Back in early 2009 our DM thought it would be fun to have half of our party captured and turned in to Vampires.  I believe he defended that decision by telling us that the campaign was “lacking internal conflict” or something like that. The campaign quickly came to an end when myself and my partner in… bloodletting(?) killed off the rest of the party (and two nearby towns) but what else would you expect to happen when you have a level 2 Paladin and Cleric against 2 awesomely overpowered Vampire PC’s?

Well it got me thinking why do Vampires have to be so overpowered? I mean, yeah, they’re frakking Vampires but some of their strenghts and weaknesses in D&D just don’t sit right with me. So I embarked on my own journey, to make a 3.5 edition D&D Vampire Class. Yes, I allow way more potential to become overpowered but I also allow some customizability within the class. We’ve played a few sessions with a whole party of vampires and at level 5 no two are the same.

Let me tell you though, it is extremely fun! Take a look at the first page below and check the very bottom for the full download link!

Becoming a Vampire

Becoming a Vampire is easy. You just have to become food for one. I have taken what I know about Vampires and turned the Vampire Template for D&D 3.5 edition into a class complete with feats for customizing your Vampire characters. Enjoy.

Vampire Powers for Characters

As a level 1 Vampire you are definitely more powerful than you were in your previous state. But you haven’t even come close to reaching your full potential. Here are some things that you will need to know if you are to survive.

Vampires speak, read, and write the languages they knew in life.

Alignment: Any. Why should Vampires have to be evil?

Hit Dice: Change to d12. Vampires have no Constitution score. Reduce yours to 0.

Level Progression: Vampire is now a class, not a template but it is still very powerful and full of potential. Once you have been turned your effective level will be equal to your current level +1.

Example: Linus was a level 3 Fighter that was turned to Vampire. His effective level is now 4 meaning that he will gain experience points as if he were attempting to reach level5 (10,000) in order to level up. This may seem to stall character progression but Vampires are extremely powerful, even when they are young.

Movement: Same as the base creature. If the base creature has a swim speed record it, you may need it later. At level 11 the base movement rate of your Vampire increases by 10 feet per round. At level 20 the base movement will increase another 10 feet per round.

Defense: The base creature’s natural armor improves by +6.

Undead: Vampires have the traits and immunities common to undead: They are immune to poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, disease, necromantic effects, mind-affecting effects, critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, energy drain, or effects of massive damage, or any effect requiring a Fortitude save unless the effect also works on objects, is harmless or is specified below.

Attacks: A vampire retains all the attacks of the base creature and gains a slam attack if it didn’t already have one. The vampire’s slam attack deals damage according to its size: Fine 1, Diminutive 1d2, Tiny 1d3, Small 1d4, Medium-size 1d6, Large 1d8, Huge 2d6, Gargantuan 2d8, Colossal 4d6.