The Teshan Mutna, the Higher Vampire

The Teshan Mutna, the Higher Vampires are the true children of Catalonia, the Mistress of Blood. They are predators of the night, hunters that stalk those that bleed. But they differ from their lesser kin, in that they have morality, personality and intelligence. Each higher vampire is an individual, possessing abilities only known to them, mannerisms that are their own and personal tastes. But they are all spawned from the blood of their mother, so they share certain attributes and weaknesses like all others of their kind.

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## Class Features

### Hit Points

* **Hit Dice:** d8
* **Hit Points at Higher Levels:** 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution Modifier per higher vampire level after 1st

### Proficiencies

* **Armor:** None
* **Weapons:** None
* **Tools:** None
* **Saving Throws:** None
* **Skills:** None

## Higher Vampirism

At 1st level, upon becoming a higher vampire, you gain the following traits, weaknesses and actions.

### Traits

* Your Strength, Dexterity and Constitution scores become 18.
* ***Shapechanger:*** If you aren’t in sunlight, you can use your action to polymorph into a Tiny bat, a Medium cloud of mist, or back to your true form.

While in bat form, you can’t speak, your walking speed is 5ft and have a flying speed of 30ft. Your statistics, other than its size and speed are unchanged. Anything you are wearing transforms with it, but nothing you are carrying does. You revert to your true form when it dies.

While in mist form, you can’t take any actions, speak, or manipulate objects. You are weightless, have a flying speed of 20ft, can hover, and can enter a hostile creature’s space and stop there. In addition, if air can pass through a space, the mist can do so without squeezing, and it can’t pass through water. It has advantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws, and are immune to all nonmagical damage except the damage it takes from sunlight.

* ***Darkvision:*** You have darkvision up to 120ft.
* ***Damage Resistances:*** You have resistance to necrotic, bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks or dalvenite weapons.
* ***Misty Escape:*** When you drop to 0 hit points outside your designated resting place, you transform into a cloud of mist (as in the Shapechanger trait) instead of falling unconscious, provided that it you aren't in sunlight. If you can't transform, you are destroyed.

While you have 0 hit points in mist form, you can;t revert back to your vampire form and you must reach your resting place within 2hours or be destroyed. Once in your resting place, you revert to your vampire form. You are then paralyzed until you regain at least 1 hit point. After spending 1 hour in your resting place with 0 hit points, you regain 1 hit point.

* ***Spider Climb:*** You can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
* ***Undead Nature:*** You are considered undead. You do not need air.

### Weaknesses

* ***Absent Reflection:*** You don't appear in mirrors or reflective surfaces.
* ***Dalvenite Allergy:*** You are allergic to dalvenite, an alloy composed of meteoric steel and silver. If you start your turn within 5ft of dalvenite, you cannot use your Shapechanger feature until the end of your turn. You automatically fail strength checks to break dalvenite. Silver also makes you uncomfortable, exposing your veins where it touches.
* ***Forbiddance:*** You can't enter a residence without an invitation from one of its occupants.
* ***Stake to the Heart:*** If a piercing weapon made of wood is driven into your heart while you are incapacitated in your resting place, you are paralyzed until the stake is removed.
* ***Sunlight Hypersensitivity:*** You take 10 radiant damage when you start your turn in sunlight. While in sunlight, you have disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.

### Actions

* ***Bite (Bat or Vampire Form Only):** Melee weapon attack*: proficiency + Strength to hit, reach 5ft, one willing creature, or a creature that is grappled by you, incapacitated or restrained. 1d6 + Strength piercing damage plus 2d6 necrotic damage. The target’s hit point maximum is reduced by the amount equal to the necrotic damage taken, and you regain hit points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
* ***Unarmed Strike (Vampire Form Only):** Melee weapon attack*: proficiency + Strength to hit, reach 5ft, one creature. 1d8 + Strength bludgeoning damage. Instead of dealing damage, you can grapple the target.
* ***Charm:*** You target one humanoid you can see within 30ft of you. If the target can see you, the target must succeed on a (DC 8 + proficiency + Charisma) Wisdom saving throw against this magic or be charmed by you. The charmed target regards you as a trusted friend to be headed and protected. Although the target isn’t under your control, it takes your requests or actions in the most favourable way it can, and it is a willing target for your bite attack.

Each time you or one of your companions 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 you are destroyed, in on a different plane of existence that the target, or take a bonus action to end the effect.
Once you use this feature, you must complete a short rest to do so again.

## Blood Addiction

To higher vampires, blood is not a necessity to survive but is more like a narcotic or alcohol like substance to them that can be extremely addictive. Whenever you use your bite attack to drain blood from a creature, there is a 10% chance that you will become addicted. This percentage is accumulative. Every time you use your bite attack to drain blood, the chance of becoming addicted increases by 1% up to a maximum of 45%. This percentage chance of addiction goes back to 10% when you spend 14 days without drinking any blood.

When you become addicted to blood, whenever you are in the presence of blood, you must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw, on a failed save, you lose control and enter a Blood Frenzy to sate your thirst. While under the effects of a Blood Frenzy, you gain the following:

* You shapeshift back into your true form and cannot use your Shapechanger feature until the frenzy ends.
* You have advantage on melee attack rolls, but attack rolls against you are at advantage.
* You become immune to the charmed and frightened conditions until the frenzy ends.

The Blood Frenzy ends when you use your bite attack successfully and inflict narcotic damage to the target. If your saving throw is successful or the frenzy ends, you are immune to Blood Frenzy for the next 24 hours.

In the presence of blood are such as the following:

* A creature that is bleeding. For example if it has taken damage from piercing or slashing damage.
* The corpse of creature that has been dead for no longer than 12 hours, that was killed by piercing or slashing damage.
* A slight injury or such that result in minor bleeding, such as cut by a broken glass cup or pricked by a needle.

## Vampiric Spawn

Higher vampires can easily spread a lesser form of vampirism to other mortals and exert their will over them. The following a various conditions in which a vampire can create spawn.

* A humanoid dies with your blood in their immune system. Such as drinking a few drops of blood. The blood in the immune system lasts for 6hrs.
* Your bite feature's hit point reduction reduces the target's hit point maximum to 0.
* A humanoid that has died in the last 24hrs is buried in a wooden coffin under a new moon. The vampire the spills their own blood into the earth were the coffin was burried.

Any humanoids that are met with the above criteria rise as a vampire spawn in 1d12 hrs. Vampire spawns are always considered to be charmed by the vampire that turned them, and are compelled to enact the wishes of their master to the best of their ability. The vampire knows the exact location of their spawn when they are within 150ft of them, and always know the general direction they are beyond this range.

A vampire can use its action to call any number of spawns it has under its control to their location, no matter the distance. However, the spawn arrive at a time relative to how far away they were from their master. The number of spawn a vampire can have under their control are equal to twice their higher vampire level, with 5th level having the ability to have an unlimited number of spawn.

A vampire can choose to relinquish control over a spawn. To do so, the spawn must drink the master's blood from their veins and the master must have the willing intent to do so. If a spawn was to just drink from their master without the master willing to give up control, this will not work.

## Higher Vampirism Family

At 2nd level, you feel a pull towards certain vampiric instincts and mannerisms. While higher vampires are individuals and all possess different abilities and traits, they all share common features with one another. When they feel this pull, their bodies begin to change further to align themselves with their kin of darkness. Choose one between Oscula, Belator, Venkari and Nekurat.

### **Oscula**

If you choose Oscula, you gain the Oscula features whenever you gain Higher Vampirism Features in this Cursed Class.

***Kiss of Darkness:*** At 2nd level,If you kiss the target of your charm ability on the lips passionately, they make the saving throw with disadvantage.

***Eerie Scream:*** At 5th level, you can unleash the pain and anger that boils within into a powerful screech that pierces the hearts of mortals. While in vampire form and as an action, creatures within 30ft of you that can hear you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC = 8 + proficiency bonus + Charisma) or take 6d8 psychic damage and become frightened of you until the end of your next turn, or half damage on a success. If they fail by 10 or more, they are stunned until the end of their next turn. Once you use this feature, you must complete a short or long rest to do so again.

### **Belator**

If you choose Belator, you gain Belator features whenever you gain Higher Vampirism Features in this Cursed Class.

***Fear the Night:*** At 2nd level, as an action, you can force a creature you can see within 60ft to make a Wisdom saving throw (DC = 8 + proficiency bonus + Wisdom). On a failure, when the creature is in dim light or darkness, it is frightened and can’t regain hit points. The curse lasts until it is removed by the *Remove Curse* spell or similar magic. Once you use this feature, you must complete a long rest to do so again.

***Monstrous Form:*** At 5th level, you may use your Shapechanger feature to polymorph yourself into a Giant Vampiric Bat for 1 hour. Once you shapechange into this form, you cannot do so again until you complete a long rest.

### **Venkari**

If you choose Venkari, you gain Venkari features whenever you gain Higher Vampirism Features in this Cursed Class.

***Blood Rush:*** At 2nd level, if you successfully used your bite attack and inflicted its necrotic damage on your last turn, you can enter a Blood Rush at the start of your turn. Your attack rolls and ability checks are at advantage and the next attack you hit is a critical. Blood Rush lasts until the end of your turn. Once you use this feature, you must complete a long rest to do so again.

***Ravenous Predator:*** At 5th level, you become the ultimate killing machine that shows no mercy or regret as you rip into your prey. You gain the Ravenous Claws attack.

* ***Ravenous Claws:** Melee weapon attack*: proficiency + Strength to hit, reach 5ft, one creature. 2d6 + Strength slashing damage.  If the target is not undead or a construct, it must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or lose 1d6 hit points at the start of each of its turns due to internal injuries from your savagely hooked and razor shard claws. Each time they fail the saving throw, the wounds damage increases by 1d6 up to a maximum of 4d6. Any creature can take an action to stanch the wound with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Medicine) check. The wound also closes if the target receives magical healing. Instead of dealing damage, you can grapple the target instead.

### **Nekurat**

If you choose Nekurat, you gain Nekurat features whenever you gain Higher Vampirism Features in this Cursed Class.

***Blood of the Elder Magi*:** At 2nd level, when you use your Bite attack on a creature and inflict the necrotic damage, you can cast any spell up to 2nd level as a bonus action. You may use this feature twice before having to complete a long rest to do so again. You cannot use this feature if you are in direct sunlight.

***With Darkness As Your Ally:*** At 5th level, the darkness of night and shadows brings you power that pierces through the Shadowfell. When a creature is in an area of darkness and they are the target of one of your spells, they make the saving throw with a -1 bonus. Additionally, if you are the target of a spell that would force you to make a Wisdom or Charisma saving throw, you do so with a +1 bonus if you are within an area of darkness.

## Higher Art

At 3rd level, you choose one of the following higher vampire arts. This creates further individuality in vampires and their society.

### Art of the Blood Caller

Blood Callers share a very special connection to blood unlike other vampires.

**Blood Sense:** You can sense living creatures that have blood in a radius of 5 miles.

### Art of the Death Weaver

Death Weavers adore the beauty of both life and death, seeing them as both one in the same.

**Weave the Mortal Coil:** You can cast *Raise Dead, Danse Macabre* or *Create Undead* at will requiring no components once per day. Charisma is your spellcasting modifier for these spells.

### Art of the Feral King

Feral Kings assert their dominance over their lesser kin through the projection of the beast that slumbers in them.

**Alpha Vampire:** You can cast *Antipathy/Sympathy* at will requiring no components once every 10 days. Charisma is your spellcasting modifier for this spell. The use of this spell can only affect lesser vampires, wolves, rats or bats.

### Art of the Night Blood

Night Bloods are masters of the night, mist and shadows. They share the strongest connection to the Shadowfell and their Mistress.

**Night Stalker:** When you are in an area of dim light or darkness, you can turn invisible as per the effects of *Invisibility.*

### Art of the Blood Knight

Blood Knights are violent and skilled martial warriors. They command and spread their influence with hosts of undead and a battle frenzy that comes with no mercy.

**Blood Sabre:** As a bonus action, you can touch any mundane weapon. When you do so, the weapons becomes a +3 magic weapon until you choose to end this effect or it leaves your grip. When the weapon or you are in direct sunlight, this feature has no effect.

### Art of the Parody

Parodies say that "blood is lives" meaning you can learn much about someone and their personality by having a taste of their life essence.

**Blood is Lives:** When you taste the blood of a creature that has a personality and or intelligence such as humans, elves etc, you learn their primary language, can speak in their accent, gain minor physical features of theirs and learn a few facts about them and one important or dark memory. Over a period of 3 days, these features that you learn and adopt fade randomly until you forget.

### Art of the Game

Vampires that ''Play the Game'' of social espionage shape and meld the minds of those around them to believe what they want them to believe. By choice or otherwise.

**Mind Game:** When you use your bite attack on a creature, you may cast *Modify Memory* on the creature. They make their saving throw with disadvantage if you appear non-hostile when you bite them. Once you use this feature, you must complete a long rest to do so again.

### Art of the Resolute

Vampire of a strong will and body are resolute in the face of danger. Daring to spit in the face of danger.

**Invulnerable Flesh:** As a reaction when you take damage from a weapon attack, you instead take half damage. You may use this feature a number of times equal to your vampire level per long rest.

## Vampire Regeneration

The gift of undeath does not so easily let go of its host.

At 4th level, at the start of your turn, if you have at least 1 hit point and aren't in sunlight, you regain hit points equal to your Constitution modifier. If you take radiant damage or damage from holy water, this feature doesn't function at the start of your next turn.