Vampire, Psychic

This creature is a well-coifed humanoid with perfectly arranged hair, manicured hands, and noble dress. Its baleful red eyes and pointed ears betray its supernatural origin.

Alternate Form of Vampire. Psychic vampires originate in much the same way as traditional vampires: by being bitten by a normal vampire. At some point, however, a small minority of those who become this fearsome type of undead develop not a craving for blood, but rather a need to consume the memories of their victims. Typically, those who develop into this form of vampire were people who were overly cerebral, often coming from the ranks of wizards, sages, or artists. Many psychic vampires keep repositories in their employ, prizing the construct’s ability to keep and protect knowledge too valuable to leave on a library shelf.

Limited Vampiric Abilities. Strangely, while psychic vampires share the same basic undead form as well as the sheer brutality of the standard vampire, they do not possess some of their other abilities, such as the ability to shapechange or turn into mist. For that reason, they typically plan their lairs in ways that provide them easier methods of escape should the need arise. They also tend to be a bit less arrogant than the typical vampire, substituting that with raw intensity and intricate planning to advance their schemes.

Undead Nature. A psychic vampire doesn’t require air.

A Psychic Vampire’s Lair

Psychic vampires choose lairs similar to the lairs of standard vampires, but psychic vampire lairs often include grand libraries, majestic ballrooms, or other rooms related to the cerebral pastime the vampire enjoyed in life.

Regional Effects

The region surrounding a psychic vampire’s lair is warped by the creature’s unnatural presence, creating any of the following effects:

  • There’s a noticeable increase in the populations of owls, ravens, and snakes within 5 miles of the lair.
  • Beasts with an Intelligence of 4 or lower are clever and more likely to avoid being caught in traps within 3 miles of the lair.
  • Humanoids with an Intelligence of 8 or higher within 1 mile of the lair experience mild headaches if they don’t learn or experience something new every 24 hours. If the vampire is destroyed, these effects fade over the course of 1d10 days.

Psychic Vampire

Medium undead, lawful evil
Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 144 (17d8 + 68)
Speed 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
18 (+4) 18 (+4) 18 (+4) 23 (+6) 15 (+2) 18 (+4)

Saving Throws Dex +9, Wis +7, Cha +9
Damage Resistances necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities psychic
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages the languages it knew in life
Challenge 13 (10,000 XP)

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the vampire fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.

Levitate. As a bonus action, the vampire can rise or descend vertically up to 20 feet and can remain suspended there. This trait works like the levitate spell, except there is no duration, and the vampire doesn’t need to concentrate to continue levitating each round.

Regeneration. The vampire regains 20 hp at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hp and isn’t in sunlight or running water. If the vampire takes radiant damage or damage from holy water, this trait doesn’t function at the start of its next turn.

Spider Climb. The vampire can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

Vampire Weaknesses. The vampire has the following flaws:

  • Forbiddance. The vampire can’t enter a residence without an invitation from one of the occupants.
  • Harmed by Running Water. The vampire takes 20 acid damage if it ends its turn in running water.
  • Stake to the Heart. If a piercing weapon made of wood is driven into the vampire’s heart while the vampire is incapacitated in its resting place, the vampire is paralyzed until the stake is removed.
  • Sunlight Hypersensitivity. The vampire takes 20 radiant damage when it starts its turn in sunlight. While in sunlight, it has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.

Actions

Multiattack. The psychic vampire can use Imprison Mind. It then makes two attacks, only one of which can be a psychic assault.

Unarmed Strike. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage. Instead of dealing damage, the vampire can grapple the target (escape DC 18).

Imprison Mind. The vampire chooses one humanoid it can see within 30 feet of it. If the target can see the vampire, the target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be incapacitated for 1 minute. While incapacitated, its speed is reduced to 0 and its mind is overwhelmed with a flood of its own insecurities, shortcomings and inability to accomplish its goals. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. The target can also repeat the saving throw if another creature uses an action to shake the target out of its stupor.

Psychic Assault. The vampire chooses one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 17 Intelligence saving throw or take 18 (4d8) psychic damage and suffer memory loss, and the vampire regains hp equal to the psychic damage dealt. A humanoid slain in this way and then buried in the ground rises the following night as a vampire spawn under the vampire’s control. The target’s memory loss can manifest in a variety of ways. Roll a d4 and consult the table below. If the target is already affected by one of these options, roll again, unless otherwise noted. The memory loss lasts until it is cured by a greater restoration spell or similar magic.
d4 Memory Loss
1 The target forgets how to use a particular skill or tool. It has disadvantage on one random skill or tool proficiency. If the target is already affected by this memory loss, randomly choose an additional skill or tool proficiency to also be affected.
2 The target forgets one of its current allies and now views the ally as hostile. If the target is already affected by this memory loss, choose an additional ally.
3 The target forgets key aspects of fighting and has disadvantage on its first attack roll each turn.
4 The target forgets how to defend itself properly, and the first attack roll against it each turn has advantage.

Knowledge Keepers (1/Day). The vampire magically calls 2d4 inklings or 1 paper golem swarm. The called creatures arrive in 1d4 rounds, acting as allies of the vampire and obeying its spoken commands. The creatures remain for 1 hour, until the vampire dies, or until the vampire dismisses them as a bonus action.

Legendary Actions

The psychic vampire can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The vampire regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

Move. The vampire moves up to its speed without provoking opportunity attacks. If it uses this legendary action while levitating, the vampire can move up to half its speed horizontally instead.

Unarmed Strike. The vampire makes one unarmed strike.

Psychic Pulse (Costs 3 Actions). The vampire releases a powerful wave of psychic energy. Each creature within 20 feet of the vampire must succeed on a DC 17 Intelligence saving throw or be stunned until the end of its next turn.

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