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[[File:Alucard1.png|250px|thumb|right|Alucard from [[Castlevania]] is a Dhampir, sort of. Here's a hot take: Did you know Alucard is Dracula spelled backwards?]]
[[File:Alucard1.png|250px|thumb|right|Alucard from [[Castlevania]] is a Dhampir, sort of. Here's a hot take: Did you know Alucard is Dracula spelled backwards?]]


Although the idea of [[vampire]]s being sexy is generally associated with lore from the Gothic Horror novels of the late 1800s to today, even before that, in the Balkan region of Europe, it was believed that some vampires would come back from the dead and have sex with their wives - sex that could lead to the birth of half human, half vampire offspring. Known variously as '''Dhampyres''', '''Dhampirs''', '''Dhamphirs''' or '''Dhampyrs''', these mythological beings were believed to have certain vampiric strengths, which made them excellent vampire hunters, but none of their vampiric weaknesses, such as an aversion to sunlight or need to feed on blood.
Although the idea of [[vampire]]s being sexy is generally associated with lore from the Gothic Horror novels of the late 1800s to today, even before that, in the Balkan region of Europe, it was believed that some vampires would come back from the dead and have sex with their wives - sex that could lead to the birth of half human, half vampire offspring. Spelled variously as '''Dhampirs''', '''Dhampyres''', '''Dhamphirs''' or '''Dhampyrs''', these mythological beings were believed to have certain vampiric strengths, which made them excellent vampire hunters, but none of their vampiric weaknesses, such as an aversion to sunlight or need to feed on blood.


In /tg/, dhampyres are a comparatively rare sight; they're considered too much the natural fit for "edgelords" - the kinds of players who usually migrate to [[drow]] or [[tiefling]] PCs because they think the "dark, brooding, angsty character" is [[awesome]] - or else they're seen as too rooted in Gothic Horror. Others even think they're ''too'' fantastical to believe in their existence, even by the standards of your typical fantasy world. Or they may simply defy the fundamental rules of a given setting's vampires. But they do survive here and there.
In /tg/, dhampirs are a comparatively rare sight; they're considered too much the natural fit for "edgelords" - the kinds of players who usually migrate to [[drow]] or [[tiefling]] PCs because they think the "dark, brooding, angsty character" is [[awesome]] - or else they're seen as too rooted in Gothic Horror. Others even think they're ''too'' fantastical to believe in their existence, even by the standards of your typical fantasy world. Or they may simply defy the fundamental rules of a given setting's vampires. But they do survive here and there.


==Dungeons & Dragons==
=Dungeons & Dragons=
[[Dungeons & Dragons]] has had a couple of attempts at a dhampyre race, but none have really taken off officially; there was a "Katane" race in [[Dragon Magazine]] #313, and assorted "Half-Vampire" templates, most notably the Dhampir and [[Vorlog]] templates in [[Ravenloft]] 3rd edition. Ironically, the closest time D&D got to it was in 4th edition; the Dhampyr as a feat-based "pseudo-template" was one of their earliest racial experiments in Dragon Magazine, whilst the [[Vryloka]] of ''Heroes of Shadow'' was essentially a Dhampyr with its name taken from another kind of vampire.
[[Dungeons & Dragons]] has a... rather inglorious history with the dhampir.


The unofficial [[Ravenloft]] 5e corebook from the Fraternity of Shadows fansite features a dhampyre race as one of the options, and Dhampyr is a UA slated for release with Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft.
Despite what you'd expect, there '''wasn't''' a dhampir in the [[Ravenloft]] setting - not as a PC race, and not even as a monster! The first dhampir didn't debut in [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 2nd edition until the "Guide to Translyvania" [[splatbook]] for [[Masque of the Red Death]] was release. The Masque version was depicted as the child of a [[vampire]] father and a [[human]] mother, with the mother dying in childbirth. They inherited none of their vampiric progenitor's weaknesses, but inherited multiple supernatural abilities; they could detect vampires within 40 feet, were at least implied to be inhumanly strong, could only be hurt by +1 weapons, were resistant (+4 to saves) against the vampire's charming gaze, had their own paralyzing gaze that only worked on vampires, could summon and mentally control domesticated animals, were immune to non-magical weapons, and could hurt vampires with mundane melee weapons - in fact, vampires can't regenerate damage done to them by dhampirs normally, they have to run away and hide in their coffins for their healing sleep. You'd think that this would make them incredibly powerful allies to the forces of good, since they sound like absolute monster killing units, but the dhampirs of Gothic Earth have two drawbacks. One: their supernatural powers only work if they've consumed human blood within the last week. Two: unless properly buried (staked through the heart or decapitated), dead dhampirs automatically arise from the grave as full-fledged [[vampire]]s. These traits were enough for them to be declared as Nearly Always Evil and Not For Player Usage... because, y'know, Masque of the Red Death was all kinds of bullshit, even for [[TSR]].


[[Pathfinder]] is the only "D&D edition" thus far to feature a fully supported dhampyre player race, with four sub-variants to reflect the four specific kinds of vampire present in [[Golarion]].  Svetochers are descended from classic movie vampires, ru-shi are the children of [[Jiangshi|jiang-shi]] (Chinese hopping corpses that suck chi), ajibachana are the progeny of vetala (Indian thought vampires), and ancient-born come from [[nosferatu]].
Lore-wise, Gothic Earth dhamprs are basically a bunch of wangsty bastards because of the whole "I can get superpowers if I drink human blood, but society frowns on that thing" and "I am doomed to become a vampire on death unless I am buried with a stake in the heart"... you know, the usual vampire pity-party shit. They are social recluses, and generally go unnoticed amongst the population. The children of dhampirs have a 50/50 chance of being either dhampirs or humans.
 
[[Ravenloft]] in AD&D instead made use of the [[Vorlog]] and [[Vampyre]] races as monsters. It wasn't until it was updated for [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]] that dhampirs made it into the [[Demiplane of Dread]], and here they were literally just a 3e conversion of the Gothic Earth dhampir.
 
D&D has had a couple of attempts at a dhampir race, but none have really taken off officially; there was a "Katane" race in [[Dragon Magazine]] #313, and assorted "Half-Vampire" templates, most notably the Dhampir and [[Vorlog]] templates in [[Ravenloft]] 3rd edition. Ironically, the closest time D&D got to it was in 4th edition; the Dhampyr as a feat-based "pseudo-template" was one of their earliest racial experiments in Dragon Magazine, whilst the [[Vryloka]] of ''Heroes of Shadow'' was essentially a Dhampyr with its name taken from another kind of vampire.
 
The unofficial [[Ravenloft]] 5e corebook from the Fraternity of Shadows fansite features a dhampir race as one of the options, and Dhampyr is a UA slated for release with Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft.
 
[[Pathfinder]] is the only "D&D edition" thus far to feature a fully supported dhampir player race, with four sub-variants to reflect the four specific kinds of vampire present in [[Golarion]].  Svetochers are descended from classic movie vampires, ru-shi are the children of [[Jiangshi|jiang-shi]] (Chinese hopping corpses that suck chi), ajibachana are the progeny of vetala (Indian thought vampires), and ancient-born come from [[nosferatu]].


Normally, dhampir have two major weaknesses: they're dazzled in sunlight, like a [[drow]], and, while they are living creatures, they are treated as undead for the purposes of positive and negative energy. This means [[wat|cure spells fry them and inflict spells heal them]].  While the various sub-races offer replacement penalties for the former, and it can be removed entirely at the cost of one's racial spell-like abilities, the latter you're pretty much stuck with. A feat can half-fix it: you'll still take damage from stuff that specifically hurts undead, but you can get half-healing from cure-spells and such.
Normally, dhampir have two major weaknesses: they're dazzled in sunlight, like a [[drow]], and, while they are living creatures, they are treated as undead for the purposes of positive and negative energy. This means [[wat|cure spells fry them and inflict spells heal them]].  While the various sub-races offer replacement penalties for the former, and it can be removed entirely at the cost of one's racial spell-like abilities, the latter you're pretty much stuck with. A feat can half-fix it: you'll still take damage from stuff that specifically hurts undead, but you can get half-healing from cure-spells and such.


===D&D Stats===
==Player Character Stats==
[[File:Dhampir DoDread.jpg|thumb]]
===3rd Edition===
====Ravenloft Dhampir Template====
====Ravenloft Dhampir Template====
::Available Creatures: Humanoid or Monstrous Humanoid.
::Available Creatures: Humanoid or Monstrous Humanoid.
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::Saves: +2 racial bonus on all saves against fear, poison, disease, paralysis and necromancy spells.
::Saves: +2 racial bonus on all saves against fear, poison, disease, paralysis and necromancy spells.


====4e Dhampyr Feat Chain====
===4e Dhampyr Feat Chain===
Core Feat: Vampiric Heritage (Vampire Bloodline)
Core Feat: Vampiric Heritage (Vampire Bloodline)
::Prerequisite: Living Humanoid Race
::Prerequisite: Living Humanoid Race
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::Daily, Charm, Minor Action, Ranged 5, Targets 1 creature, Attack is Ability + 4 vs. Will (bonus increases to +6 at 21st level). On a hit, the target is Dominated (save ends) and as an aftereffect the target is Dazed (save ends). On a miss, the target is Dazed (save ends). When you take the Dominating Gaze feat, you determine if this attack keys off of Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma.
::Daily, Charm, Minor Action, Ranged 5, Targets 1 creature, Attack is Ability + 4 vs. Will (bonus increases to +6 at 21st level). On a hit, the target is Dominated (save ends) and as an aftereffect the target is Dazed (save ends). On a miss, the target is Dazed (save ends). When you take the Dominating Gaze feat, you determine if this attack keys off of Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma.


====Pathfinder Dhampir====
===Pathfinder===
'''Generic Dhampir Stats:'''
[[File:Dhampir ARG 1.png|thumb]]
====Generic Dhampir Stats====
::+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution
::+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution
::Humanoid (Dhampir)
::Humanoid (Dhampir)
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::Negative Energy Affinity: A dhampir is harmed by positive energy and healed by negative energy.
::Negative Energy Affinity: A dhampir is harmed by positive energy and healed by negative energy.
::Spell-Like Ability: Detect Undead 3/day with caster level equal to the dhampir's character level.
::Spell-Like Ability: Detect Undead 3/day with caster level equal to the dhampir's character level.
::Resist Level Drain (Ex): A dhampir suffers no penalties from negative levels (although they can still kill it) and all negative levels are automatically removed 24 hours later without the need for an additional saving throw.
::Resist Level Drain (Ex): A dhampir suffers no penalties from negative levels (although can still be killed by them) and all negative levels are automatically removed 24 hours later without the need for an additional saving throw.


'''Svetocher (Moroi Dhampir):'''
====Svetocher (Moroi Dhampir)====
::Change Ability Modifiers to: +2 Str, +2 Cha, -2 Con
::Change Ability Modifiers to: +2 Str, +2 Cha, -2 Con
::Replace Manipulative skill bonuses with: +2 Diplomacy, +2 Knowledge (Nobility)
::Replace Manipulative skill bonuses with: +2 Diplomacy, +2 Knowledge (Nobility)
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* Sensual Grace: +2 trait bonus on Bluff checks made against creatures attracted to you.
* Sensual Grace: +2 trait bonus on Bluff checks made against creatures attracted to you.


'''Ancient-Born ([[Nosferatu]] Dhampir):'''
====Ancient-Born ([[Nosferatu]] Dhampir)====
::Change Ability Modifiers to: +2 Str, +2 Wis, -2 Con
::Change Ability Modifiers to: +2 Str, +2 Wis, -2 Con
::Replace Manipulative skill bonuses with: +2 Climb, +2 Survival
::Replace Manipulative skill bonuses with: +2 Climb, +2 Survival
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* Thrall Spotter: +5 trait bonus on Sense Motive checks made to determine if a creature is under a Charm or Compulsion effect.
* Thrall Spotter: +5 trait bonus on Sense Motive checks made to determine if a creature is under a Charm or Compulsion effect.


'''Ru-shi ([[Jiangshi]] Dhampir):'''
====Ru-shi ([[Jiangshi]] Dhampir)====
::Change Ability Modifiers to: +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Wis
::Change Ability Modifiers to: +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Wis
::Replace Manipulative skill bonuses with: +2 Acrobatics, +2 Knowledge (Engineering)
::Replace Manipulative skill bonuses with: +2 Acrobatics, +2 Knowledge (Engineering)
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* Numerological Gift: At character reaction, roll 3d6; the number you roll becomes your Number Totem, which can never change. Once per day, when you roll your totem number on a D20, you may treat that roll as if you had rolled a natural 20.
* Numerological Gift: At character reaction, roll 3d6; the number you roll becomes your Number Totem, which can never change. Once per day, when you roll your totem number on a D20, you may treat that roll as if you had rolled a natural 20.


'''Ajibachana (Vetala Dhampir):'''
====Ajibachana (Vetala Dhampir)====
::Change Ability Modifiers to: +2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Int
::Change Ability Modifiers to: +2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Int
::Replace Manipulative skill bonuses with: +2 Escape Artist, +2 Use Magic Device
::Replace Manipulative skill bonuses with: +2 Escape Artist, +2 Use Magic Device
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* Unidentifiable Appeal: +1 trait bonus to Disguise, +1 trait bonus on Diplomacy checks made to influence those who would be attracted to you.
* Unidentifiable Appeal: +1 trait bonus to Disguise, +1 trait bonus on Diplomacy checks made to influence those who would be attracted to you.


====Midgard Dhampirs====
<gallery>
The [[Midgard]] setting has dhampirs in a pretty prominent role, with mechanics for both [[Pathfinder]] 1e and [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]].
Dhampir ARG 2.png
Dhampir B2 PF.png
</gallery>
 
{{Pathfinder-Races}}
 
===5th Edition===
====Midgard====
The [[Midgard]] setting has dhampirs in a pretty prominent role, with mechanics for both [[Pathfinder]] 1e and [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition|D&D 5e]].


'''5e Midgard Dhampir:'''
'''5e Midgard Dhampir:'''
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::Undead Resistance: You have Advantage on saving throws against Disease and are Resistant to Necrotic Damage.
::Undead Resistance: You have Advantage on saving throws against Disease and are Resistant to Necrotic Damage.


{{Pathfinder-Races}}


====Ulraunt's Dhampirs====
====Ulraunt's Guide to the Planes====
If the [[Midgard]] dhampir doesn't suit your fancy for a [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] vampire-blooded PC, there's always [[Ulraunt's Guide to the Planes]]. In their book on the [[Shadowfell]], the dhampyr is one of four "shadow-touched" races presented for 5th edition. Here, they are divided into three subraces; ''Trueborn'' are the "normal" dhampirs; ''Dayborn'' are dhampirs whose mothers attempted to have them spiritually purified in the womb, resulting in them being born at day in a ritual circle attended by [[cleric]]s; finally, ''Darkborn'' are dhampirs born to vampires created by the curses of the [[Dark Powers]] or similar black magic, rather than the standard vampiric breed.
If the [[Midgard]] dhampir doesn't suit your fancy for a [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition|5e]] vampire-blooded PC, there's always [[Ulraunt's Guide to the Planes]]. In their book on the [[Shadowfell]], the dhampir is one of four "shadow-touched" races presented for 5th edition. Here, they are divided into three subraces; ''Trueborn'' are the "normal" dhampirs; ''Dayborn'' are dhampirs whose mothers attempted to have them spiritually purified in the womb, resulting in them being born at day in a ritual circle attended by [[cleric]]s; finally, ''Darkborn'' are dhampirs born to vampires created by the curses of the [[Dark Powers]] or similar black magic, rather than the standard vampiric breed.


''Core Stats:''
''Core Stats:''
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::Dark Gamble: You have advantage on all Charisma saving throws against magic. In addition, if you succeed on a Charisma saving throw, you gain temporary hit points equal to half your level, but if you fail on a Charisma saving throw, you take force damage equal to the difference between your roll and the save DC.
::Dark Gamble: You have advantage on all Charisma saving throws against magic. In addition, if you succeed on a Charisma saving throw, you gain temporary hit points equal to half your level, but if you fail on a Charisma saving throw, you take force damage equal to the difference between your roll and the save DC.
::Dark Whispers: You know the Message cantrip and can cast it without the need for any components, using Charisma as your spellcasting ability score.
::Dark Whispers: You know the Message cantrip and can cast it without the need for any components, using Charisma as your spellcasting ability score.
====5E: Gothic Lineages UA====


====Gothic Lineages UA====
A semi-offical version of the Dhampir as a race appeared in 5th Edition in the Gothic Lineages Unearthed Arcana. Their fluff is more vague and general than that standard "half-vampire" concept, and there's tables you can roll on to decide what your Dhampir's origin is and what they hunger for. The example origins range from "partially-transformed vampire" to "host of an otherworldly parasite that compels you to feed on others" and the hungers can be fairly typical monstrous foods like blood and raw meat, but can also be things like spinal fluid, dreams, and the color from a person's appearance.
A semi-offical version of the Dhampir as a race appeared in 5th Edition in the Gothic Lineages Unearthed Arcana. Their fluff is more vague and general than that standard "half-vampire" concept, and there's tables you can roll on to decide what your Dhampir's origin is and what they hunger for. The example origins range from "partially-transformed vampire" to "host of an otherworldly parasite that compels you to feed on others" and the hungers can be fairly typical monstrous foods like blood and raw meat, but can also be things like spinal fluid, dreams, and the color from a person's appearance.


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You can empower yourself with your bite a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
You can empower yourself with your bite a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.


==Chronicles of Darkness==
====Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft====
The Dhampir lineage reappeared in ''[[Van Richten's Guide|Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft]]'' with a few modifications. The fluff is still the same, with the addition of a few Ravenloft-specific sources for your character's nature as a dhampir, but the crunch has been tweaked a bit. You're no longer undead, now being purely of the humanoid creature type, but you now also don't need to breathe. You also get to choose between either getting two free skill proficiencies or the skills and movement speeds granted by whatever race you were before you became a dhampir.
 
=Chronicles of Darkness=
Dhampir in the original [[World of Darkness]] were introduced in the ''Time of Thin Blood'' sourcebook.  Full-on kindred couldn't have kids at all.  But "thin bloods," fourteenth or fifteenth generation vampires whose connection to Cain is extremely tenuous can, though the pregnancy is long and difficult because undead bodies aren't well suited to carrying kids.
Dhampir in the original [[World of Darkness]] were introduced in the ''Time of Thin Blood'' sourcebook.  Full-on kindred couldn't have kids at all.  But "thin bloods," fourteenth or fifteenth generation vampires whose connection to Cain is extremely tenuous can, though the pregnancy is long and difficult because undead bodies aren't well suited to carrying kids.


The result is a dhampir, a creature mechanically all-but-identical to a revenant, or hereditary ghoul that produces its own vitae.  Dhampir are living creatures, and have a pool of vitae separate from their normal blood, though they do get tired if they exhaust it.  They suffer frenzy like a vampire, but can resist it much more easily, and like ghouls can go out in the day light and so on.  Because thin-bloods have only started showing up in the last twenty or so years, no one knows what happens to an old dhampir.
The result is a dhampir, a creature mechanically all-but-identical to a revenant, or hereditary ghoul that produces its own vitae.  Dhampir are living creatures, and have a pool of vitae separate from their normal blood, though they do get tired if they exhaust it.  They suffer frenzy like a vampire, but can resist it much more easily, and like ghouls can go out in the day light and so on.  Because thin-bloods have only started showing up in the last twenty or so years, no one knows what happens to an old dhampir.


Dhampyres were introduced to the New [[World of Darkness]] in the [[Vampire: The Requiem]] sourcebook ''Night Horrors: The Wicked Dead''. Born of either blasphemous occult rituals or deep, sincere, obsessive love between a vampire and a mortal, dhampyres are cursed creatures who are hypnotically alluring to vampires, but whose blood is not only devoid of nutritional value for them, but exposes the vampire to a powerful curse if they share the same clan.
Dhampirs were introduced to the New [[World of Darkness]] in the [[Vampire: The Requiem]] sourcebook ''Night Horrors: The Wicked Dead''. Born of either blasphemous occult rituals or deep, sincere, obsessive love between a vampire and a mortal, dhampirs are cursed creatures who are hypnotically alluring to vampires, but whose blood is not only devoid of nutritional value for them, but exposes the vampire to a powerful curse if they share the same clan.


They're also mildly infamous for the fact that, because they're born of unnatural magical origins, they don't adhere to the standard rules of baby-making. So, you can get a dhampyre from a homosexual coupling, a female vampire could impregnate her male human lover, and a male vampire could fall pregnant by a female human lover, depending on what rituals are used to make the dhampyre in the first place.
They're also mildly infamous for the fact that, because they're born of unnatural magical origins, they don't adhere to the standard rules of baby-making. So, they could be test tube babies or chestbursters depending on what dark rituals are used to make the dhampir in the first place.


2e revised them significantly, making them technically human but tainted by their vampiric parent's Vitae. They retain their ability to do strange things to the vampires who drink from their blood, but they also possess a unique connection to the workings of fate and a curse based on their vampiric parent's clan. As most dhampir are treated only slightly better than ghouls by their vampiric parents (if the vampire doesn't simply abandon them and leave them ignorant of their half-damned heritage), it is unsurprising that some of them end up becoming vampire hunters.
2e revised them significantly, making them technically human but tainted by their vampiric parent's Vitae. They retain their ability to do strange things to the vampires who drink from their blood, but they also possess a unique connection to the workings of fate and a curse based on their vampiric parent's clan. As most dhampir are treated only slightly better than ghouls by their vampiric parents (if the vampire doesn't simply abandon them and leave them ignorant of their half-damned heritage), it is unsurprising that some of them end up becoming vampire hunters.


==Monstergirls==
=[[GURPS]]=
Dhampirs appear in the Monster Hunters supplement as one of the options for the Inhuman class. They're basically a vampire without the cool stuff, but also without the bad stuff.
 
=Monstergirls=
{{Monstergirls}}
{{Monstergirls}}
[[File:MGE Dhampir.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The MGE Dhampir, ready to lay some vampires and save some cute guys! No, that's not a typo.]]
[[File:MGE Dhampir.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The MGE Dhampir, ready to lay some vampires and save some cute guys! No, that's not a typo.]]
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And there is one montergirl setting where dhampirs are embraced: in the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], dhampirs are born on those rare occasions when a vampire gets pregnant without having come to truly love/respect the father of her child. This results in the offspring being a "half-vampire", with her own entirely unique set of powers. MGE Dhampirs are basically non-arrogant, non-tsundere vampires in terms of sex. In fact, they think that true vampires are stuck up bitches who need to be taken down a few pegs. Thusly, they like to roam the world and fight vampires, breaking their arrogance by basically dom-sexing them until their mind breaks and they become more submissive. They especially like going after vampires who have a guy they're being all tsundere-bitch to and simultaneously breaking the vampire down and building the guy up, with lots and lots of vamp-subbing threesomes. Sometimes the dhampir will stay with the couple if she really likes the guy, other times she'll move on and leave them to what, in her eyes, is a happier relationship.
And there is one montergirl setting where dhampirs are embraced: in the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], dhampirs are born on those rare occasions when a vampire gets pregnant without having come to truly love/respect the father of her child. This results in the offspring being a "half-vampire", with her own entirely unique set of powers. MGE Dhampirs are basically non-arrogant, non-tsundere vampires in terms of sex. In fact, they think that true vampires are stuck up bitches who need to be taken down a few pegs. Thusly, they like to roam the world and fight vampires, breaking their arrogance by basically dom-sexing them until their mind breaks and they become more submissive. They especially like going after vampires who have a guy they're being all tsundere-bitch to and simultaneously breaking the vampire down and building the guy up, with lots and lots of vamp-subbing threesomes. Sometimes the dhampir will stay with the couple if she really likes the guy, other times she'll move on and leave them to what, in her eyes, is a happier relationship.


[[Category:World of Darkness]][[Category:Monsters]][[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category: Ravenloft]][[Category: Undead]][[Category: Pathfinder]][[Category: Races]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Mixed Races]][[Category:Monsters]][[Category: Pathfinder]][[Category: Races]][[Category: Ravenloft]][[Category: Undead]][[Category:World of Darkness]]

Latest revision as of 17:14, 20 June 2023

Alucard from Castlevania is a Dhampir, sort of. Here's a hot take: Did you know Alucard is Dracula spelled backwards?

Although the idea of vampires being sexy is generally associated with lore from the Gothic Horror novels of the late 1800s to today, even before that, in the Balkan region of Europe, it was believed that some vampires would come back from the dead and have sex with their wives - sex that could lead to the birth of half human, half vampire offspring. Spelled variously as Dhampirs, Dhampyres, Dhamphirs or Dhampyrs, these mythological beings were believed to have certain vampiric strengths, which made them excellent vampire hunters, but none of their vampiric weaknesses, such as an aversion to sunlight or need to feed on blood.

In /tg/, dhampirs are a comparatively rare sight; they're considered too much the natural fit for "edgelords" - the kinds of players who usually migrate to drow or tiefling PCs because they think the "dark, brooding, angsty character" is awesome - or else they're seen as too rooted in Gothic Horror. Others even think they're too fantastical to believe in their existence, even by the standards of your typical fantasy world. Or they may simply defy the fundamental rules of a given setting's vampires. But they do survive here and there.

Dungeons & Dragons[edit | edit source]

Dungeons & Dragons has a... rather inglorious history with the dhampir.

Despite what you'd expect, there wasn't a dhampir in the Ravenloft setting - not as a PC race, and not even as a monster! The first dhampir didn't debut in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition until the "Guide to Translyvania" splatbook for Masque of the Red Death was release. The Masque version was depicted as the child of a vampire father and a human mother, with the mother dying in childbirth. They inherited none of their vampiric progenitor's weaknesses, but inherited multiple supernatural abilities; they could detect vampires within 40 feet, were at least implied to be inhumanly strong, could only be hurt by +1 weapons, were resistant (+4 to saves) against the vampire's charming gaze, had their own paralyzing gaze that only worked on vampires, could summon and mentally control domesticated animals, were immune to non-magical weapons, and could hurt vampires with mundane melee weapons - in fact, vampires can't regenerate damage done to them by dhampirs normally, they have to run away and hide in their coffins for their healing sleep. You'd think that this would make them incredibly powerful allies to the forces of good, since they sound like absolute monster killing units, but the dhampirs of Gothic Earth have two drawbacks. One: their supernatural powers only work if they've consumed human blood within the last week. Two: unless properly buried (staked through the heart or decapitated), dead dhampirs automatically arise from the grave as full-fledged vampires. These traits were enough for them to be declared as Nearly Always Evil and Not For Player Usage... because, y'know, Masque of the Red Death was all kinds of bullshit, even for TSR.

Lore-wise, Gothic Earth dhamprs are basically a bunch of wangsty bastards because of the whole "I can get superpowers if I drink human blood, but society frowns on that thing" and "I am doomed to become a vampire on death unless I am buried with a stake in the heart"... you know, the usual vampire pity-party shit. They are social recluses, and generally go unnoticed amongst the population. The children of dhampirs have a 50/50 chance of being either dhampirs or humans.

Ravenloft in AD&D instead made use of the Vorlog and Vampyre races as monsters. It wasn't until it was updated for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition that dhampirs made it into the Demiplane of Dread, and here they were literally just a 3e conversion of the Gothic Earth dhampir.

D&D has had a couple of attempts at a dhampir race, but none have really taken off officially; there was a "Katane" race in Dragon Magazine #313, and assorted "Half-Vampire" templates, most notably the Dhampir and Vorlog templates in Ravenloft 3rd edition. Ironically, the closest time D&D got to it was in 4th edition; the Dhampyr as a feat-based "pseudo-template" was one of their earliest racial experiments in Dragon Magazine, whilst the Vryloka of Heroes of Shadow was essentially a Dhampyr with its name taken from another kind of vampire.

The unofficial Ravenloft 5e corebook from the Fraternity of Shadows fansite features a dhampir race as one of the options, and Dhampyr is a UA slated for release with Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft.

Pathfinder is the only "D&D edition" thus far to feature a fully supported dhampir player race, with four sub-variants to reflect the four specific kinds of vampire present in Golarion. Svetochers are descended from classic movie vampires, ru-shi are the children of jiang-shi (Chinese hopping corpses that suck chi), ajibachana are the progeny of vetala (Indian thought vampires), and ancient-born come from nosferatu.

Normally, dhampir have two major weaknesses: they're dazzled in sunlight, like a drow, and, while they are living creatures, they are treated as undead for the purposes of positive and negative energy. This means cure spells fry them and inflict spells heal them. While the various sub-races offer replacement penalties for the former, and it can be removed entirely at the cost of one's racial spell-like abilities, the latter you're pretty much stuck with. A feat can half-fix it: you'll still take damage from stuff that specifically hurts undead, but you can get half-healing from cure-spells and such.

Player Character Stats[edit | edit source]

3rd Edition[edit | edit source]

Ravenloft Dhampir Template[edit | edit source]

Available Creatures: Humanoid or Monstrous Humanoid.
Type changes to Monstrous Humanoid.
Hit Dice: Increase by one die type, to a maximum of D12.
Speed: Unchanged
Armor Class: +4 natural armor.
Attack: Gain a Slam attack.
Full Attack: An unarmed dhampir can fight with its slam attack or its natural weapons (if any). An armed dhampir typically uses its weapon as its primary attack and follows up with a slam/natural weapon as a natural secondary attack.
Damage: A dhampir's slam attack uses either the damage values for a vampire or the base creature's own, whichever is higher.
Special Attacks: Gain the following, all of which have a Save DC of 10 + 1/2 dhampir's Hit Dice + dhampir's Charisma modifier unless noted otherwise.
Domination (Su): A dhampir that meets the gaze of a creature within 30 feet (treat as gaze attack, except dhampir must take a standard action and it does not affect those looking at the dhampir) can afflict them with a Dominate Person (caster level 12).
Blood Drain (Ex): By successfully grappling and pinning a foe, a dhampir can inflict 1d4 points of Constitution damage each round they maintain the grapple.
Children of the Night (Su): Once per day, a dhampir can call forth either a pack of 4d8 Dire Rats, a swarm of 10d10 Bats, or a pack of 3d6 Wolves. The summoned animals arrive in 2d6 rounds and serve the dhampir for up to 1 hour.
Special Qualities: Gain the following bonus SQs.
Damage Reduction (Su): 10/Magic
Resistance (Su): Cold 10, Electricity 10.
Spider Climb (Ex): A dhampir can scale sheer surfaces as if under a Spider Climb (caster level 12th) spell.
Fast Healing (Ex): A dhampir regains 1 hit point per round so long as it has not been reduced to -10 hit points.
Blood Requirement (Ex): A dhampir must consume humanoid blood at least once per week or it cannot use its supernatural special attacks or special qualities until it does.
Vulnerability to Sunlight (Su): A dhampir in natural sunlight cannot its supernatural special attacks or special qualities.
Restless (Su): Unless its body is destroyed as per vampire methodology, a dhampir will rise from its grave 1d4 days later as either a vampire spawn (if Hit Dice were less than 5) or a vampire.
Saves: As base creature plus character class.
Abilities: +4 Strength, +4 Dexterity, +4 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, +4 Charisma
Skills: +6 racial bonus on BLuff, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot.
Feats: If it meets the prerequisites, a dhampir gains Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative and Lightning Reflexes.
Environment: Any land.
Organization: Solitary
Treasure: Double standard
Alignment: Any
Advancement: By character class

Katane Template[edit | edit source]

Cursed with a thirst for living blood and possessed of awful powers befitting creatures of the night, katanes are some of the more common half-undead. The human-like appearance and social behavior of vampires and their spawn result in ample opportunities for half-breed creation, and some vampires retain enough human sentiment to care for the child, improving the katane's chances of survival.

Katanes are pale and slender, with jet-black hair and red, black, green, or yellow eyes. They have pronounced canines that extend for feeding and slightly pointed ears. Some of the less fortunate (those with a Charisma score of 7 or below) have batlike features.

A katane has certain qualities it shares with all of its fellow "Half-Undead"; the Fetch, Ghul and Ghedan. These traits are listed as the Half-Undead Super Template, meaning these special qualities are common to all four racial templates.

Abilities: +2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma
Skills: +4 racial bonus to Bluff, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, and Spot.
Feats: Improved Initiative as a bonus feat.
Challenge Rating: +1
Level Adjustment: +1
Environment: Same as Base Creature
Alignment: Often Chaotic Evil
Organiation: Solitary, Gang (2-4 base creatures or vampires + 1 katane) or Party (2-8 base creatures or vampires + 2-4 katanes)
Special Attacks:
Blood Drain (Ex): By making a successful Grapple check and pinning its target, a katane can inflict 1d4 Constitution drain on its target each round it sustains the pin.
Charm Person (Sp): A katane can cast Charm Person by locking gaze with a humanoid creature. This Charm spell has a caster level equal to the katane's Hit Dice and a Save DC of 10 + Katane's Hit Dice + Katane's Charisma modifier. A katane can use this ability a number of times per day equal to its Charisma modifier (minimum of 1).
Special Qualities:
Blood Hunger (Ex): A katane must use its Blood Drain at least once every three days. If it does not feed, it must make a DC 15 Will save (DC + 1 cumulative with each extra day it goes without feeding). On a failure, the katane suffers a cumulative -1 morale penalty to its attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks and saving throws until it finally uses its Blood Drain.
Damage Reduction (Su): 5/Silver
Vampire Kin (Ex): Katane have none of the weaknesses of the Vampire template, and are immune to the Domination power of vampires.
Light Sensitivity (Ex): A katane is Dazzled when exposed to bright sunlight or the Daylight spell.
Resistances (Ex): Cold Resist 5 and Electricity Resist 5.
Sense Vampires (Su): A katane can automatically determine if there is a vampire, katane or any other undead that feeds on blood within 200 feet. This ability only warns the katane that such creatures are there; it does not inform them of their numbers nor their power, and is not accurate enough to aid in blindfighting or otherwise pinpointing a target.
Spider Climb (Ex): A katane can climb any surface, as if under a permanent spider climb spell.

Half-Undead Super-Template:

Call of Undeath (Ex): A half-undead has a 3% chance per Hit Dice that it will rise as a full undead of its progenitor type upon its death.
Darkvision (Ex): A half-undead gains Darkvision 60 feet, unless it already has a better range of darkvision.
Detection (Ex): A half-undead registers as an Undead creature of half its actual Hit Dice for spells/abilities that detect the undead.
Fortification (Ex): A half-undead has a 50% chance to negate critical hits and sneak attacks. If granted Fortification from a suit of magic armor, use the superior change.
Immunity to Energy Drain (Ex)
Necrotic Life: When attacked by a spell or effect that deals hit point damage with negative energy, a half-undead takes half-damage on a failed save and no damage on a successful save.
Slow Aging (Ex): Upon reaching maturity, a half-undead ages at one quarter (1/4th) the normal rate for its living race.
Turn Kind (Ex): A half-undead Cleric gains a +2 bonus on checks made to turn, rebuke, command or bolster undead of its progenitor type.
Vulnerability to Holy Water (Ex): A half-undead takes 1d4 damage per flask of holy water it is hit with.
Vulnerability to Turning (Ex): Clerics can attempt to turn or rebuke the half-undead as if it were truly undead. If the attempt would be powerful enough to affect an undead of equivalent Hit Dice, the half-undead suffers a -4 penalty to all attacks, saves, skill checks and ability checks for 10 rounds or until the cleric who turned/rebuked it attacks the half-undead. If the attempt would be powerful enough to command or destroy an undead of equivalent Hit Dice, the half-undead is Stunned for 2d4 rounds instead.
Saves: +2 racial bonus on all saves against fear, poison, disease, paralysis and necromancy spells.

4e Dhampyr Feat Chain[edit | edit source]

Core Feat: Vampiric Heritage (Vampire Bloodline)

Prerequisite: Living Humanoid Race
Benefit: You gain Blood Drain as a Racial Encounter Power, as well as a +2 bonus to Perception and Insight checks made to sense & recognize dhampyrs and the undead.
Special: You are considered a vampire for the purpose of effects that relate to vampires.

Heroic Tier Feats:

  • Vampire Alacrity: +1 feat bonus to Speed.
  • Mist Form: Swap one 10th level or higher utility power for the Mist Form utility power. You must be at least 10th level to take this feat.
  • Night's Sight: You gain Low-Light Vision.

Paragon Tier Feats:

  • Blooded Regeneration: Swap one 10th level or higher ultility power for the Bloodied Regeneration utility power.
  • Dominating Gaze: Swap one 15th level or higher daily attack power for the Dominating Gaze attack power. You must be at least 15th level to select this feat.
  • Savage Bite: You can use Blood Drain on targets that grant you Combat Advantage as well as one targets you have grabbed.

Epic Tier Feats:

  • Scent of Blood: You have Combat Advantage against living enemies that are Bloodied.

Dhampyr Racial Powers: Blood Drain: Vigor rushes through your body as you drain life energy from your victim.

Encounter, Healing, Standard Action, Melee (Touch), Targets 1 living creature you have grabbed. Attack is Ability + 2 vs. Fortitude and on a hit you inflict 1d4 + Con modifier damage and can spend a healing surge. Increase the bonus by +2 and damage by +1d4 at each tier shift (+4/2d4 damage at level 11, +6/3d4 damage at level 21). You choose whether this attack keys off of Strength, Constitution or Dexterity when you first select Vampiric Heritage.

Mist Form: Your form dissolves into an eerie, billowing mist.

Daily, Polymorph, Standard Action, Personal. You become Insubstantial and gain a Fly speed of 8 (Hover), but cannot make any attacks. This lasts until the end of your next turn, but can be sustained as a Minor Action.

Bloodied Regeneration: Your wounds call to your immortal blood, which surges to repair your body.

Daily, Healing, Minor Action, Personal. Only available if you are Bloodied. You gain Regeneration 5 until the end of the encounter or until you are no longer Bloodied, whichever comes first.

Dominating Gaze: The authority in your piercing gaze demands utter submission.

Daily, Charm, Minor Action, Ranged 5, Targets 1 creature, Attack is Ability + 4 vs. Will (bonus increases to +6 at 21st level). On a hit, the target is Dominated (save ends) and as an aftereffect the target is Dazed (save ends). On a miss, the target is Dazed (save ends). When you take the Dominating Gaze feat, you determine if this attack keys off of Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma.

Pathfinder[edit | edit source]

Generic Dhampir Stats[edit | edit source]

+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution
Humanoid (Dhampir)
Medium
Base speed 30 feet
Darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision.
Manipulative: +2 racial bonus on Bluff and Perception checks.
Undead Resistance: +2 racial bonus on saving throws against disease and mind-affecting effects.
Light Sensitivity: Dazzled when exposed to bright sunlight or a Daylight spell.
Negative Energy Affinity: A dhampir is harmed by positive energy and healed by negative energy.
Spell-Like Ability: Detect Undead 3/day with caster level equal to the dhampir's character level.
Resist Level Drain (Ex): A dhampir suffers no penalties from negative levels (although can still be killed by them) and all negative levels are automatically removed 24 hours later without the need for an additional saving throw.

Svetocher (Moroi Dhampir)[edit | edit source]

Change Ability Modifiers to: +2 Str, +2 Cha, -2 Con
Replace Manipulative skill bonuses with: +2 Diplomacy, +2 Knowledge (Nobility)
Change Spell-Like Ability (Detect Undead) to: Obscuring Mist
Replace Light Sensitivity With: -1 penalty on saves against effects that deal positive energy damage.
Gain the following new traits:
  • Mind Trapper: +2 trait bonus on Charisma checks made to convince enchanted allies to do what you want.
  • Sensual Grace: +2 trait bonus on Bluff checks made against creatures attracted to you.

Ancient-Born (Nosferatu Dhampir)[edit | edit source]

Change Ability Modifiers to: +2 Str, +2 Wis, -2 Con
Replace Manipulative skill bonuses with: +2 Climb, +2 Survival
Change Spell-Like Ability (Detect Undead) to: Doom
Replace Light Sensitivity With: -1 penalty on saving throws against effects that damage/drain/reduce Physical Ability Scores.
Gain the following new traits:
  • Old Before Your Time: Creatures trying to discern your true age must make a Perception or Sense Motive check, which you oppose with a Bluff check with a +5 trait bonus. You also gain a +2 trait bonus on Disguise checks made to make yourself look older, ignoring the check penalty for disguising yourself as a different age category whilst doing so.
  • Thrall Spotter: +5 trait bonus on Sense Motive checks made to determine if a creature is under a Charm or Compulsion effect.

Ru-shi (Jiangshi Dhampir)[edit | edit source]

Change Ability Modifiers to: +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Wis
Replace Manipulative skill bonuses with: +2 Acrobatics, +2 Knowledge (Engineering)
Change Spell-Like Ability (Detect Undead) to: Erase
Replace Light Sensitivity With: -1 penalty on saves against sonic effects and spells.
Gain the following new traits:
  • Linguistic Genius: +1 trait bonus on Linguistics checks, Linguistics is always a class skill for you, gain +1 bonus language at character creation.
  • Numerological Gift: At character reaction, roll 3d6; the number you roll becomes your Number Totem, which can never change. Once per day, when you roll your totem number on a D20, you may treat that roll as if you had rolled a natural 20.

Ajibachana (Vetala Dhampir)[edit | edit source]

Change Ability Modifiers to: +2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Int
Replace Manipulative skill bonuses with: +2 Escape Artist, +2 Use Magic Device
Change Spell-Like Ability (Detect Undead) to: Comprehend Languages
Replace Light Sensitivity With: -1 penalty to Caster level when in sanctified ground, such as that created by Consecrate or Hallow.
Gain the following new traits:
  • Half-Forgotten Secrets: Choose one Knowledge skill; you gain a +1 trait bonus to this skill and always treat it as a class skill. Then choose a second Knowledge skill; you gain a +1 trait bonus to this skill.
  • Unidentifiable Appeal: +1 trait bonus to Disguise, +1 trait bonus on Diplomacy checks made to influence those who would be attracted to you.
The Races of Pathfinder
Player's Handbook: Dwarf - Elf - Gnome - Half-Elf - Half-Orc - Halfling - Human
Advanced
Race Guide:
Aasimar - Catfolk - Changeling - Dhampir - Duergar
Drow - Fetchling - Gillman - Goblin - Grippli - Hobgoblin
Ifrit - Kitsune - Kobold - Merfolk - Nagaji - Orc - Oread
Ratfolk - Samsaran - Strix - Suli - Svirfneblin - Sylph
Tengu - Tiefling - Undine - Vanara - Vishkanya - Wayang
Bestiaries: Android - Astomoi - Caligni - Deep One Hybrid - Gathlain
Gnoll - Kasatha - Munavri - Naiad - Orang-Pendak
Reptoid - Rougarou - Shabti - Trox - Yaddithian
Adventure Paths: Being of Ib - Kuru
Inner Sea Races: Ghoran - Monkey Goblin - Lashunta - Skinwalker
Syrinx - Triaxian - Wyrwood - Wyvaran
Ultimate Wilderness: Vine Leshy
Blood of the Sea: Adaro - Cecaelia - Grindylow - Locathah - Sahuagin - Triton
Planar Adventures: Aphorite - Duskwalker - Ganzi

5th Edition[edit | edit source]

Midgard[edit | edit source]

The Midgard setting has dhampirs in a pretty prominent role, with mechanics for both Pathfinder 1e and D&D 5e.

5e Midgard Dhampir:

Ability Score Increase: +2 Charisma, +1 Dexterity
Size: Medium
Speed: 35 feet
Darkvision: 60 feet
Dark Thirst: You can make an Unarmed Strike to bite a creature that is Incapacitated or which you have Grappled. If it hits, this attack does 1 Piercing damage. If the creature has blood and is not an Undead or Construct, you can then feed from it, inflicting Necrotic damage equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1) on the creature and regaining 1 spent hit die for yourself. You can regain a number of spent hit die with this ability equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum 1) per long rest.
Predatory Charm: Once per short rest, you can use an action to magically beguile a visible creature within 30 feet; this ability has no effect on creatures that are immune to being Charmed. For 1 hour, you have Advantage on all Charisma checks against the beguiled creature. After 1 hour, or if you or any of your allies attack or damage the creature, the effect wears off, and the target becomes instinctively repulsed by you until the next dawn. During this time, the creature is immune to your Predatory Charm ability and acts in a hostile, though not necessarily violent, way.
Undead Resistance: You have Advantage on saving throws against Disease and are Resistant to Necrotic Damage.


Ulraunt's Guide to the Planes[edit | edit source]

If the Midgard dhampir doesn't suit your fancy for a 5e vampire-blooded PC, there's always Ulraunt's Guide to the Planes. In their book on the Shadowfell, the dhampir is one of four "shadow-touched" races presented for 5th edition. Here, they are divided into three subraces; Trueborn are the "normal" dhampirs; Dayborn are dhampirs whose mothers attempted to have them spiritually purified in the womb, resulting in them being born at day in a ritual circle attended by clerics; finally, Darkborn are dhampirs born to vampires created by the curses of the Dark Powers or similar black magic, rather than the standard vampiric breed.

Core Stats:

Ability Score Increase: +1 Constitution
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Darkvision 60 feet
Bite: Your fangs are a natural weapon, which you can use to attack a grappled or unconscious humanoid. You attack using either Strength or Dexterity. If you hit with it, you deal 1d6 piercing damage plus necrotic damage equal to your Constitution modifier. When you bite a living creature, you can regain a number of hit points equal to the necrotic damage done and gain enough nourishment (food and drink) to sustain you for one day. Once you regain hit points in this manner, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.
Hunter of the Night: You gain proficiency with the Perception and Stealth skills.
Languages: You can speak, read, and write Common
Epic Racial: Spider Climb: When you reach 25th character level, you can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check
Subraces: Choose the Trueborn, Dayborn or Darkborn subrace.

Trueborn:

Ability Score Increase: +2 Intelligence
Unholy Legacy: You can cast the Prestidigitation cantrip at will. From 3rd level, you can cast Charm Person once per day. From 5th level, you can cast Gaseous Form on yourself once per day. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability score for these spells.

Dayborn:

Ability Score Increase: +2 Wisdom
Cleansing Touch: You can cast Lesser Restoration 1/day using Wisdom as your spellcasting ability score.
Denial of Servitude: Once per day, when you are Charmed, you can use your Reaction to negate the Charmed effect.

Darkborn:

Ability Score Increase: +2 Charisma
Dark Gamble: You have advantage on all Charisma saving throws against magic. In addition, if you succeed on a Charisma saving throw, you gain temporary hit points equal to half your level, but if you fail on a Charisma saving throw, you take force damage equal to the difference between your roll and the save DC.
Dark Whispers: You know the Message cantrip and can cast it without the need for any components, using Charisma as your spellcasting ability score.

Gothic Lineages UA[edit | edit source]

A semi-offical version of the Dhampir as a race appeared in 5th Edition in the Gothic Lineages Unearthed Arcana. Their fluff is more vague and general than that standard "half-vampire" concept, and there's tables you can roll on to decide what your Dhampir's origin is and what they hunger for. The example origins range from "partially-transformed vampire" to "host of an otherworldly parasite that compels you to feed on others" and the hungers can be fairly typical monstrous foods like blood and raw meat, but can also be things like spinal fluid, dreams, and the color from a person's appearance.

Traits:

Ability Score Increase. +2 to an ability score of your choice, +1 to a different ability score of your choice.

Type: Humanoid and Undead. This means that all spells and effects that work on either Humanoids or Undead affect you. The good news is that this means Cure Wounds still affects you since it works on humanoids.

Size: Medium or Small (choose when you gain this lineage)

Speed: 35 feet

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.

Spider Climb. You have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed. 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 to the attack and damage rolls when you attack with your bite. Your bite 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 use your 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:

• regain hit points equal to the damage dealt by the bite

• gain a bonus to the next ability check or attack roll you make; the bonus equals the damage dealt by the bite

You can empower yourself with your bite a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft[edit | edit source]

The Dhampir lineage reappeared in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft with a few modifications. The fluff is still the same, with the addition of a few Ravenloft-specific sources for your character's nature as a dhampir, but the crunch has been tweaked a bit. You're no longer undead, now being purely of the humanoid creature type, but you now also don't need to breathe. You also get to choose between either getting two free skill proficiencies or the skills and movement speeds granted by whatever race you were before you became a dhampir.

Chronicles of Darkness[edit | edit source]

Dhampir in the original World of Darkness were introduced in the Time of Thin Blood sourcebook. Full-on kindred couldn't have kids at all. But "thin bloods," fourteenth or fifteenth generation vampires whose connection to Cain is extremely tenuous can, though the pregnancy is long and difficult because undead bodies aren't well suited to carrying kids.

The result is a dhampir, a creature mechanically all-but-identical to a revenant, or hereditary ghoul that produces its own vitae. Dhampir are living creatures, and have a pool of vitae separate from their normal blood, though they do get tired if they exhaust it. They suffer frenzy like a vampire, but can resist it much more easily, and like ghouls can go out in the day light and so on. Because thin-bloods have only started showing up in the last twenty or so years, no one knows what happens to an old dhampir.

Dhampirs were introduced to the New World of Darkness in the Vampire: The Requiem sourcebook Night Horrors: The Wicked Dead. Born of either blasphemous occult rituals or deep, sincere, obsessive love between a vampire and a mortal, dhampirs are cursed creatures who are hypnotically alluring to vampires, but whose blood is not only devoid of nutritional value for them, but exposes the vampire to a powerful curse if they share the same clan.

They're also mildly infamous for the fact that, because they're born of unnatural magical origins, they don't adhere to the standard rules of baby-making. So, they could be test tube babies or chestbursters depending on what dark rituals are used to make the dhampir in the first place.

2e revised them significantly, making them technically human but tainted by their vampiric parent's Vitae. They retain their ability to do strange things to the vampires who drink from their blood, but they also possess a unique connection to the workings of fate and a curse based on their vampiric parent's clan. As most dhampir are treated only slightly better than ghouls by their vampiric parents (if the vampire doesn't simply abandon them and leave them ignorant of their half-damned heritage), it is unsurprising that some of them end up becoming vampire hunters.

GURPS[edit | edit source]

Dhampirs appear in the Monster Hunters supplement as one of the options for the Inhuman class. They're basically a vampire without the cool stuff, but also without the bad stuff.

Monstergirls[edit | edit source]

The MGE Dhampir, ready to lay some vampires and save some cute guys! No, that's not a typo.

Ironically, despite the sexual appeal of vampires, the dhampir rarely gets the same treatment. Whilst this may be partially due to the dhampir's relative obscurity, another issue may be that they don't really have anything going for them that the standard vampire-as-monstergirl doesn't (aside from not having to worry about that "lack of bloodflow" joke). After all, in most depictions, the dhampir is basically a "tamed" vampire, with less raw vampiric power and without the pesky problems of sunlight or needing to worry you'll be eaten alive by one. But most monstergirl depictions of vampires tone down the need for blood and make their vampires "safe", meaning that without any real fear of dying from your vampire lover, a dhampir just looks like a poor man's imitation. Still, in more honest Dark Fantasy-leaning settings, dhampirs may get the credit they deserve.

And there is one montergirl setting where dhampirs are embraced: in the Monster Girl Encyclopedia, dhampirs are born on those rare occasions when a vampire gets pregnant without having come to truly love/respect the father of her child. This results in the offspring being a "half-vampire", with her own entirely unique set of powers. MGE Dhampirs are basically non-arrogant, non-tsundere vampires in terms of sex. In fact, they think that true vampires are stuck up bitches who need to be taken down a few pegs. Thusly, they like to roam the world and fight vampires, breaking their arrogance by basically dom-sexing them until their mind breaks and they become more submissive. They especially like going after vampires who have a guy they're being all tsundere-bitch to and simultaneously breaking the vampire down and building the guy up, with lots and lots of vamp-subbing threesomes. Sometimes the dhampir will stay with the couple if she really likes the guy, other times she'll move on and leave them to what, in her eyes, is a happier relationship.