Creature Templates: V

You can turn an existing living creature into a vampire using the following steps.

Increase the creature's level by 1 and change its statistics as follows.

• It gains the undead and vampire traits, and usually becomes evil.
• Increase AC, attack bonuses, DCs, saving throws, and skill modifiers by 1.
• Increase damage with Strikes and other offensive abilities by 1. If an ability can be used only a small number of times (such as a dragon's breath weapon), increase the damage by 2 instead.
• Reduce HP by the amount listed on the table.
• The vampire gains fast healing and resistance to physical damage (except silver) as indicated in the table. These abilities are the reason the vampire has less HP.

Negative Healing

Immunities death effects, disease, paralyzed, poison, sleep

Coffin Restoration (divine, necromancy, negative) Unlike other undead, a vampire isn't destroyed at 0 HP. Instead, it falls unconscious. If its body rests in its coffin for 1 hour, the vampire gains 1 HP, after which its fast healing begins to function normally.

Vampire Weaknesses All vampires possess the following weaknesses.

• Compulsions Vampires are creatures of strange and unknowable compulsions. A typical vampire can't voluntarily cross running water unless it is transported while it hides within its coffin, nor can it enter a private dwelling unless invited in by someone with the authority to do so. At your discretion, vampires might have different compulsions—a pirate vampire might not be able to set foot on solid ground without being invited, for example. The vampire can still be forced to do these things and might be able to overcome its compulsion just as it does its revulsion (see below).
• Revulsion A vampire can't voluntarily come within 10 feet of brandished garlic or a brandished religious symbol of a non-evil deity. To brandish garlic or a religious symbol, a creature must Interact to do so for 1 round (similar to Raising a Shield). If the vampire involuntarily comes within 10 feet of an object of its revulsion, it gains the fleeing condition, running from the object of its revulsion until it ends an action beyond 10 feet. After 1 round of being exposed to the subject of its revulsion, a vampire can attempt a DC 25 Will save as a single action, which has the concentrate trait. On a success, it overcomes its revulsions for 1d6 rounds (or 1 hour on a critical success).
• Stake A wooden stake driven through a vampire's heart drops the vampire to 0 HP and prevents it from healing above 0 HP, even in its coffin. Staking a vampire requires three actions and works only if the vampire is unconscious. If the stake is removed, the vampire can heal above 0 HP again, and if it's in its coffin the 1-hour rest period begins once the stake is removed. If the vampire's head is severed and anointed with holy water while the stake is in place, the vampire is destroyed.
• Sunlight If exposed to direct sunlight, a vampire immediately becomes slowed 1. The slowed value increases by 1 each time the vampire ends its turn in sunlight. If the vampire loses all its actions in this way, it is destroyed. Due to their supernatural aversion to light, vampires don't cast shadows or show a reflection in mirrors.

Climb Speed Vampires gain a climb Speed equal to their land Speed.

Claws If the creature had hands, its fingernails thicken and grow, granting it an unarmed claw Strike that deals slashing damage and has the agile trait. If the monster had any agile attacks, the damage dealt by its claws should be roughly the same as the damage dealt by those attacks. If it had only non-agile attacks, its claws should deal three-quarters that damage.

Drink Blood [>] (divine, necromancy) Requirements A grabbed, paralyzed, restrained, unconscious, or willing creature is within the vampire's reach. Effect The vampire sinks its fangs into that creature to drink its blood. This requires an Athletics check against the victim's Fortitude DC if the victim is grabbed and is automatic for any of the other conditions. The victim is drained 1 and the vampire regains HP equal to 10% of its maximum HP, gaining any excess HP as temporary Hit Points. Drinking Blood from a creature that's already drained doesn't restore any HP to the vampire but increases the victim's drain value by 1. A vampire can also consume blood that's been emptied into a vessel for sustenance, but it gains no HP from doing so.

Grab The creature's claw attacks (or equivalent unarmed attacks) gain Grab.

Resistances The vampire resists all physical damage except magical silver.

Create Spawn (divine, downtime, necromancy) If a creature dies after being reduced to 0 HP by Drink Blood, the vampire can turn this victim into a vampire by donating some of its own blood to the victim and burying the victim in earth for 3 nights. If the new vampire is lower level than its creator, it is under the creator's control. If a vampire controls too many spawn at once (as determined by the GM), strong-willed spawn can free themselves by succeeding at a Will saving throw against the vampire's Will DC.

Mist Escape [F] Trigger The vampire is reduced to 0 HP. Effect The vampire uses Turn to Mist. It can take move actions to move toward its coffin even though it's at 0 HP. While at 0 HP in this form, the vampire is unaffected by further damage. It automatically returns to its corporeal form, unconscious, if it reaches its coffin or after 2 hours, whichever comes first.

Change Shape [>] (concentrate, divine, polymorph, transmutation) Trigger The vampire is reduced to 0 HP. Effect The vampire transforms into one of its animal forms or back into its normal form. Most vampires can turn into a bat, but some can turn into a different creature, such as a rat or a wolf. Use the options in the aerial form and animal form spells as guidelines.

• Bat The vampire changes into a bat swarm or giant bat. It gains echolocation 40 feet, a land Speed of 20 feet and a fly Speed of 30 feet, and a fangs Strike with the same attack bonus as its highest melee attack. These fangs deal the same amount of damage as the vampire's claws, but deal piercing damage rather than slashing damage.

Children of the Night (divine, enchantment, mental) The vampire's presence brings forth creatures of the night to do the master's bidding. These typically include rat swarms, bat swarms, and wolves, but can include other creatures. The vampire can give telepathic orders to these creatures as long as they are within 100 feet, but they can't communicate back.

Dominate [>>] (divine, enchantment, incapacitation, mental, visual) The vampire can cast dominate at will as a divine innate spell. Casting it requires staring into the target's eyes, giving the spell the visual trait. The save DC uses the DC of the vampire's level, and a creature that succeeds is temporarily immune to that vampire's Dominate for 24 hours. Fully destroying the vampire ends the domination, but merely reducing the vampire to 0 HP is insufficient to break the spell.

Drink Blood As a typical vampire, but the victim is drained 2 instead of 1.

Turn to Mist [>>] (concentrate, divine, transmutation) The vampire turns into a cloud of vapor, as the gaseous form spell, or back to its normal form. The vampire loses fast healing while in gaseous form. The vampire can remain in this form indefinitely.

Open in the interactive list

A vampiric creature consumes the blood of the living for sustenance. It might also possess the compulsions and revulsions of a specific vampire bloodline.

• Add the undead and vampire traits.
• Add the Necril language.
• Decrease the creature's HP based on its level.
• Add the following immunities: death effects, disease, paralyzed, poison, sleep.
• Add resistance to physical damage, with a value based on the creature's level. Choose one type of material that bypasses this resistance: cold iron (vetalarana), silver (moroi), or wood (jiang-shi or nosferatu).
• Add a fangs Strike. It deals damage equal to the creature's lowest melee Strike and can be used to Feed. If the creature already has a jaws or fangs Strike, just add the Feed ability

• Add the following abilities.

Darkvision

Negative Healing

Feed [>] (divine, necromancy) Requirements The vampiric creature's most recent action was a successful jaws Strike that dealt damage; Effect The vampiric creature drains blood from its victim, dealing minimum jaws damage and regaining HP based on its level.

Open in the interactive list

Increase the creature's level by 1 and change its statistics as follows.

• It gains the undead and vampire traits, and usually becomes evil.
• Increase the creature's AC, attack modifiers, DCs, saving throws, and skill modifiers by 1.
• Reduce its Speed by 10 feet, to a minimum of 15 feet.
• Increase its damage with Strikes and other offensive abilities by 1. If an ability can be used only a small number of times (such as a dragon's Breath Weapon), increase the damage by 2 instead.
• Reduce its HP by the amount listed on the table.
• The jiang-shi gains fast healing and resistance to physical damage (except darkwood) as indicated on the table. These abilities are the reason the jiang-shi has less HP.

Darkvision

Breathsense 60 feet (precise). A jiang-shi can't perceive living creatures beyond 5 feet except with their breathsense. A living creature within the listed range who holds its breath is invisible to the jiang-shi for as long as it holds its breath. To hold its breath in this way, a creature must have one hand free to fully plug its nose or cover its mouth. (Refer here for the full rules on holding breath.)

Negative Healing

Immunities death effects, disease, paralyzed, poison, sleep, prone

One More Breath (divine, necromancy, negative) Unlike other undead, a jiang-shi isn't destroyed at 0 HP. Instead, they fall unconscious and awaken in 1 minute with 1 Hit Point. Scattering at least 1 Bulk of glutinous rice or hen eggs on an unconscious jiang-shi destroys them permanently. If the jiang-shi was reduced to 0 HP by an attack from a weapon made of darkwood, they're destroyed immediately.

Jiang-shi Vulnerabilities All jiang-shi possess the following vulnerabilities.

• Revulsion A jiang-shi can't voluntarily come within 10 feet of a brandished mirror or the sound of ringing handbells. A creature can Interact with a mirror or handbell to brandish or ring the item for 1 round (similar to Raising a Shield). If the jiang-shi involuntarily comes within 10 feet of an object of their revulsion, they gain the fleeing condition, running from the object of their revulsion until they are 10 feet or farther from the object. After 1 round of being exposed to the object of their revulsion, a jiang-shi can attempt a DC 25 Will save as a single action, which has the concentrate trait. On a success, they overcome their revulsions for 1d6 rounds (or 1 hour on a critical success).
• Bitter Epiphany A jiang-shi is afflicted by severe melancholia when reminded of their debased nature and the truth of their existential disconnection from living beings. When a jiang-shi sees an altar with at least 1 Bulk of food offerings to ancestor spirits, they must attempt a DC 25 Will save. They are then temporarily immune to Bitter Epiphany for 1 minute.Critical Success The jiang-shi is unaffected.Success The jiang-shi is stupefied 1 for 1 round.Failure The jiang-shi is stupefied 2 for 1 minute.Critical Failure The jiang-shi is stupefied 2 and confused for 1 minute.

Warped Fulu The jiang-shi has corrupted the fulu attached to their brow. The jiang-shi is immune to spells cast from a magic item without expending a spell slot, such as from a scroll or wand. A creature can Steal the fulu to remove it, rolling against the jiangshi's Perception DC. This immediately ends the jiang-shi's immunity to these effects. If a creature then destroys the removed fulu with an Interact action, the jiang-shi also loses their fast healing ability. A jiang-shi can create a replacement fulu by spending 1 uninterrupted hour inscribing a strip of paper (or similar) with a writing instrument.

Rigor Mortis The jiang-shi ignores difficult terrain and effects that would render them prone. A jiang-shi can't take the Drop Prone action. When they Leap they don't trigger reactions that are normally triggered by move actions, such as Attacks of Opportunity.

Claws If the base creature had hands, its fingernails thicken and grow to terrible proportions, granting it an unarmed claw Strike that deals slashing damage, has the agile trait, and can Grab. Use the moderate damage for the creature's level on the Strike Damage table on page 65 of the Gamemastery Guide.

Drain Qi [>] (divine, necromancy) Requirements A grabbed, paralyzed, restrained, unconscious, or willing creature is within the jiang-shi's reach; Effect The jiang-shi drains the victim's life energy, or qi, through their breath. This requires an Athletics check against the victim's Fortitude DC if the victim is grabbed and is automatic for any of the other conditions. The victim is drained 1 and the jiang-shi regains HP equal to 10% of its maximum HP, gaining any excess as temporary Hit Points. Draining qi from a creature that's already drained doesn't restore any HP to the jiang-shi but increases the victim's drained condition value by 1, killing the victim when it reaches drained 5. If the victim has the ability to cast ki spells, it can spend 1 Focus Point to avoid becoming drained. This protects it only from the current attack, not from subsequent attempts to Drain Qi. A victim's drained condition value decreases by 1 every week. If the creature restricts their diet to glutinous rice for at least 1 day and spends 10 minutes dancing, jogging, or otherwise engaging in vigorous physical activity by succeeding at a DC 25 Athletics check, it reduces its drained condition by 1.

Dark Enlightenment The jiang-shi is no longer limited to seeing living creatures with only their breathsense, and they no longer have the Revulsion vulnerability. They can perceive living creatures normally with either darkvision or breathsense, and they can take the Drop Prone action.

Distant Steps When the jiang-shi Leaps, they can add 10 feet to the horizontal and/or vertical distance they move without affecting the Leap DC. The jiang-shi can stand and walk on water and other solid or liquid surfaces that wouldn't normally support their weight.

Tumult of the Blood (divine, necromancy) The third time a jiang-shi successfully Drains Qi within a single minute, they become quickened for 1 minute. They can use their extra action only to Strike or Stride.

Open in the interactive list

While it's best to create a vetalarana from scratch, you can turn an existing living creature into a vetalarana using the following steps.

Increase the creature's level by 1 and change its statistics as follows.

• It gains the undead and vampire traits, and usually becomes evil.
• Increase the creature's AC, attack modifiers, DCs, saving throws, and skill modifiers by 1.
• Increase its damage with Strikes and other offensive abilities by 1. If an ability can be used only a small number of times (such as a dragon's Breath Weapon), increase the damage by 2 instead.
• Reduce its HP by the amount listed on the table.
• The vetalarana gains fast healing, resistance to mental damage, and resistance to physical damage (except cold iron) as indicated on the table. These abilities are the reason the vetalarana has less HP.

Thoughtsense (divination, mental, occult) The vetalarana senses all non-mindless creatures within 100 feet as a precise sense.

Negative Healing

Immunities death effects, disease, paralyzed, poison, sleep

Mental Rebirth (curse, incapacitation, mental, necromancy, occult) Unlike most other undead, a vetalarana isn't destroyed when they reach 0 HP. Instead, their body is destroyed, crumbling to ash, and their mind is immediately transferred into a creature they rendered comatose through Drain Thoughts. This creature must be within 1 mile; if no such creature is in range, the vetalarana is destroyed. The creature becomes controlled by the vetalarana and loses the stupefied and unconscious conditions. If the creature controlled by a vetalarana in this way is killed, the vetalarana's mind transfers to another creature within 1 mile who they rendered comatose through Drain Thoughts. After 1d6 days of being controlled, the controlled creature dies, and its body transforms into that of the vetalarana who rendered it comatose.

Climb Speed A vetalarana gains a climb Speed equal to their land Speed.

Claws If the base creature had hands, its fingernails thicken and grow to terrible proportions, granting it an unarmed claw Strike that deals slashing damage, has the agile trait, and can Grab. Use the moderate damage for the creature's level on the Strike Damage table on page 65 of the Gamemastery Guide.

Drain Thoughts [>] (divination, mental, occult) Requirements A grabbed, paralyzed, restrained, unconscious, or willing creature is within the vetalarana's reach; Effect The vetalarana seizes a creature and consumes its memories. This requires an Athletics check against the victim's Fortitude DC if the victim is grabbed and is automatic for any of the other conditions. The victim is stupefied 1, and the vetalarana regains HP equal to 10% of the vetalarana's maximum HP, gaining any excess as temporary Hit Points. Draining Thoughts from a creature that is already stupefied doesn't restore any HP to the vetalarana but increases the victim's stupefied value by 1. Additionally, the vetalarana views one of the victim's memories. A victim's stupefied condition value decreases by 1 every week. A victim that becomes stupefied 5 in this way is rendered comatose, becoming permanently unconscious. As long as the vetalarana lives, a comatose victim can't regain consciousness, and its stupefied condition doesn't decrease.

Vetalarana Vulnerabilities All vetalaranas possess the following vulnerabilities.

• Barred Senses A vetalarana can't see or sense through force effects or cold iron, and their mind can't penetrate force effects or cold iron. Such barriers can prevent the transference of a vetalarana's mind through Mental Rebirth.
• Revulsion A vetalarana delights in consuming memories and secrets, and is disgusted by those who share such sensitive tidbits openly. A vetalarana can't voluntarily come within 10 feet of a creature loudly voicing their intimate personal secrets or most cherished memories aloud. Speaking such information aloud with conviction is a single action that has the auditory, concentrate, and linguistic traits, and protects the creature until the start of its next turn. A vetalarana that involuntarily comes within 10 feet of a creature sharing such information gains the fleeing condition until they're 10 feet or farther from the creature. After 1 round of being exposed to the secrets of a creature, a vetalarana can attempt a DC 25 Will save as a single action, which has the concentrate trait. On a success, they overcome their revulsions for 1d6 rounds (or 1 hour on a critical success).
• Vulnerable to Brain Destruction A vetalarana whose brain has been destroyed, or is reduced to 0 HP while unable to take mental actions, can't use Mental Rebirth.

Warped Fulu The jiang-shi has corrupted the fulu attached to their brow. The jiang-shi is immune to spells cast from a magic item without expending a spell slot, such as from a scroll or wand. A creature can Steal the fulu to remove it, rolling against the jiangshi's Perception DC. This immediately ends the jiang-shi's immunity to these effects. If a creature then destroys the removed fulu with an Interact action, the jiang-shi also loses their fast healing ability. A jiang-shi can create a replacement fulu by spending 1 uninterrupted hour inscribing a strip of paper (or similar) with a writing instrument.

Rigor Mortis The jiang-shi ignores difficult terrain and effects that would render them prone. A jiang-shi can't take the Drop Prone action. When they Leap they don't trigger reactions that are normally triggered by move actions, such as Attacks of Opportunity.

Claws If the base creature had hands, its fingernails thicken and grow to terrible proportions, granting it an unarmed claw Strike that deals slashing damage, has the agile trait, and can Grab. Use the moderate damage for the creature's level on the Strike Damage table on page 65 of the Gamemastery Guide.

Drain Qi [>] (divine, necromancy) Requirements A grabbed, paralyzed, restrained, unconscious, or willing creature is within the jiang-shi's reach; Effect The jiang-shi drains the victim's life energy, or qi, through their breath. This requires an Athletics check against the victim's Fortitude DC if the victim is grabbed and is automatic for any of the other conditions. The victim is drained 1 and the jiang-shi regains HP equal to 10% of its maximum HP, gaining any excess as temporary Hit Points. Draining qi from a creature that's already drained doesn't restore any HP to the jiang-shi but increases the victim's drained condition value by 1, killing the victim when it reaches drained 5. If the victim has the ability to cast ki spells, it can spend 1 Focus Point to avoid becoming drained. This protects it only from the current attack, not from subsequent attempts to Drain Qi. A victim's drained condition value decreases by 1 every week. If the creature restricts their diet to glutinous rice for at least 1 day and spends 10 minutes dancing, jogging, or otherwise engaging in vigorous physical activity by succeeding at a DC 25 Athletics check, it reduces its drained condition by 1.

Occult Innate Spells A vetalarana manipulator has tongues as a constant occult innate spell.

Resistances The vetalarana manipulator resists mental damage and all physical damage (except magical cold iron).

Control Comatose (exploration, incapacitation, mental, necromancy, occult, possession) Frequency once per day; Effect The vetalarana manipulator spends 10 minutes to take psychic control of the creatures they've rendered comatose with Drain Thoughts. This has the effects of the possession spell, but lasts for up to 6 hours, has a range of 1 mile, and the vetalarana can control a number of comatose victims at a time equal to half the vetalarana's level. A comatose victim can't resist this possession and automatically gets a critical failure on its saving throw against Control Comatose. As long as a comatose victim is controlled by a vetalarana manipulator in this way, the victim's stupefied and unconscious conditions are temporarily suppressed.

Drain Thoughts [>] (divination, mental, occult) As a basic vetalarana, but the vetalarana manipulator can choose to alter, enhance, or erase the memory they view as a 4th-level modify memory spell. If the vetalarana gets a critical success on their Athletics check to Drain Thoughts, the target is stupefied 2 instead of stupefied 1.

Paralyzing Claws (incapacitation, occult, necromancy) Any living creature hit by a vetalarana manipulator's claw Strike must succeed at a Fortitude save or become paralyzed. The target can attempt a new save at the end of each of its turns to end the effect, and the DC cumulatively decreases by 1 on each such save. Use the moderate DC for the creature's level on the Spell DC and Spell Attack Bonus table on page 66 of the Gamemastery Guide.

Open in the interactive list