I pre-ordered Van Richten's, love this book. Yesterday I had a session 0 and made a Dhampir (formerly human) Rogue with The Haunted One background, which will take the Phantom archetype at level 3, and will receive the Echoing Soul Dark Gift when and if the DM sees fit. The campaign is basically a perpetual dungeon crawl, and none of the party members know each other. They were all dragged in by the Mists from different worlds, and were dropped in this Dark Doman. When I was human, the vampire lord in my region was going to kill my fiance, but I offered my eternal servitude in exchange for her safety. I have committed many atrocities that at times haunt me, but I have mostly grown number to the violence and brutality I inflict. I've maintained my prideful demeanor, but am ashamed of what I've done. Evil having been ever present since I made the deal (15 years ago), I'm overly cautious. I have no problem eviscerating enemies, but must resist urges to go into a blood frenzy when denying my hunger. Since becoming a Dhampir, I have lost control a few times and gone into a blood rage, consuming countless lives. It is for this reason the Dark Powers would decide to bestow a Dark Gift upon me, since echoes of the lives of those I've consumed sometimes overtake my senses. These souls I've consumed long to be free, but are trapped within me. The negative energy from them, and from my own emotions for having committed such acts, attracts souls of the dead, causing the Phantom abilities. One extra tidbit is the DM gives everyone a starting feat, for which I took Mobile, so my movement is now 45 feet. We also get a Legacy item that becomes more powerful as we level, and ties into our backstory. We choose from a selection of bonuses at certain levels. Mine is a pendant given to me by my beloved the day I left. I named it Pendant of Undying Love, and its purpose is to protect me. At 1st level, once per long rest I can use it to cast the Goodberry spell. At 5th level, I'll probably add one use of Spirit Guardians per long rest to the Pendant, calling upon the dead to protect me (A thematic change rather than a mechanical one). At 9th level, it will heal me 1d6 HP at the start of each of my turns. At 13th level I'll give myself resistance to Piercing damage. My Mobile feat allows me to easily avoid most Slashing and Bludgeoning damage, but Ranged is typically Piercing so that will protect me more. Lastly, at 17th level, I'll probably give the Pendant one use of Regenerate per long rest. (I doubt we'll get that high level, but good to have a rough game plan)
This is fantastic. I LOVE the backstory! I can't thank you enough for sharing all of this with us. I enjoyed reading this and think it is a fun, amazing build. Well done!
Man I've been wanting to play a homebrewed half-vampire for ages and now that they're an official "race" I reckon I'll give this build (or a similar one) a try as soon as I am able to. Stuck as a DM for now, though!
Thank you Zach! I was hoping there was an audience for more theme-centered builds. I am working on a Soulknife Rogue next. After that, who knows!? Any requests?
@@zachhardy7767 Right on, I'm a Sorcerer-fan myself. :-). And... spoiler alert, an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer video is in the works, but I want to wait and see what the Amethyst Gem Dragonborn Race looks like before I do... It has Psychic damage abilities that would tie nice into a theme. I think Fizban's Treasury of Dragons releases in October, so I'll probably wait til then. Cheers!
I've made a Dhampir Hexblade Warlock and the Campaign is homebrew so the DM was liking my character choice as he basically made Alucard from Hellsing as a patron for me.
I would rule that Grave Touched DOES eliminate the NEED, but not the desire. How tha plays out depends on how much i want to deal with it, anything from Con save or exhaustion, to flavor only.
unless you build it right to make the Bite good for combat, because it's not magical for resistance and it's not very strong at 1d4+CON, I think it's better for a nice side bonus, especially because you can bite party members, it's just objectively not good at combat bit of a flavor fail for it to be not rad nor easy to build for but it is a decent utility option, though, hot take, I wish they made the fangs finesse so you could sneak attack it's not a BAD race, I just wish the Bite was better
I get that, for sure. I wish it was better too. Actually, there are a lot of races that I wish were better when it came to their natural attacks. Whether it be claws, bites, or what-have-you. Perhaps a feat or two in the future will help enhance these. Thanks for watching. Cheers!
I've been toying with the idea of a "Dracolich" using the Draconic UA and an Undead Warlock. I've been torn between Conquest Paladin with the Undead dip or going full Undead Booklock.
That sounds like an interesting build! I haven't read the Draconic UA yet... but I am excited about what they do with dragons in the near future. Cheers Seth!
I like that idea to, I have the idea of multiclassing into undead warlock and draconic sorcecer. But my favorite idea would be to have a mummy patron and that my character becomes living sand with the spells gaseoso form
I am torn between playing a somewhat evil character with this build or just use it for an evil NPC lol..I wonder if I could homebrew it so that it serves Lolth and its Dread Feature is of a spider-like creature! Elendra would be a good ally to team with up "evil" Dabria in the future...(Think about it Wally!)
Elendra would be more in line of a mutual partnership with Dabria for as long as it served a purpose, lol. Isn't that what evil characters do? But yeah... use her as an NPC. A servant of the Vampire lord, mwahaha! Cheers, my friend!
so I am working on finishing the character but I have a 7th level conquest paladin and the rest if going into undead warlock. once I hit 6th undead warlock level I can divine smite, eldritch smite and change all the damage to necrotic dealing 9d8 necrotic damage. probably not going to use it unless I get a crit.
Absolutely! That is soooo good! I almost chose Pact of the Tome until I really started to dig into what the Imp Familiar was capable of. Really digging it. Thanx Alan!
Hey Wally, how would you compare the Undead Warlock with the new Mages of Strixhaven UA using the Witherbloom subclass? A comparison video between those two subclasses might be interesting to others, as well. 🤷🏼♂️
Hey there Alan! To be honest, I haven't seen the new UA yet, but I can't tell you how excited I am for Strixhaven. I think it will be the exact crossover of Harry Potter, MTG and D&D that I am looking for. Due to time constraints, I probably will not be able to get to a UA review... but, when things become official, reach out to me and I'll definitely do some type of video on them. Cheers Alan, have a great day!
I pre-ordered Van Richten's, love this book. Yesterday I had a session 0 and made a Dhampir (formerly human) Rogue with The Haunted One background, which will take the Phantom archetype at level 3, and will receive the Echoing Soul Dark Gift when and if the DM sees fit. The campaign is basically a perpetual dungeon crawl, and none of the party members know each other. They were all dragged in by the Mists from different worlds, and were dropped in this Dark Doman. When I was human, the vampire lord in my region was going to kill my fiance, but I offered my eternal servitude in exchange for her safety.
I have committed many atrocities that at times haunt me, but I have mostly grown number to the violence and brutality I inflict. I've maintained my prideful demeanor, but am ashamed of what I've done. Evil having been ever present since I made the deal (15 years ago), I'm overly cautious. I have no problem eviscerating enemies, but must resist urges to go into a blood frenzy when denying my hunger. Since becoming a Dhampir, I have lost control a few times and gone into a blood rage, consuming countless lives. It is for this reason the Dark Powers would decide to bestow a Dark Gift upon me, since echoes of the lives of those I've consumed sometimes overtake my senses.
These souls I've consumed long to be free, but are trapped within me. The negative energy from them, and from my own emotions for having committed such acts, attracts souls of the dead, causing the Phantom abilities.
One extra tidbit is the DM gives everyone a starting feat, for which I took Mobile, so my movement is now 45 feet. We also get a Legacy item that becomes more powerful as we level, and ties into our backstory. We choose from a selection of bonuses at certain levels. Mine is a pendant given to me by my beloved the day I left. I named it Pendant of Undying Love, and its purpose is to protect me.
At 1st level, once per long rest I can use it to cast the Goodberry spell. At 5th level, I'll probably add one use of Spirit Guardians per long rest to the Pendant, calling upon the dead to protect me (A thematic change rather than a mechanical one). At 9th level, it will heal me 1d6 HP at the start of each of my turns. At 13th level I'll give myself resistance to Piercing damage. My Mobile feat allows me to easily avoid most Slashing and Bludgeoning damage, but Ranged is typically Piercing so that will protect me more. Lastly, at 17th level, I'll probably give the Pendant one use of Regenerate per long rest. (I doubt we'll get that high level, but good to have a rough game plan)
This is fantastic. I LOVE the backstory! I can't thank you enough for sharing all of this with us. I enjoyed reading this and think it is a fun, amazing build. Well done!
"let's flip back to.." and the video flips, nice!
Fun build, like the theme.
Thank you my friend! You are one of the few that caught the "flip" easter egg. I grant you... an inspiration point!
Man I've been wanting to play a homebrewed half-vampire for ages and now that they're an official "race" I reckon I'll give this build (or a similar one) a try as soon as I am able to. Stuck as a DM for now, though!
I really enjoyed this video. Max’ing damage, etc is fun but having a cohesive theme and story was great! More of these please!
Thank you Zach! I was hoping there was an audience for more theme-centered builds. I am working on a Soulknife Rogue next. After that, who knows!? Any requests?
@@WallyDM Great! I am partial to Sorcerers and Warlocks myself…. Maybe an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer? Paladins are fun too!
@@zachhardy7767 Right on, I'm a Sorcerer-fan myself. :-). And... spoiler alert, an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer video is in the works, but I want to wait and see what the Amethyst Gem Dragonborn Race looks like before I do... It has Psychic damage abilities that would tie nice into a theme. I think Fizban's Treasury of Dragons releases in October, so I'll probably wait til then. Cheers!
I've made a Dhampir Hexblade Warlock and the Campaign is homebrew so the DM was liking my character choice as he basically made Alucard from Hellsing as a patron for me.
Oh wow, that is absolutely cool! I love the Dhampir. In fact, I'm going to use this lineage in another build really soon... Stay tuned!
Great book so far and I like your PC. In addition, this seems to be more monster than a player character, which is awesome.
Thank you my friend! Now, schedule a game so I can play this character! lol.
I would rule that Grave Touched DOES eliminate the NEED, but not the desire. How tha plays out depends on how much i want to deal with it, anything from Con save or exhaustion, to flavor only.
Oooh, I really like that. Great idea and thank you for watching!
unless you build it right to make the Bite good for combat, because it's not magical for resistance and it's not very strong at 1d4+CON, I think it's better for a nice side bonus, especially because you can bite party members, it's just objectively not good at combat
bit of a flavor fail for it to be not rad nor easy to build for but it is a decent utility option, though, hot take, I wish they made the fangs finesse so you could sneak attack
it's not a BAD race, I just wish the Bite was better
I get that, for sure. I wish it was better too. Actually, there are a lot of races that I wish were better when it came to their natural attacks. Whether it be claws, bites, or what-have-you. Perhaps a feat or two in the future will help enhance these. Thanks for watching. Cheers!
I've been toying with the idea of a "Dracolich" using the Draconic UA and an Undead Warlock. I've been torn between Conquest Paladin with the Undead dip or going full Undead Booklock.
That sounds like an interesting build! I haven't read the Draconic UA yet... but I am excited about what they do with dragons in the near future. Cheers Seth!
I like that idea to, I have the idea of multiclassing into undead warlock and draconic sorcecer. But my favorite idea would be to have a mummy patron and that my character becomes living sand with the spells gaseoso form
I am torn between playing a somewhat evil character with this build or just use it for an evil NPC lol..I wonder if I could homebrew it so that it serves Lolth and its Dread Feature is of a spider-like creature!
Elendra would be a good ally to team with up "evil" Dabria in the future...(Think about it Wally!)
Elendra would be more in line of a mutual partnership with Dabria for as long as it served a purpose, lol. Isn't that what evil characters do? But yeah... use her as an NPC. A servant of the Vampire lord, mwahaha! Cheers, my friend!
comment 3 :P love the build Wally
Haha, thanks buddy. Glad you liked it!
I was thinking I would have Glowing Red eyes and a shadowlike cloak flowing from my shoulders.
I love that visual! Such a fun character to play, for sure. :-)
@@WallyDM I really want to go for a Vampire Hunter D aesthetic for my character (so Noble background) and hope to one time get to play it.
so I am working on finishing the character but I have a 7th level conquest paladin and the rest if going into undead warlock. once I hit 6th undead warlock level I can divine smite, eldritch smite and change all the damage to necrotic dealing 9d8 necrotic damage. probably not going to use it unless I get a crit.
With Investment of the Chain Master, your Imp would use your Spell Save DC.
Absolutely! That is soooo good! I almost chose Pact of the Tome until I really started to dig into what the Imp Familiar was capable of. Really digging it. Thanx Alan!
@@WallyDM I didn’t watch far enough in your video to hear you mention all the Investment of the Chain Master features. Sorry!
@@alanschaub147 lol. No problem at all. Understandable. It's a lonnnngggg video. Cheers Alan!
Hey Wally, how would you compare the Undead Warlock with the new Mages of Strixhaven UA using the Witherbloom subclass?
A comparison video between those two subclasses might be interesting to others, as well. 🤷🏼♂️
Hey there Alan! To be honest, I haven't seen the new UA yet, but I can't tell you how excited I am for Strixhaven. I think it will be the exact crossover of Harry Potter, MTG and D&D that I am looking for.
Due to time constraints, I probably will not be able to get to a UA review... but, when things become official, reach out to me and I'll definitely do some type of video on them. Cheers Alan, have a great day!
@@WallyDM I think the Fey races will become official when The Wild Beyond the Witchlight comes out this fall. I have mine pre-ordered already! 😊
Where is the link to Ted at Nerd Immersion?
Hey there Alan! It is in the Description... but here is a shortcut for you. Thank you for watching. Cheers! ruclips.net/video/lHM-ufOUCWY/видео.html