Café de Nuit

Someone on the board suggested to put the Dhampir as a playable race for 4 edition. I discussed with my group and we all liked the idea.

Now comes the hard part, how to design it. It must be balanced with the other races on PHB.

Thats what I was able to come up so far:
Ability Scores: +2 con, +2 cha
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares
Vision: Low-Light

Bloodhunt: You gain +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against bloodied foes. (just like Tiefling ability)
Jaded: Dhampir gains Jaded as a bonus feat.

Justification for the abilities I came up so far:

Dhampir abilities scores justifies his resistance (+2con) and his (un)natural charm (+2cha). One could argue they should get +2str instead of con, but calibans in my campaign alredy get +2str and +2wis, so was thinking giving different stats to the Dhampir.

Bloodhunt seens like a perfect fit for Dhampirs, and because of their undead ancestry they are naturally more resistante to Horror than a normal human, thus the Jaded feat.

Now the problems:

Skill bonuses, +2 bluff, +2 stealth seems like a good choice, but that would be the same skills bonus the Tiefling has. Perception, Endurance, Insight or Intimidate can fit the Dhampir profile, the question is which ones fit better.

Encounter racial power. What to give the Dhampir as a encounter racial power? Vampire Lords have polymorph to mist, dominating gaze, blood drain and boost on their second wind. Blood drain is kind of evil to me, I cant see a Good Dhampir Paladin using it, so it is off the table. Any lesser version of the vampire powers would be nice but I was looking on something different. Like the Tiefling Infernal Wrath racial power.

Of course other racial abilities for the dhampir. Maybe a reistance bonus on Poison and Diseases, because of his undead heritage.

I appreciate any help or tip you people can give me. Thanks.

EDIT: Another think I forgot to mention. Outcast Rating. How much would a dhampir have?

Vampyres might be better, they have fewer powers to accommodate.

I can't wait til the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide comes out, because of the introduction of a "multiclass only" class. I'm dying to see what that entails, though I've got a pretty good idea of what that might mean. I bring that up because that might be a good way to have a Dhampir PC.

Make a Dhampir PC race, and balance it against the other PC races (the Half-Vampire from Libris Mortis is a good starting point). Then include Racial Feats, as normal. But if you want a Dhampir character who's truly supernatural, then that's what the Dhampir multiclass only class would be for. It'd allow you to trade in class powers for supernatural Dhampir powers. Things like Domination, Children of the Night, Spider Climb, and Fast Healing. That'd be pretty cool, I think. And maybe make a Paragon Path for that multiclass only class, too? Just a thought.

Lord Soth wrote:I can't wait til the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide comes out, because of the introduction of a "multiclass only" class. I'm dying to see what that entails, though I've got a pretty good idea of what that might mean. I bring that up because that might be a good way to have a Dhampir PC.

Make a Dhampir PC race, and balance it against the other PC races (the Half-Vampire from Libris Mortis is a good starting point). Then include Racial Feats, as normal. But if you want a Dhampir character who's truly supernatural, then that's what the Dhampir multiclass only class would be for. It'd allow you to trade in class powers for supernatural Dhampir powers. Things like Domination, Children of the Night, Spider Climb, and Fast Healing. That'd be pretty cool, I think. And maybe make a Paragon Path for that multiclass only class, too? Just a thought.

I dont quite agree with you.

The 3.5 Dhampir on the Domain of Dread book had his powers based on the 3.5 vampire. Thats why Dhampir had Children of the Night, Spider Climb and other abilities. Those are the same abilities a vampire have.

The 4th edition vampire have different abilities. This one have Dominating gaze, Blood drain, Mist form and a bonus on defenses when he uses his second wind (Deft Strike, Imperiling Strike and Sneak Attack are rogue abilities). So I think the 4e Dhampir should have powers based on the 4e Vampire, and not based on the 3.5 Dhampir.

But thats my opinion.

atnoon wrote:This one have Dominating gaze, Blood drain, Mist form and a bonus on defenses when he uses his second wind (Deft Strike, Imperiling Strike and Sneak Attack are rogue abilities).

That's still some darn powerful abilities.

Like Soth suggested, a few might work as multiclass-esque feats, or paragon feats that allow a power replacement. Swap out a utility power for the ability to turn to mist w/encounter.

But thats my opinion.

True enough, but the point is still the same. Using something like a multiclass only class to represent the more powerful of the Dhampir abilities. I think it'd be pretty neat, myself.

Alright, now I understood your point.

Good idea, design feats to give the Dhampir more vampiric powers.

I am still having trouble defining the basic power for the Dhampir. I tried to give him a lesser version of the Dominating Gaze, but that ends up looking like the Half-vistanni Evil Eye encounter power.

I guess this leaves Mist form. Making it a daily power with a Sustain Standard might balance things.

Just to play devil's advocate, I wonder if it's necessary to give the 4E dhampir as big a share of the vampire's powers as the 3.5 version had. As I understand it, most 4E creatures are intended to be "true to myth", reflecting the original folklore that underlies their concepts.

And, anime and video-game versions to the contrary, the "dhampir" of mythology didn't have the same powers as a vampire: it was able to detect vampires, and thus destroy them more effectively. In fact, the concept may have originated with medieval con-artists, who went from village to village offering to root out (non-existent) vampires from their graveyards for a fee. So instead of blending vampiric and human traits -- a role which the vampyre already fills in Ravenloft -- a 4E dhampir might be better portrayed by granting a human character access to a vampire-detecting racial feat, similar to Ghostsight.

Found this thread while doing some other thread necromancy.

Way to almost call it guys!