Ernst Stöhr, Vampir, 1899
Okay, this one is not intended to give you Dracula, this one is more that kind of folk legend vampire that is so common over the whole of Europe. I imagine them more to be some half-living bloodcrazed monster than some fancy aristocrat. Normal vampires don’t lend themselves to a “Goddamn Bloodsuckers” Hack and Slay play that easily. These are more mooks than masters. They might be found in the employ of a real vampire though. Mostly, I guess, PCs might come across the in graveyards and old ruins in the wilderness, or having run over the next village they wanted to rest in.
Vampiroids
No. Enc.: 1d4 (1d6)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 180’ (60’)
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 4
Attacks: 1 (touch, see below)
Damage: 1d8, drain life energy
Save: F7
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: VII
Sometimes, the legend goes, when the ones slain in battle are not buried, and when their open wounds are not washed, then evil spirits can enter the dead body and resurrect it as an undead beast, craving the blood of the living. The general public often conflates stories of them with those of other, more powerful creatures, but for unsuspecting towns and villages these creatures are even more of a threat. Especially because of a special trait they have: everybody slain by them has a 10% chance of raising as one of them the next night if no special precautions are taken. Their brains do not work quite as well as when they were alive anymore, and they generally show a wolfish quality in their intelligence, often even forming packs for their hunt.
Their general appearance is ragged and dirty, often only the tattered clothes they were killed, or buried in, sometimes nothing at all.Their appearance will grow worse with time. Their fangs, which are only slightly larger than before, grow bigger over time, their skin becomes more leathery, and they slowly loose their hair over time, until they barely resemble the humanoid they originally were. They do generally take only sparse interest in their looks.
They will generally try to find dry places away from the sun, often tombs and old ruins, in which they can sleep undisturbed during the day. If this is not possible they will bury themselves in the ground to avoid the sun.
During the night they are better off than most of their prey. They have infravision, a better sense of smell, and they can run faster than the average human. They are stronger and more agile than before.
What they lack is anything but basic intelligence, which decreases over time as well. The time they were dead normally was enough to kill most of their braincells, so they have a more primal urge to kill and drink blood, to the detriment of their own survival instinct. They also an aversion to garlic of all things and will take 1d6 damage for every round they stay in direct sunlight. They count as undead and can be warded off like them.
On the other hand they are easier to be killed than most and will stay dead once their heart or head is removed. (although there are different folk-rechniques to make sure the beast stays dead).
Magic:
Create Vampiroids
Magic User 5
Duration: Permanent
Range: 0
This spell turns the bodies recently dead humanoids into Vampiroids. This spell does not give power over them, so the caster should have a way of controlling them once they are animated. They remain animated until they are destroyed.
The caster may animate a number of hit die worth of Vampiroids equal to the caster’s level. A lawful character that casts this spell may draw disfavor from his god.
Adventure Seed:
The Dourwood is haunted, everybody slain there will raise as a Vampiroid within the next 3 nights if not buried properly. The locals know this and have long adhered to a set of rules that takes care of this (burying the dead under piles of stone, washing the wounds of the dead, removing the heart of the deceased). But now something is upsetting this practice: a foreign army has occupied the country, and has forbidden these practices as heathen. Which would be only mildly stupid, if they did not also kill a large contingent of local soldiers and left them “for the vultures” in the woods. Most locals have carefully locked their doors the last few nights. The PCs are in the middle of this, when suddenly some patrols disappear.
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