Wherefrom there is no salvation except that a woman without sin should cause the vampire to forget the first cock crow. Of her own free will she should give him her blood. -- Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, 1923
Nosferatu don't create spawn, or other vampires. But that doesn't stop some of them from trying. Count Radosh, in particular, has been stubbornly trying for centuries, using a combination of arcane rituals, appeals to the Dark Forces, and sheer force of will. And... he's had one near miss. Elena was a normal young woman before she had the bad fortune to fall into the Count's orbit. Now, decades later, she's a dhampir: specifically, the "ancient-born" (nosferatu) subtype. But Elena of course has no interest in becoming any sort of vampire, let alone a revolting nosferatu, so she's on the run.
Elena: The default version of Elena is a Rogue 1 / Mesmerist 4. (Plain vanilla Mesmerist, I think.) She's got max ranks in Bluff, Climb, Disguise and Escape Artist and has taken Nightmare Stare (roll twice against fear, taking the worse roll) as her 3rd level stare; her tricks are Compel Alacrity and Slip Bonds, and her spells include Suggestion and Cause Fear. If cornered and in a hurry, her default is to stare and throw Cause Fear, which will cause most antagonists to freak out and run away (two DC 15 saves at -2). If she has a little more time, she uses Doom (two DC 14 saves at -2 or be shaken) followed by a Suggestion (probably a DC 16 save at -4). Her feats are Spell Focus: Enchantment and Improved Feint, so in a pinch she can usually hit for 3d6 of damage (weapon + SA + stare), but she's really a controller and sneaker rather than a fighter.
Elena moves from place to place a lot. She survives on small-time crime, some combination of picking pockets and minor grifts using charm and suggestion. She's used to be NG; now she's CN, and mostly she just wants to be left alone. She's not cruel or malicious, but she will frantically, fanatically resist attempts to return her to the count. Visitors to Elena's quarters will quickly realize that this person is worried about vampires: there are holy symbols everywhere (of two or three different CN and CG deities), garlic cloves hanging from the ceiling, mirrors, etc. Elena herself always carries a crossbow, holy water, alchemist's fire, and a couple of potions or minor magic items that aid rapid escape.
If you want to level Elena up, I'd add one more level of rogue and then go straight mesmerist. (No, this isn't optimized. Elena's either a challenging target or a useful ally, but she's not about doing max damage.) At low levels, she's APL +2 or so. At higher levels, she's around the same level as the PCs.
The Count: The Count is as bad as you want to make him, but I'd suggest starting with a rogue or fighter rather than a caster. He should be around APL +4, with APL calculated from when the party finally confronts him. He's obsessed with Elena and his "love" for her. He wants her safely confined so that her transformation can be completed. Immortality awaits you, my beloved!
The Count of course lives in a decayed ruin with a number of other monsters. Note that nosferatu are the creepy vampires, not the sparkly / cool / Byronic vampires. So, once the mask is off, play up the revolting and disgusting elements just as much as you're comfortable: the Count is physically horrific, he's dressed in decaying rags, he smells bad, and his lair is full of unpleasantness.
Plot seeds: The Count hires the PCs to capture Elena and bring her safely "home". When he meets the PCs he'll have a Hat of Disguise or some such. He'll acknowledge being a dhampir and avoiding the light of day. Elena (he says) also has dhampir blood and is an undead bloodline sorceror. Depending on the PCs' alignment, the Count will have some more or less plausible story for them: "My beloved niece, who has shamed the family by turning to a life of crime, has now turned to dark sorcery. She has recently stolen a book that contains an evil ritual. I fear she may be dabbling in truly dark arts! Please rescue her before she does something terrible, to herself or others!" And he'll warn them in advance about her tendency to throw bluffs and Suggestion spells: she's an enchanter, she lies a lot, don't let her warp your mind, yes it may be better to gag her. The book, ugh, you can keep it if you like but better to burn the evil thing. And above all, she must not be harmed...
Even if the PCs have an address, capturing Elena won't be easy. She has charmed neighbors watching out for her, alarms and simple traps set, and as noted she'll probably zap a couple of PCs with fear, suggestion, or other enchantments. Compel Alacrity gets her out the window (max ranks in Climb +2 racial bonus) to a rooftop chase scene, and Slip Bonds means that even if captured she'll probably escape at least once. Charming or otherwise spellcasting her into submission... well, better be spells with a Fort save, because good Will save, racial +2 Wis, racial +2 vs. mind-affecting and Towering Ego all combine to give her something like a +12 Will save at 5th level. (Which is probably how she broke free of a nosferatu's domination in the first place.)
Flip it: Elena is sick of running. She's found a book that describes one possible way to kill the Count for good. (Elena stealing this book from a local temple or wizards guild could be the first time the PCs encounter her.) The book may actually be evil and/or contain evil spells and rituals; season to taste. Key point: blood offered freely from a nonevil victim will have a lulling effect on the monster, making him more vulnerable to bluffs (-4 Sense Motive, perhaps) and careless of the passage of time. DM's discretion how to play this out, but in this version the boss fight is social, not melee. The PCs may have to deal with some of the nosferatu's traps and minions, but ultimately they have to convince the Count to come outdoors and accept gifts of Elena's blood (or the blood of some nonevil PC with a positive Cha modifier), freely offered, until the sun rises. Obviously an ancient nosferatu should know better, but the book has it right: it will be strangely difficult for the monster to say no. His beloved is right there...
Thoughts?
Doug M.
