5e Class: The Vampire
Holding a staff pulsating with crimson magic, a pale-skinned human cackles gleefully, revealing pointed white fangs. Levelling the staff, she unleashes a wave of fire that incinerates the oncoming peasant mob.
Cloaked and hooded against the moonlight, a solitary tiefling stares up at a bedroom window. In a blink, he has vanished into shadow, reappearing above the sleeping figures. They will never know the power they have provided him.
Clad in an ancient breastplate, a dark-skinned elf levels their greatsword at their orcish adversary. Wisps of shadow writhe out of the ground, ensnaring the berserker who can only look on helplessly as the elf moves in for the kill.
The vampire is an undead class that mixes natural ferocity and blood magic to become a terror on the battlefield, leaching the very life force of their enemies with every strike.
Creatures of the Night
Vampires are vile, dark creatures that seek to destroy or enslave the living world until all light and happiness has been expunged… at least, that’s what the more zealous types will tell you. Most vampires (or Kindred, as they sometimes call themselves) are born when a humanoid is drained of blood by an existing vampire, and buried under at least a foot of earth. They then emerge as fledglings, vampire spawn under the control of their master, until their master is killed, or they are allowed to drink the blood of their master directly. For this reason, true vampires are uncommon. While the more famous vampires are reviled as evil tyrants, there are underground sects of Kindred who prefer to simply get on with their unlives, safe from the persecution of mortals, using their dark gifts for good, evil, or plain old neutrality.
Class Features
As a vampire, you gain the following class features.
Hit Points
- Hit Dice: 1d10 per vampire level
- Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + your Constitution modifier
- Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per vampire level after 1st
Proficiencies
- Armor: none
- Weapons: simple weapons
- Tools: none
- Saving Throws: Constitution, Charisma
- Skills: choose two from Acrobatics, Arcana, Athletics, Deception, History, Persuasion, Stealth, Survival
Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- (a) any simple weapon or (b) any martial weapon (if proficient)
- (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) any simple weapon or (c) any martial weapon (if proficient)
- (a) a dungeoneer’s pack or (b) a scholar’s pack
- (a) leather armour (if proficient) or (b) scale mail (if proficient)
- Two daggers
Alternatively, you may start with 3d4*10 gp and purchase your own equipment.
Undead Strengths
1st-level Vampire feature
A vampire has some natural advantages over the common mortals, from clawed fingers to hyper regeneration. You have the following benefits:
- You are an Undead in place of your race’s normal creature type.
- You no longer age, and are immune to disease.
- You can see normally in darkness out to a distance of 120ft.
- You do not require air. You do not need to eat or drink if you recover at least two blood points every 24 hours.
- You count as one creature size larger for calculating the maximum weight you can push, pull, lift, and carry.
- You are immune to effects that would turn or control undead creatures.
- While you are not wearing armour, your AC is equal to 10 + your Constitution modifier + your Dexterity modifier.
- You are proficient in your unarmed strikes, which count as Light Finesse weapons, and which deal 1d4 slashing damage instead of the 1 bludgeoning. You may replace one of your attacks each turn with a Bite attack, which counts as an unarmed strike but deals 1d6 piercing damage.
- When you start your turn with half your hit points or less (but at least 1), you regenerate a number of hit points equal to half your vampire level (rounded down).
Vampire Vulnerabilities
1st-level Vampire feature
Your dark powers come at a price. You have the following negative traits:
- Since you are Undead, spells and effects that treat undead differently to other humanoids, such as the Cure Wounds spell, no longer have any effect on you.
- You have disadvantage on all ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws, while you are standing in direct sunlight or running water (such as a river or heavy rain).
- If you spend more than an hour in direct sunlight or running water (such as a river or heavy rain), you begin to take radiant damage equal to your vampire level at the start of each of your turns while you remain in the sunlight or water.
- If you take radiant damage, the hit point regeneration benefit of your Undead Strengths feature is disabled until the end of your next turn.
Vampire Training
At 1st level, you choose the nature of your training. Some vampires retain martial capabilities from their old lives, while others embrace the dark powers of their new natures. Your choice of Vampire Training grants you a feature at 1st level, and additional features at 6th, 9th, and 17th levels.
The options of Blood Witch, Shadowhand, and Wraith Knight are presented at the end of this class description.
Hemocraft
2nd-level Vampire feature
You unlock the secrets of vampiric magic, using blood to augment your combat prowess.
Hemocraft Ability
Charisma is your hemocraft ability, as your mastery of blood magic comes from your force of will over the innate powers at your disposal. You use Charisma to calculate your hemocraft attack bonus, and your hemocraft save DC. When any of your class features require a saving throw or attack roll, you use this bonus and DC.
Hemocraft Save DC
Hemocraft attack modifier
Blood Points
You have one maximum blood point, and your blood point maximum increases at the levels shown in the Blood Points column of the Vampire table. When you finish a long rest, your blood points are lost.
When you hit a creature with a Bite attack, you may force it to make a Constitution saving throw; it may choose to fail this saving throw. On a failed save, it takes necrotic damage equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain one blood point. You may never regain more blood points than your maximum.
You spend blood points to use your hemocraft powers. A hemocraft power will tell you how many blood points it requires. You cannot use a hemocraft power if it costs more blood points than you currently have.
Hemocraft Power: Accelerated Healing
2nd-level Vampire feature
You can use the blood of your foes to repair yourself at shocking speeds. As a bonus action, you may spend any of your remaining blood points. You regain hit points equal to your Constitution modifier, plus an additional 1d4 hit points per blood point expended.
Hemocraft Power: Creeping Shadows
2nd-level Vampire feature
You can bend the shadows to your will. You may cast Entangle by spending one blood point. Casting the spell in this way does not expend a spell slot, and you conjure clawing shadowy hands and tendrils rather than plants.
Vampiric Charm
3rd-level Vampire feature
You learn to corrupt the blood within other humanoids, bending their minds to your will. You may cast Charm Person a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. You cast the spell at 1st level, and it does not require a spell slot or any components of any kind.
Ability Score Improvement
4th-level Vampire feature
You can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you cannot increase an ability score above 20 with this feature.
You gain this feature again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th levels.
Hemocraft Power: Overwhelming Will
5th-level Vampire feature
You may spend two blood points to cast Suggestion without requiring a spell slot or material components.
Spider Climb
7th-level Vampire feature You gain a climbing speed equal to your walking speed, and may walk along vertical or upside down surfaces while keeping your hands free.
Hemocraft Power: Darkened Skies
10th-level Vampire feature
You may spend four blood points as an action to transform into either a bat or a swarm of bats. While transformed, you retain your hit points, as well as your ability scores, and you may use your Hemocraft feature in conjunction with the creatures’ Bite actions to regain blood points.
This transformation lasts for one hour, and for the duration you may switch between this form and your humanoid form as an action.
Empowered Strikes
11th-level Vampire feature
The damage die of your unarmed strikes increases to 1d6, and the damage die of your Bite increases to 1d8. Additionally, your unarmed strikes and Bite attacks now count as magical for the purposes of overcoming resistance to nonmagical weapons.
Leaching Strikes
14th-level Vampire feature
Your unarmed strikes drain the life of your foes. Whenever you hit a creature with an unarmed strike, you regain 1d4 hit points.
Vampiric Resistances
18th-level Vampire feature
You gain resistance to necrotic damage, as well as bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage dealt by nonmagical weapons that aren’t silvered.
Master Vampire
20th-level Vampire feature
Not even death can stop you. The regeneration from your Undead Strengths feature no longer requires that you have at least 1 hit point. Instead, your regeneration continues as normal unless you were reduced to 0 hit points by radiant damage or a critical hit, in which case your regeneration is halted until you regain at least 1 hit point.
Vampire Training
Your vampire training reflects the avenue of power you chose to pursue when you gained the gift of undeath. Some delve into the mysteries of blood magic to become potent spellcasters, others use their shadowy gifts to become deadly assassins, while others still choose to hone the ways of mortal combat.
Blood Witch
Embracing the powers of blood magic, otherwise known as hemocraft, blood witches are vampires that augment their physical capabilities with powerful spellcasting.
Blood Magic
1st-level Blood Witch feature
You learn to tap into your vampiric essence to cast arcane spells. See chapter 10 of the PHB for the general rules of spellcasting, and the end of this document for the blood witch spell list.
Cantrips
You know two cantrips of your choice from the blood witch spell list, and you learn additional cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Blood Witch Spellcasting table.
Spell Slots
The Blood Witch Spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have. The table also shows what the level of those slots is; all of your spell slots are the same level. To cast one of your blood witch spells of 1st level or higher, you must expend a spell slot. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a short rest.
For example, when you are 7th level, you have two 2nd-level spell slots. To cast the 1st-level spell Hellish Rebuke, you must expend one of those slots, and you cast it as a 2nd-level spell.
Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher
At 1st level, you know one 1st-level spell of your choice from the blood witch spell list. The Spells Known column of the Blood Witch Spellcasting table shows when you learn more blood witch spells of your choice of 1st level or higher. A spell you choose must be of a level no higher than what’s shown in the table’s Slot Level column for your level. When you reach 7th level, for example, you learn a new blood witch spell, which may be of 1st or 2nd level.
Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you may choose to replace one of the blood witch spells you know with another spell from the blood witch spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.
Blood Witch Spellcasting
| Vampire Level | Cantrips Known | Spells Known | Spell Slots | Slot Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1st |
| 2nd | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1st |
| 3rd | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1st |
| 4th | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1st |
| 5th | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1st |
| 6th | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1st |
| 7th | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2nd |
| 8th | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2nd |
| 9th | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2nd |
| 10th | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2nd |
| 11th | 3 | 6 | 2 | 2nd |
| 12th | 3 | 6 | 2 | 2nd |
| 13th | 3 | 7 | 2 | 3rd |
| 14th | 3 | 7 | 2 | 3rd |
| 15th | 4 | 8 | 3 | 3rd |
| 16th | 4 | 8 | 3 | 3rd |
| 17th | 4 | 9 | 3 | 3rd |
| 18th | 4 | 9 | 3 | 3rd |
| 19th | 4 | 10 | 3 | 4th |
| 20th | 4 | 11 | 3 | 4th |
Ritual Casting
You may cast any blood witch spell you know as a ritual if it has the ritual tag.
Spellcasting Ability
Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your blood witch spells, so you use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. You use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a blood witch spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell Save DC
Spell attack modifier
Spellcasting Focus
You can use an arcane focus (see chapter 5 of the PHB) as a spellcasting focus for your blood witch spells.
Hemocraft Power: Quickened Spell
6th-level Blood Witch feature
You can use the blood of your enemies to empower your spellcasting.
When you cast a spell that has a casting time of 1 action, you can spend 2 blood points to change the casting time to 1 bonus action for this casting.
Hemocraft Power: Twinned Spell
6th-level Blood Witch feature
When you cast a spell that targets only one creature and does not have a range of self, you can spend a number of blood points equal to the spell’s level (1 point if a cantrip) to target a second creature in range with the same spell.
To be eligible, a spell must be incapable of targeting more than one creature at the spell’s current level. For instance, Witch Bolt is eligible for this feature, but Scorching Ray is not.
Sanguine Ward
9th-level Blood Witch feature
When you cast a spell of 1st level or higher, you gain temporary hit points equal to twice the level of the slot expended.
Hungering Magic
17th-level Blood Witch feature
Your magic begins to feed on its own. Your damaging cantrips count as unarmed strikes for the purpose of your Leaching Strikes feature, and you may add your Constitution modifier to the damage of said cantrips.
Shadowhand
Shadowhands are vampires who have embraced the night, using their supernatural abilities to move faster and strike harder than any mortal.
Fleet-Footed
1st-level Shadowhand feature
Your speed increases by 10ft., and you may take the Dash and Disengage actions as a bonus action on your turn.
Stealth Drain
1st-level Shadowhand feature
When you Bite a Charmed or sleeping creature, it does not count as an attack for the purposes of ending the charm or waking the creature up.
Bonus Proficiencies
1st-level Shadowhand feature
You gain proficiency with light armour, shortswords, hand crossbows, and heavy crossbows.
Hemocraft Power: Necrotic Blades
6th-level Shadowhand feature
You may spend two blood points as a bonus action and touch a single weapon of your choice (or your claws, which count as a single weapon). For 1 hour, the weapon counts as magical if it did not already. Once on each of your turns for the duration, when you hit with an attack using that weapon, you may deal an additional 1d4 necrotic damage to the target.
Hemocraft Power: Step Into Shadow
6th-level Shadowhand feature
You may spend two blood points to cast Misty Step without requiring a spell slot or verbal components.
Savage Assault
9th-level Shadowhand feature
When a creature you can see hits you with a weapon or spell attack, you may use your reaction to make a weapon attack against that creature if it is within range.
Creature of the Night
17th-level Shadowhand feature
From 17th level, you may spend 1 blood point to turn invisible while you are standing in dim light or darkness. This invisibility lasts for 1 hour, but ends if you move into direct sunlight, or if you make an attack that is not a Bite, or cast a spell.
Wraith Knight
Whether they kept up their prior martial pursuits or chose to dedicate some of their nigh-unlimited lifespan to perfecting the techniques, wraith knights are vampires who favour the clash of steel.
Bonus Proficiencies
1st-level Wraith Knight feature
You gain proficiency with light armour, medium armour, and martial weapons.
Fighting Style
1st-level Wraith Knight feature
You adopt a style of fighting as your speciality. Choose one of the following options. You can’t take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.
- Defence. While you are wearing armour, you gain a +1 bonus to your AC.
- Duelling. While you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.
- Great Weapon Fighting. When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll that die and must use the new roll.
- Two-Weapon Fighting. When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.
Extra Attack
6th-level Wraith Knight feature
You may attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Hemocraft Power: Sanguine Smite
6th-level Wraith Knight feature
When you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you may expend up to five blood points blood points to cause the attack to deal additional necrotic damage equal to 1d8 per blood point spent, up to a maximum of 5d8.
Hemocraft Power: Blood Shield
9th-level Wraith Knight feature
When you are targeted with an attack roll by a creature you can see, you may use your reaction to expend two blood points and increase your AC by 5 until the start of your next turn, including against the triggering attack.
If this causes the triggering attack to miss, the attacker takes necrotic damage equal to your Charisma modifier.
Bloody Typhoon
17th-level Wraith Knight feature
You may attack three times as part of your Extra Attack feature, rather than once.
Blood Witch Spell List
Cantrips (0 Level)
- Blade Ward
- Booming Blade
- Chill Touch
- Fire Bolt
- Friends
- Frostbite
- Green-Flame Blade
- Infestation
- Lightning Lure
- Mage Hand
- Magic Stone
- Minor Illusion
- Poison Spray
- Prestidigitation
- Ray of Frost
- Toll the Dead
1st Level
- Armour of Agathys
- Arms of Hadar
- Burning Hands
- Cause Fear
- Comprehend languages
- Detect Magic
- Disguise Self
- False Life
- Feather Fall
- Fog Cloud
- Hellish Rebuke
- Hex
- Ice Knife
- Jump
- Ray of Sickness
- Silent Image
- Sleep
- Thunderwave
- Unseen Servant
- Witch Bolt
2nd Level
- Aganazzar’s Scorcher
- Blindness/Deafness
- Crown of Madness
- Darkness
- Darkvision
- Detect Thoughts
- Enhance Ability
- Enlarge/Reduce
- Enthrall
- Hold Person
- Invisibility
- Knock
- Levitate
- Mind Spike
- Phantasmal Force
- Scorching Ray
- See Invisibility
- Shadow Blade
- Spider Climb
3rd Level
- Blink
- Counterspell
- Dispel Magic
- Enemies Abound
- Fear
- Fireball
- Fly
- Haste
- Hunger of Hadar
- Hypnotic Pattern
- Lightning Bolt
- Major Image
- Sleet Storm
- Slow
- Stinking Cloud
- Summon Lesser Demons
- Tongues
- Vampiric Touch
4th Level
- Banishment
- Blight
- Charm Monster
- Confusion
- Dominate Beast
- Greater Invisibility
- Ice Storm
- Polymorph
- Shadow of Moil