Ancient Vampire

Family: Vampires

Medium undead (shapechanger), lawful evil

Armor Class 17 (natural armor), or 19 in abomination form
Hit Points 285 (30d8 + 150)
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
21 (+5)	20 (+5)	20 (+5)	19 (+4)	22 (+6)	21 (+5)

Saving Throws Str +12, Dex +12, Con +12, Cha +12
Skills Perception +13, Stealth +12
Damage Resistances necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive perception 23
Languages the languages it knew in life
Challenge 21 (33,000 XP)

Special Traits

• Shapechanger. If the ancient isn’t in sunlight, it can use its action to polymorph into a Tiny bat, a Medium wolf, a Medium cloud of mist, a Large abomination, or back into its true form. While in bat form, the ancient can’t speak, its walking speed is 5 feet, and it has a flying speed of 40 feet. Its statistics, other than its size and speed, are unchanged. Anything it is wearing transforms with it, but nothing it is carrying does. It reverts to its true form if it dies. While in wolf form, the ancient can’t speak and its walking speed is 40 feet. Its statistics, other than its speed, are unchanged. Anything it is wearing transforms with it, but nothing it is carrying does. It reverts to its true form if it dies. While in mist form, the ancient can’t take any actions, speak, or manipulate objects. It is weightless, has a flying speed of 20 feet, can hover, and can enter other creature’s spaces and stop there. In addition, it can pass through any space that air can pass through, without squeezing, but cannot pass through water. It is immune to all nonmagical damage, other than radiant damage from sunlight. While in abomination form, the ancient has advantage on Strength checks and saving throws, resistance to all damage types except fire, force, psychic, and radiant damage, as well as acid damage from holy water, and a fly speed of 40 feet. Anything it is wearing transforms with it, but nothing it is carrying does.
• Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the ancient fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
• Misty Escape. When the ancient drops to 0 hit points while outside its resting place, it transforms into mist form instead of falling unconscious, provided that it isn’t in sunlight or running water. If it can’t transform, it is destroyed. While it has 0 hit points in mist form, it can’t revert to vampire form, and it must reach its resting place within 1 hour, or be destroyed. Once in its resting place, it reverts to its vampire form. It is then paralyzed until it regains at least 1 hit point. After spending 1 hour in its resting place with 0 hit points, it regains 1 hit point.
• Regeneration. The ancient regains 30 hit points at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point, isn’t in sunlight or running water or a piercing weapon made of wood isn’t embedded in its heart. If the ancient takes radiant damage, or damage from holy water, this trait doesn’t function at the start of the ancient’s next turn.
• Vampire Weaknesses. The ancient has the following flaws:
  • Stake to the Heart. The ancient is paralyzed if a piercing weapon made of wood is driven into its heart while it is incapacitated in its resting place. It remains paralyzed, and cannot regain hit points, until the stake is removed.
  • Sunlight Hypersensitivity. The ancient takes 20 radiant damage when it starts its turn in sunlight. While in sunlight, it has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.
  • Spider Climb. The ancient can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

Actions

• Multiattack (Vampire or Abomination Form Only). The ancient makes three attacks, only one of which can be a bite.
• Unarmed Strike (Vampire Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage. Instead of dealing damage, the ancient can choose to grapple the target (escape DC 20).
• Bite (Bat, Wolf, Abomination or Vampire Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one willing creature, or a creature that is grappled by the ancient or one of the ancient’s allies, incapacitated, or restrained in bat or vampire form, or one target in abomination or wolf form. Hit: 8 (1d6 + 5) piercing damage, plus 14 (4d6) necrotic damage, or 14 (2d8 + 5) piercing damage, plus 21 (6d6) necrotic damage in abomination form. The target’s hit point maximum is reduced by a number equal to the necrotic damage taken, and the ancient regains an equal number of hit points. This reduction lasts until the creature finishes a long rest. If the creature’s hit point maximum is reduced to 0 by this effect, the creature dies. A humanoid slain this way, and then buried in the ground, rises the following night as a vampire spawn under the ancient’s control.
• Claws (Abomination Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) slashing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 20).
• Charm. The ancient targets one humanoid it can see within 30 feet of it. If the target can see the ancient, the target must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw against this magic, or be charmed by the ancient. The charmed target regards the ancient as a trusted friend to be heeded and protected. Although the target isn’t under the ancient’s control, it takes the ancient’s requests or actions in the most favorable way it can, and it is a willing target for the ancient’s bite attack. Each time the ancient, or the ancient’s allies, do anything harmful to the target, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. Otherwise, the effect lasts 24 hours, or until the ancient is destroyed, is on a different plane of existence than the target, or takes a bonus action to end the effect.
• Summon Pack (1/Night). The ancient magically calls 2d4 swarms of bats or rats, provided that the sun isn’t up. While outdoors, the ancient can call 3d6 wolves instead. The called creatures arrive in 1d4 rounds, acting as allies of the ancient and obeying its spoken commands. The beasts remain for 1 hour, until the ancient dies, or until the ancient dismisses them as a bonus action.

Reactions

• Deflect Missile (Vampire Form Only). In response to being hit by a ranged weapon attack, the ancient deflects the missile. The damage it takes from the attack is reduced by 3d10 + 5. If the damage is reduced to 0, the ancient catches the missile, if it’s small enough to hold in one hand and the vampire has a hand free. If a missile the ancient caught this way is nonmagical, the ancient can then automatically break the missile, making it unusable.

Legendary Actions

The ancient can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time, and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The ancient regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

• Move. The ancient moves up to its speed, without provoking opportunity attacks.
• Strike. The ancient makes an unarmed strike or claws attack.
• Bite (Costs 2 Actions). The ancient makes a bite attack.
• Change (Costs 2 Actions). The ancient uses its Shapechange ability.

About

A vampire simply does not attain the great age necessary to be counted as truly ancient without a frightening combination of intelligence, cunning, and deadly skill. While they can appear as normal, living beings, as all vampires can, many choose to embrace their monstrous nature, appearing as an unholy fusion of human, bat, and demonic other.