Suspicion had been building in my mind that the self-styled Countess Abalia was actually a vampire. In fact, I had totally convinced myself that she was a fiend. You will understand my stupefaction then, when on that evening I saw her primping and preening in a little hand mirror she held before her face. I positioned myself behind her and looked in the mirror... to see her face, smiling archly at me. It was only later, after my inaction had led to so many deaths, that I understood what had happened. The Countess Abalia was not only a vampire, but also a wizard of considerable skill. Both the mirror she held and the reflection I saw in it were nothing more than magical illusions... - From the journal of Melnor Melabbey Retained Skills To quote from a respected bestiary, "In most cases, vampires do not lose the abilities and knowledge which they had in life when they become undead. Thus, it is possible for a vampire to have the powers of, for example, a wizard, thief, or even priest". Thankfully, this is not always the case, as the transition to vampirism sometimes seems to wipe the victim's mind clean of most or all previously held skills. Priests Only those priests who worshipped evil deities during life may retain the ability to cast spells after death. The reason for this is simple: priest spells are bestowed by the priest's deity or by its minions. Deities dedicated to Good will certainly not bestow spells upon vampires because these creatures will always use those spells for evil purposes. And some evil deities may refuse to bestow spells or, perhaps, only bestow certain spells upon vampires. The process that a vampire-priest must follow to attain spells is the same as for a mortal priest. In other words, the creature must meditate and pray to receive the powers. Vampire-priests seem to be much more skilled at casting spells from the Necromantic sphere than are mortals, and less adept with spells from the Sun sphere. Turning or Commanding Undead Vampire-priests who followed nonevil deities while alive retain none of their mortal abilities to turn or command other undead. Priests who worshipped evil deities sometimes retain this ability after death and, in fact, often wield it with an aptitude they never had in life. Wizards Individuals who were wizards while alive can retain their spellcasting abilities regardless of their previous alignment, and seem to retain the ability to cast all spells they were able to wield while alive, with much the same effect. The fact that vampires can develop inhumanly high levels of intelligence gives some creatures the ability to cast sometimes many more spells than they could while alive. Vampire-mages must memorize spells as they did while alive. The same holds true for gaining access to new spells. Vampire-mages must have spellbooks, like mortal wizards. These undead wizards are particularly adept at casting spells of the Necromantic and Illusion/Phantasm schools. Thieves Of all professions, it seems that thieves gain the most from their transition to vampirism. Not only do vampires skilled in the thieving arts often retain these abilities, but many seem to be even more proficient after passing through the veil into undeath. As has been stated before, vampires are stronger, faster, and more dexterous than the great majority of (demi)humans, and their senses are significantly keener than those of mortals. When one couples these improvements in physical skills with the spell-like abilities of a vampire - such as shapechanging, assumption of gaseous form, and the ability to spider-climb at will - it becomes obvious that a vampire-thief is the ultimate nightmare for anyone concerned about security. The only positive factor is that the vampire-thief will probably be unable to enter a private dwelling without invitation (although the creature's charm-gaze can frequently make up for this). Bards The skills of the bard seem to suffer the most from the transition to vampirism. Of course, a vampire-bard gains similar enhancements to its roguish skills as does a normal thief, but bards who could cast wizard spells while alive invariably lose this ability when they become vampires. Opinions are divided on why this is. I believe it is because bards, unlike true wizards, rarely if ever understand exactly why their spells work, casting them only by rote. Changes occur with the transition to vampirism, and the bard understands too little of magical tradition to properly alter the spell's components and cast it as a vampire. An even greater change occurs in the bard's ability to inspire and sway the opinions of mortals. Vampire bards always lose this ability. This may, on the surface, be very surprising. It is true that a vampire's ability to mimic behavior allows the creature to play instruments, to sing, even to recite poetry with superhuman virtuosity. But there is something missing from the vampire's performance which forms the core of a similar performance by a bard: the understanding of the thoughts, fears, hopes, and desires of the mortals in the audience. The transition to undeath so distances the vampire-bard from the emotions of mortality that it is incapable of forming the emotional connection with its audience that a mortal bard can create instinctively. Thus, while the musical performance of a vampire may be technically perfect, it lacks "soul"; the performance of a mortal bard may be less perfect, but it touches the emotions. (Of course, the creature's enhanced force of personality and charm-gaze can somewhat make up for this lack.) Paladins Unsurprisingly, all of the exalted and magical abilities of a paladin are lost, should the unfortunate soul become a vampire. The creature is considered to be a simple vampire-warrior. If the former paladin had a war horse, the mount will immediately turn against the vampire and try - vainly, of course - to destroy the abomination that its rider has become. Should, by some extreme chance, the paladin ever be brought back from vampirism, the poor individual will no doubt be forced to undertake quests of extreme rigor to be atoned in the eyes of his or her deity, for the evil taint of vampirism. Ranger Vampire rangers retain their tracking abilities, and their skills at hiding in shadows and moving silently. In fact, these abilities benefit from the creature's enhanced sensory acuity. It loses forever its ability to cast spells and its adeptness with trained or untrained animals. (The only exception to the latter is with animals whose form the vampire can take.) �sionicists Effects on psionicists are dependant upon the powers these beings had before death. Vampire-psionicists are able to retain most "psychic" powers that they had while alive. All other types of psionic powers are lost when an undead state is assumed. Combat Abilities Vampires who have had no mortal experience with melee are yet lethal foes in combat: this I know form painful experience. It seems that a previously unskilled vampire can pick up a sword or even a bow and use it, albeit with less facility than he boasts when attacking bare-handed. How much worse is a vampire who, in life, was a highly skilled warrior! The weapon skills learned by on experienced fighter are frequently retained when the creature becomes undead, including specialty training. A vampire wielding a two-handed sword or a heavy crossbow can be a daunting sight. Nonetheless, it is better to face an armed vampire than an unarmed one because the creature can drain life energy only when it strikes a foe with a bare hand. Thus, while a two-handed sword in the hands of a vampire can cause hideous damage, there is not the associated risk that anyone killed by the attack will rise later as a vampire. Nonweapon Proficiences Many vampires also remember skills they learned while alive that are not directly related to the profession they followed. These skills may relate to their childhood environment or to hobbies they took up at a later date. The main impediment most mortals find in learning new skills is time. For an immortal vampire, time is hardly an issue. Thus, should it strike the creature's fancy, a vampire could gain proficiency in a huge number of skills over the years. This is aided by the fact that the monster's enhanced intelligence eases the process of learning new skills. Such ease with the acquisition of noncombat enhances the assumption of a facade. It is also an almost certain bet that the creatures can turn even the most harmless-seeming skill into a weapon against their foes. This discussion, of course, refers to PCs and NPCs belonging to specific character classes. The DM decides whether any individual character turned into a vampire retains his or her character class abilities. As a general rule of thumb, the DM could assign a 65% chance that the character retains class abilities. Priests Vampiric priests who worshipped Evil deities retain whatever level of experience they had at the lime of their death, and retain access to the same spheres they had as mortals. As with living priests, the DM must adjudicate what spells are bestowed, based upon the vampire-priest's actions and the nature of its deity. For example, if a vampire priest worshipping the god Bane prays for and receives a flame strike spell, and then uses it to kill some followers of Bane, then Bane would be unlikely to grant the vampire-priest more spells until the creature had atoned for this indiscretion. Priests who worshipped Good dieties in life will naturally lose their spellcasting powers. Vampire-priests advance in level much more slowly than mortals: they gain one-to-three levels per century. For every 500 years that a Patriarch exists, it has a 50% chance of advancing a level. Vampire-priests cast Necromantic spells as if they were one level higher than they actually are, and Sun spells as if they were one level lower. If a vampire priest worshipped an Evil deity in life, there is a base 50% chance that the creature will retain the ability to command other undead as a vampire-priest. Should the creature retain this ability, it commands other undead and turns paladins as If it were 3 levels higher than its actual level. As mentioned above for spellcasting, a vampire-priest has a 35% chance of advancing a level for each age category it achieves, and a 50% chance of advancing a level every 500 years it exists as a Patriarch. Wizards Vampire-mages retain whatever level of experience they had at the time of their death, and retain access to the same schools they had as mortals. They advance in level much more slowly than mortals. Each time the creature attains a new age category, it has a 35% chance of advancing one level in spellcasting ability. For each 500 years a Patriarch exists, it has a 50% chance to advance a level. Vampire-mages cast Necromantic and Illusion/Phantasm spells as if the mages were one level higher than they actually are. In addition, any mortal who is the target of a Necromantic or Illusion/Phantasm spell cast by a vampire-mage suffers a -1 penalty to any saving throw against that spell. Thieves A thief that becomes a vampire gains some significant bonuses. First, a vampire's Dex increases with age to a maximum of 20, the vampire-thief enjoys the normal bonuses to its thieving skills for exceptionally high Dex. Second and most importantly, the vampire gains an additional experience level upon its transition to undeath. This represents the improved coordination and sensory acuity described by Dr. Van Richten. Vampire-thieves advance in level more slowly than mortals. Each time the creature attains a new age category, it has a 45% chance of advancing one level in thieving ability. For every 500 years that a Patriarch exists, it has, a 55% chance of advancing a level. Bards Upon its transition to undeath, a vampire-bard advances one level of experience, but only with regard to its thieflike abilities and its power of identifying the purpose and function of magical items. Vampire-bards have a 10% chance to advance one level each time they achieve another age category. Patriarchs have a 25% chance of advancing a level for every 500 years that they exist. Rangers Rangers automatically gain one level of experience when they become undead, to reflect their hypersensitive senses. Vampire-rangers have a 25% chance of gaining a level whenever they achieve a new age category. Patriarchs have a 30% chance of gaining a level for every 500 years they exist. Vampire-rangers never attract followers. Psionicists These characters lose all psionic abilities other than those of the telepathic and clairvoyant disciplines. These retained powers are much more potent for the undead; vampire-psionicists gain a -2 bonus when using powers from these two disciplines. Vampire-psionicists advance much more siowty than the living. Each time the creature attains a new age category, it has a 45% chance of gaining a level as a psionicist. For every five centuries that a Patriarch exists, it has a 65% chance of advancing a level. Combat The following comments refer only to vampires that were warriors in life (unless the DM decides otherwise). In undeath, the creature uses whichever THAC0 is better (lower): the THAC0 appropriate to a monster with its number of Hit Dice, or the THAC0 appropriate to a (demi)human warrior of the creature's level. For example, a 9th-level warrior becomes a Fledgling vampire (8+3 HD). An 8+3 HD monster has a THAC0 of 13 and a 9th-level warrior has a THAC0 of 12. Thus, the vampire warrior's THAC0 is 12. When the vampire advances to Mature, it becomes a 9+3 HD monster, with a THAC0 of 11. Weapon proficiencies are retained after death in many cases. Vampires may use weapons with which they are proficient with no penalty. The nonproficiency penalty for a vampire is -3. Warriors who had specialized in weapons while alive may retain the specialization as vampires (i.e., +1 to hit and +2 to damage with melee weapons; +2 to hit at point blank range with bows and crossbows). Vampire-warriors gain one new weapon proficiency slot for every 4 levels they advance after death. Vampire-warriors have a 25% chance of advancing a level each time they reach a new age category. Patriarchs have a 35% chance of advancing a level for each 500 years that they survive. No matter how far a vampire-warrior may advance, it never automatically attracts a body of followers. Nonweapon Specialisation Characters have a base 75% chance of retaining nonweapon proficiencies when they become vampires. For each age category after Fledgling that a vampire attains, it gains 1d4 nonweapon proficiency slots, modified by the bonus proficiency slots granted for high Intelligence. (For example, an Eminent vampire achieves Patriarch status. The monster gains 1d4 nonweapon proficiency slots. However, the transition to Patriarch also increases the monster's Int to 20, Referring to the Intelligence table from the Player's Handbook, an Int of 20 bestows an additional 9 nonweapon proficiency-slots, bringing the creature's total of new slots up to 1d4 + 9.) The DM should also be careful not to assign a vampire with proficiencies that are contradictory to the creature's nature (such as animal handling or cooking, for example). PC Vampires To put it bluntly, it is strongly recommended that DMs rule PC vampires to be categorically impossible unless using the rules from the Requiem boxed set.

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