Feats of Vampirism
Vampire Week continues with an examination of the new feats found in Scions of the Vampire: Shadow, Smoke, and Blood. As in the updated Liber Vampyr, feats are what powers your vampire’s exotic and powerful abilities. Unlike the first book, however, where the feats where meant to satisfy the wide scope of vampire lore, Scions of the Vampire focuses more on specific areas of vampire lore.
A number of the new feats are devoted to the creature comforts of vampirism. Whether that’s a cozy coffin to sleep in or a bottle of your favorite blood, these feats help expand on a wealth of excellent material found in Scions of the Vampire: Shadow, Smoke, and Blood for the vampire’s daily life.
Blood Bottler (Vampire)
You are particularly adept at preserving blood so that it can be consumed at a later date.
Prerequisite: Craft (alchemy) or Heal 1 rank.
Benefit: You gain a +5 bonus on Craft (alchemy) and Heal checks made to preserve blood. Additionally, whenever you use short-term preservation to preserve blood, the blood remains preserved for twice as many days as it normally would. Further, the cost for you to use long-term preservation to preserve blood is reduced to 10 gp per blood point, rather than the normal 25.
Coffin Prison (Vampire)
You can trap your victims in coffins you have specially prepared, saving them for later use.
Prerequisites: Coffin Shroud, cruomancer level 9th.
Benefit: By performing a special ritual, you can imbue a coffin that you affected with the Coffin Sleeper feat, transforming it into a magical prison. This ritual requires inscribing additional mystic runes on the inside of the coffin with your own blood, a process which requires 1 hour to perform and the expenditure of 1 blood point. Once the ritual has been performed, the coffin loses the benefits of the Coffin Sleeper feat, but gains a number of other properties.
The affected coffin is constantly locked, as though by the spell arcane lock. The coffin unlocks automatically at your touch, and you can suppress or resume the locking effect as a swift action, regardless of your distance from the coffin. Additionally, any creature within the coffin at the time that the coffin is closed is affected as though by the temporal stasis spell (no save), with one exception: while the creature does not age, he gains the benefits of rest, allowing him to recover hit point and/or ability score damage while imprisoned within the coffin.
Scions of the Vampire: Shadow, Smoke, and Blood also features three new bloodlines of vampires, each represented by a prestige class and boasting specific powers. By aligning yourself with one of these bloodlines (or by stealing their secrets), you can unlock the mysteries of blood manipulation, transform yourself into a deadly mist, or achieve mastery over the shadows.
Blood Dart (Vampire)
You can channel the blood from within your body, hardening it with your rage and hatred, and propel it from your mouth or fingertip as a deadly projectile.
Prerequisite: Cruomancer level 1st.
Benefit: As a standard action, by spending 1 blood point, you can fire a projectile of solidified blood at a single target. Treat this as a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 20 feet. If the attack hits, it deals 1d10 points of piercing damage.
When your cruomancer level reaches 4, and every three cruomancer levels thereafter, whenever you use this ability, you can spend 1 additional blood point. For each additional blood point spent in this way, the attack deals an additional 1d10 points of piercing damage.
Mist Form (Vampire)
You can transform your body into a smoky blue vapor, allowing you to travel freely and avoid harm.
Prerequisite: Cruomancer level 5th.
Benefit: As a standard action, by spending 3 blood points, you can turn your body to mist. This functions as the spell gaseous form, with a few exceptions. You gain a fly speed of 20 feet, with perfect maneuverability, instead of the normal fly speed. Instead of gaining DR 10/magic, you suffer only 1/5 the normal amount of damage from non-magical attacks, and only 1/2 the normal amount of damage from magical attacks (including attacks made with magic weapons, attacks that bypass DR/magic, and spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities that inflict hit point damage). In both cases, the amount of damage you take is rounded up. Finally, when exposed to moderate winds (11+ mph), you suffer 1d4 points of damage per round, and in strong winds (21+ mph) you suffer 3d4 points of damage per round, instead.
Shadow Servant (Vampire)
You can channel your consciousness into your shadow, animating it independently of your body.
Prerequisites: Shroud of the Night, cruomancer level 5th.
Benefit: As a full-round action, by spending 1 blood point, you can animate your own shadow, allowing you to control it independently of your actual body. You can move your shadow at a speed of 30 feet, but it cannot travel more than 50 feet per cruomancer level away from your body (to a maximum of 1,000 feet at 20th level). It is completely insubstantial, and cannot interact with other creatures or objects, nor can it be interacted with. The shadow can only exist in areas of normal or bright light, and if it enters an area of dim or less light, the effect ends immediately. Because the shadow is effectively two-dimensional, it can squeeze through even tiny cracks, potentially allowing it to reach locations that your physical body cannot. While controlling your shadow in this fashion, you can see and hear as though you were in the shadow’s location, but you are unaware of your body’s surroundings, and cannot see or hear normally, nor can you act in any way other than to move the shadow. You are not considered helpless, however.
While using this ability, you do not cast a shadow. Any creature can notice your lack of shadow with a successful Perception check (DC 15). Similarly, while you are animating your shadow, any creature can notice the shadow moving without any apparent source with a successful Perception check (DC 10). For every 2 ranks of Stealth you possess, these DCs increase by +1. Just because a creature notices your shadow does not mean that they can identify the shadow as belonging to you.
You can end the effect at any time as a full-round action, at which point your shadow returns to your body immediately (regardless of distance) and ceases to be animated. The effect can also be ended by a dispel magic spell, or similar, cast on either your body or your shadow, or by any effect or action that causes your shadow to be in an area of dim or less light. You cannot use this ability while you are in an area of dim or less light.
Of course, I guess that last one isn’t very useful without…what’s this? We’ve got one more feat to show? Oh, very well…
Shroud of the Night (Vampire)
You can surround yourself with darkness and shadows at a whim.
Prerequisite: Cruomancer level 3rd.
Benefit: As a standard action, by expending 2 blood points, you can shroud yourself in darkness. This function as the spell darkness, except that it is always centered on you, and moves with you, and the effect only lasts for a number of rounds equal to your cruomancer level. You can always see perfectly within this effect’s area. Darkness created by this ability does not prevent you from suffering negative effects from sunlight.
If your cruomancer level is 5 or higher, you can spend 1 additional blood point whenever you use this ability. If you do, the radius of the effect increases to be equal to 5 feet per cruomancer level you possess.