I can still remember my first night in this form, the vampire said quietly, "even though it was five centuries ago. It was a mixture of joy and horror as I contemplated both my escape from death and the nature of that escape. I still remember keenly the feel of the chill air on my face as I broke out of the earth into the moonlight, and the raging fire in the pit of my stomach that was my hunger... - From the personal journal of Dr. Van Richten Creating New Vampires Traditional Methods According to most related tales, a vampire can create another simply by killing a mortal either with its life-energy draining power (draining all the character's experience levels) or by exhausting the mortal of his or her blood supply. If the victim's body is not properly destroyed, it arises as a vampire, under the control of the creature who killed it, on the second night following the burial. As an aside, I pose the question: What exactly does it mean when the victim "arises" as a vampire? When the sun sinks fully below the horizon on the second night after the burial, the victim in the grave "awakens". The occupant of the grave is now a Fledgling vampire with all the characteristics, powers, and weaknesses which accompany that condition. Most vampires remember the instant of their death and the nature of their killer, and understand immediately their new nature. Certainly their new hunger gives them a good idea of what they have become. They must immediately free themselves from their grave, either by breaking it open from within or by assuming gaseous form and diffusing out. If this is impossible, the vampire will die in about a week unless it can somehow summon minions such as a pack of wolves to dig it out. Once free of its grave, the vampire's first and only priority is to feed. Only after it has fed sufficiently might it remember to conceal the fact that the grave has been opened and is now empty. There are several nontraditional processes of creating new vampires as well, but these are much less widely known. One is in the taking of a "bride" or a "groom". I shall discuss that peculiar marriage at length in Chapter Ten, "Relationships Between Vampires". Other methods of proliferation are as follows: Vampiric Saliva This method is, thankfully, exceptionally rare. The saliva of certain vampires contains various necrological substances. First among these is a slow-acting but highly lethal poison. A single bite from a vampire can inject enough toxin to kill a robust warrior. Unlike most poisons, however, this toxin does not kill the subject for several days. Few people make the connection between the vampire bite and the victim's collapse, hence the body is quite likely to be buried improperly. Meanwhile, within the dead body of the victim, other necrological agents from the vampire's saliva are having their effect. Several nights after the victim's death, he or she comes to consciousness as a vampire. Vampiric Curses Some of the monsters also have the dread ability to import vampirism via a curse. With their voice and their gaze they are able to afflict a victim with a terrible wasting disease that drains body strength. After a number of days, the victim dies and then rises as a vampire the night after burial. The only means of saving the victim known to me is to destroy the cursing vampire before the victim finally succumbs. Of course, the body can be destroyed to prevent it from rising, but this is obviously too late to help the victim. In general, any victim brought to death by any draining effects of a vampire, but not by normal combat or spell damage, is a candidate to become undead. Saliva Poisoning A character bitten by this type of vampire is entitled to a saving throw vs. poison. It is best if the DM makes this roll secretly. If the save is successful, the victim suffers only 2d4 points of damage: should this be enough to kill the victim on the spot, he or she won't rise as a vampire. If the character fails the save, 2d4 days later he or she will suffer sudden heart failure and drop instantly and painlessly dead. Within 1d4 days of burial the character will rise as a Fledgling vampire, under the control of its killer. Vampiric Curses Some vampires have the ability to cast a special version of the unique priest spell, divine curse, once per day or even less frequently (DM's choice). The effects of this curse are always the same. Should the victim fail a saving throw vs. spells, every time the sun rises thereafter he or she loses 1 point of Str. When the victim reaches 0 Str, he or she dies and will rise the next night as a vampire under the control of the monster who cast the curse. If the vampire that inflicted the curse is destroyed, the curse comes to an end and the character regains 1 point of Str per day. This is a particularly unpleasant effect, and vampires able to use this curse should be few and far between. Vampires with Surviving "Goodness" It's entirely up to the DM if a particular newly-formed vampire retains some part of his or her mortal attitudes, emotions, and beliefs upon the transition to undeath. For DMs who like concrete rules, try the following: If a character is killed by a vampire, and the creating vampire is destroyed or leaves the area before the victim rises as a vampire, roll 8d6 and compare the result to the victim's Wis. If the result is equal to or greater then the victim's Wis, the newly-formed vampire is completely and utterly Chaotic Evil. If the dice roll is less than the victim's Wis, however. there's a possibility that the new Fledgling vampire might retain some portion of its previous world view, possibly including alignment. (See Chapter Eleven, "The Mind of the Vampire".)

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