Poised between the worlds of the living and the dead, dhampirs retain their grip on life yet are endlessly tested by vicious hungers. Their ties to the undead grant dhampirs a taste of a vampire’s deathless prowess in the form of increased speed, darkvision, and a life-draining bite.
With unique insights into the nature of the undead, many dhampirs become adventurers and monster hunters. Their reasons are often deeply personal. Some seek danger, imagining monsters as personifications of their own hungers. Others pursue revenge against whatever turned them into a dhampir. And still others embrace the solitude of the hunt, striving to distance themselves from those who’d tempt their hunger.
Dhampir Hungers
Every dhampir knows a thirst slaked only by the living. Those who overindulge their thirst risk losing control and forever viewing others as prey. Those who resist might find exceptional ways of controlling their urges or suppress them through constant, molar-grinding restraint. In any case, temptation haunts dhampirs, and circumstances conspire to give them endless reasons to indulge.
While many dhampirs thirst for blood, your character might otherwise gain sustenance from the living. Roll on or choose an option from the Dhampir Hungers table to determine what tempts your character to feed.
Dhampir Hungers
| d6 | Hunger |
|---|---|
| 1 | Blood |
| 2 | Flesh or raw meat |
| 3 | Cerebral spinal fluid |
| 4 | Psychic energy |
| 5 | Dreams |
| 6 | Life energy |
Dhampir Origins
Dhampirs often arise from encounters with vampires, but all manner of macabre bargains, necromantic influences, and encounters with mysterious immortals might have transformed your character. The Dhampir Origins table provides suggestions for how your character gained their lineage.
Dhampir Origins
| d8 | Origin |
|---|---|
| 1 | You are the reincarnation of an ancestor who was a vampiric tyrant. |
| 2 | Your pact with a predatory deity, fiend, fey, or spirit causes you to share their hunger. |
| 3 | You survived being attacked by a vampire but were forever changed. |
| 4 | A parasite lives inside you. You indulge its hunger. |
| 5 | Tragedy interrupted your transformation into an immortal. |
| 6 | You are a diminished form of an otherworldly being. Slaking your hunger hastens your renewal. |
| 7 | One of your parents was a vampire. |
| 8 | A radical experiment changed your body, making you reliant on others for vital fluids. |
Dhampirs in the Domains of Dread
When creating a dhampir, ask your DM if it makes sense for your character to have ties to one of the following Domains of Dread (detailed in chapter 3):
Barovia. In the shadow of Castle Ravenloft, tales flourish of those who love or descend from vampires. You might have such a connection, but dread what would happen if others in your insular community found out.
Darkon. The Kargat, this shattered domain’s secret police, supposedly know the secret of immortality. Perhaps you joined and advanced through their lesser ranks, known as the Kargatane, and were rewarded by being transformed into a dhampir.
I’Cath. At night, the starving city of I’Cath is overrun by vampiric jiangshi (described in chapter 5). You were left with a cold hunger after an encounter with one of these unquiet ancestors.
Creature Type
You are a Humanoid.
Size
You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you gain this lineage.
Speed
Your walking speed is 35 feet.
Ancestral Legacy
If you replace a race with this lineage, you can keep the following elements of that race: any skill proficiencies you gained from it and any climbing, flying, or swimming speed you gained from it.
If you don’t keep any of those elements or you choose this lineage at character creation, you gain proficiency in two skills of your choice.
Darkvision
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 discern colors in that darkness as shades of gray.
Deathless Nature
You don’t need to breathe.
Spider Climb
You have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed. In addition, at 3rd level, you can move up, down, and across vertical surfaces and upside down along ceilings, while leaving your hands free.
Vampiric Bite
Your fanged bite is a natural weapon, which counts as a simple melee weapon with which you are proficient. You add your Constitution modifier, instead of your Strength modifier, to the attack and damage rolls when you attack with this bite. It deals 1d4 piercing damage on a hit. While you are missing half or more of your hit points, you have advantage on attack rolls you make with this bite.
When you attack with this bite and hit a creature that isn’t a Construct or an Undead, you can empower yourself in one of the following ways of your choice:
- You regain hit points equal to the piercing damage dealt by the bite.
- You gain a bonus to the next ability check or attack roll you make; the bonus equals the piercing damage dealt by the bite.
You can empower yourself with this bite a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.