Ecology of the Glampire

"You are exceptionally unobservant."

- Edrick to his paramour Annabelle, mere days before he feeds upon her.

Vampires are exceptional hunters, able to kill and feed upon mortals with great speed and skill. However, for all their strengths, they suffer a number of weaknesses: sunlight, mirrors, wooden stakes, running water, garlic. A glampire however has none of these weaknesses. A vain, shallow variety of vampire, glampires are able to move about in broad daylight and use their physical beauty to ensnare and feed upon equally beautiful mortals.

History of the Glampire

To call a glampire a variety of vampire is not quite correct, but it is undeniable that the two monstrosities are linked. Both are undead creatures with sharp fangs who feed upon the blood of the living. Both have great physical prowess and exceptional charm, but where the vampire is mutable, the glampire is unchanging.

The exact history of the glampire is unknown, a terrible secret kept by glampire elders. It is believed that their creation stems from a vampire wizard's experimentation with necromancy and an attempt to create a more virulent strain of vampirism for use as foot-soldiers in a planned war. The vampire had managed to turn a few local villagers into undead using a poison he had concocted, and it worked better than he could have expected, allowing them to travel during the day, cross rivers and making them immune to garlic and other traditional vampire weaknesses.

The victory was not to last however, as a party of adventurers was drawn to the area by tales of mysterious abductions, and soon set their sights on the vampire wizard's castle. During their assault, they were able to slay the vampire and his creations, but not without a cost. One of the adventurers, a bard, had been struck with a poisoned dagger in the heat of battle and succumbed a few days later, his body buried by the grateful villagers next to a memorial.

Days later, the bard arose from the grave. Distraught at his condition, he sought to kill himself in the light of dawn, but discovered that not only could he bask in the sunlight, but his beauty and charm had been dramatically increased. He quickly escaped the town and lost in the rapture of his transformation, began to hunt as the first glampire.

Physiology of the Glampire

Ordinary mortals are transformed into glampires when they die of being poisoned by a glampire's venomous bite. The venom courses through the victim's body, and unless cured or resisted, replaces all of their blood. It is this venom that supplies the glampire with their numerous abilities, resistances and unlife.

Venom is passed during feeding from the saliva in the glampire's mouth. Glampires who do not wish to share their territory with another must take pains to completely drain their victims of blood or use an apparatus to drain the blood without introducing any of their own bodily fluids to the victim. Paranoid glampires will feed upon non-humanoids as although these creatures can die from the venom, cannot be turned into glampires.

In undeath, the glampire's body becomes strong and resilient to damage, with the exception of that caused by enchanted silver. In addition, the venom in their body works to quickly repair any wounds the glampire may receive, preventing them from being scarred. Glampire venom can be harvested in small vials in order to poison weapons or even to act as a curative for severely wounded glampires. The substance is also incredibly combustable, making glampires fearful of open flame.

Minute amounts of venom travel through the glampire's pores and crystallize, becoming inert on their skin. This substance helps to protect the glampire from the rays of the sun, but as a side effect makes them glitter. Many opportunistic glampires use this unique characteristic to appear somewhat more exotic, sylvan or magical to better allow them to ensnare prey.

Unlike ordinary vampires who can use their limbs to deal powerful blows to attackers, glampires rely on their exceptionally powerful jaws. During transformation, their teeth become as strong as steel and nearly unbreakable, augmented by a pair of large retractable fangs that descend when the glampire is threatened or anticipating a meal. In battle, a glampire will attempt to grapple with their opponents, tearing at their flesh and drinking their blood in ecstasy. Glampires require the consumption of blood for nourishment and cannot digest ordinary foodstuffs. In addition to providing them with sustenance, blood also serves to keep the glampire appearing young and beautiful. Glampires who go too long between feedings begin to look haggard and tired, and blotchy bruises begin to appear on their faces. This transformation severely affects the glampire's ability to hunt, and many who reach this stage will feed on easier prey, such as animals to restore their appearance before attempting to hunt humanoids again.

Glampires lack the ability to change shape and thus do not have an automatic response for being severely wounded. Instead, when sufficiently damaged, they fall to the ground in a comatose state as if though are dead. Inexperienced glampire hunters may choose to leave a glampire's body where it lies or burn it, not knowing that without the proper measures the body will repair itself to working order within time.

Some glampires choose, for unknown reasons, to stay perfectly still for periods that can last years. In this state, they suffer from the effects of not having consumed blood, but also, they grow a film of chalky crystallized venom on their skin, giving them a pale, powdery appearance. The reason they do this is not clear, but some sages have theorized that these glampires are involved in intense games with one another to see who can stay still the longest. Whatever the case, the glampire's appearance can be set right with a nice hot bath and a large meal of blood, preferably in that order.

While they don't possess any magical powers, glampires do possess some extremely low-grade psionic abilities which vary between individuals. Successful glampires make the most of their abilities to glean information from potential victims which can be later used to help ensnare them.

Psychology and Society of the Glampire

Glampires are driven primarily by hunger and vanity, which are both intertwined. Their need to feed upon the blood of mortals is not simply for nourishment. Blood also serves to maintain their beauty and prevent them from appearing as the undead monstrosities they are.

Glampires seek out physical beauty and perfection everywhere they go. When seeking prey, they will always hunt for the fairest humanoid, or failing that animal. When hunting humanoids, they prefer to use their charms to woo their prey first, sometimes for weeks, before drawing them back into a secluded spot and feeding upon them. When organized into a family, glampires draw prestige from their fellows for being able to draw the best looking victims.

When situated in smaller urban environments, glampires tend to be solitary. Too many glampires in a given area can quickly pare down the population of acceptably attractive prey to almost nothing. Glampires who live in larger cities however may form a group, which they refer to as a family. Families are often arranged in a straightforward hierarchy with one elder having been responsible for the turning of a small number of glampires. In exceptionally large families there may be two or even three of these 'generations' that can all eventually be traced to a single elder. The size of individual families must be strictly maintained, as there are only so many fresh victims for an ever-growing army of the undead. If a family grows too large, glampire elders will take it upon themselves to weed out (destroy) less desirable (less attractive) members.

If a glampire chooses to turn a mortal into another of their kind, they will begin by locating and then stalking the absolutely most beautiful person they can find (and ideally not the sharpest tool in the shed). After they have found their target, they will introduce themselves, usually by 'saving' the person from an accident that they themselves arranged (such as stopping a runaway cart that was going to hit the target). The glampire will then enter into a relationship with the target, trying to seem as mysterious and desirable as possible, while undermining the target's self-esteem through small, off-hand insults (which they refer to as 'negging'). Once a target has been successfully conditioned to accept the glampire as a lover in a near-suicidal fashion (most glampires lose potential mates this way), the glampire infects them with a small bite (dealing at least 1 point of damage) and begins the process of converting them into another of the undead.

A glampire's personal appearance is extremely important to them. They choose to dress in flattering outfits of expensive material that they keep immaculately clean. Because they are undead, they have no need to perform mundane grooming tasks, but still keep their bodies as clean and primped as possible. Most glampires take this to an extreme, and have been known to flee at the first sign of a scuffed boot or a splash of mud, lest others think less of them for it.

Unlike vampires, who do not abide the sight of mirrors (which do not abide the sight of them in return), glampires adore mirrors. Mirrors allow a glampire to see the most attractive person in a given location: themselves. Rare is the glampire who can pass by a mirror without at least checking to make sure their hair is still immaculate or to see if they have any bloodstains on their teeth.

Enemies of the Glampire

The mortal enemy of the glampire is a unique variety of werewolf known as a lycanthrob. These hunky, generally shirtless lycanthropes hunt for the same prey as glampires and the two creatures can find themselves competing over a single hunting ground. Lycanthrobs mercilessly hunt down any glampires around them to ensure that their supply of beautiful and clueless victims remains untouched.

Rarely, a family of glampires and lycanthrobs can work together, playing off each other's strengths in order to quickly seduce and feed upon their prey. More often, these kinds of relationships turn competitive with a lycanthrob and a glampire selecting a single victim that they compete over. Glampires often use these competitions as a way to groom a potential convert, as the smoldering lust the victim feels towards them from two attractive suitors makes them prime targets for negging and generally ensures a more faithful devotion from the victim to the glampire.

In areas where glampire populations are higher, some brave mortal souls strike out to slay them. These glampire hunters often dirty themselves or scar their faces to make them less attractive targets to a glampire. Armed with holy symbols, enchanted silver weapons, mirrors and torches, a seasoned team can easily take out a glampire that has been terrorizing an area. Most groups contain a spellcaster well-versed in illusions, a cleric who's faith can repel a glampire should things not work out to plan, a hardy warrior who can stand toe-to-toe with the monstrosity in pitched combat and usually an extremely beautiful bard or peasant, which is referred to as 'bait'.

New Material

Glampire

Beautiful yet deadly, glampires are deadly predators who hunt only the fairest prey. Utterly self-absorbed and vain, their appearance allows them ensnare foolish mortals to sup upon, yet also serves as their greatest weakness.

Glampires appear as they did in life, but stronger and much more beautiful: closer to demigods than mortals. They assume the guise of nobility, donning finery that augments their looks. Unlike ordinary vampires, there are few distinguishing characteristics that allow others to recognize them for what they truly are until it's too late.

Glampires speak any languages they knew in life.

Sample Glampire

This example uses a 5th-level human fighter as the base creature.

Vampire, 5th-Level Human Fighter

Medium Undead (Augmented Humanoid)

Hit Dice: 5d12 (32 hp)

Initiative: +10

Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)

Armor Class: 24 (+6 Dex, +6 natural, +2 masterwork leather armor), touch 16, flat-footed 18

Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+8

Attack: Bite +8 melee (1d6+3 plus glampire venom) or +1 rapier +13 melee (1d6+6)

Full Attack: Bite +8 melee (1d6+3 plus glampire venom) or +1 rapier +13 melee (1d6+6)

Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.

Special Attacks: Aura of dullness, blood drain, dazzling beauty, glampire venom, jump 3/day

Special Qualities: Blood dependence, damage reduction 10/silver & magic, darkvision 60 ft., fast healing 5, fire vulnerability, glittery, resistance to cold 10 and electricity 10, turn resistance, undead traits.

Saves: Fort: +4, Ref: +9, Will, +4

Abilities: Str 17, Dex 22, Con -, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 16

Skills: Bluff +15, Diplomacy +11, Disguise +11, Intimidate +19, Listen +9, Move Silently +18, Sense Motive +13

Feats: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Quick Draw, Run, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (rapier), Weapon Specialization (rapier)

Environment: Temperate plains

Organization: Solitary

Challenge Rating: 7

Treasure: Double standard

Alignment: Always evil (any)

Advancement: By character class

Standing before you is an elegant-looking man, his short, dark hair is immaculate, his eyes bright, and his skin looks as if it had been carved from fine marble. His skin glitters in the sunlight, almost distracting from the blade he grasps in his hand.

Combat

This glampire's bite attack is treated as a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

The DC is 15 for the Will save against this glampire's dazzling beauty ability, and for the Fortitude save to resist against its glampire venom.

Jump 3/day (Sp): Three times a day, as a spell-like ability, this glampire can cast jump as a 1st-level sorcerer.

Possessions: +1 rapier, masterwork leather armor, potion of haste.

Creating a Glampire

"Glampire" is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature).

A Glampire uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Size and Type: The creature's type changes to undead (augmented humanoid). Do not recalculate base attack bonus, saves or skill points. Size is unchanged.

Hit Dice: Increase all current and future Hit Dice to d12s.

Speed: Increase creature's base land speed by 10 feet.

Armor Class: The base creature's natural armor bonus improves by +6.

Attack: A glampire retains all the attacks of the base creature and also gains a bite attack if they didn't already have one. If the base creature can use weapons, the glampire retains this ability. A creature with natural weapons retains those natural weapons. A glampire fighting without weapons uses either its bite attack or its primary natural weapon (if it has any). A glampire armed with a weapon uses its bite or a weapon as it desires.

Full Attack: A glampire fighting without weapons uses either its bite attack (see above) or its natural weapons (if it has any). If armed with a weapon, it usually uses the weapon as its primary attack along with a bite or other natural weapon as a natural secondary attack.

Damage: Glampires have bite attacks. If the base creature does not have this attack form, use the appropriate damage value according to the glampire's size (1d4 for Small, 1d6 for Medium, or 1d8 for Large). Creatures that have other kinds of natural weapons retain their old damage values or use the appropriate value as listed above, whichever is better.

Special Attacks: A glampire retains all the special attacks of the base creature and gains those described below. Saves have a DC of 10 + 1/2 glampire's HD + glampire's Cha modifier unless noted otherwise.

Aura of Dullness (Su): Glampires project a latent aura that overwhelms the charisma of those around them making others appear to be dull and lifeless next to the glampire. All creatures within 10 feet of a glampire suffer a -4 penalty to all Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Intimidate, and Perform (acting) checks. Glampires are immune to their own auras of dullness as well as those projected by other glampires.

Blood Drain (Ex): A glampire can suck blood from a living victim with its fangs by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution drain each round the pin is maintained. On each successful attack, the glampire gains 5 temporary hit points.

Dazzling Beauty (Su): This ability affects all humanoids within 30 feet of a glampire. Those who look directly at a glampire must succeed on a Will save or be dazzled by their good looks for 1 minute.

Humanoids of a different species than the glampire (for instance an elf looking upon a human glampire) receive a +2 bonus to their Will save. In addition, humanoids of a different gender receive an additional +2 bonus on their Will save unless they're into the glampire (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Glampires cannot suppress this ability; they're just too damned good looking to stop people from staring.

Glampire Power (Sp): Each glampire possesses a single spell-like ability that reflects an aspect of their personality made stronger by their transformation into undeath. Glampires can select a single 1st-level spell from the sorcerer/wizard spell list that they can cast as a spell-like ability three times per day as a 1st-level sorcerer.

Glampire Venom (Su): Supernatural disease - bite, Fortitude DC 12 + the glampire's Charisma modifier, incubation period 1 minute, damage 1d6 Con.

Unlike ordinary diseases, a victim of glampire venom must make three successful saving throws in a row to indicate that they have fought off the disease. Humanoids that die while infected with glampire venom rise one day later as a glampire.

Special Qualities: A glampire retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains those described below.

Blood Dependence (Su): Glampires require a steady diet of blood. If the glampire does not consume blood at least once a week, it begins to starve. When starving, the glampire must make a Will save (DC 25) each day or suffer 1d6 points of Charisma damage. Once a glampire reaches 0 Charisma, they become comatose and their fast healing ability ceases to work. They will remain in this state indefinitely, until fed, at which point they recover all Charisma damage caused by starvation.

Damage Reduction (Su): A glampire has damage reduction 10/silver and magic. A glampire's natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Fast Healing (Ex): A glampire heals 5 points of damage each round so long as it has at least 1 hit point. If reduced to 0 hit points in combat it immediately assumes a helpless, catatonic state. It regains 1 hit point after 1 hour of remaining in this state, then is no longer helpless and resumes healing at the rate of 5 hit points per round. This ability does not apply to a glampire that has fallen into a comatose state as a result of not feeding.

Fire Vulnerability (Ex): The venom that flows through a glampire's veins is ridiculously flammable. Glampires take half again as much (+50%) damage from fire damage, regardless of whether a saving throw is allowed, or if the save is a success or failure.

Glittery (Ex): Unlike ordinary vampires, glampires are unharmed by sunlight. Instead, their skin glitters with an unearthly sparkle. This sparkling does not harm the glampire in any way. When exposed to sunlight or an equivalent amount of light, glampires begin to sparkle. In this state, glampires suffer a -20 penalty on Hide checks. If the glampire is under the effect of an invisibility spell or a similar effect, the sparkles visibly outline their form making it useless for disguising their location (although they can still hide their identity while under this effect).

Resistances (Ex): A glampire has resistance to cold 10 and electricity 10.

Spider Climb (Ex): A glampire can climb sheer surfaces as though with a spider climb spell.

Turn Resistance (Ex): A glampire has +4 turn resistance.

Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +6, Dex +4, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +4. As an undead creature, a glampire has no Constitution score.

Skills: Glampires have a +8 racial bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Intimidate, Listen, Move Silently, and Sense Motive checks. Otherwise same as the base creature.

Feats: Glampires gain Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, and Run, assuming the base creature meets the prerequisites and doesn't already have these feats.

Environment: Any, usually same as base creature. Glampires can find more willing and naïve victims in urban environments, so they tend to live within larger communities.

Organization: Solitary, pair, or family (3-6).

Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +2.

Treasure: Double standard.

Alignment: Always evil (any).

Advancement: By character class.

Level Adjustment: Same as the base creature +8.

Alternate Glampires

For glampires with more mental-based abilities replace their Glampire Power ability with the following:

Glampire Power (Ps): Each glampire possesses a single psi-like ability that reflects an aspect of their personality made stronger by their transformation into undeath. Glampires can select a single 1st-level power from the psion/wilder power list that they can manifest as a psi-like ability three times per day as a 1st-level wilder.

Glampire Weaknesses

Despite being a variety of vampire, glampires have noticeably different weaknesses, which can make them unexpectedly difficult opponents for slayers who are not expecting them. Glampires spread misconceptions about their weaknesses whenever possible, to make it easier to ensnare prey. For example, they claim to be immune to silver, which is only partially true. Enchanted silver weapons can severely wound them.

Repelling a Glampire: Being immune to the regular vampire weaknesses: garlic, sunlight, running water and stakes to the heart, glampires are difficult to repel. Just about the only thing that can reliably repel a glampire is an ugly person. Glampires strive to find only the most beautiful people to feed upon or turn, and only the fairest of the fair will do. Revealing physical imperfections, through a disguise, illusion or other trickery will cause a glampire to be filled with self-loathing and escape at the first opportunity to brood upon their poor choice in food. Experienced glampires often invest in lenses of true seeing in order to avoid becoming fooled.

Glampires can also be induced into fleeing by attacking their self-image. Even something as simple as throwing paint at a glampire can cause the monstrosity to balk, and possibly flee, to avoid becoming dirty or getting their clothes ruined. If its existence is seriously threatened or if it's being attacked, a glampire will get over this automysophobia and defend itself to the best of its ability.

Although glampires are immune to the bright rays of the sun, the venom that courses through their veins is ridiculously flammable, and a glampire can catch fire if exposed to even small flames. Glampires avoid fire whenever possible, and many glampire hunters have discovered that surrounding themselves with roaring bonfires is a near-foolproof method of defending themselves from vengeful glampires.

Attracting a Glampire: It is far easier attract a glampire than to repel them. Solely obsessed with physical beauty, they will attempt to feed on the most attractive mortal within their vicinity and kill the rest.

Dedicated glampire hunters have found that the easiest way to halt a pursuing glampire while they flee is to place small mirrors in their wake. When not immediately threatened, glampires have a difficult time avoiding their own reflections in mirrors (something that ordinary vampires thankfully don't have to deal with). A glampire must make a Will save (DC 15 + the glampire's Cha mod) to avoid admiring their own reflection in a mirror for 1 round. The glampire receives a +10 bonus to this save when in combat.

Blood Dependence: Glampires are not only dependent upon regular feedings to sustain them, but blood also serves to keep a glampire from appearing undead. Any blood, even animal blood will do (as long as the animal is an exemplary example of its kind). Glampires who fail to feed begin to suffer Charisma damage (see above) as their faces begin to appear bruised and contorted. This in turn causes a glampire's dazzling beauty ability, their glampire power and glampire venom to become less effective, and makes it more difficult for them to find attractive prey.

Slaying a Glampire: Glampires are extremely hardy and their venom-infused bodies repair themselves at an alarming rate, making them immune to being stabbed through the heart with a stake. In addition, they are also undamaged by sunlight. Experienced glampire hunters have learned that the surest method to destroy a glampire is to set them ablaze. The same venom that preserves them in undeath is extremely flammable, proving as much of a curse as a blessing. To prevent glampires from suddenly rising to put out the flames, hunters often dismember them and spread the body parts out to keep them from rejoining.

A glampire can also be slain by beheading, but the hunter must make certain to keep the head away from the body, lest they rejoin and the glampire regenerate. The venom within the glampire's body will eventually circulate itself out onto the ground where it becomes harmless and inert. Without anything to power it, the glampire can no longer regenerate and becomes truly dead.

Glampires who are purposefully denied blood begin to suffer from blood dependence (see above). In extreme cases, glampires will actually attempt to slay themselves in an effort to prevent themselves from becoming uglier, usually through self-immolation. This is an extremely cruel and involved method of slaying a glampire, and is generally only used by the most corrupt, sadistic or vengeful glampire hunters.

Glampire Characters

Driven by an unslakable thirst for the blood of young, beautiful humanoids, and powered by necromantic venom that courses through their veins, glampires are overwhelmingly evil.

Clerics: When turned into glampires, clerics lose their ability to turn undead, gaining in exchange the ability to rebuke undead. The conversion into undeath may separate a cleric from their deity. Glampire clerics favor deities that exemplify beauty, trickery and undeath.

Sorcerers and Wizards: When killed, a sorcerer or wizard's familiar reverts to a normal animal and abandons their former masters. Newly risen glampire spellcasters summon new familiars, favoring charming or noble creatures like cats, hawks and ravens.

New Item: Vial of Glampire Venom

Glampires can fill a vial with their venom, a process that takes an hour of the glampire's time as they concentrate and excrete the liquid from their mouth. A glampire can coat a piercing or slashing weapon with a vial of their venom as if it were poison. Doing so allows the glampire to expose their victims to the venom as if they had used their bite attack.

In addition, if administered to a glampire that has been been rendered comatose due to damage, the venom immediately brings the glampire to 1 hp, allowing their fast healing ability to begin working again.

If placed on a weapon, glampire venom remains virulent for up to 1 hour, and it remains viable for a week while stored in a vial. A gentle repose spell will help keep a vial of venom fresh for longer, but will not affect venom that has been applied to a weapon.

Glampires never let vials of their venom get into hands outside their families. In the extremely rare cases where it is available for sale, usually by a necromancer in need of some extra funds, it generally fetches a price of 300 gp per vial.

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