; in doing so, however, he becomes further tainted by the Void, as it demands payment for such power.
At each of the listed levels, you can choose one ability from the following list. Note that most of these abilities have an associated void taint effect, which the Void inflicts upon you in exchange for greater power.
In addition, the more power you accrue through blood, the more you have need of it - specifically, need of the blood of others to sustain you. When you take a long rest, reduce the number of healing surges you gain by one-quarter, rounded down, for each blood power ability you have (thus, once you have four, you no longer regain healing surges through resting).
Blood Powers
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| Blood Power | Prerequisites | Effect | Void Taint |
| Blood Memory | --- | When you use your genome drain ability, you can choose to permanently retain an ability you gain. You can activate a retained ability by spending a healing surge as a standard action; if the ability in question already requires an action, you can also immediately use the ability, and you retain use of the ability for 5 rounds. You can have a number of retained abilities equal to your Constitution modifier; if you wish to retain a new ability that would put you over this limit, you can immediately forget one ability of your choice. | You no longer need to eat or drink; instead, you are sustained by the blood of the living. You must expend one healing surge each day to sustain yourself; abilities that negate the need for food or water does not negate this effect. If you do not, you suffer a penalty to all d20 rolls equal to the number of days since you have last expended a healing surge for this purpose, to a maximum of twice your vampire level. |
| Blood Price | Vampire level 10th+ | As a standard action, you can spend any number of healing surges. Reduce your void debt by the number of healing surges you expended. | You cannot use any of your vampire class features while within 30 feet of garlic. |
| Dark Healing | --- | As a standard action, you can spend any number of healing surges. You gain fast healing with potency equal to the number of healing surges you expended for 5 rounds. | You are only able to enjoy the benefits of a long rest if you sleep atop a layer of dirt taken from within 100 feet of your birthplace while inside a coffin. |
| Charming Gaze | --- | As a free action, you can spend any number of healing surges. Until the start of your next turn, you can make a nihilist attack with a power bonus equal to the number of healing surges you expended (opposed by Will) against any creature that meets your gaze (you can intentionally meet the gaze of a creature that is not actively averting its eyes, or otherwise blind, as a standard action); if you hit, that creature becomes charmed for 5 rounds. | You are utterly unable to enter a home or other building unless invited in by someone with the authority to do so. You may freely enter public places, since these are by definition open to all. |
| Dominating Gaze | Vampire level 10th+, charming gaze | Your charming gaze now causes dominated, rather than charmed. | You gain innate holy vulnerability. |
| Gaseous Form | Vampire level 10th+ | As a standard action, you can spend a healing surge. You gain the effects of gaseous form for 5 rounds. | You gain innate radiant vulnerability. |
| Immortality | Vampire level 10th+ | You no longer takes ability score penalties for aging, cannot be aged through Force effects, and no longer have a maximum age. Any penalties you may have already incurred, however, remain in place. You still accrue bonuses for aging. While you have the dead status, you still enjoy the benefits of fast healing (but no other healing effects), and the dead status is removed if you are healed to above 0 hit points. | Only this ability and effects with the [impossible] descriptor can remove the dead status from you. |
| Night Form | --- | As a standard action, you can spend a healing surge. You gain the ability to transform into a normal bat as a standard action, and can resume your normal form as a standard action; this ability lasts for 24 hours. | You cast no reflection, be it in mirrors, water, or other reflective surfaces. In the presence of such a reflective surface, the DC needed to identify you as a vampire is reduced by 5. |
| Spider Climb | --- | As a standard action, you can spend a healing surge. You gain spider climb for 1 hour. | You are unable to cross running water, although you can be carried over it while resting (specifically in your coffin, if you have dark healing) or in vessels designed to cross water. If you become immersed in running water, you lose one-quarter of your maximum hit points each round. |
| Soul Drain | Vampire level 10th+ | When you use your genome drain ability, you can spend a healing surge as part of the attack (before you make the attack roll). If you do, and if you deal damage, you also cause the target to gain one negative level, and you gain an additional healing surges. | You no longer cast a shadow. In the presence of light, the DC needed to identify you as a vampire is reduced by 5. |
| Unholy Skin | --- | As a standard action, you can spend a healing surge. You gain protect, barrier (cold), and barrier (lightning) for 5 rounds. | You are repelled by holy symbols and icons, such that if a creature strongly presents such an item against you, you must remain at least 10 feet from that creature, and cannot make melee attacks against it; such presentation of an item is a standard action. |
| Vampiric Might | --- | As a standard action, you can spend any number of healing surges. You gain a +2 untyped bonus to an ability score of your choice for each healing surge you expended for 5 rounds. | Exposure to the sun is disorienting for you. If you are in partial sunlight, you become slowed; you gain dead after 1 round of exposure to direct sunlight. |
Design Notes
Please welcome Bravely Default to Fanfiction: the Game.
Feb 26, 2017: Partial rebuild, mostly updated to t20 v4.
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