This is a companion piece to this mini-treatise on vampires. It contains more lore and flavor, this is the mechanical focused side.

I’ve included basic rules for D&D 5e, AD&D (which should be easily morphed into most OSR games), and my own game Blank of the Blank Blank (BotBB)

If you have a player vampire, or otherwise need exact details, keep track of each person the vampire kills and feeds on. If you simply need an NPC, you can choose a power level and use the following to ballpark how long they’ve been undead.

Lesser Vampires

Souls Taken Est. Time Level Effects 0 — Cursed Hunger, Sunlight Curse, Blood Healing 1 1 night 1 Undead 1 10 1 month 2 Perfected Body 1 100 1 year 3 Perfected Body 2, Twist 1, Undead 2 1000 10 years 4 Perfected Body 3, Twist 2 10,000 100 years 5 Perfected Body 4, Twist 3, Undead 3 66,666 1000 years Elder Perfected Body 5, True Immortality, Twist 4

Sunlight Curse. Vampires die if they step into sunlight

Hunger. The vampire must make a Wisdom/Will save when they see a helpless individual. This can happen once a day for each potential victim. They get a bonus to this check equal to their vampire level. They get a penalty equal to the number of days since they last fed. There is a 24 hour grace period after each feeding.

If they fail the check, they must either kill and eat the bleeding person, or lose 1d4 Wisdom/Will (1 in BotBB).

Blood Healing. Whenever a vampire kills and eats a sapient being (a process which takes time, and cannot be done fully in combat), they heal equal to that creature’s max HP.

Perfected Body. Each level of perfected body represents the curse morphing your body to be stronger and more dexterous. If your Str or Dex score are below a certain value, set them to that value.

Perfected Body Level Blank of the Blank Blank D&D 5e AD&D/Black Hack/Etc 1 1 12 (+1) 13 2 2 14 (+2) 14 3 3 16 (+3) 15 4 4 18 (+4) 16 5 5 20 (+5) 17 6 6 22 (+6) 18 7 7 24 (+7) 19

Undeath. This represents the loss of your humanity, and your ability to survive wounds that would kill a human.

At Undeath 1 you are no longer susceptible to bleeding out. You are immune to any bleeding status effects. In D&D 5e, you don’t make death saving throws unless damaged again. In AD&D, you do not lose the 1 HP per round after being downed.

you are no longer susceptible to bleeding out. You are immune to any bleeding status effects. In D&D 5e, you don’t make death saving throws unless damaged again. In AD&D, you do not lose the 1 HP per round after being downed. At Undeath 2 you no longer need your internal organs. You can only be killed by decapitation or other destruction of the head.

you no longer need your internal organs. You can only be killed by decapitation or other destruction of the head. At Undeath 3 you are nearly immortal. Your body must be fully destroyed, likely by fire or sunlight, to die completely.

you are nearly immortal. Your body must be fully destroyed, likely by fire or sunlight, to die completely. When you become a True Immortal, you can no longer die by conventional means. You can be revived with blood from any amount of damage.

Twist. This represents the monstrous changes in your body. Each level makes it easier for people to recognize you for what you are. The exact nature of the changes differ from bloodline to bloodline, but the effect is the same.

At Twist 1 , you are mostly human looking. Your skin might be unusually pale or your eyes strangely unblinking. In 5e, a DC 18 investigation check will identify you. In AD&D, you have a 5 in 6 chance of passing as human if you are seen clearly.

, you are mostly human looking. Your skin might be unusually pale or your eyes strangely unblinking. In 5e, a DC 18 investigation check will identify you. In AD&D, you have a 5 in 6 chance of passing as human if you are seen clearly. At Twist 2 , you start to look undead. Skeletal features, misshapen hands, sharp teeth. In 5e, the check becomes DC 14. In AD&D, you have a 3 in 6 chance of passing as human if you are seen clearly.

, you start to look undead. Skeletal features, misshapen hands, sharp teeth. In 5e, the check becomes DC 14. In AD&D, you have a 3 in 6 chance of passing as human if you are seen clearly. At Twist 3 , you are clearly monstrous, but still in the shape of a human. Even a lay person will notice you in the light. Your only chance of going unnoticed is face obscuring cloaks or hiding in shadows, showing only a silhouette.

, you are clearly monstrous, but still in the shape of a human. Even a lay person will notice you in the light. Your only chance of going unnoticed is face obscuring cloaks or hiding in shadows, showing only a silhouette. At Twist 4, you are fully monstrous. Misshapen, huge, or long claw hands. Either way, there is no disguise that can make you pass as human anymore.

True Vampires

To become a true vampire, one must be fed the blood of a vampire. The vampire in question transfers 1% of their taken souls to you, rounded up. This also makes them sluggish and vulnerable until they feed again.

Dracul

Souls Taken Est. Time Level Effects 1 1 night 1 Undead 3, Stake Weakness, Forbiddance, Twist 2 10 1 month 2 Perfected Body 1, Transform into Bat 100 1 year 3 Perfected Body 2, Charm 1000 10 years 4 Perfected Body 3, Transform into Mist 10,000 100 years 5 Perfected Body 4, Mind Control 66,666 1000 years Elder Perfected Body 5, True Immortality

Stake Weakness. Paralysed by a stake to the heart.

Forbiddance. Can’t enter a home unless invited inside by a resident. Can’t cross running water unless asleep inside a coffin, covered in grave dirt.

Charm. A target must resist a hypnotic gaze or become charmed by the vampire, believing it to be a close friend, and allowing it to feed. For 5e, see the vampire stat block for this ability. For AD&D, see the Charm Person spell.

Mind Control. If a person is successfully charmed, they will follow any instructions from the caster for the duration of the charm. If they hurt themselves at the Vampire’s behest, they get a new save afterwards.

Baobhan

Souls Taken Est. Time Level Effects 1 1 night 1 Undead 3, Vulnerable to Fire and Silver, Can transform into a person as they eat them 10 1 month 2 Perfected Body 1, Gets recent memories of people they eat 100 1 year 3 Perfected Body 2, Can transform into any animal 1000 10 years 4 Perfected Body 3, Can transform into any person they have ever eaten 10,000 100 years 5 Perfected Body 4, Gets all memories of people they eat 66,666 1000 years Elder Perfected Body 5, can gain any body part, trait, or ability of any animal.

Transformations. The Baobhan’s transformations are physical, not illusory, and last as long as the Baobhan desires. The look is complete and flawless, so only behavior and knowledge of the person can give them away. They keep their own game statistics, however.

If they transform into the same type of animal twice, it is always the same individual animal. (Each time they turn into a bear, it is the same bear). Their HP remains constant between transformations.

Dumnezeu

Souls Taken Est. Time Level Effects 1 1 night 1 Undead 3, Perfected Body 2 10 1 month 2 Perfected Body 3 100 1 year 3 Perfected Body 4 1000 10 years 4 Perfected Body 5 10,000 100 years 5 Perfected Body 6 66,666 1000 years Elder Perfected Body 7, True Immortality

St. Claire

Souls Taken Est. Time Level Effects 1 1 night 1 Undead 2, Twist 4 (Batlike monster), Skin Suit 10 1 month 2 Perfected Body 1 100 1 year 3 Perfected Body 2, Can fly when out of skin suit 1000 10 years 4 Perfected Body 3, Undead 3 10,000 100 years 5 Perfected Body 4 66,666 1000 years Elder Perfected Body 5, True Immortality

Skin Suit. This is a physical object work over their bat body. Even though the bat form is larger than a human, the magic of the suit makes them look perfectly ordinary. The suit is easily destroyed, if they drop below half their max HP, the suit is destroyed. They can regrow it during any rest that takes them back to full HP.

Lilithine

Souls Taken Est. Time Level Effects 1 1 night 1 Undead 3, Perfected Mind 1, Can’t cast spells unless they’ve fed within 24 hours, Vulnerable to Holy Symbols 10 1 month 2 Perfected Body 1, Perfected Mind 2, Blood Magic 100 1 year 3 Perfected Mind 3, Can fly 1000 10 years 4 Perfected Body 2, Perfected Mind 4 10,000 100 years 5 Perfected Mind 5 66,666 1000 years Elder Perfected Mind 6, True Immortality

Blood Magic. The Lilithine can use one fresh sapient corpse in place of the material components of any given spell. They can lose HP equal to half of their maximum HP to cast any one spell they know, even if they are out of uses for that day. They can do this only once per day.

Perfected Mind. Works the same as Perfected Body but for Wisdom/Willpower and Intelligence

Gregorian

Souls Taken Est. Time Level Effects 1 1 night 1 Dream Undeath, Dream Reality, Belief Vulnerability 10 1 month 2 Perfected Body 1, Perfected Mind 2, Telepath 100 1 year 3 Mind Reader 1000 10 years 4 Perfected Body 2, Perfected Mind 3 10,000 100 years 5 Inception 66,666 1000 years Elder Recursive Nightmare, Perfected Body 3, Perfected Mind 4

Belief Vulnerability. The Gregorian is vulnerable to whatever the locals believe vampires are vulnerable to. If there is another bloodline known in the area, it likely shares their weakness.

Dream Reality. The dreams of the Gregorian are a physical place it goes when it sleeps. Its body disappears, not to return until it awakes. If you sleep nearby, it will drag you into its dream, where it can feed on you. It can also enter your dreams, to hunt you personally. If you die in its dream, you die in the waking world.

The dreams are a space morphed by the mind. You can attempt to shape it with force of will alone, but so can the vampire, and it has far more practice. It can summon any object of its desire, and shape the world, but only where you can’t currently see. You can do the same, with a successful Wisdom/Will check, with the difficulty decided by your DM depending on the scale.

Dream Undeath. If the vampire is killed in the waking world, it will retreat into its dream world, and its body will reform as it sleeps. It must be killed in the dream to die for good.

Mind Reader. It can read the surface thoughts of anyone nearby. It can try to probe for deeper thoughts, but the target gets a saving throw.

Inception. The target must succeed on a Wisdom/Will check, or beleive one thought implanted by the vampire originated from them. The check is more difficult the more outlandish the thought.

Recurring Nightmare. When the vampire dies in a dream, it retreats to a dream one layer lower. The dream gets more primal and chaotic, and there is no bottom. But the vampire must reform itself one layer at a time, and it is harder to drag prey lower into the dreams, so the deeper you chase them the longer they slumber.

Other Vampires

Bloodswirl Beasts.

Anyone who drinks of two old bloods immediately gains Twist 4 and permanently loses one level in Perfected Mind and Perfected Body, if they have any. The Skin Suit ability of the St. Claire bloodline only brings them down to Twist 3. They gain effects of both bloodlines, but also become paralysingly frightened of fire. In addition, they begin to hallucinate regularly, and start to believe they are being hunted constantly.

Exotic Blood

These are the effects of drinking several types of non-humanoid blood

Dryad and Ent.

The vampire will bury themselves within 3 days. A tree will rapidly grow out of them. It will start as a sapling. Anyone sleeping in the radius of roots will be grown over and consumed in the night, a process taking 4 hours. The tree must be found and burned to kill the vampire. Once it becomes a true immortal, it will always regrow.

Souls Taken Est. Time Level Effects One Dryad or Ent 1 night 1 10 meters of roots, sapling 5 feet high 10 1 month 2 30 meters of roots, 10 feet high 100 1 year 3 100 meters of roots, 20 feet high 1000 10 years 4 1 kilometer of roots, 50 feet high 10,000 100 years 5 10 kilometers of roots, 100 feet high 66,666 1000 years Elder 50 kilometers of roots, True Immortal, 200 feet high

Dragon.

The area around the lair will grow and change to suit the individual’s idea of a vampire’s countryside. At each level, the changes get more extreme. They are subconscious effects, based on the ideals of the person, not conscious choices. The lair effects column lists the qualities of the surrounding area that can be changed at each level. These vampires can eat humanoids to sate their hunger, but do not gain any power from it.

Dragon Souls Level Effects Lair Effects 1 1 Undead 3, Perfected Body 1 Quality of light 2 2 Perfected Body 2, Charm Weather 3 3 Perfected Body 3, Flight Manmade Structures 4 4 Perfected Body 4, Shadow Mantle Landscapes 5 5 Perfected Body 5, Mind Control People, Society, and Behavior 6 Elder Perfected Body 6, True Immortality Laws of Physics and Magic

Shadow Mantle. The Vampire can teleport from an area of darkness to another area of darkness it can see, as long as it can’t be seen.

Fey.

The vampire’s food source becomes strong emotion. They can leave victims alive with successful Wisdom/Will checks, but cannot feed on them again for a month.

Victims Fed Upon Est. Time Level Effects One Fey 1 night 1 Perfected Looks 1, Love Vulnerability, Undead 1 10 1 month 2 Perfected Looks 2, Perfected Body 1 100 1 year 3 Perfected Looks 3, Perfected Body 2 1000 10 years 4 Perfected Looks 4, Perfected Body 3 10,000 100 years 5 Perfected Looks 5, Perfected Body 4 66,666 1000 years Elder Perfected Looks 6, Perfected Body 5, True Immortality

Perfected Looks. Works the same as perfected body, but for Charisma.

Love Vulnerability. They are damaged by anyone who is truly in love, just as they are by sunlight.

The Cursed

The cursed are those infected, but who refuse to eat human blood.

Curse Martyrs.

Curse martyrs must make an oath, much like a paladin oath. If they are already a paladin, the original oath will suffice. As long as they adhere to the oath, they gain the equivalent of 1 soul taken per day, increasing by 1 each day. This also suppresses Twist, and prevents wisdom loss from hunger. Keep track of how much loss is prevented this way. If they break the oath, they take the damage all at once. This also resets the soul gain per day to 1.

If they ever eat a person, they immediately gain Twist 4, gaining twisted angelic features. Otherwise they are a normal lesser vampire.

Charnel Beasts.

To begin staving off the hunger with animal blood, they must eat 10 human sized animals or larger. Once they do, they are immune to hunger as long as they eat enough animals. They do not benefit from the undead nature of other vampires, but they do not age.

Animals Eaten Level Effects 10 2 Twist 2, 1 animal a day to stave off hunger 100 3 Twist 3, Perfected Body 1 1000 4 Twist 4, Perfected Body 3, Increased Size, 2 animals a day 10,000 5 Perfected Body 5, Increased Size, 4 animals a day 100,000 Elder Perfected Body 7, Increased Size, 10 animals a day

Increased Size. In 5e, this is the transition from Medium to Large to Huge to Gargantuan. In BotBB, this is +3 size each time. In real world terms it’s from human height (5 to 6 feet) to 10 feet, to 20 feet, to 40 feet in height.

Blood Saints.

As expressed earlier, a vampire can willingly feed another vampire. This gives away 1% of the taken souls, rounded up. They can do this once a month at most. A vampire can also kill another vampire and eat them, taking 10% of their souls. A vampire who feeds only on other vampires for at least a month becomes a blood saint. In addition to any other effects they gain the Blood Gift ability, with a level equal to their vampire level.

Blood Gift. The blood saint can lose one taken soul to create a blood potion. This potion gives that taken soul to the vampire drinker. It is a good way to raise new True Vampires from lesser vampires. In addition, it is a powerful potion for other vampires of their line. It heals the vampire to full, and gives them all the powers of the Blood Saint for 1 hour. If given to a vampire of a different bloodline, it will turn them into a bloodswirl beast.