Artwork by Lawrence Van Der Menve Soe) CORS SI VAMPYRIC CURSEVAMPYRIC CURSE 5™ EDITION SUPPLEMENT city |) h} H i ‘at ae | By CHAD SKILES ARTWORK BY LAWRENCE VAN DER MERWE, G@uitp imSTAGES OF THE CURSE Alter a creature fails a saving throw against a vampire's bite and goes 24 hours without receiving a cure (see Seeking a Cure section on pg. 4) that creature will gain the features of Stage 1 Vampyrism. In addition to those outlined below, all vampires from Stage 1 onward have the following conditions. Traces of Undeath. You only regain half of the hit points received through magical healing/potions. Additionally, you only need to consume half of the amount of food and water as a normal humanoid does per day. This effect changes at Stage 5. Sunlight Sensitivity. You are vulnerable to radiant damage. Attack rolls made by you in direct sunlight suffer disadvantage, Silver Weakness. You are vulnerable to all damage caused by silvered weapons. STAGE 1 - AcCURSED Bloodlust. You hunger for blood. For every 24 hours you go without consuming 1 pint of fresh. blood, you suffer three levels of exhaustion. Only blood consumption can reduce these levels. You cannot reach the sixth level of exhaustion from this Jeature—at this stage or any subsequent stage. ‘Nocturnal Sight. You gain darkvision up to 15 feet Claws. Your unarmed attacks deal 144 piercing damage, plus 1d4 necrotic damage. You are proficient with these claws; they have both the versatile and finesse properties. Vampyric Strength. Upon reaching this stage your Strength score increases by 1 Vampyric Agility. Upon reaching this stage. your base walking speed increases by 5 ft Next Stage. You advance to the next stage after 7 days. The effects occur after a long rest. STAGE 2 - BLOOD THRALL Bloodlust. For every 24 hours you go without consuming 1 pint of fresh blood, you suffer three levels of exhaustion. You can detect and track the scent of fresh blood within 30 feet of you Nocturnal Sight. Your darkvision increases to 30 feet. Claws. Your claws’ additional necrotic damage is now 146. Not for resale, Parmission granted fo pint or photocopy this document for personal use only Vampyric Touch. You gain the ability to cast the Vampyric Touch spell at level 3 without using a spell slot or material components. You may not use this ability again until you complete a long rest. Vampyric Seduction. You gain training in the Persuasion skill. Charisma-based rolls made to seduce an intelligent creature are made at advantage. Vampyric Resilience. Upon reaching this stage, your Constitution score increases by 1 Next Stage. You advance to the next stage after 10 days. The effects occur after a long rest. ALIGNMENT CHANGES. ‘Asa character advances through the stages of vampyrsm, the transformation they undergo isnot solely physical. Their thirst for blood will often give way to savage rage. Due to this, thelr alignment might shift toward chaotic tendencies. Upon reaching, {ull power, many Vampire Lords are driven to madness and evil in their immortality. As the characters advance, encourage them to adopt new traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws to convey this STAGE 3 - VAMPIRE SPAWN ___ Bloodlust. For every 24 hours you go without consuming 1 pint of fresh blood or damaging a creature with your Bite, you suffer three levels of exhaustion and are afflicted with one short-term madness effect. You can detect and track the scent of fresh blood within 60 feet of you. Nocturnal Sight. Your darkvision increases to 60 feet. Claws. Your claws’ additional necrotic damage remains 1d6 Vampyric Touch. You have the ability to cast the Vampyrie Touch spell at level 3 without using a spell slot or material components. You may not use this ability again until you complete a short or long rest. Vampyrie Seduction. You are trained in the Persuasion skill. Additionally, Charisma-based rolls made to seduce an intelligent creature are made at advantage. You gain advantage on saving throws to be charmed, Vampyric Reflexes. While you are wearing no armor or shield, your AC equal 12 + your Dexterity modifier. You also gain training in the Acrobatics skill and may crawl at your full speed. Next Stage. You advance to the next stage after 15 days. The effects occur after a long rest. VAMPYRIC CURSE: 2STAGE 4 - VAMPIRE ADEP’ Bloodlust. For every 24 hours you go without consuming 1 pint of fresh blood or damaging a creature with your Bite, you suffer four levels of ‘exhaustion are afflicted with one long-term madness effect. You can detect and track the scent of fresh blood within 90 feet of you Nocturnal Sight. You have darkvision up to 60 feet, Claws. Your claws’ additional necrotic damage remains 1d6, If you make this attack with both hands and hit the target. it is also grappled (if it ‘Medium-sized or smaller) Bite. You gain the ability to make a Bite attack using either Strength or Dexterity. The attack does 1d6 piercing damage plus 1d6 necrotic damage. The target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken. The reduction lasts until the target completes a long rest. Vampyric Touch. You have the ability to cast the Vampyric Touch spell at level 3 without using a spell slot or material components. This ability is now Recharge 6. Vampyric Seduction. You are trained in the Persuasion skill. Charisma-based rolls made to seduce an intelligent creature are made at advantage. You have advantage on saving throws to be charmed, Improved Vampyrie Reflexes. While you are wearing no armor or shield, your AC equal 14 + your Dexterity modifier. You are trained the ‘Acrobatics skill, can crawl at your full speed, and also gain the ability to Spider Climb up to half of your speed. Next Stage. You advance to the next stage after 30 days. The effects occur after a long rest. STAGE 5 - VAMPIRE LORD Bloodlust. For every 24 hours you go without consuming 1 pint of fresh blood or damaging & creature with your Bite, you suffer four levels of exhaustion and are afflicted with an indefinite madness effect. You can detect and track the scent of fresh blood within 120 feet of you Nocturnal Sight. Your darlvision increases to 75 feet Day TRACKER Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage Stage Not for resale, Parmission granted fo pint or photocopy this document for personal use only Claws. Your claws’ additional necrotic damage is, now 148, If you make this attack with both hands and hit the target, it is also grappled (if it Medium-sized or smaller) Bite. You gain the ability to make a Bite attack using either Strength or Dexterity. The attack does 146 piercing damage plus 2d6 necrotic damage. The target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken. Targets affected by this by become afflicted with Vampyrism and will develop Stage 1 within 24 hours if they do not receive treatment. Vampyric Touch. You gain the ability to cast the Vampyric Touch spell at level 4 without using a spell slot or material components. This ability is now Recharge 5-6. Vampyric Seduction. You gain expertise in the Persuasion skill (add double your proficiency bonus). Charisma-based rolls made to seduce an intelligent creature are made at advantage. You have advantage on saving throws to be charmed, Masterful Vampyric Reflexes. While you are ‘wearing no armor or shield, your AC equal 16 + your Dexterity modifier. You gain expertise in the ‘Acrobatics skill (double your proficiency bonus). can crawl at your full speed, and also gain the ability to Spider Climb at your full speed Masterful Vampyric Agility. Upon reaching this stage, your base walking speed increases by 5 ft. Vampyric Resistance. You gain resistance to necrotic and poison damage/poisoned condition, Elder Vampire. You have reached the final stage of vampyrism. You are a fully undead creature for the purposes of healing, spells, and other effects. You no longer need to consume food or water and you age only one year for every decade that you are alive, ‘OPTIONAL VAMPYRIC POWERS. ‘These abilities can replace (or add to) features from Stages 3-5. Regeneration. Atthe start of each turn, you regenerate HP equal to your proficiency bonus. Ifyou ae in direct sunlight, or have taken radiant or sivered:-weapon damage in the previous round, you do not regenerate, Misty Escape. You can cast the Misty Step spell without any spell slots or material components asa bonus action, or as a reaction after you take damage from a creature within ft. of you. You may ‘not use this ability again until you complete a short or long rest, 3 eeeecccceco000e 4, 2Peesececcoceccecc000000000000 VAMPYRIC CURSE: 3CAMPAIGN IMPLEMENTATION Vampires and their role in the world can vary heavily depending on what sort of campaign you are running. If you are playing or DMing adventures set in the Curse of Strahd series, then vampyric creatures and curses can play a strong role in the events of the campaign. However, vampires might play an entirely different role in a ‘Sci/Fi hybrid such as Eberron or a modern/futuristic setting, ’ ry d e Whatever the case may be, these are not features intended to be added with 1st-level character creation. It works much stronger as a player option that arises out a progression within your campaign's narrative When introducing the concept of the vampyric curse to your game, provide some foreshadowing. Ifthe players are on their way to confront a vampire (who is powerful enough to impart the curse on to others), consider including a random, encounter with recently-turned vampyric villagers, hunters, or even animals. With some investigation, players may be clued into the possibility that they, too, risk falling vietim to the Once a player is afflicted and is enduring the 24-hour period before the curse advances, describe to them the strange feeling their character is undergoing. You might say after their next encounter, “As the last enemy falls, you're frozen—your eyes affixed to the freshiy-spilled blood of the battlefield. You feel inexplicably mesmerized for a moment before snapping back to reality While this supplement provides an option for players who wish to incorporate vampyrism into Nt for resale, Parmission granted fo pint or photocopy this document for personal use only their current characters, remember that this is intended to be a player option. If a player becomes affected with vampyrism and wishes to cure themselves rather than advance through its stages, be sure to provide opportunities for receiving a cure so that they are not irreversibly tied to mechanics and features that they may not enjoy playing. This may mean seeking out a powerful NPC who owes the players a favor. through conducting an elaborate ritual, or even going on a new quest for a special cure—as outlined below, SEEKING A CURE When a cursed player seeks a cure for vampyrism, it provides a character-focused quest hook for the campaign, Imagine a cursed holy paladin or cleric fighting against their own bloodlust as they seek out a way to expunge it. How might this affect the worship of their gods? Or how will their party feel about seeking a cure? It makes the role of the curse far more interesting if it incorporates moral dilemmas such as these, rather than just unflavored mechanics. After a target has been affected, for the next 24 hours they can remove the curse entirely by having a remove curse spell cast on them. It must be cast a level equal to M4 the CR of the creature that inflicted the curse (rounded down). For example, if a Vampire Spawn, CR 5 (MM, pg. 298) inflicted the curse, the remove curse spell, could be cast using a 3rd level slot, its lowest possible casting level. However, a Vampire Lord's curse would need to be cast at 6th level of higher to prevent the advancement to Stage 1 ‘Once the curse has reached Stage 1, the curse has reached full strength. A remove curse must be cast at a level equal to the CR of the creature that caused it + the cursed target's current stage. For example, a target cursed from a Vampire ‘Spawn who has progressed to Stage 2 would need a remove curse spell cast at level 7 to remove the vampyrism, Curses inflicted by stronger vampires are beyond cure with the use of spells even when, cast at the highest possible level (with the exception of a wish spell). Players wishing to rid themselves of the curse must instead conduct an, elaborate ritual. Every ritual might be different, depending on, the role of vampyrism in your campaign. However, here is an example ritual. VAMPYRIC CURSE: 4Purify Blood 4 level divination (ritual) Casting Time: 30 minutes Range: One creature affected with vampyrism, ‘Components: V. S, M (a divine artifact to be used as a focus, a vial of the target creature's blood, a silvered dagger. and 250 gp worth of sanctified incense and chalk, which is expended during the ritual Duration: Concentration, up to 30 minutes This ritual requires careful timing. It must be conducted half an hour before sunrise, so that the sun emerges just as the ritual ends. For preparation, you inscribe holy glyphs into the ground using the chalk, encircling the target creature, then burn the incense. You hold the silvered dagger in one hand and the vial of blood in another. Using holy utterances and incantations, you proceed to remove the curse. As you do so, the process is, grueling for the target. Every 10 minutes the ritual persists, the target must succeed on a DC Constitution saving throw equal to 10 + the stage of the curse. On a failed save, the target takes 3410 internal hemorrhaging damage; this damage cannot be resisted in any way. The target takes half of this, damage on a successful save. The target will make a total of three of these checks. If at any time during the ritual, the target falls unconscious from the damage taken, or fails ‘two or more of the three checks, the ritual ends without curing the curse, All of the material components are still consumed. If the caster loses concentration at any points during the ritual, or the timing is significantly upset, the ritual also fails. Ona success, the vial of blood sears with radiant light, purified. The caster will cover the silvered blade in the purified blood and, just as the sun emerges, plunge it into the target's heart After letting it burn for a moment, the caster then removes the dagger as the wound instantly heals itself, closing up with a scar. ‘The target will pass out for one minute. During this time, the features of vampyrism will slowly fade away from them the target. When they awaken, they will have permanently lost one hit die, as well as that hit die's average value from their maximum hit points. Other than that, all effects of vampyrism (inchiding all abilities, stat [Not for resale, Permission granted to prt ey photocopy tis document for person use only. improvements, etc.) are removed. ‘The only vestige they bear of their curse is the scar over their heart, a cruel reminder of what they once were. At Higher Levels: When you perform this ritual using a spell slot of Sth level or higher. you lower the DC required for the target's Constitution saving throws by 1 for each level above Sth. PRESERVING BLOOD Dusk lotus is a rare plant with dark purple petals, and a ruby-red center. It tends to grow in moist environments and is incredibly durable upon maturing, They are said to curiously reach bloom at dusk. Bards and storytellers say that in an ancient war, demons’ blood spilled upon the carth infected the soil and stained these flowers with their taint, For this reason, some consider the presence of dusk lotus to signify bad luck. Unknown to most others, cursed vampires have discovered that the extract from this plant can be ground into an alchemical preservative for blood. A DC 25 Intelligence (Nature) check reveals VAMPYRIC CURSE: 5this, but this knowledge is more likely to be passed down from another vampire, or through a withered journal or tome chronicling one’s advancement through the curse. Consider placing the presence of dusk lotus in a forested area within your campaign for players to encounter while exploring, or perhaps even. hunt down as a side quest. Aplayer can attempt to harvest the extract with a DC 13 Intelligence (Nature) or DC 13 Wisdom (Survival) check. With the proper Imnowledge and equipment (such as vials, generic alchemical reagents, etc.) the player can spend ten minutes creating a preservative formula. While the formula itself does not spoil, fresh. blood mixed with this formula will stay fresh for up to three days (or a week, if that suits your campaign's pacing better). After three days, the blood is spoiled for purposes of satisfying Bloodlust, and it cannot be preserved again after spoiling, nor can multiple preservatives be used to extend the lifespan of one blood sample for longer than a three-day period. ‘VARIANT RULES Stage Advancement. You may find that progressing through the stages via passage of time feels tedious to manage, or perhaps just out of place in your campaign. Alternatively, a player can reach a new curse stage each time they also reach a new level and/or milestone Unknown Fate. You may also wish to reveal limited information about the stages to the cursed player. Instead of handing them this, supplement to plan around, reveal each stage only as they advance to it. This will maintain an. element of surprise and reduce min/maxing, Bloodlust Frenzied. If you are using the gritty realism variant (as outlined in the Dungeon Master's Guide), you may want to heighten the drawback of the Bloodlust feature. Instead of having three levels of exhaustion set in immediately after failing to consume a pint of blood, you may want to space it out gradually; a cursed player might suffer one level of exhaustion for every one or two hours they go without consuming a small vials worth of blood. If being used with a 7-day long rest, for each day of the rest, players can make either a DC 15 Intelligence (Nature) check in order to hunt an ‘easy prey for blood or DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check to seduce a target and extract Not for resale, Parmission granted fo print or photocopy this document fr personal use only their blood. This is a shorthand way to simulate their need to {eed without designing entire encounters devoted to that purpose Alternatively, you may simply adjust the Bloodlust penalty to occur every 7-days rather than every 24-hours. Obviously, this will minimize the drawback of advancing through the Stages, so consider also adjusting some of the benefits from each stage to be less powerful if you go for this approach. Bloodlust Quelled. If you feel that the drawbacks from bloodlust are too challenging for players to overcome or are interfering with the players’ ability to skip time for narrative purposes and/or travelling, then you may want to change their durations needed for blood consumption as follows. + Bloodlust Stages 1-5. For every 24 hours you go without consuming 1 pint of fresh blood, you suffer one level of exhaustion, Ifyou reach the third level of exhaustion due to this feature, you also suffer a short-term madness effect. If you reach the fourth level of exhaustion due to this, feature, you also suffer a long-term madness effect. If you reach the fifth level of exhaustion due to this feature, you also suffer an indefinite madness effect. Only blood consumption can reduce these levels. You cannot reach the sixth level of exhaustion from this feature. VAMPYRIC CURSE: 6