Child of the Night
The character has embraced their vampiric nature, succumbing to the thirst and accepting their new life as a creature of the night.
Requires that the character be a vampire. Costs 750 XP if taken under a master’s wing, otherwise 1000 XP.
Characters who take this elite advance gain access to the talents and other character options included in this section. They also immediately gain the following traits, overwriting as applicable:
- Sun-Scarred (3)
- Dawn-Cursed (2)
- Resist Normal Weapons (3)
- Natural Weapons (Fangs, 1d8 Splitting, Magic)
According to their vampiric bloodline, they also gain access to one of the following Powers which can be activated once per day:
Cyrodilic: Vampiric Seduction As a Secondary Action, the vampire can charm a non-hostile target within 10m. The target makes a +0 Wp test to resist the effect. If this test is successful, they become aware that they’ve been affected by some kind of magic. If they fail, they become affected by a level 4 Charm Spell Effect.
Aundae: Dark Magic of the Mind The gaze of the Aundae can invoke a primal fear and madness from their enemies. As a Primary Attack Action, the vampire can cause a target within 15m to either make a +0 Horror test. Alternatively, they can cause the target to test Wp, gaining the Frenzied Trait on a failure.
Quarra: Might of the Grave As a Secondary Action, the vampire may spend 1 SP to gain +2 to their strength bonus and increase the damage die of their natural weapons by one dice step for 10 minutes.
Berne: Embrace of Shadows While in Dim light or Darkness, the vampire may turn invisible until they attack, cast a spell, or come within 3m of a bright light source.
Volkihar: Freezing Breath While grappling a target, the vampire may breathe into them as a Primary Attack Action, freezing them from within. The target takes 1d6 Frost damage and must make a +10 Endurance test, becoming Paralyzed on failure. On a success, they are only affected by the Slowed trait for 1 hour. Either effect is ended after 1 hour or until they take any amount of Fire damage.
Child of the Night Talents
Vampiric Domination
“Do as I command, and you will reap the rewards. Defy me, and I can offer you only pain and suffering.” Expert (Personality), Requires the Cyrodilic Bloodline The vampire’s Vampiric Seduction power now applies a level 7 Charm Spell Effect. Additionally, the target suffers a -20 to the Wp test to resist. The vampire may also select a single target for this ability to affect indefinitely until the vampire releases them at will. Each time the indefinite target of the power is damaged they can re-test their roll to resist.
Darkness of the Subconscious
“Your mind is naked to me! I can taste your fear! You are fertile ground for the seeds of eternal torment!” Expert (Willpower), Requires the Aundae Bloodline The vampire can read the deepest thoughts of any target affected by their “Dark Magic of the Mind” power. Additionally, when they use the power to apply the Frenzied condition, they may choose the target of the frenzied character’s attacks.
Savagery of the Grave
“Draw upon the wrath of the lord of domination and tear their flesh from bone!” Expert (Strength), Requires the Quarra Bloodline The vampire gains the Savage trait. Additionally, they add an additional point of damage for each stamina point spent to Power Attack. Lastly, when making unarmed attacks, they can choose between the Splitting or Slashing weapon qualities.
One with the Shadow
“Blend into the shadows and feast upon sanguine bliss!” Expert (Agility), Requires the Berne Bloodline The vampire’s Embrace of Shadows power can be used even in bright light as long as there is some level of shadow they can hide in. While invisible from the use of this power, their movement makes no sound.
Volkihar Necromancy
“Even the dead must answer to the will of the Volkihar!” Expert (Willpower), Requires the Volkihar Bloodline The vampire may spend 1 SP and 2 AP to reanimate the corpse of a large or smaller creature within 10m for 3 rounds, as if it were affected by a Reanimation spell effect. Doing so imposes Mindlock(1) for as long as the corpse remains animated or until the vampire chooses to end the effect. If the duration would end, the vampire may spend 1 SP and 1 AP to instead maintain it for another 3 rounds. When the effect ends or the reanimated corpse dies, they dissipate into a pile of ash.
Supernatural Reflexes
“You have unlocked the ability to move at such a speed and with such precision that few can act before your fangs are sunken in their throats.” Master (Agility) The vampire improves their Initiative Rating by 2, gains a +10 bonus to all Evade tests, and increases their movement speed by 2.
Undead Fortitude
“You have come to realize that your organs are little more than a relic from older days.” Adept (Endurance) The vampire either gains the Tough (1) trait or increases their existing Tough trait by 1. Additionally, they either gain the Resilient (2) trait or increase their Resilient trait by 2.
Vampiric Secrets
The rules contained within this section represent secrets held by powerful vampires. They cannot be purchased with XP — instead, they must be learned from the few people or tomes who contain this forbidden knowledge.
Rituals
Enthralling Rite
Vampires who practice this rite are able to turn unwilling prey into devout servants through the power of profane blood magic. This ritual requires no components except for a cutting implement and knowledge of the rite itself.
First, the target must be restrained in some fashion for the duration of the 10 minute ritual. Then, using a cutting implement of their choice, the vampire must slice themselves, dealing the appropriate damage from the item used to make the cut, which bypasses AR.
Then they must forcefully feed their blood to the target over the course of the remainder of the ritual. For the next ten minutes, the vampire and their potential thrall are locked in a battle of wills as the vampire chants daedric rites of domination and subservience. The two must each make an extended Willpower test, making each individual test simultaneously. The first character to reach 15 DoS wins this battle of wills. If the vampire wins the test, the target of the ritual successfully becomes the vampire’s thrall; otherwise, the target becomes immune to this ritual for 1 week. A vampire can keep a number of thralls in their service equal to their WB.
A vampire thrall willingly and enthusiastically follows the commands of their master. However, for as long as they are enthralled, their Intelligence is halved and the vampire should give them direct and specific instructions lest they misinterpret the intent of their master’s words. A thrall is freed from the will of their master by being targeted by a successful level 4 or higher Dispel effect or through the death of their master.
Rite of Sanguine Preservation
Vampires proficient in this process can create blood potions to sustain themselves when fresh prey is scarce. Creating a potion of blood requires a clean phial made of pure crystal, a cutting implement, a rare Restoration ingredient, a creature with a black soul as a source for blood, and the knowledge of the procedure itself.
The target must either be helpless or a willing participant for the duration of this 5 minute process. The vampire first must extract the blood from the victim into the crystal phial, dealing the chosen cutting implement’s base damage which bypasses any AR and reduces the target’s Endurance by 10 until after their next Long Rest. Then, the rare restoration ingredient must be skillfully mixed with the blood by passing an alchemy test as if this were a level 4 potion. If the test fails, then the blood spoils and the phial must be cleaned before making another attempt. In either case, the used restoration ingredient is consumed.
When consumed, the blood within this phial sates the vampire’s thirst for a day.
Rite of Undeath: Death Hound
Vampires who are proficient in necromancy can uncover the secret of the creation of the Death Hound. This ritual follows the base rules for the Rite of Undeath, with the following rules for specifically the Death Hound:
Death Hounds require 75 Magicka to raise, and require 30 minutes of ritual time. A Death Hound requires a wolf sized body though it doesn’t necessarily need to be a wolf. A large cat or other hound will work just fine. A Death hound must have its body intact, cannot have died with an unhealed wound, and must be properly prepared. Then, the blood of a vampire must be somehow introduced into the corpse’s body.
A character can raise multiple Death Hounds at once as a pack, adding +25 Magicka and requiring a fully prepared corpse for each additional Death Hound. Every five Death Hounds added in this way imposes a -10 on the Necromancy test to perform the ritual.
Vampiric Spellcasting
There are two forms of vampiric spellcasting: Nox Arcana and Hemomancy. They do not follow the same rules as standard spellcasting, but are still activated using Cast Magic actions. Only vampires have a connection to the daedric energies required to cast these spells.
To learn the skill associated with either requires that the character have the Child of the Night Elite Advance and gain the knowledge from a tome or vampire who has knowledge of them, which grants them the skill at rank 0 (Novice). From there, the skill can be advanced as normal with XP - however, only one may be advanced to rank 5 (Master).
Learning a legendary spell from either doctrine requires that the vampire has the associated skill trained to rank 5 (Master).
Nox Arcana (Wp)
Commonly called “night magic”, Nox Arcana is an ancient power that few vampires still have in recent generations. Gaining one of the Nox Arcana spells below requires that the vampire feed on the blood of another vampire and spend 100 XP. Using a Nox Arcana spell requires that the vampire pass a Nox Arcana skill test. Any associated SP cost is not spent on a failure.
Shrouding Mist To Cast: 1 SP, 5 minutes The vampire calls upon the eternal darkness to cause the surrounding area in a 2 kilometer radius to be consumed by a heavy fog. This imposes a -10 penalty to all Observe tests and any vampire within the area has their Dawn-Cursed trait value reduced by 1 for as long as the fog remains. The fog lasts for 5 hours and cannot be ended early unless affected by a more powerful magic.
Bat Form To Cast: 1 SP, Secondary Action The Vampire becomes a swarm of bats. They gain the Flyer (10) trait, change their size to Tiny (-20 to hit by larger characters or at range), and reduce their max HP to 5. The effect ends after 3 rounds unless the character spends 1 SP, which refreshes the effect for another 3 rounds. The spell ends immediately and the vampire reverts to their true form if the HP is reduced to 0.
Night Cloak To Cast: 1 SP, Extended Action (2 AP) The vampire summons a swarm of bats which inflicts 1d6 Poison damage to all hostile creatures in a 2m radius at the end of each of the vampire’s next 3 turns, starting on the current turn. The vampire then regains an amount of health equal to the total damage dealt after mitigation.
Eclipse Legendary To Cast: 3 SP, 30 minutes Over the course of 30 minutes, the vampire calls upon the powers of domination to eclipse the sun, limiting exposure to its searing light. The surrounding area within 8 km of the vampire is shaded from the sun, and vampires within it are unaffected by their Dawn-Cursed trait for the next 2 hours.
Black Shadow Legendary To Cast: 2 SP, Primary Action The vampire’s shadow becomes disconnected from them while this spell is active. The detached shadow gains the stats of a Gloom Wraith and acts as a summoned creature, doing the vampire’s bidding. The Gloom Wraith stays summoned for 5 rounds, which can be refreshed for 2 SP. It also rolls its own initiative and acts independently in combat. If the Gloom Wraith’s HP is reduced to 0 or becomes unsummoned, it is reattached to the vampire as their shadow.
Hemomancy (Wp)
Blood magic is a profane art known only to the most vile vampiric sorcerers. Using a Hemomancy spell requires that the vampire pass a Hemomancy skill test. Regardless of the result, the full MP and AP cost is spent. Hemomancy spells cannot benefit from spell restraint.
Vampiric Drain To Cast: 11 MP, Primary Action (Attack) The vampire drains 2d6 magic damage to a target within 4m, restoring their own HP by the amount of damage successfully dealt (after any reduction). If this kills the target, the vampire’s thirst is sated for the day. If this spell is affected by a reflect spell effect, it has no net effect.
Blood Grasp To Cast: 10 MP, Primary Action (Attack) The vampire forces a target within a 15m range to make a -10 Str test. On a failure, the vampire can force the target to move up to 10m closer to them. This forced movement can trigger Attacks of Opportunity.
Sanguine Shield To Cast: 15 MP, Extended Action (2 AP) The vampire creates a sanguine dome with a 3m radius centered on themself, protecting any character encompassed within. The dome has 30 HP and any source of damage targeting a character within it damages the dome instead. The dome has the Sun-Scarred (5) trait and cannot regain health by any means.
Crimson Sphere Legendary To Cast: 20 MP, Extended Action (3 AP) The vampire creates a 2m radius sphere made of blood which envelopes them, restoring 2d8 HP each round that they remain in the sphere. The sphere lasts for 3 rounds, has 50 HP, and takes all damage which targets the sphere or a character within it. If the sphere comes into contact with Sunlight or is dealt damage which counts as sunlight, it is immediately destroyed.
Consuming Blast Legendary Cost: 16 MP, Primary Action The vampire launches a bolt of vampiric energy to a point within 20m which explodes in a 3m radius, dealing 2d8 magic damage to those caught in the Area of Effect. The vampire regains HP equal to the damage dealt (after any reduction). If a target is killed as a result, the vampire’s thirst is sated for the day.