Climate/Terrain:Any
Frequency:Very Rare (5%)
Master: Very Rare (1% when group is encountered)
Organization: Solitary or group
Master: Only in a group
Activity Cycle:Any
Diet:Carnivore (Special)
Intelligence:Average (8-10)
Master: Supra-Genius (19-22)
Treasure:Nil
Master: F
Alignment:Neutral.
No. Appearing: 1 or 6
Master: 1
Armor Class:0
Master: -2
Movement:18
Master: 24
Hit Dice:5+3
Master: 8+1
THAC0:13
Master: 9
No. of Attacks:1 or Magic
Master: 2 or Magic
Damage/Attack:1d4 or special
Special Attacks:Blood Drain, Poison
Special Defenses:Hit only by magical or iron weapons, Regeneration
Master: +2 Magical Weapon or better to hit, Regeneration
Magic Resistance:See Below (5% per 100 years of age)
Master: (10% per 100 years of age)
Size:M
Morale: 16
Master: 19
XP Value:7,000 (+100 per 100 years of age)
Master: 8,000 (+200 per 100 of age)
Dyrk vampires are found in any tarrain, creations by a Evil Priest and Necromancer to do their bidding though they rebeled and over ran their masters an killed them. In doing so they have become free and can now walk among the worlds. They are similar to nosferatu, but do not gain power as they age. Also they can learn magic as a sorcerer learns magic. Other differences are below.
Appearance:
An dyrk vampire generally retains the appearance it had in life, looking like a normal human being. The only difference is that when not actually interacting with other beings, their faces tend to take on a strange blankness of expression that indicates their lack of true emotion and life. The fingernails of a dyrk vampire look like those of a normal human exept when it uses them for combat in which case the fingernails grow into sharp claws.
Combat:
Dyrk vampires attack once with sharp fingernails for 1d4 points of damage, injecting a deadly poison into the bloodstream of their victim. An unsuccessful save vs. poison causes 20 points of damage, a successful one only 10 points of damage. Only creatures which have an active bloodstream and are affected by poisons need check for this. Dyrk vampires can also cause a loss of 1 point of Con per round with their bite, like a nosferatu. Unlike their more common kin, dyrk vampires do not have any ability to transform into mist or animals, though they have the ability to fade from sight at will.Once they have become invisible, they receive all of the normal bonuses which such a state normally bestows, including being attacked at -4.
The gaze of a vampire is one of its most powerful and dangerous weapons. Any person who allows the vampire to look into his eyes will be affected as if by a charm person spell. In this manner, dyrk vampires are often able to pass posted sentries and surprise their chosen victims.
Only iron weapons or ones of magical origin can affect a dyrk vampire. They regenerate from all other weapons too quickly to be affected. Dyrk vampires also regenerate 2 hp per turn while they are away from direct sunlight. If reduced to 0 hit points, they will dissolve into an acidic fluid (which causes 5 hp dmg to living tissue only, no save). This fluid is capable of flowing at the dyrk vampire�s full movement rate, and will immediately attempt to find a dark area in which to regenerate.
Sleep, charm, and hold spells do not affect vampires. Similarly, they are unharmed by poisons and immune to paralysis. Spells that are based on cold or electricity cause only half damage.
Dyrk vampires are not affected by sunlight, except the above lack of regeneration. They must rest 4 hours of every day in some dark place away from sunlight or they gradually lose hit points until they are destroyed. Any dyrk vampire can be defeated by driving an iron stake through its heart, but that only renders them inert until the stake is removed. To permanently destroy it, the body of the vampire must be dissolved in strong acid.
Master Dyrk Vampires:
Being only encountered in groups of vampires have adapted their combat strategies to accommodate this fact. A favorite method of the Master Vampire is to set traps for both the unsuspecting and adventurers alike. An example of this, is the Master will clothe one of the others of the group as a rich merchant, noble, or even in His own clothes and lie in ambush of any who attack or approach the disguised Vampire. He, and the rest of the Vampires will use their powers of invisibility as they hide, and as soon as their prey is within the area of their trap they blanket the area with magical silence and darkness. This does not effect the Master since it has true sight as per the spell save this is a permanent effect. It will then make a magical assault into the darkened area with non-verbal spells, before attacking hand to hand. Meanwhile, the rest of the vampires in the group remain outside the darkness and watch for any who run, and kill them should any attempt to flee the battle. In conjunction with this method of attack the Master frequently has several dead animals near by so as to spread enough blood over the bodies and area to account for what otherwise would be noticed as missing due to the groups feeding. Using this method a Master vampire and a group are able to stay in a single area for an extended period of time, without arousing too much suspicion. Frequently, this method leads locals to believe there is a band of brigands in the area feeding on the local merchants and travelers.
The spell casting ability of the Master Vampire far exceeds that of the lesser vampire in that it is the casting equivalent of a 18th level Sorcerer, and many also have access to spells from the Priests list equal up to a 9th level Priest.
Habitat:
Dyrk vampires once lived only in the domain of Graez, where they acted as the elite guard of the domain lord. Unless they had been ordered to work as a squad, they tended to work and hunt alone. Though now after the uprising they have rebelled and became free to work and do upon thier own accord. For now they have no masters an work and hunt for themselves.
Ecology:
As magicly created undead beings, dyrk vampires have no place in the natural ecology. Dyrk vampires can not reproduse like other vampires can. It is through alchemy and drinking of the vampires potion with a few drops of its own blood to turn another into one of its kind. This prossess is rather painless actualy. as the person who chose to become a dyrk vampire, quickly falls asleep at the beginning of the trasformation. Upon waking up they have completed the change an now are dyrk vampires. Also those who drink of the dyrk vampires blood become a servent or better known as a ghoul for the vampire though they retain their own minds and free will as the magical propertys in the blood make it impossable for a blood bond.