Grey Vampire (3.5e Race)

Grey Vampire
Summary::Grey Vampires are hunters of the night akin to their vampire spawn and vampire lord kin. While vampire spawn are but slaves to their lord, and vampire lords are powerful (and effectively unplayable) masters of the night, the grey vampire is a breed which, while fundementally weaker, is under the control and domination of no lord but those they choose to recognize socially. Their own masters, they seek out the blood of the living for sustenance, a strange paradox between the living and the undead, beatiful as they once were in life, possessing a metabolism necessary for survival, yet lacking a heartbeat and being as tough as any undead.

Personality
Vampirism does strange things to a man. At first, it is a rush. You are stronger, faster, more powerful, nay, superhuman. With this rush of power and excitement spawns pride and hedoism. Yet, with it comes the cost, the cost of blood. To some, the moral quandaries start now, and for others, they never began. Eventually, one must justify one's bloodthirst. Thus begins the slippery slope into moral decay. First it is animals, then it is people you do not kill, then you only slay those who deserve it, and eventually, your former humanity fades away as humans become cattle, food to be eaten. You are different, after all, better, faster, more powerful, nay, beyond human. And thus, more than human, this is not cannibalism, they are merely meals in human-shaped bodies.

Thus the vampire does lose his humanity. The older the vampire gets, the father away he gets from his source, until morals vanish and the endless march of time robs him of his original culture. While he may pose to be one of mankind's kin, he will always be a foreigner, an outsider, and he knows that, accepts it, and sometimes delights in it.

For he has nothing else.

Physical Description
The effects of grey vampirism is specific to humans and humanoid creatures. Needless to say, they look unchanged from their base race, even though their abilities change to match their new state of being. Most often, grey vampires are of human stock, for humans are short lived, curious, and daring, and thus fall prey easily to the allure of the vampire.

Unusually old grey vampires sometimes transform into dread vampires.

Relations
By necessity, the grey vampire is a social creature, one which maintains a friendly air with all those it encounters. This is often a falsehood. While young vampires often continue to live with true friendships, the decay is inevitable and time will not wait. Their friends perish and with it they grow distant. With the march of time, periodically a grey vampire must move, faking his death or vanishing from the public eye. If people caught on how youthful they look as many years pass, or begin to grow wary at the string of murders every year, they would be found out. As such, within a lifespan, they travel from village to village, or become masters of disguise.

They rarely spawn more vampires... a grey vampire quickly learns that such things are only competition for food, not lifelong immortal companions in arms. However in the rare case they do, they perform a dark ritual called the Sanguine Cry. The finer details are kept from public ears, but it involves a ritual in the dead of night, where the vampire bites its soon-turned victim and the victim in kind bites back, then lays to bleed out and die upon a symbol most unholy. Through this, the grip of undeath is theirs.

Alignment
Because the grim requirements for sustenance, the decay into evil is nearly inevitable. Because they must hide within society to feed, those which follow the rules of the land and maintain the status quo, vampires tend towards lawful. While a chaotic good vampire (or a vampire of any good alignment) may exist, he would have to be an extraordinarly unique being with an extremely strong will and unshakable moral core.

Lands
Grey vampires make their homes in lands of their origin, typically human lands. Because of their power, experience, and sway, they often come into positions of power in such places.

Religion
No longer fearing death and no longer needing (or necessarily welcome in) the afterlife, religion becomes a passing fad for the vampire. What need does a vampire have to guard his undead soul? To what end would he need the aid of higher powers? Many of these religions shun the undead, and those religions which do not are often dangerous gambits which upset the status quo. Thus, religous vampires are a rarity.

Language
Vampires speak Common, and one language based on their origin, be it regional or racial. Intelligent vampires often learn many languages in order to spread to any society, or even for the passing joy of knowledge.

Names
As they come from humanoid stock, thus their names are born from the same.

Racial Traits

 * ,, , , , : Grey Vampires excel in all things, but as undead creatures, they possess no Constitution score. Instead, they benefit from a different sort of constitution (see Blood Pool).
 * Type::Undead: Grey Vampires are undead, with d12 HD regardless of class level and all undead immunities. They have any one humanoid subtype, such as human, elf, orc, and similar, which is based on their original species they come from. This allows them to continue qualifying for feats, classes, and magic items which are based on race, as well as marking them as a ranger's favored enemy as if they were still humanoid.
 * Size::Medium or Size::Small: Most grey vampires are by far medium size, but the occational small vampire exists. The only difference between them is their size and base land speed.
 * Grey Vampires have darkvision out to 60 ft.
 * Natural Weapons: Grey Vampires have a slam attack which deals 1d6 + Str damage for medium creatures, and a secondary bite attack which deals 1d4 + 1/2 Str. However, it is through their bites which they feed. If the victim is either grappled or helpless, a successful bite deals an additional 1d4 points of Constitution damage. They also deal this damage if they make a successful critical hit with their bite attack. When a grey vampire deals enough Constitution damage to equal 1/5 their current HD (minimum 1), they gain a blood point and stave off the hunger another day. Low-level vampires find that they gain blood points easily, but the stronger ones find that they need much more merely to survive. For example, a 20 HD vampire requires 4 Con damage per blood point. It is rumored that a vampire's bite creates more grey vampires, but this is not true. Only through an eldritch ritual, along with biting, can another grey vampire be spawned.
 * Grey Vampires have DR/silver equal to (half of their HD) + 5, rounded down.
 * Grey Vampires base land speed is 30 feet if Medium size, or 20 feet if Small size.
 * (Su): As a standard action, a grey vampire may take the form of a bat, wolf, or rat at will.
 * (Ex): As an undead, a grey vampire lacks a Constitution score. However, they possess a sort of quasi-constitution score called a blood pool (which by default begins at 10). For the purposes of hp, a blood pool acts as your Constitution score. The blood pool decreases by 1 point every day, and if it hits 0 points, you drop into hibernation. You can increase your blood pool by draining creatures of their blood with your bite attack (see above). Any creature with blood will suffice, but it will max out at 10 points. Only the blood of humanoids or monstrous humanoids allows you to exceed 10 points. You may fill your blood pool up to your HD + 15. Thus, at 1 HD, a grey vampire can have a blood pool of 16, while at 20 HD, they can have a blood pool of up to 35, and the impressive hit points which come with such a thing. Effects which deal Constitution damage or drain through the act of draining blood (rather than by poison) will instead damage a grey vampire's blood pool.
 * (Su): As an undead, a grey vampire does not heal naturally. However, all grey vampires do have a "sanctuary", typically a coffin, a tomb, or some other large object capable of storing their body for rest. When within this sanctuary, they can enter a torpor similar to sleep, and gain fast healing 1 to restore their body. The dark sanctuary radiates, and acts as an altar for, a constant desecrate effect which can be interrupted by antimagic or a consecrate effect. Because inflict magic may not be readly available, many vampires keep their sanctuary safe. If it is destroyed, they cannot deem another place their sanctuary for a full month.
 * (Ex): To defeat a vampire is easy; one simply must deplete its hit points. But to destroy a vampire is a bit difficult. When a vampire drops to 0 hp or below, it falls inert and gains fast healing 1 until it is at 1 hp. To kill a vampire for good, you must stake it in the heart (a coup de grace action with any piercing weapon) or destroy the body utterly (via disintegrate, setting it on fire, or leaving it in the sun). If a vampire loses its head (from a vorpal weapon, for example), it falls into hibernation, but can be restored by attaching the head back to the body; the head naturally regrows in 3d6 rounds, leaving the vampire at 1 hp.
 * (Ex): In the event of decapitation, or failing to feed in time, a grey vampire enters a state of deathly sleep. They remain in such a state, dreaming dark dreams, until a blood-bearing creature passes within 30 ft. of their prone body. At that point, they awaken, crazed, and attack until they lose their target (and fall in hibernation again after moving to a safe space) or manage to regain at least 1 blood point. They gain +4 strength and dexterity when in a craze, but can do nothing but attack, not even cast spells, use spell like abilities, or recognize friend from foe. A vampire can willingly hibernate (and thus lose no blood points from the passage of time) in the course of 1 minute, and wake as a full-round action. However, those who hibernate too long, especially not by choice, are said to go mad...
 * Turn Resistance (Ex): A grey vampire gains +2 turn resistance against the turn and rebuke attempts of others.
 * (Ex): All grey vampires share a common weakness to the light of the sun. In actual daylight (but not the spell daylight), they lose 1 hit point per HD every round, until they find at least shadowy illumination or darker. If reduced to 0 hp while in sunlight, the vampire disintergrates into ash. A hood may suffice in typical situations, but in the heat of combat, maintaining the shade from any headgear results in a -2 penalty to all attack rolls and skill checks. Most vampires choose to employ their darkness spell-like ability in cases where they must move within daylight.
 * (Ex): By curious quirk, all grey vampires have at least one thing which is anathema to them. Regardless of what form it takes, when within 30 ft. of the vampire, they cannot stand its presence, and take a -3 penalty on all attack rolls, skill checks, and saving throws until it is removed. Such vulnerabilities include: Garlic, Running Water, Holy Symbols of good aligned deities, Salt, and Constant Fire (fireball does not count, but a bonfire does). If you go beyond the limits of this list, the item should be either relatively common, or easily accessible.
 * Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): At will- charm person, darkness; 2/day-gaseous form. A successful save against charm person renders them immune for 10 minutes.  Caster level is equal to your character level.  The save DCs are Charisma based.
 * Automatic Languages: Common and one additional language of their choice.
 * Bonus Languages: Any.
 * Favored Class: Favored Class::Any
 * Level Adjustment: +Level Adjustment::2
 * Effective Character Level: Effective Character Level::3