Can my Dhampir Grappler still drain someone like a capri sun and do Con damage without them being the designated subtype? Just being nit-picky. I understand no bonuses(temp HP/Str) but, "if you cut me, do i not bleed?"
"Blood Drinker
Consuming blood reinvigorates you.
Prerequisite: Dhampir.
Benefit: Choose one humanoid subtype, such as "goblinoid" (this subtype cannot be "dhampir"). You have acquired a taste for the blood of creatures with this subtype. Whenever you drink fresh blood from such a creature, you gain 5 temporary hit points and a +1 bonus on checks and saves based on Constitution. The effects last 1 hour. If you feed multiple times, you continue to gain hit points to a maximum of 5 temporary hit points for every three Hit Dice you have, but the +1 bonus on Constitution-based skill checks and saving throws does not stack.
Normally, you can only drink blood from an opponent who is helpless, grappled, paralyzed, pinned, unconscious, or similarly disabled. If you have a bite attack, you can drink blood automatically as part of your bite attack; otherwise, you must first cut your target by dealing 1 hit point of damage with a slashing or piercing weapon (though you may feed upon a creature with severe wounds or a bleed effect without cutting it first). Once you cut the target, you can drink from its wound as a standard action. Drinking blood deals 2 points of Constitution damage to the creature you feed upon." ~Feat in question
In pathfinder you get cut all the time without bleeding. In fact with "drink blood" you don't bleed at all as the game defines it. You can't even perform the needed action for blood drain on the wrong humanoid type.
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I agree that it's not clear.
However, the Blood Drinker feat chain is unclear, to put it lightly. The second feat, Blood Feaster, says that the Con penalty from Blood Drinker is a drain, not damage.
1st option - you can't drink other creature's blood in the quantities required to do the Con damage/drain. (Think of it as drinking dwarven blood makes you a bit sick, like gulping down a mug of vodka if you've picked elf subtype for the feat and vice versa)
2nd option - you can drink other creature's blood, thus giving the Con damage/drain to them. It just doesn't sit right in your stomach, but doesn't make you sick. (Like drinking beer and non-alcoholic beer for the sake of getting drunk)
I'd think that covers it, but it's still quite unclear on most topics, the penalty being drain or damage or whether or not you can drink other creature's blood. If we can't get a FAQ on that, I'd say it's up to the DM.
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They seem to be two entirely separate aspects of the feat.
When you drink the blood of an appropriate creature gain Hp and save mods.
If you have a bite attack you automatically drink blood as a part of the attack causing Con loss.
It certainly seems at first glance that you can always drink blood and cause Con loss as per the last half of the feat any time you are able to use your bite attack under the correct conditions, you gain nothing from this blood (except perhaps feeling a bit full) in most cases, however if the blood is from a creature you especially happen to like (the named subtype) you then gain extra HP and such as well.
I agree with Suthainn.
The two paragraphs provide different benefit.
The first paragraph states what happens when you drink blood from your favored targets.
The second paragraph describes how you can drink blood. Nothing indicates this only works on your chosen targets, but you get none of the benefits from the first paragraph on other targets.
Thank you,
Mojorat,
The Lion Cleric,
Suthainn,
and Samasboy1
for your thoughts and input. I appreciate it. I think I will combine this concept with a Ranger build and abuse Favored Enemy in a One-Off and kick some very specific posteriors.
While I was supper excited about the Dhampir grappler idea, there was a line in the second paragraph that seems to indicate that the con damage only works against the specified subtype.
Blood Drinker Feat
Normally, you can only drink blood from an opponent who is helpless, grappled, paralyzed, pinned, unconscious, or similarly disabled. If you have a bite attack, you can drink blood automatically as part of your bite attack; otherwise, you must first cut your target by dealing 1 hit point of damage with a slashing or piercing weapon (though you may feed upon a creature with severe wounds or a bleed effect without cutting it first). Once you cut the target, you can drink from its wound as a standard action. Drinking blood deals 2 points of Constitution damage to the creature you feed upon. The blood must come from a living creature of the specified humanoid subtype. It cannot come from a dead or summoned creature. Feeding on unwilling intelligent creatures is an evil act.
Given that text, it seems like your blood just doesn't get pumping for other subtypes. Your fangs don't elongate, your eyes don't go all silvery-white, and none of the other troperrific euphemisms for arousal common to a hungry vampire kick in. You just don't swing that way.
Well, I missed that bit. So yeah, I guess you can only use it on the selected subtype. Bummer.
But in fairness, in the book it isn't in the second paragraph. It is in the third.