The coffin was empty!
That was when the hissing laughter - from nowhere and from everywhere around us - filled our ears. "Unfortunate, chided the harsh voice. So close. But the day has ended, my friends, and now so do your lives.
- From the journal of Mordent Zachariah
The Sleep of the Dead
Vampires can instinctively sense when dawn is approaching, and feel an overriding urgency to retire to a safe place to sleep. As sunrise draws near they feel a growing panic if they are not within their sanctuary. Once they are safely sequestered away, they can feel, deep in their bones, the moment at which the sun first appears over the horizon. Their reaction at this moment varies from creature to creature.
There are basically two groups of resting vampires: those who truly sleep, that is, become fully unconscious, and those who merely become partially dormant. In human terms the difference is between a deep sleep, where the sleeper is totally oblivious to his surroundings, and a light doze where he is at least partially aware at all times. I will first discuss those vampires who fall into a deep sleep. At the moment of dawn, such a creature sinks into a state of complete oblivion, and cannot be roused by any means before the moment that the sun touches the western horizon. These creatures are obviously highly vulnerable because they have no way of sensing the approach of a hunter or the touch of the stake's point before the first blow of the mallet. However, at the instant that the sun sinks below the horizon, these creatures awaken and are instantly in full command of all their powers. This means there is none of the disorientation felt by many (demi)humans upon first awakening.
Vampires who only "doze" are much more dangerous quarry. They are always peripherally aware of what is going on around them. Depending on the circumstances, it may not be possible for hunters to sneak up on a dozing vampire without rousing it. Loud noises or bright lights will definitely wake the creature. If the creature is within a coffin or sarcophagus, it will awaken the instant that this vessel is opened (if it has not already been roused).
It is important to remember that vampires are incredibly cunning. Just because the dozing creature has been awakened by the approach of hunters does not necessarily mean that it will immediately leap to the attack. If circumstances warrant, it may prefer to "play dead", and lure its would-be killers to their doom. Vampires that doze also wake instantly and without disorientation at the instant the sun sinks below the western horizon. If such a creature is awakened while the sun is still above the horizon, however, it does suffer some moments of disorientation and is unable to use some of its abilities for some time.
Note that the depth at which a vampire sleeps will have a great effect on the sanctuary it chooses, and how it protects its resting place. Vampires that sink into deepest oblivion at the moment of dawn recognize their immense vulnerability and will, thus, go to the greatest lengths to hide their sanctuaries and attempt to make them totally impenetrable to mortals who might be hunting them. Any traps that they place will be as lethal as the creature can possibly make them because it knows any hunter who gets through the traps will almost certainly end the vampire's existence.
Vampires who doze, however, might make different decisions. They, too, are vulnerable during daylight hours, but nowhere near as much as their deep-sleeping kin. While they will generally be as careful about hiding and warding their sanctuaries (why take chances, after all?), they will be less concerned if circumstances prevent them from taking all the precautions they might want. They will probably set lethal traps, but also tripwires and other warning devices to alert them to the approach of attackers.
Many tales pertaining to vampires claim that the creatures must sleep in vessels that contain soil from their homeland, or even soil taken from their own graves. If they do not do so, these tales tell, they are destroyed. As with so many such tales, the truth varies from individual to individual, and from place to place. And, of course, with vampires there are always exceptions to the rules. However, these creatures at least believe the presence of such an item to be an absolute requirement, and will go to any lengths to ensure that it is present. I use the word "believe", simply because I have never heard any substantiated report of a vampire being destroyed through not having the required item present during sleep. Vampires believe they will be destroyed if an appropriate element is not present, and so will make sure that it is present. But is this belief based in fact?
Personally, I find myself drawn to the idea that this "requirement" is actually a baseless superstition, perpetuated and believed by vampires as well as mortals over the centuries. I am convinced that a vampire forced to sleep without a symbolic tie to its mortal life will not be destroyed. Of course, proving this experimentally is somewhat problematical. Vampires will obviously not test my hypothesis because, if I am wrong, they will be destroyed. And vampire hunters are understandably more interested in destroying the creatures than in experimentally examining their limitations. Still, it is an interesting concept to consider.
What happens to a vampire that is prevented from reaching its sanctuary before the moment of sunrise? The consequences vary widely.
Some creatures - particularly, it seems, those individuals that sleep deeply - fall unconscious the instant the sun appears above the horizon. They are totally insensate, and totally vulnerable. If the light of the sun falls upon their bodies, they are destroyed (although not always instantly, as in the case of older vampires). They are also vulnerable to anyone with a stake and mallet. It seems that Fledgling and Mature vampires most likely fall into this category.
Others can remain conscious past sunrise, but their first and only priority is to reach their sanctuary so they can fall asleep. Most of these creatures lose their ability to shapechange or voluntarily assume gaseous form as soon as the sun appears above the horizon, whether or not the rays of the sun actually fall on the creatures' bodies. (It is knowledge of this weakness that adds to their panic as dawn approaches.) These creatures have only a few (1d3) hours in which to reach sanctuary and sleep, or they are irrevocably destroyed. Old, Very Old and Ancient vampires most likely fall into this category.
Finally there are those creatures who retain all their powers after sunrise so long as they are not exposed to the direct rays of the sun. Sleeping is still of the highest priority to these creatures. However, they have hours in which to reach their sanctuary and fall asleep. In fact, these creatures can remain active - if so forced - almost the whole day. If, however, they have not yet reached sanctuary and fallen asleep by the moment of sunset, they are irrevocably destroyed. Such vampires that have been kept from sleep for several hours do not wake instantly at the moment of sunset. Instead, they continue to sleep for a number of additional hours equal to the time they were kept awake. This could well make it impossible for a vampire to feed sufficiently, and hence weaken the creature. Eminent and Patriarch vampires are most likely to fall into this category.
It is virtually impossible to predict beforehand how an individual vampire will react to being prevented from reaching its sanctuary. I have faced a Fledgling vampire, no more than two years undead, that was virtually undismayed at being prevented from sleeping for several hours. Conversely, I have heard tales of an Eminent vampire that fell unconscious at the instant of sunrise, no matter what danger it faced in doing so.
Predictably, there are exceptions. There are some vampires that seem not to need sleep at all. Or if they do, they are more like mortals in that they can delay sleeping for hours or days, should it be necessary, and suffer relatively little as a consequence. When these creatures are also immune to the rays of the sun, they become hideously dangerous foes. They can easily blend with human society, moving equally freely by day or by night. It is lucky that these creatures are very rare!
The dual requirements of sleeping and avoiding the rays of the sun make traveling long distances somewhat problematic for vampires. Short trips are relatively simple because the creatures can travel by night - on horseback or via other normal transportation, or in animal form - and hide out in makeshift sanctuaries during daylight hours. Vampires that must sleep on soil from their homeland or with some item symbolic of their mortal life are more limited than others, of course. They must find some way of carrying the soil or suitable item with them. This usually precludes travel in animal form unless minions have previously arranged suitable sanctuaries along the way and at the final destination. For vampires masquerading as mortals in civilized lands, this is relatively easy to arrange, of course. Representatives of the vampire can purchase or rent suitable buildings and furnish them with art and objects that have symbolic significance to the vampire. Who, after all, would suspect vampiric activity if a wealthy businessman were to send ahead and have a country manor decorated in a style reminiscent of his childhood home?
Vampires will sometimes arrange to have suitable sanctuaries carried with them. (This is usually required if the vampire plans an extended voyage.) For example, a creature could travel in a coffin that is supposedly carrying a dead body "home" to its final burial place. The people charged with transporting the coffin could be servitors of the vampire or could be simple tradespersons hired to do the job. The vampire could stay within the coffin, never emerging, and suffer the effects of starvation. Alternatively, the creature could sneak out of its coffin at night to hunt. (Obviously, this second option represents a grave risk, particularly in a closed environment such as a ship at sea.) The smartest alternative would be to arrange for a cache of blood, if the requirement for low temperature could somehow be met.
While a coffin is almost traditional as the portable sanctuary of a vampire, virtually anything else large enough could serve. The major advantage of a coffin, from a vampire's point of view, is that most people are somewhat unwilling to open it up to confirm its contents. This is particularly the case if the body within is said to have died of some contagious disease.
Vampires are exceedingly cunning, and will show great creativity in the precautions they take. When hunting the travelling vampire, I suggest that you attempt to eliminate places that it could not hide, and consider every other possibility a good one.
With very few exceptions, all vampires have to sleep sometime. The exceptional, sleepless vampires that Van Richten describes still lose 1 HD for every day that they do not sleep. They regain all lost Hit Dice the first time they sleep for a whole day (i.e., from sunrise to sunset).If awakened during daylight hours, a "dozing" vampire is stunned and unable to take any action for 1 round. Thereafter, it can't shapechange or voluntarily assume gaseous form for an additional 1d4 rounds, although it can cast any spells it has previously memorized.
With few exceptions (DM's choice), all vampires require dirt from their graves to be in their resting places. Within Ravenloft, vampires do not necessarily need to sleep on soil from their homeland or from their grave because of the demiplane's proximity to the Negative Material Plane. There remains some symbolic truth to the tale, however, in the case of numerous vampires. These creatures often must have within their sanctuaries, and in contact with their bodies while they sleep, some item that is symbolic of either their origin or their mortal life. This item can be virtually anything, from a piece of clothing, to a gift from a relative or friend, to an object that is somehow related to their homeland.
