A vampire is an undead creature. A humanoid or monstrous humanoid can become a vampire, and looks as it did in life, but with paler skin, haunting red eyes, and a feral cast to its features. A new vampire is created when another vampire drains the life out of a living creature.
A vampire can be of any evil alignment, and if its alignment was not evil in life it becomes so in undeath. A vampire retains all the abilities it had in life, plus it gains the ability to drain blood and life energy, and to dominate other creatures with its gaze. A vampire can also command rats, bats, and wolves, or take the form of those creatures.
Additionally, Vampires are weak against sunlight and many magically enchanted weapons. Holy magics and silver are among the strongest weapons when dealing with these evil creatures of the night, as well.
In some rare circumstances, a vampire consumes enough blood to be mistake for a human. Then in even rarer cases, they breed with a humanoid or monstrous humanoid, creating a half-vampire. This unholy creation also occurs when a pregnant mother survives a vampires blood drain attack and the child is tainted in the result.
Master Vampires are vampires that have perfected the art of taking spawn, and as a result, can lead gangs against their enemies. They usually have one spawn that is much better then the others, due to their Master's Chosen ability. However, all of a master vampires spawn are better then the norm, stronger, faster, and more numerous.
References
- Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 250–253. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
- Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell (October 2004). Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-3433-6.