Vampire

Vampires were a type of undead that fed on blood. They were one of the most feared and powerful undead creatures.

"There's something so pure about a vampire's evil, so perfect in its utter corruption... It'll tear at your throat like a ravenous beast, then smile at your companions as it dabs its blood-soaked lips with a silk napkin."

- Terevan of Celduilon

Description
A vampire looked very much like it did when alive, but with paler skin, hardened and feral features giving them a predatory aspect, and red eyes that were hard to forget. Their hands were clawed.

They did not cast shadows and had no reflections in mirrors.

Personality
Vampires enjoyed fine things and engaging in decadent behavior, sharing such habits with liches. A vampire was always a creature of evil. If it was not evil in life, it became so in undeath.

Powers
A vampire retained all the abilities it had in life, and it gained the ability to drain blood and life energy, and to dominate other creatures with its gaze. A vampire could also command rats, bats, and wolves, or take the form of those creatures.

Weaknesses
The greatest weakness of all vampire kind was their hypersensitivity to sunlight. If exposed directly to light created by the sun, they would start being harmed instantly, and would eventually burn to ash if they did not hide in the shadows. Additionally, they could spend more than a moment in running water without being injured.

Vampires were eternally bound to their coffins and the unholy earth where they were buried. While they were either resting or regenerating in their coffin, driving a stake through their undead heart would destroy them instantly. They also could not tolerate the smell of garlic and would not voluntarily enter an area with a strong odor of it.

Lastly, they could not enter any residence, without an explicit invitation of the beings inhabiting it.

Creation
A new vampire was created when another vampire drained the life out of a living creature. A humanoid or monstrous humanoid could become a vampire.

Half-vampires could be created in one of two ways. First, in some rare cases, a vampire could consume enough blood that it could breed with a humanoid or monstrous humanoid, creating half-vampire offspring. Second, in even rarer cases, if a pregnant mother survived having her blood drained by a vampire, her unborn could be "tainted" with vampirism instead.

Master vampires were vampires that had perfected the art of taking spawn, and as a result, could lead large gangs of them. They usually had one chosen spawn that was much better than the others. However, all of a master vampire's spawn were better than the norm: stronger, faster, and more numerous.

Activities
Vampires typically plotted to empower themselves and produce spawn that would spread across the world.

Varieties

 * The Domains of Dread had a number of forms of vampirism that only certain demihumans could contract, including dwarf vampirism, elf vampirism, and gnome vampirism.
 * Corpse vampire
 * Dhampyr
 * Eastern vampire
 * Nosferatu, a more hideous and savage strain of vampirism.
 * Spirit vampire
 * Vampire lord
 * Vampire muse
 * Vampire spawn

Notable Vampires

 * Mordoc SeLanmere: A vampire king who was once the most powerful vampire in all of Toril. He united the vampires under a single ruler from his home in the Battle of Bones.
 * Cazador Szarr: A vampire seeking to ascend with the help of the archdevil Mephistopheles to remove all weaknesses as a vampire and give him back pleasures of the living.
 * Bodhi: A vampire involved in Jon Irenicus's plan to join the elven pantheon.
 * Kierkan Rufo: An exiled priest of the church of Deneir who turned into a vampire after drinking the contents of the Chaos Curse.
 * Artor Morlin: A Shoon outlaw mercenary captain who became baron of Steeping Falls before moving to Waterdeep where he remained unchallenged by any rival for over 400 years.
 * Shyressa: An archmage and a Runemaster of the Twisted Rune.
 * Jander Sunstar: A sun elf vampire who became one of the Hellriders of Elturel.
 * Strahd von Zarovich: A vampire and the darklord of Barovia, one of the Domains of Dread.

Connections
Vampiro