Vampire Bees

Vampire Bees are a type of honey bee that have adapted to arid climates. Usually found in or near deserts, they have developed a way to produce honey without abundant fields of flowers nearby. Hives have been known to become aggressive; they can easily decimate livestock populations, and in some cases threaten humanoid populations in an area. Villages will sometimes hire specialists to deal with such a problem.

Despite their name, Vampire Bees are not undead. They do, however, hunt at night. Because of this, they are mildly sunlight sensitive. Running out of a dark cave where you are being attacked by a swarm is usually enough to keep the swarm from following you.

Blood Suckers. In order to produce enough honey for the hive, Vampire Bees supplement their honey with blood that they extract from animals and humanoids.

Blood Honey. This dark, foul tasting honey is the product of the Vampire Bee hive, and it is (ironically) considered a delicacy by Vampires. It is also a highly sought after alchemical ingredient for certain types of potions and magical salves. In many parts of the world, it is illegal to harvest, possess, buy, or sell Blood Honey.

Scout Bees In every hive of Vampire Bees, there are Scout Bees that find and mark potential food sources for the rest of the hive. If a party encounters a Scout Bee, the bee will try and mark one of them with a sting. Make a DC 15 Dexterity save. On a failure, the character is stung, and takes 1d4 poison damage. Though the character does not know it at the time, they are also marked for the next 24 hours. Any Vampire Bee attacks against this character have Advantage. In addition, if the party encounters a swarm of Vampire Bees within this time frame, the swarm will aggressively focus on the marked character. The swarm will continue to attack that character, even after they drop to 0 hit points; the bees are in a frenzy because of the marking sting.