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Firestorm
Senior Scribe
Canada
826 Posts |
 Posted - 21 Jul 2007 : 03:25:56
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Just how powerful can these undead beings get? Are there any notable vampires of extreme power? I have been looking for some information on them, but pickings are slim. Age must play a factor in their power, as well as what they were before turning, etc
I have read about a few supposedly powerful Vampires, but don't know enough about their involvement in the realms.
Spoilers below.
Reading Blackstaff, I was intrigued about the prologue at the start which showed Arun and his son(You know who) both showing fear over a certain vampire wizard named Palron Kaeth(I have heard the name before, but can't remember where). If high level Wizards are afraid of him, he must be one bad dude.
And of Course, the chaos Curse showed Rufo, a vampire who became by ingesting the curse itself(Strange), but he seemed to be more powerful than average.
Anyone have any more goodies to share?
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36782 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2007 : 03:44:04
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There's a couple of vampires among the Moonstars... And one of the Manshoon clones is now a seriously powerful vampire in Westgate. For info on both, you can turn to a wonderful 2E book called Cloak & Dagger.
And speaking of 2E books... It's not Realms-specific, but Van Richten's Guide to Vampires (reprised in one of the volumes of the Monster Hunter's Compendiums) is an excellent source of lore and variant rules for vampires. |
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Chyron
Learned Scribe
Hong Kong
279 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2007 : 03:48:22
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Issues 126, 127 and 128 of Dungeon feature a 3 part campaign arc that depicts a power struggle amongst the notable vampires of Waterdeep.
One of my main beefs with 3E is that this once iconic monster has simply become a template that can be applied to nearly any race and or species...thus you now get vampiric dragons, vampiric illithids, vampiric (insert already powerful creature here), etc, etc....
I recall reading the old Raveloft novel Vampire of the Mists which featured Jander Sunstar and elven vampire from the Realms. He was at the time deemed rather special...but not by current edition standards.
This has really ruined (for me) the notion of a classic human/humaniod vampire being powerful since basically such are now considered useful for mass mobs (i.e thugs)....A party facing even a high level human vampire might actually breath a sigh of relief since they may have already faced off with a vampiric-beholder-illithid-demonspawn  |
Just My Thoughts
Chyron :)
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Edited by - Chyron on 21 Jul 2007 10:35:16 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2007 : 03:49:32
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I'm thinking of two specifically -- Shyressa of the Twisted Rune and the Night King [the Manshoon clone]. Steven Schend's Empires of the Shining Sea has a little about what the vampires serving the Twisted Rune are like, as well as Shyressa [see the 3e Lords of Darkness entry for the "Twisted Rune" also]. And Master of Chains, by Jess Lebow -- specifically the sections dealing with Shyressa and her cabal of vampires. For sources on the Night King, see the "Westgate" entry in Cloak & Dagger, and the section on the Night Masks in 3e Lords of Darkness.
Additionally, I suggest you take a look through the original Lords of Darkness REF5 tome, which also has lore on vampires in the Realms.
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Edited by - The Sage on 21 Jul 2007 03:52:49 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2007 : 03:58:02
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
There's a couple of vampires among the Moonstars... And one of the Manshoon clones is now a seriously powerful vampire in Westgate. For info on both, you can turn to a wonderful 2E book called Cloak & Dagger.
Of particular note is Asraf yn Malik el Kahaman yi Manshaka, the LE vampire, who has joined with the Moonstars and was a deepcover Harper agent. He's also briefly mentioned in City of Splendors: Waterdeep.
Eric Boyd's also shared a few minor tidbits about vampires in the Realms through some of his replies here at Candlekeep. Steven Schend has also, mainly in regard to those LE vampires operating among the Moonstars.
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 21 Jul 2007 03:58:48 |
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Victor_ograygor
Master of Realmslore
Denmark
1072 Posts |
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Asgetrion
Master of Realmslore
Finland
1564 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2007 : 10:18:00
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quote:
Originally posted by Chyron
Issues 126, 127 and 128 of Dragon feature a 3 part campaign arc that depicts a power struggle amongst the notable vampires of Waterdeep.
Don't you mean the Dungeon Magazine?    |
"What am I doing today? Ask me tomorrow - I can be sure of giving you the right answer then."
-- Askarran of Selgaunt, Master Sage, speaking to a curious merchant, Year of the Helm |
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Chyron
Learned Scribe
Hong Kong
279 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2007 : 10:37:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Asgetrion
quote:
Originally posted by Chyron
Issues 126, 127 and 128 of Dragon feature a 3 part campaign arc that depicts a power struggle amongst the notable vampires of Waterdeep.
Don't you mean the Dungeon Magazine?
That I do...sorry for that slip, I was up early to go stand in line for my Potter book (did not get much sleep ) ...Thanks for the heads up Asgetrion |
Just My Thoughts
Chyron :)
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2007 : 15:31:59
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quote:
Originally posted by Firestorm
If high level Wizards are afraid of him, he must be one bad dude.
Anyone have any more goodies to share?
The other thing to remember about vampires is that they retain what they knew in life. A vampire not only becomes a more dangerous physical specimen, able to drain the life out of the living with a touch and to syphon their blood, and difficult to kill permanently if you don't trap them or find their resting place, but, for example, if they happened to be a skilled warrior, or a powerful wizard, those skills would still be evident above and beyond their new talents as a vampire.
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fw190a8
Acolyte
United Kingdom
32 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jul 2007 : 14:38:10
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quote:
Originally posted by Chyron
One of my main beefs with 3E is that this once iconic monster has simply become a template that can be applied to nearly any race and or species...thus you now get vampiric dragons, vampiric illithids, vampiric (insert already powerful creature here), etc, etc....
...
This has really ruined (for me) the notion of a classic human/humaniod vampire being powerful since basically such are now considered useful for mass mobs (i.e thugs)....A party facing even a high level human vampire might actually breath a sigh of relief since they may have already faced off with a vampiric-beholder-illithid-demonspawn
Even though the vampire template can be applied to a wide variety of creatures, it doesn't necessarily have to be used in this way on a frequent basis. I know I'd rather have the option of using the template instead of knowing that there is only a narrow range of races that could be vampiric. A vampiric beholder might be an interesting encounter once, but wouldn't be the kind of thing players expect to kill three of each day before breakfast. A DM who feels that vampirism is more suited to humanoid races like humans and elves can easily make sure that these are encountered more frequently. I do welcome the vampire as a template in 3E! |
Contributor to the Forgotten Realms Wiki: http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jul 2007 : 16:22:50
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quote:
Originally posted by Chyron
Issues 126, 127 and 128 of Dungeon feature a 3 part campaign arc that depicts a power struggle amongst the notable vampires of Waterdeep.
One of my main beefs with 3E is that this once iconic monster has simply become a template that can be applied to nearly any race and or species...thus you now get vampiric dragons, vampiric illithids, vampiric (insert already powerful creature here), etc, etc....
I recall reading the old Raveloft novel Vampire of the Mists which featured Jander Sunstar and elven vampire from the Realms. He was at the time deemed rather special...but not by current edition standards.
This has really ruined (for me) the notion of a classic human/humaniod vampire being powerful since basically such are now considered useful for mass mobs (i.e thugs)....A party facing even a high level human vampire might actually breath a sigh of relief since they may have already faced off with a vampiric-beholder-illithid-demonspawn
Well, technically the vampire template can only be applied to humanoids and monstrous humanoids. So its still basically a humanoid thing.
That having been said, we have seen (in the Vampires of Waterdeep and one other place) a vampiric gibbering mouther. This is kind of presented as a scary aberration from the norm though.
Vampiric dragons have a origin in the Realms detailed in the Year of Rogue Dragons books, but they aren't exactly the spawn of some humanoid vampire that drained one of the behemoths dry, so if the origin for them in those books is the main origin of them in Faerun, then they shouldn't be too common (but can make for a nasty surprise).
Illithid vampires from Lords of Madness are actually unrelated to other vampires, and are feral undead creatures that don't have the intellect of other illithids.
However, if you use the Monstrous Vampire template from Ghostwalk, you can have that full range of bizarre aberration, fey, giant, or animal vampires, but if that doesn't appeal to you, its fairly easy to keep this a campaign specific option (although D&D minis and MWP DragonLance products have both features "monstrous" vampires). |
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Firestorm
Senior Scribe
Canada
826 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jul 2007 : 18:36:42
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Just how powerful do these guys get? Would they be a challenge to, say, one of the chosen of Mystra if they were a powerful mage before they became? Or someone like Szass tam is the Zulkir of Necromancy, so should i be under the impression he would have nothing to fear from Vamps...
Are they the second most powerful undead behind Liches ebcause they retain what they were as humans....etc, or can they become more powerful than liches
Ok, say not a chosen or powerful mage, but how big a problem would they be to someone like, say, Erevis Cale or Arylin moonblade, or A psionicist like Megadon or Kimmuriel Oblodra, or your average illithid...
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36782 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jul 2007 : 19:41:13
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quote:
Originally posted by Firestorm
Just how powerful do these guys get? Would they be a challenge to, say, one of the chosen of Mystra if they were a powerful mage before they became? Or someone like Szass tam is the Zulkir of Necromancy, so should i be under the impression he would have nothing to fear from Vamps...
Are they the second most powerful undead behind Liches ebcause they retain what they were as humans....etc, or can they become more powerful than liches
Ok, say not a chosen or powerful mage, but how big a problem would they be to someone like, say, Erevis Cale or Arylin moonblade, or A psionicist like Megadon or Kimmuriel Oblodra, or your average illithid...
It all depends... There's simply too many factors. Even a relatively weak vampire can be a very serious threat, if he has the time to prepare, and/or to gather allies and equipment...
On the flip side, vampires have serious weaknesses, so a powerful vampire can be killed by a much weaker foe, if the foe can get to the vampire's coffin while vampy is asleep...
It's almost an X vs. Y debate, which we discourage here, for the same reasons: "Yeah, but if he has time to do this, then he'll win..." |
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Ardashir
Senior Scribe
USA
544 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jul 2007 : 15:31:33
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| Didn't one recent issue of DRAGON list some variant vampires, at least one of which (feral vampires, I think) could be creatures other than humanoid or monstrous humanoid? |
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Drakul
Senior Scribe
USA
367 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jul 2007 : 13:32:23
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Y'all remember the enemy of Cadderly in The Chaos Curse?? Cadderly's enemy was a vampire and he retained everything he knew from before he was a vampire and he was almost more than a challenge for Cadderly before he became a Chosen of his Deity.
Oops, I didn't see the part where the initial poster wrote about the vamp in The Chaos Curse. My bad.
What about the vamps in Baldur's Gate game?? |
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDonLNKf6_KA9Qlal3Qu3zQ?view_as=subscriber |
Edited by - Drakul on 26 Jul 2007 13:35:31 |
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fw190a8
Acolyte
United Kingdom
32 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jul 2007 : 17:26:55
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| Bodhi was a vampire from Baldur's Gate II. There's a bit of info (spoiler warning for both novel and game) at http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Bodhi - also I think there must be some stats for her somewhere so you can get an idea of just how powerful (or not, maybe) she was, but I can't find them. Perhaps someone knows where though. |
Contributor to the Forgotten Realms Wiki: http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com |
Edited by - fw190a8 on 26 Jul 2007 17:33:51 |
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Drakul
Senior Scribe
USA
367 Posts |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jul 2007 : 21:26:44
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There were still vampiric Ixitchitl (sp?) in 1e/2e.
There's quite a few of them in the Sea of Fallen Stars, last I heard.
Scariest variant: Vampire kender from Ravenloft |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 26 Jul 2007 21:27:48 |
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jul 2007 : 23:17:46
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Ixitxachitl are the subject of one of Ed's Ecology articles, in Dragon #85. (Stress on the second syllable!) They're also discussed in Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark, and one features in 'The Halls of the Beast-Tamers'.
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Kajehase
Great Reader
Sweden
2104 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2007 : 14:55:08
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| Vampiric Ixitchitl was converted to 3.0 stats in Monster Manual II(as was the "regular" ixitchitl [or however it's spelled]), which also notes that although they share many traits with vampires, they are, in fact, not undead. |
There is a rumour going around that I have found god. I think is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist.
Terry Pratchett |
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khorne
Master of Realmslore
Finland
1073 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jul 2007 : 21:39:35
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| Is there an upper limit to the strength of vampires? I know that a 1000-year old vampire is incredibly powerful, and all but immune to many of the things that can harm vampires, but what about a vampire who has lived for 8000 years? Or one who was turned into a vampire because of a failed magical experiment when the Arrukh ruled? There has to be some limit, or such vampires would simply be unstoppable, wouldn't they? |
If I were a ranger, I would pick NDA for my favorite enemy |
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Firestorm
Senior Scribe
Canada
826 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jul 2007 : 02:09:40
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| Older Vampires are immune to things the younger one's are not in FR? Like what? |
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khorne
Master of Realmslore
Finland
1073 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jul 2007 : 12:13:12
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quote:
Originally posted by Firestorm
Older Vampires are immune to things the younger one's are not in FR? Like what?
A Patriarch class vampire could stay in the sun all day with no ill effects, for instance. |
If I were a ranger, I would pick NDA for my favorite enemy |
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Calrond
Learned Scribe
USA
118 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jul 2007 : 19:37:20
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| Libris Mortis, although it's not Realms canon yet, tells about an Evolved Undead which is a template you can add to any undead multiple times. It doesn't give any immunities, but it gives an undead faster healing (+3 per turn), some spell-like abilities, a +1 to AC, and a few more things. The explanation of the template is because as an undead grows older, it becomes more and more connected to the Negative Energy Plane. |
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Darkmeer
Senior Scribe
USA
505 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jul 2007 : 21:03:47
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quote:
Originally posted by khorne
quote:
Originally posted by Firestorm
Older Vampires are immune to things the younger one's are not in FR? Like what?
A Patriarch class vampire could stay in the sun all day with no ill effects, for instance.
Khorne,
The Patriarch vampy is from Ravenloft (I'm quite fond of the progression myself, and use it in my realms games...).
My favorite part of the progression is that it makes vampirism feel evil and cursed and vile all at the same time.
/d |
"These people are my family, not just friends, and if you want to get to them you gotta go through ME." |
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Malanthius
Learned Scribe
144 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2007 : 07:52:21
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| There's also the web addition on the WOTC site, the "Vampire Lord" template. I'm actually trying to put together Vampire Lord/monk npc/bad guy that would launch a one person attack on the Order of the Yellow Rose. |
"Oh, Do stop whining, It's not the End of the World. It's just the end of Your's." |
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Firestorm
Senior Scribe
Canada
826 Posts |
Posted - 01 Aug 2007 : 05:11:08
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| Do Vampires in FR also get bonuses for long life? Like sun protection, etc? |
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Halidan
Senior Scribe
USA
470 Posts |
Posted - 01 Aug 2007 : 16:52:34
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While he was mention briefly by another poster, I think Jander Sunstar deserves a nod. He was an elven vampire - originaly infected while trying to fight the vampires who took over Merrydale and turned it into Daggerdale. He eventually was transported into the mist of Ravenloft and ended up at Strahd's castle. Strahd took him into his house and tried to turn him to evil. Eventually, Jandar became quite powerful and even challenged Strahd (although that failed too).
Speaking of the Vampires of Merrydale, the Northern Journey Ggroup added some interesting non-canon FR lore to them in episode #4 - The Backlands.
According to the Northern Journey Project, a drow (or half-drow) female named Gwath summoned 15 great vampire lords from another plane, immediately exerted control over them, and ordered them to infect all of Merrydale with vampirism. So the vampires that infected the dale (and Jandar) originated from a different plane. |
"Over the Mountains
Of the Moon
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,"
The shade replied,
"If you seek for Eldorado!"
Edgar Allen Poe - 1849 |
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Firestorm
Senior Scribe
Canada
826 Posts |
Posted - 02 Aug 2007 : 04:19:03
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| I was hoping for answers regarding Forgotten realms vampires only. Ravenloft doesn't really count IMO. |
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Firestorm
Senior Scribe
Canada
826 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jun 2009 : 02:43:47
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| Hmmmm, I just realized that I never came back to this topic because nobody bumped it with an answer regarding the FR vamps and sun immunity. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36782 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jun 2009 : 04:03:57
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quote:
Originally posted by Firestorm
I was hoping for answers regarding Forgotten realms vampires only. Ravenloft doesn't really count IMO.
I know of no info suggestion Forgotten Realms vampires get anything beyond the standard vampire template.
That said, even with your dismissal of Ravenloft, I still have to recommend Van Richten's Guide to Vampires. That book can very much help you customize and tweak vampires to be anything you want. It doesn't matter that it's not Realms-specific -- it's your game. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Vampires in FR
