Van Richten's Guide to Vampirism

van Richten's Guide to Vampirism is a book written by Dr. Rudolph van Richten, detailing the common characteristics of vampires (or lack thereof) and how best to defeat them. The party purchased this book at Yonvich & Sons in Vallaki.

Notable Information

Sylvain has picked up the following information from the book:

• The creation of a vampire is a fiercely guarded secret. The most common method is when an existing vampire drains the blood from a humanoid creature and buries the dead body, causing it to rise the following evening as spawn under the vampire’s control. Only when the vampire that created it is killed can the spawn follow its own will.
• There is anecdotal evidence that other vampires have been created through the use of dark magic, or through deals made with dark gods and other dark powers.
• They are undead that require humanoid blood to live, though even when starved, they may survive many centuries, albeit in a weakened state.
• Vampires cannot enter any private residence that they have not been invited to, but one should never assume they have not been invited somewhere; they are adept with charms, and find it easy to muddy the minds of even their bitterest enemies.
• Always assume that any weakness displayed by a vampire is a ruse to get your guard down; their true weaknesses are few.
• They are vulnerable to sunlight, damage from radiant sources such as a cleric’s spells, and running water.
• That said, vampires are canny, and keeping one exposed to sunlight, running water, etc. for long enough to destroy them is a task well beyond most people’s capabilities.
• A true vampire cannot be killed outside its lair. While its spawn may be destroyed easily enough, a vampire will, once its physical form is destroyed, retreat to its sanctuary in mist form and begin to form a new body. Unless you know where a vampire’s lair is and are confident you can quickly enter and destroy it there before it recovers its strength, fighting a vampire is pointless beyond buying yourself another night to live before it seeks its vengeance, which will be brutal.
• Vampire bites often go unnoticed by charmed victims/those bitten while asleep as they are surprisingly painless; perhaps something in their saliva achieves this effect
  • Victims often recall the bite as feeling like a pleasure so intense it was painful — or the other way around. Seems to induce a state of ecstasy in many.
• Can survive on animal blood, or blood not freshly drawn, but it’s a wretched existence, akin to subsisting on spoiled milk or fouled water

Quotes

On how vampires are created:

The creation of a vampire is a fiercely guarded secret. The most common method is when an existing vampire drains the blood from a humanoid creature and buries the dead body, causing it to rise the following evening as spawn under the vampire’s control. Only when the vampire that created it is killed can the spawn follow its own will.


There is anecdotal evidence that other vampires have been created through the use of dark magic, or through deals made with dark gods and other dark powers.

On "typical" vampire weaknesses:

It is important to recall that these discussions refer to what might be called the “typical” vampire. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a “typical vampire.” Vampires are perhaps the most individualistic of undead. What is true for one is an outright—and dangerously misleading—falsehood for another. The differences between individual vampires typically become more pronounced as the creatures advance in age and power: while most fledgling vampires typically show at least some similarities with each other, the differences between the aged Patriarchs are often so great as to make one suspect that they are completely different types of creatures. The following discussions deal with the most common powers and weaknesses of vampires. Many vampire hunters have died—or worse—through over-generalizing such discussions, however. An assumption that any individual vampire has a particular power or weakness is a dangerous assumption, indeed!

On vampire physiology:

It should come as no surprise that a vampire’s metabolism is not like that of a mortal; strictly speaking, a vampire has no metabolism whatsoever. Although all of the biological systems present in a living mortal are also present in a vampire, most of these systems are changed in function. For example, most vampires do not need to breathe. They retain the use of their lungs, but only for speech.


Despite this, some vampires have proven vulnerable to damage from certain poisons. Whether this is because of the effect of the poison or because those vampires have a lesser tolerance for ingesting anything beyond blood is unknown. The stomach of a vampire is frequently reduced in size, often to the size of a man’s clenched fist.


There is wide variation among vampires with regard to the ability to eat solid food. Some vampires are unable to eat food at all, and any attempt to do so results in immediate regurgitation. Others can eat solid food with no ill effects, although they extract no nourishment from the food, and pass the material through their bodies over a course of hours, as mortals do. In the middle ground, there are some vampires that can eat solid food, but must regurgitate it within a period ranging from minutes to hours. This issue may seem incidental, but it obviously has significant effects on a vampire’s behaviour, should the creature try to masquerade as a living creature.


The circulatory system of a vampire is little changed. The heart still pumps blood throughout the vessels of the monster’s body. There are some differences, however. Because vampires have no need to extract oxygen from the air, their blood absorbs nothing from the lungs. This renders them completely immune to noxious gases that must be breathed to be effective. A vampire might inhale the gas—that is, draw it into its lungs—but the toxic chemicals in the gas would not cross from the lungs to the blood.

On vampire senses:

The sensory organs of vampires become much more sensitive than those of their living analogues. If they did not already possess the power in life, vampires gain the ability to see in total darkness. Their hearing also becomes much more acute, as does their sense of touch and smell; a vampire is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to surprise.

On vampire aging:

A vampire’s hair will never turn gray, nor will the creature show any other physical signs of aging unless it already had before death. In general, as long as the creature is well fed and functions according to whatever other restrictions are relevant to its existence, it will never appear any different from the way it did on the day of its mortal death.

Item type

Book / Document