Van Richten's Guide to Vampires (summary)

This is a summary of Hallgrimm Mikkenson's interpretation of Van Richten's Guide to Vampires (book)

Non-Spell Like Powers
-       Heightened strength, reasoning and intelligence

-       Powers scale with age

-       Fledgling (Weakest) / Ancient (Strong) / Patriarch (Strongest)

-       Faster than average (up to maybe 50ft non dash)

-       (Potential enhanced reaction)

-       Lairs have traps

Spell Like Powers
-       Powers innate to vampires

-       Some spellcasters also retain their abilities when becoming vampires

-       Draining life energy through bite (reduce hp of target / heals vampire)

-       Vampire charm – (Like Charm Person) – No casting time

o   Can’t be used to force self destructive actions

o   Charm scales with age / power

o   Basic vampire charm = Eyesight (10ft)

o   Ancient vampire charm = Voice (40ft) (Can be blocked by loud sound)

o   Patriach vampire charm = Telephathic (40ft) (Must know the target is present)

-       Spider climb  - No limit on duration, casting, frequency (Refusal still applies for buildings)

-       Resistance to non magical weapon damage

-       Regeneration (Scales with age / power)

-       Shapechanging

o   Can turn into mist (takes a few seconds / vulnerable to all damage mid transformation / cannot cross running water / cannot take actions)

o   While in mist form it could be invulnerable (varies from vampire to vampire)

o   Can change into a wolf or bat (typically larger / noticeably enhanced)

o   Can summon beast minions / control any animal it can transform into

o   Their minions typically resemble the attributes / past life of the vampire

-       Some vampires can make their undead servants immune to turning

o   If this is the case, the vampire themselves needs turning

o   Amount of undead servants protected could scale with age

-       Some vampires can reduce health / skill level with touch (If the target reaches 0, they die)

-       Some vampires have enhanced renegeration

-       Some vampires can attack in blurred speed, making it difficult to land a hit on them

-       Some vampires can pass through solid walls

-       Some vampires can cause targets to be frightened just at their presence

Destroying a Vampire
-       It may be best to prevent vampires being created

-       A person killed by a vampire is likely to become one themselves

-       To prevent this, destroy the body, rather than burying it

-       If it must be buried, drive a stake through the heart, fill the mouth with consecrated substance and cut off the head

Wooden Stakes
-       Must be made of wood

-       Ash is the most common (but some vampires resist this)

-       The type of wood may depend on the vampire background (Yew for a graveyard dweller)

-       Stakes largely don’t work at night (lack of daylight?)

-       Almost impossible to kill with a stake while conscious and moving (crit only?)

-       If the stake is removed, the vampire (not spawn) will rise again

Running Water
-       Vampire must be submerged up to at least over its heart

-       Water must be rapidly flowing (not stagnant or slow)

-       If you are able to keep it submerged in such conditions it will take acid damage (prevents regeneration?)

Sunlight
-       Direct rays of sun or reflected by a mirror must be used

-       Even if it doesn’t destroy the vampire, they will do almost anything to avoid the light

-       Can be used to force them to fight, let you flee or give up an item

-       Prevents Fledglings from using their magical abilities

-       Vampire fledglings die after one minute (10 rounds) in sunlight

-       Resistance to sunlight scales with age (Maybe 1 minute+ for mature / Maybe up to 1 hr for Ancient)

-       If the vampire is in a “period of immunity” it can still use its abilities while taking damage

-       When the period of immunity expires, it loses its magical abilities

-       1 minute after the period of immunity expires, it is destroyed

-       Patriarch are nigh immune to daylight provided they avoid direct beams

-       Reflected sunlight is only useful from clear surfaces which would feasibly provide the image of the sun

-       Partial cover does not assist in resisting sunlight

-       Limbs or appendages in sunlight appear burned

-       Vampires in physical form crumble to dust when killed by sunlight

-       Vampires in gaseous form dissipate when killed by sunlight

-       Ability checks at disadvantage in sunlight

-       Attacks at disadvantage in sunlight

Stigmata
-       Holy symbols and water can leave recognisable marks on vampires

-       These can appear as birth marks or burns

-       Can last up to months / years

-       Can be used to identify vampires masquerading as mortals

-       Has not been significantly tested

Vampire Weaknesses
-       Most common are holy symbols, blessed ritual items (accoutrements), sanctificed places, mirrors, garlic and running water

-       Weaknesses vary depending on type, age and who created the vampire

-       Progenitors = Creator of a vampire line (Their creator has either rbeen destroyed or became a vampire through other means)

-       First Brood (10 – 15) = First set created by a progenitor (Can inherit abilities from their master)

Keeping a Vampire at Bay
-       If you cannot destroy a vampire, keeping it at bay might be the next best thing

-       Good Holy Symbols – Faith in the deity and the power of the symbol is essential

o   Any symbol of a good diety will be useful

o   Can be used by any person in “presentment”

-       Evil Holy Symbols – Can be used by evil aligned priests to try and control undead

-       Vampires that are controlled by evil aligned priests will try to subvert the intention of their commands to betray the priest

-       Turning vs Presentment – Presentment can provide a layperson a momentary respite from a vampire (5ft distance), again, faith in the power of the symbol is essential. Hidden vampires have to exert control to appear unaffected by good aligned holy symbols

-       Blessed Accoutrements – Items belonging to a faith, blessed by a priest and of some symbolic value (incence/holy water/robes) can also be used to keep vampires at bay (5ft distance). Touching a vampire with blessed items can leave a Stigmata on the target

-       Additional items for protection

o   Mirrors – Do not reflect image of vampires / can be used to unsettle them

o   Garlic – In significant quantity prevents Vampires from coming close (May be toxic to them as wolvesbane is to Werewolves)

o   Running water – Most vampires avoid out of caution, but in gaseous form, vampires cannot pass running water over 3ft wide. They will result to other

methods to cross.

o   Some anecdotal weaknesses – Wood ash/ Dove feathers / Children singing (Likely specific to individuals and can’t be generalised)

Sanctified places
-        Must be expressly owned (individually or by a clearly defined group) or hallowed in some way

-       Potential sanctified owned places (inhabitant or group member must be present):

o   House (owned by resident)

o   Monastery (owned by the group who reside there)

o   Graveyard (owned by the priestly order that oversees it)

o   Churches dedicated to a particular deity (Even if publically owned)

-       Places NOT Sanctified

o   An inn / tavern

o   Public area (Public square / garden etc)

o   Town public graveyard (Not owned by holy order)

o   Traders store / Warehouse (Not expressly owned by individual)

-       Personal homes are considered “hallowed” as in “respected”

-       Example what could become hallowed grounds:

o   Individual home

o   Church

o   Holy burial sites

o   Sacred hunting grounds

-       The process of hallowing requires conviction, symbolic meaning, shared faith and potentially a defining event

-        Homes – Only safe when a vampire is not invited in (Refusal)

o   Vampires can only be invited by residents

o   Resident qualifies as individual permitted to live there indefinitely

o   Invitations must be stated clearly (not implied)

o   If the owner / lead resident gives an invitation, the vampire can forever enter

o   If a non-owner / leader offers an invitation, this is a one time entrance

o   Vampires can charm residents, summon minions unaffected by refusal or make the property dangerous to circumvent this

-       Graves – Cannot be opened by a vampire if it has been given appropriate burial rites

o   Vampires are able to enter graves that did not receive appropriate rites

o   Vampires could animate the dead target and have it break out of its own grave

Traditional Methods
-       Killing a person – If killed by draining experience or draining blood, the victim arises on the 2nd night following burial as a servant of their killer

-       Most Fledglings instantly understand their condition

-       If the vampire fails to escape its burial place for 1 week, it is destroyed

-       The vampire could transform into mist or summon minions to help it escape

Non-Traditional Methods
-       Vampiric Saliva - Very rare, slow acting but lethal poison, working over several days

-       Vampiric Curses – Through their voice or gaze, inflicting the victim with a disease that drains their strength over days. The night after burial, they arise as a vampire

-       The only way to save a target from a curse is to destroy the vampire who bestows it

-       Alternatively, destroy the body so it does not become undead

-       Any individual killed by a vampire not by normal damage or from spells could become one

-       A rare way of creating a vampire is by taking a bride or groom

Relationships Between Vampires
-       Not very common – Is almost always competitive

-       Vampire Societies are very powerful but tend to dissolve within 100-200 years

-       Vampires below the category Ancient only interact with their servants they have created or their own creator

-       Controlling a lesser vampire is dangerous, they may try to usurp their master and so are often destroyed while they are still young

Combat Between Vampires
-       Vampire strikes are considered magical

-       Only patriarchs can harm patriarchs

-       Spellcasting vampires can damage their kin but not use their charm on them

-       Vampires cannot drain experience from each other

-       Vampires can drain health or strength from each other

Kin-Nectar
-       Vampires can drink each others blood

-       They require less vampire blood to sustain them than human blood

-       They prefer human blood regardless

-       Vampires that drink each others blood can communicate telepathically for a few hours

-       The distance for communication has no distance limit

-       The communication is silent speech, not mind reading

-       The drinker can issue orders to the target

Progenitor and Offspring
-       New vampires must follow the orders of their creator

-       The creator must be present to exert their influence

-       Past the period of servitude (years), creators must trick or intimidate younger vampires into obeying them

-       Eventually the younger vampire learns of its own free will, they are typically destroyed or ‘released’ before this point

-       Releasing from servitude is a psychological trick to imply power

-       Most vampire offspring are accidental and very few vampires choose to raise their offspring

-       Destroying a vampire releases its control on its offspring

-       In very rare situations, particularly loyal offspring will hunt down the destroyer of their creator

Vampire Brides or Grooms
-       Different from the typical minion created and a process that is quite rare

-       Only Ancient Vampires and above can create these

-       Vampires most often have a mortal in mind for this process, due to lust, emotional attachment or something from their mortal life

-       Dark Kiss – Creator bites the victim 3 times

-       Before the victim dies, the creator cuts open a wound on themselves and has the victim drink

-       The creator is weakened at this point but must stop the victim before they drink too much

-       If the victim drinks too much they become insane and are destroyed with 24 hours

-       If the victim is stopped, they go into a coma (minutes to hours) and then arise as a vampire

-       The victim, unlike typical fledglings, is completely ignorant of their condition

-       The process of informing the victim of their new state can sometimes drive them mad

-       The process of making a bride or groom weakens the creator for some time afterwards

The Relationship
-       The bride or groom has free will

-       The creator exerts control over them as a teacher, not master

-       The creator could either lie to exert control due to the victims ignorance or be honest to attempt to gain respect and admiration

Communication
-       The couple have telepathic silent speech which ranges miles

-       They cannot read each others minds but detect strong emotions in their partner

Love and Jealousy
-       As the bride or groom grows in power, there is more likely to be conflict in their relationship

Negative Consequences of the Bond
-       Destroying one of the couple can greatly weaken their spouse

Dissolving the Bond
-       The bond is eternal unless the creator instigates the ritual to dissolve it

-       The victim can participate but it must be started by the creator

-       The creator must wound itself and let its own blood pool on the floor

-       The creator must inflict a wound on the bride or groom and let their pools of blood mix

-       This servers the telepathic link and stops one of the couple being weakened by their partners destruction