Vampire Strigoi: Difference between revisions

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; Cloak of Shadows (Su)
; Cloak of Shadows (Su)
Once per round as a swift action, a Vampire may cause a flickering, shifting skein of shadows to surround themselves or one ally within fifty feet.  The creature affected by Cloak of Shadows gains partial concealment, IE, a twenty percent miss chance.  Cloak of Shadows lasts until the beginning of the Vampires next turn.
Once per round as a swift action, a Vampire may cause a flickering, shifting skein of shadows to surround themselves or one ally within fifty feet.  The creature affected by Cloak of Shadows gains partial concealment, IE, a twenty percent miss chance.  Cloak of Shadows lasts until the beginning of the Vampires next turn.
; Immortality (Su)
Vampires cannot be killed by normal means.  If a Vampire is reduced below zero hitpoints, it will lie in moldering ruin until the next night.  It will then rise with a single hitpoint and go hunting to feed. To destroy a Vampire, you must kill it and expose it to sunlight the next day.  Alternatively, you can place a stake through the heart of a Vampire and it will not be destroyed, but it will not rise as long as the stake remains. Lastly, if you decapitate a Vampire or burn it's body completely, it will not rise in that case either.





Revision as of 17:10, 15 November 2015


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Vampire Strigoi (CR 15)

Vampires are one of the great nations of Undeath. Vampires are Emptied Undead, meaning they have been cored out of life. Unlike most of the Emptied, they do not noticeably decay, although during battle their disgusting nature is amply evident in the mess they leave behind. Vampires are the greatest representatives of the Corrupting Undead, those undead who seek the preservation and continuation of life, so that they may corrupt it into ever more Undeath. As a result, the motivations of Vampires are more complex than the Destroying Undead or the Eaters.

Vampires like people. They like the trappings of civilization, they like the happy whirl of social life, they enjoy the company of others, both undead and living alike. Vampires want to make more Vampires, it is an erotic part of their existence that they would be greatly diminished by losing.

Vampires get along well with most other Undead, even though relations often involve the Vampires using their domination abilities or simply persuading the other Undead to be patient. It is not unusual for Vampires to be encountered with powerful Skeletons, Wights, Death Knights, Liches, and other mighty Undead, even including the Lost Ones, who make terrifying allies indeed.

On top of this, Vampires are unique among Undeath in that they create living allies, their Vampiric Thralls. The existence of Vampiric Thralls makes finding a Vampire nest immeasurably more difficult, because Vampire Thralls are alive. Thralls are mortals who admire and envy the Vampires for their abilities, and whom the Vampires have fed their blood to. Vampire Blood can create new Vampires, or, in lesser doses, a living human becomes addicted to it, as if it were strong drink, or some horrifyingly strong opiate.

Vampire thralls are the first rank of Vampire culture, the eternally obedient and awfully empowered servants whom the Vampires use to interact with the daytime world. But to a Vampire, the faithful Thralls are just servants and fighters, meat to be sacrificed and used up as required. No, most Vampires are far more occupied with the byzantine machinations of Vampiric Society, a dark carousel of midnight parties and dalliances in dark corners, plots and plans and schemes all woven together into a fascinating skein complex enough to keep even an immortal monster entertained.

Vampire Strigoi are the least of the mature vampires, the ones that can claim the mantle of the great old monster with some credence. That said, Strigoi can be newly created by a mighty enough Sire or Dam, but they are generally Bruxa's that have played at the Dark Dalliance for a century or so and have gained allies and enemies among their fellow vampires. Strigoi are more ridden by The Hunger than Bruxa's, and their increasing need for prey makes them both more aggressive in their hunts and more interested in the world of the living. As a result, Strigoi's are often well-known figures among humans, with estates and businesses catering to the underside of the economy. Strigoi's use many allies and thralls, and there may be many of them in a nest, their shared interests and hungers leading them to unite in their corruption of the surrounding society.

Like Nosferatu, Strigoi's have started to gain the attention of the Great Old Monsters, and it is not unheard of for much more powerful Vampires to take umbrage at the destruction of a Strigoi nest.


GENERAL

CR 15 Hit Dice 22

XP 51,200

Medium, NE, Undead

Init +7; Senses Standard Darkvision, Perception +23

DEFENSE

AC 37, touch 21, flat-footed 31 (+10 armor, +6 dex, +6 natural, +5 deflection)

hp 328

Fort +16, Ref +16, Will +20

Aura: -

SR: -

Special Defenses: -

Immunities:

  • all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms)
  • disease, poison, ability damage, ability drain, energy drain
  • death effects, necromancy effects, sleep effects
  • nonlethal damage
  • paralysis, stunning, fatigue, exhaustion
  • any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless)

Weaknesses:

  • Healed by negative energy.
  • Vampires take 10 points of non-resistable energy damage any time they end their turn in a square subject to daylight. This applies once per round in combat, or ten times per minute outside of combat. This weakness does NOT increase or decrease the damage a vampire takes from specific undead-damaging effects and attacks



OFFENSE

Speed 60 ft., Fly 60 ft

Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.

Single Melee Vampire's Bite +24 (3d8+15/x2) + Bleed 15

Full Melee Vampire's Bite +24 (3d8+15/x2) + Bleed 15, 2x Elegant Claws +26 (3d6+3/x2)

Ranged None, but see Mesmerizing Gaze

Special Attacks Mesmerizing Gaze, Spray of Blood, Vampires Hiss, Cloak of Shadows

Action Points 0


STATISTICS

Str 24, Dex 21, Con -, Int 17, Wis 20, Cha 22

Base Atk +15; CMB +24; CMD 32

Feats Mobility, EFFECT: AC 41 versus attacks of opportunity provoked by their own movement

Skills Diplomacy 21, Bluff 21, Knowledge, Local 21, Sense Motive 24, Stealth 24

Languages Necril, Common, Thanic


SPECIAL ABILITIES

Mesmerizing Gaze (Su)

Once per round, as a swift action, Vampires may pour their charismatic essence into their piercing gaze and attempt to lull a mortal creature within 100 feet into sleep. The Vampire chooses a target to which it has line of sight and line of effect and forces them to roll a Will save versus a DC of 23. If they fail the save they are Asleep until they are awakened. If they make the save, they are Drowsy until the end of their next round.


Spray of Blood (Su)

Once per round, if a Vampire makes a successful Bite attack against a foe which already is suffering from a Bleed condition, they may cause a Spray of Blood to erupt from the space of the victim as a free action. This is a fifteen foot cone (a 3x3 square) which must be adjacent to the space of the victim. Enemies of the Vampire which are in the area of effect take 4d6 of physical slashing damage and suffer from the Blind condition until the end of the encounter. Victims may make a Fortitude save against a DC of 23 to reduce the damage by half and negate the Blind condition.


Vampire's Hiss (Ex)

Once per round as a standard action, a Vampire may pour its hunger for life into an ear-shredding vampire's hiss. This affects a fifteen foot cone, is a sonic-based area of effect attack which can damage objects, as the Bard's Staccato ability. All enemy creatures in the area of effect take 8d6 points of sonic damage, and may make a Fort save for half damage. If used to attack objects, the Vampire may make one Sunder on a single object in the area of affect using its CMB (+24).


Cloak of Shadows (Su)

Once per round as a swift action, a Vampire may cause a flickering, shifting skein of shadows to surround themselves or one ally within fifty feet. The creature affected by Cloak of Shadows gains partial concealment, IE, a twenty percent miss chance. Cloak of Shadows lasts until the beginning of the Vampires next turn.


Immortality (Su)

Vampires cannot be killed by normal means. If a Vampire is reduced below zero hitpoints, it will lie in moldering ruin until the next night. It will then rise with a single hitpoint and go hunting to feed. To destroy a Vampire, you must kill it and expose it to sunlight the next day. Alternatively, you can place a stake through the heart of a Vampire and it will not be destroyed, but it will not rise as long as the stake remains. Lastly, if you decapitate a Vampire or burn it's body completely, it will not rise in that case either.


TREASURE

sell value of approximately 18,750 gp


COMBAT TACTICS

As a result of their widely varied personalities, Vampires can and do have many different styles of combat. Strigoi lack the ability to summon swarms of bats, so unless they have an ally who can do such things for them, Strigoi move quickly and decisively into combat, targeting any spellcasters or ranged attackers first and often with their Mesmerizing Gaze.

Strigoi dive right in and go to full attacks, fighting alongside any Thralls, sure the thralls will work their hearts out to protect them as much as possible. In almost all cases, Strigoi wil fight in pairs, looking for one to inflict a Bleed so the other can use their nasty Spray of Blood ability. Similarly, in a melee, Strigoi will seek to target clusters of enemies, looking to hurt and Blind as many as possible.

Some of the Strigoi will use Mesmerizing Gaze every round, and some will use Cloak of Shadows, but they will be clever about it, mesmerizing high damage spellcasters and ranged attackers, while then forcing them to combat cast if at all possible. Strigoi in high-risk situations will get Cloaked, so the miss chance has a chace to save them.

If there are Thralls around, and the Vampire does not feel threatened, they may use their Cloak of Shadows on the thrall. More likely, if a fellow vampire is in peril, they will Cloak each other.

Vampires are well aware of the power of their inflicted bleeds to stunt the healing effects of divine casters, and will be sure to hit as many people as possible with their bites, both for the Bleed effects and to enable Spray of Blood.

Once a fight begins vampires want to win, quickly and easily. If a fight turns nasty, they will usually run away without hesitation, abandoning any Thralls without a second thought. To flee, Vampires will usually use their considerable flight to break around a corner and then evade into the heavens.

NOTE: It should go without saying that Vampires, due to their weakness to daylight, avoid the sun like death. Vampires are indeed creatures of the night.