Dhampir

The half-living children of vampires and human mothers, dhampirs are born into a world that rejects them. Stigma and suspicion follow them regardless of whether the truth of a dhampir child’s nature is known. This mistrust either forces a dhampir to develop a disarming wit and charm, or to embrace bitterness and keep others at arm’s length through guile or outright intimidation.

Few dhampirs find solace with their undead forebears.

As living creatures, even tainted ones, the reality of living with an evil, blood-sucking monster seldom appeals even as they struggle with their own urges or hungers.

Dhampirs struggle to find acceptance both within society and within themselves.

Physical Description

Lithe and Graceful Dhampirs appear much like humans at first glance. Adults stand between 5 and 6 feet tall but are more slender on average than humans; males weigh around 160 pounds.

Female dhampirs are only slightly shorter but are a fair bit leaner, weighing around 120 pounds. Their skin and hair color runs the vast spectrum of tones available to humans, though they tend to be slightly pale.

Their flawless features are tinged with some unnamable exotic quality. Despite the fear and uncertainty that follow them, the half-dead possess a seductive appearance.

Racial Traits

Your dhampir character has certain characteristics derived from your undead ancestry.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2, and your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Age. Dhampirs reach maturity at the same age as humans, but their lifespans are much longer. They can live up to 750 years before death finally claims them.

Alignment. Most dhampirs are neutral, but some are driven toward evil by the bitterness and suspicion their parentage thrusts upon them. A few turn toward good in defiance of their nature.

Size. Dhampirs are about as tall as humans but are slighter of build. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. Thanks to your undead ancestry, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common.

Special Traits

Dark Thirst. You can bite as an unarmed strike against an incapacitated creature or one you have grappled. Your bite deals 1 point of piercing damage, and if the creature has blood and isn’t a construct or undead, you can feed from it as part of the attack. Your feeding deals necrotic damage equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1), and if your target takes damage you regain one spent hit die. You can regain a number of spent hit dice with this trait equal to your Constitution modifier per long rest (minimum of 1).

Predatory Charm. As an action, you can magically beguile the mind of a creature that you can see within 30 feet. For 1 hour, you have advantage on Charisma checks made against the target. If you or any of your allies attack or damage the target, this effect ends. When the effect ends, the target feels repulsed by you and becomes hostile toward you until the next dawn, during which time it becomes immune to this effect. A hostile creature won’t necessarily attack outright, but it won’t deal with you in any way and might actively try to hinder you. You can use this trait once, and regain the ability to do so when you finish a short or long rest. A creature immune to being charmed is immune to your predatory charm.

Undead Resistance. You have advantage on saving throws against disease, and you have resistance against necrotic damage.

Character Details

You can determine the specific details of your unlikely hero’s height and weight using the guidelines suggested in the racial descriptions. Remember that these are a snapshot of the average members of these races. Outliers exist in any population, allowing for vastly greater or lesser stature, or coloration outside the suggestion norm.

If you wish to randomly generate your hero’s physical characteristics, roll on the following table as appropriate for your character’s race and gender.

Race Base Height Height Modifier Base Weight Weight Modifier
Dhampir 4′ 10″ +2d8 120 lb. x (2d4) lb.
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Unlikely Heroes for 5th Edition © 2016 Open Design; Author: Dan Dillon.

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