Creed, the Beast of Varna

[W0LF]

Creed

Race: Half-Fiend Dhampir Shifter (LA+12)

Rough class idea: Looking at heading toward Weretouched Master

Medium (Outsider, Shapechanger, Monstrous Humanoid)

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Side 1: Shifter 01
Side 2: Monk 01
Background: The Brute of Nessus
Deity: Asmodeus
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Gender: Male
Age: On the Prime 44yrs
Height: 5' 8"
Weight: 195 lbs.
Eyes: Yellow/Gold
Skin: Tanned with many tattoos & scars
Hair: Full head of white hair and white beard
Wings: Ash White

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Description: Though not tall, Creed is solid and bulky. He is darkly attractive and has as predatory gaze. He wears furs to cover his form and prefers more simple adornments. He has short cropped hair, cut with an odd shaped and very sharp knife. His beard is medium length and helps lend an air of age to otherwise youthful features. His body is covered in tattoos, these were once magical before the portal explosion. Normally he carries a knife, a staff and a satchel with simple gear but this is all gone now.

Personality: Creed is smart, calculating and extremely vicious. Often mistaken for a brute, Creed does nothing to dissuade those who think this. He is typically a loner but sees the value in teamwork. He has spent years in the court of Asmodeus, learning stratagems and craftiness from the King of Hell itself. Far from the simple killer he once was, Creed was chosen as a plant in the invasion to report back to his lord and carry out his wishes.

Background: Creed was born a killer by nature. He grew up with his clan near the settlement of Varna and from an early age the clan found his tendency toward cruelty disturbing. He would be overly forceful when playing with other children, often leading to disputes that he ended violently and he became ostracized within the clan as he aged due to many injuries among those he disagreed with. He was however a prodigy in the clan hierarchy through his shifting abilities. When the inevitable clashes with humans along the clan borders occurred, he was invaluable in protecting his people.

However there came a time when his nature overcame his mortality and his Sires fiendish and vampire heritage began to come to the fore. Instead of simply killing interlopers, Creed began to feast on them. He also began to develop wings and his features took on a more savage cast. The elders of the clan met to decide his fate and it was decided that he would be sent from the clan regardless of his prowess. Banished, Creed went into the wilds for a time where he grieved for his loss, but this soon turned to anger and hatred. Eventually he returned during a dark summer night to slaughter the entire clan.

Creed then made his way into Varna and became a terror in the streets during the night. His vampiric nature surfaced even more prominently and he lost himself, feeding on any he could hunt in the dark streets. But Varna was too small and soon he had to flee back into the wilds when house Vadalis began searching for him. Eventually he was caught by a cadre of druids who banished the creature he had become to the Nine Hells due to the many despicable deeds he had committed. He survived alone for some time on the lowest layer of Hell, stalking and feeding on any humanoids he could find. Eventually he took one victim too many and came to the notice of Asmodeus, who saw potential in the half-breed vampire/shifter and took him in.

He was tested of course.

The devil sat on his throne, chin resting on his clawed hand and looking entirely bored. He was handsome, some would say captivating, appearing as a slim red-skinned humanoid over 13 feet (4 meters) tall with a horned head, glowing red eyes and a perfectly trimmed beard. He wore red and black clothing that appeared so richly appointed it was likely of unfathomable cost.

Creed was hauled along bodily by the two Gelugons who held the shackles that dimmed much of his strength. He was held up in front of the devil who's eyes widened slightly as they traced his figure from head to toe and back. Turning his free hand, he indicated Creed with a sharp gesture of his hand. A slender, claw tipped finger pointed at him. The noise of the crowd of devils surrounding him died instantly.

"Is this the one who has been killing my mortals" he inquired, slight interest cutting through the boredom in his voice. Creed had learned the infernal tongue some time ago so made the words out clear enough.

"Yes" both insectoid devils intoned almost as one, their voices a disconcerting rasp. The devils eyes never left Creed.

The devil eyed him for some time more and lifted a rod to tap the jeweled end against one of his pointy canine teeth. After the silence became a little too oppressive the devil raised his eyebrows. "And why were you slaughtering my mortals half-breed? What did their deaths bring you?"

Creed didn't answer, instead choosing to smile and almost maniacal grin. His own overly-pointy canines betraying the precise thing he wanted to convey. The devils eyebrows lifted slightly. "Oh my, you truly are a half-breed aren't you". Without waiting for a response the devil stood and walked over, towering above Creeds frame. He looked down at the half-dhampir, half-fiend and looked at the tattoos adorning his skin. "The issue is, you owe me." he said, in no uncertain terms.

Creeds eyebrows shot up. He had expected death when he had been hauled in front of this being but now there might be some saving of his own skin. "And how do I pay off this debt?" His voice was rich and smooth, not too deep, nor high pitched.

"Well.." the devil spun on his heel and moved behind Creed and the two holding him. "That's what we need to decide." The devil inspected Creed like a prize mare "You owe me many lives but only have one to give. And you also need to prove your worth to me." Turning to a nearby Pit Fiend he commanded, "Bring it" to which the monstrosity moved off rapidly.

Creed and the devil inspected each other for a short while before the Pit Fiend returned with another prisoner in tow. Creed was then hauled to the edge of a pit and tossed from the top of the wall. He landed easily on his feet, not bothering with his wings. The other captive was dropped from the other side and a dome of energy swiftly covered the pit, trapping both inside.

The creature stood near 12ft tall and was grotesque. A pair of massive bat-like wings protruded from its back and Creed took special note of venom-dripping fangs and fearsome claws. He looked up, seeing the devil prince sitting on the edge of the pit nonchalantly twirling his rod and looking down with interest. At the confused look of Creed the being laughed, not an unpleasant sound, and shrugged. "You're supposed to kill it!" he cried, words full of mirth and the devils surrounding the pit cackled along with him.

At that, the demon roared and Creed stepped toward it, his body rippling and growing. A feral, slavering beast now launched itself at the demon and Creeds now imposing form slashed and cut the demon with steel-like claws. It gave as good as it got but Creed, his strength and power exuding from him swamped the other combatants raw power. The demon focused on an internal power but Creed slapped it, open handed and grabbed it behind the head with his clawed hand. He drew the demons head aside and sunk his now massive fangs into its neck. He hated feeding on these creatures but he knew his bite would work.

He ravaged the demon as he fed, claws from his hands and feet shredding the creatures tough hide. and still he drew upon the demons essence. Soon he felt it flagging and as he felt its breath leave its body he danced away, having felt the brunt of one of these explosions before and not wanting to revisit it. The explosion rocked the pit but he managed to get far enough away that the heat washed over him, ruffling his fur. As he looked down to inspect the damage the demon had wrought on him, the devils charming voice came from above.

"Very good. You now serve Asmodeus, Supreme Master of the Nine Hells"

 

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by W0LF (see edit history)

[W0LF]

Advancement

 

Monster Class Progression

Level	Hit Dice	BAB	Saves	Skill Points	Ability Adj	Special
1	as class	as class	as class	as class	Str +2, Int +2	NA +1, 2 Claws, Darkvision 60ft, Outsider Type, Spell-like Abilities, Blood Drain, Bonus Feats (Alertness, Dodge)
2	as class	as class	as class	as class	Dex +2	Resistances (Cold/Elec 5), Spider Climb 1/day, Flight 1/day, Bonus Feat (Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes), Dhampir Skills +2
3	as class	as class	as class	as class	Con +2, Cha +2	Bite, Poison Immunity, HF Resistances (5), Spell Res (Level), Slam Attack, Dominate 1/day, Fast Healing 1/rnd
4	as class	as class	as class	as class	Str +2	Resistances (Cold/Elec 10), NA+1, Dhampir Skills +4, Spider Climb 3/day, Flight 3/day,
5	as class	as class	as class	as class	Dex +2, Int +2	Children of the Night, Damage Reduction 5/Magic,
6	as class	as class	as class	as class	Con +2	Dominate 3/day, NA +1, Spider Climb at will, Flight at will
7	as class	as class	as class	as class	Str +2, Cha +2
8	as class	as class	as class	as class	Dex +2	NA +1
9	as class	as class	as class	as class	Con +2, Int +2	Damage Reduction, Smite Good, Dominate at will
10	as class	as class	as class	as class	Str +2	Dhampir Skills +6
11	as class	as class	as class	as class	Dex +2, Cha +2	Damage Reduction 10/Magic, NA +1
12	as class	as class	as class	as class	Wis +2	HF Resistances (10), Spell Res (+10)

 

 

Half-Fiend Spell-likes

Minimum H-F Level	Minimum Character Level	Spell-like Abilities Gained
1st	1st	Darkness 3/day
	7th	Poison 3/day
	13th	Unhallow 1/day
2nd	3rd	Desecrate 1/day
	6th	Unholy Blight 1/day
	13th	Unholy Aura 3/day
3rd	9th	Contagion 1/day
	15th	Horrid Wilting 1/day
	17th	Summon Monster IX 1/day
4th	11th	Blasphemy 1/day
	19th	Destruction 1/day

 

Blood Drain (Ex):

A Dhampir can attempt to bite a victim with his fangs and suck blood. If the Dhampir makes a successful grapple check and pins the foe, it sucks blood, draining 1d4 points of Con from the target, and simultaneously gains 5 temporary hit points that last for up to 1 hour. It can do this once per round.

 

Dominate (Su):

A Dhampir gains the ability to crush another creature's will just by looking into its eyes. This ability is similar to a gaze attack, except that the Dhampir must use a standard action, and those merely looking at him are not affected. Anyone the Dhampir targets must succeed on a Will save or fall instantly under his influence, as though via a dominate person spell (caster level 12th). The ability has a range of 30 feet and is usable as per the table.

 

Children of the Night (Su):

Dhampirs command the lesser creatures of the world. Starting at 5th level, a Dhampir can call forth a a pack of 4d8 Dire Rats, a swarm of 10d10 bats, or a pack of 3d6 Wolves as a standard action once per day. The creature or creatures arrive in 2d6 rounds and serve the vampire for up to 1 hour.

 

Class Progression

Level	Hit Dice	BAB	Saves	Skill Points	Special
1 - Monk	D10	0.75	2.5/2.5/2.5	(4+ Int) x4	Bonus Feat, Flurry of Blows, Unarmed Strike, AC Bonus, Unarmored Speed Bonus
2	as class	as class	as class	as class
3	as class	as class	as class	as class
4	as class	as class	as class	as class
5	as class	as class	as class	as class
6	as class	as class	as class	as class
7	as class	as class	as class	as class
8	as class	as class	as class	as class
9	as class	as class	as class	as class
10	as class	as class	as class	as class
11	as class	as class	as class	as class
12	as class	as class	as class	as class

Edited May 26, 2023 by W0LF (see edit history)

[W0LF]

And a third to be greedy

 

I'm new to Baldr so please forgive the rudimentary posts. Also unsure how to stat out Dhampir (Denizens of Dread pg55) and Half-Fiend together?

Edited May 22, 2023 by W0LF (see edit history)

[Michael]

22 hours ago, W0LF said:

And a third to be greedy

 

I'm new to Baldr so please forgive the rudimentary posts. Also unsure how to stat out Dhampir (Denizens of Dread pg55) and Half-Fiend together?

I'm not familiar with Denizens of the dead or the dhampir, but throw everything in a bucket then spread it out over your ECL. In character progression, an LA level is just an LA level, it doesn't have to be specifically a dhampir LA or a half fiend LA. So if dhampir gives you +6 str and half fied gives you +4 then that's +10 you get (usually in +2 increments). over all the levels.

 

Regeardless of source, an SLA is mapped back to it's spell equivalent and then assigned to lesser, normal or greater as per the game info. Resistances are ramped up, you can get the idea from some of the other applications. The half fiend spells will kick in as you gain levels.

[W0LF]

How does that look? I've modeled it from Vampire from Savage Species. More than happy to tweak it

 

Dhampir are the living children of Vampires - I'm curious if you'll allow the Vampire Father to be a psychic vampire (from Libris Mortis) and drain Wis instead of Con?

[Michael]

 

3 hours ago, W0LF said:

How does that look? I've modeled it from Vampire from Savage Species. More than happy to tweak it

 

Dhampir are the living children of Vampires - I'm curious if you'll allow the Vampire Father to be a psychic vampire (from Libris Mortis) and drain Wis instead of Con?

I'm fine with the wis drain, but not clear on the advancement because I dont have access to the source. What's the LA of a dhampir, and what are it's abilities and attribute mods? Also your table doesnt have any LA levels in it. On LA levels you get no BAB, saves, skills and such from the monster side of the gestalt.

[Ryfte]

Here's how the LA would work in your progression W0LF. Note at even levesl there's no racial HD, BAB, SAVES, or SKILLS. Those are the total of 6 LA from the combined Half Fiend LA +4 and the Half-Vampire LA +2 from Libris Mortis (pg 107~108). On those levels you'd get what your class provides on the other side of the gestalt. I didn't alter how you split out any of the class specials at all, simply added the LA into the progression evenly.

Monster Class Progression

Level	Hit Dice	BAB	Saves	Skill Points	Ability Adj	Special
1	as class	as class	as class	as class	Str +2, Int +2	NA +1, 2 Claws, Darkvision 60ft, Outsider Type, Spell-like Abilities, Blood Drain (lesser), Bonus Feats (Alertness, Dodge)
2	as class	as class	as class	as class	Dex +2	Resistances (Cold/Elec 5), Spider Climb, Bonus Feat (Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes), Dhampir Skills +2
3	as class	as class	as class	as class	Con +2, Cha +2	Bite, Poison Immunity, HF Resistances (5), Spell Res (Level), Slam Attack
4	as class	as class	as class	as class	Str +2	Blood Drain (Greater), Resistances (Cold/Elec 10), Dominate (lesser), NA+1, Dhampir Skills +4
5	as class	as class	as class	as class	Dex +2, Int +2	Children of the Night (lesser), Damage Reduction 5/Magic,
6	as class	as class	as class	as class	Con +2	Dominate (moderate), NA +1
7	as class	as class	as class	as class	Str +2, Cha +2	Fast Healing 1/rnd, Children of the Night (greater)
8	as class	as class	as class	as class	Dex +2	Dominate (superior), NA +1
9	as class	as class	as class	as class	Con +2, Int +2	Damage Reduction, Smite Good, Dominate (greater)
10	as class	as class	as class	as class	Str +2	Dhampir Skills +6
11	as class	as class	as class	as class	Dex +2, Cha +2	Damage Reduction 10/Magic, NA +1
12	as class	as class	as class	as class	Wis +2	HF Resistances (10), Spell Res (+10), Wings

Edit: If you're attempting to use the Vampire Spawn from the Monster Manual 1 I don't think it ever got a Level Adjustment published for it. As far as I'm aware Libris Mortis is the only place they published a viable half-vampire with a listed LA but that doesn't sound like its what you really wanted to make. I could certainly be wrong though...

Edit 2: I've adjusted it as appropriate. Since you have an LA of +12 there are no racial HD to account for. That means its like a normal character with all the standard class progression stuff, it just gets all the special stuff added as appropriate at each level.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Ryfte (see edit history)

[mole75]

Just throwing in my $0.50. Hoping it will help a little.

 

The Dhampir (LA+8) from DoD (different from the one in Libris Mortis) and the Half-Fiend (LA+4) are both templates. There are no racial HD if you go that route, and the shifters from Eberron doesn't get racial HD. I'm not sure how the DM will rule on that, but assuming they will allow it, you'd have to:

• Spread out the stat gains over the 12 levels.
• Group the SLA (as well as dominate and spiderclimb) into lesser, normal and greater categories as mentioned elsewhere.
• Make some sort of progression of the powers that aren't mentioned above (resistance, blood drain, fast healing)

 

For all of those 12 levels, you won't get:

• BAB
• Saves
• Skill points
• HP

[W0LF]

Thanks Ryfte!

It's a Dhampir, not a half-vampire though (LA+8 from the Ravenloft book Denizens of the Dead). Essentially a living vampire without the sun vulnerability (but special abilities don't work in daylight) so with Half-Fiend is LA+12

 

I can copy the main gst of the template here right?

Hit Dice: increase by one die type, to max of D12

Armor Class: NA improves by +4

Attack: Gains slam attack

Special Attacks:

Domination, standard action to dominate person

Blood Drain, suck blood via fangs on pinned opponent for 1d4 Con (or Wis 🙂 ) damage

Children of the Night, as per Vampire

Special Qualities:

Damage Reduction, DR 10/Magic

Resistance, Cold 10, Electricity 10

Spider Climb, as per spell

Fast Healing, 1/round

Blood Requirement, must feed on a humanoid 1/week or cannot use supernatural attacks or qualities

Sunlight Vulnerability, cannot use SU special attacks or qualities in sunlight

Restless, doomed to rise as a vampire after death

Saves: as per class

Abilities: Str +4, Dex +4, Con +4, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +4

Skills: +6 Racial on Bluff, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, Spot

Bonus Feats: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes

Edited May 26, 2023 by W0LF (see edit history)

[Ryfte]

Okay, since its LA+12 then you only have class HD, BAB, Saves, and Skill points. You'd still have all the abilities, the specials spread across those 12 levels but each level would simply have "as class" in the other values. You wouldn't actually have any racial HD in play. Shifter would still apply as well since it doesn't have any associated LA with it.

I edited the chart / table as appropriate for the HD, BAB, Saves, and Skill Points.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Ryfte (see edit history)

[W0LF]

You're a star. Never gone down the Gestalt/Monster route before sorry!!!

[Ryfte]

No worries at all.

Really you're using one side for straight LA modifiers which is fine because with gestalt you still have the others side of your build to net you the HD, BAB, Saves, and Skill Points as normal. Technically anyone could do the same thing with templates that add up the the full 12 or more levels, like you did. Most of the submissions have included racial HD in them simply because that's how most of the fiendish creatures don't have an LA +12 or higher so they have racial HD in play in their progression.

I used an imp without any additional templates for example which is a 3RHD and 4LA fiend. That meant I had to actually add 5 RHD to get it to the needed ECL of 12! So in my progression I ended up with 8RHD (5 of them padding) and 4LA. Those racial HD ensure that on those levels I'll have good BAB and Saves and the most skill points a class gives, regardless of the class on the other side. Its the advantage of actually having outsider RHD. *shrug*

That LA+8 is a lot! 😉

[W0LF]

Yeah. It's not really worth it in terms of what you get really but I'm going more for concept over build strength. I mean, he won't be a wimp but he'll not be overpowered!

I should have stuck with something easier but I'm never easy! The Imp is a great concept.

Thank you again!

[Michael]

OK, getting closer. In summary with LA +12 and no racial HD all of your BAB, saves, skill points etc will come from the class side of your gestalt. However, the Dhampir HD increase will apply in those cases.

 

@W0LF In your table you have terms like "blood drain, lesser" and "dominate, moderate", what did you mean by that?

[W0LF]

@Michael Entered into the post above with the tables