I have one player who wants to play a vampire, and I'm trying to see if there's any good tie-ins for them as the one who turned them among the NPCs in the book.
I've skimmed through all 6 books but haven't read them in depth, so the options I've noticed so far are:
Tobias Highridge (the tax collector in Sallowshore, a fairly low-stakes option)
Lord Zthni (the mealy but charismatic Blood Lord staying at Harrowhouse, I could see this one being funny)
Hyrune (a big bad vampire, the PC would have slipped out from their gaze until they went to confront him)
Kemnebi (the big bad himself)
The thing about Kemnebi is, if he knows the characters are after him, how much agency would a vampire spawn of his have in retaliating against him? For Hyrune, my strategy would be that, when Geb indirectly instructs them to hunt him down, he'd also subtly grant the vampire PC a way to resist Hyrune's compulsions so they can hunt him down.
I'd plan to use something similar for Kemnebi eventually, if that's whom they wanted to go with, but prior to Geb getting involved that boon wouldn't exist. Does Kemnebi directly intervene with the player affairs to the point where it'd derail things, if they could just compel a PC to be their servant? Do you have any ideas on how you would address this as well? I'd want the threat of compulsion and sabotage to be there, but I also want the player to feel like they can dodge it or fight back against it, but if it's too much I'll opt for another option.
And, just to check, are there also any other NPCs that'd be good candidates as a vampire spawn's master? Either that are cooperative with the party or if the party winds up taking them down/overcoming them.
(I've also kept most of the npcs' relevance and plot twists a secret: the player only knows the NPCs' standing and general personality, so no worries there.)
Depending on the character and desired progression options, a dhampir with the Cel Rau lineage could make an interesting choice. There are quite a few tie-ins to the Shadow Plane during the AP. It also allows some "vampire-like" ancestry feats instead of/in addition to the vampire archetype feats.
The character can be turned into a vampire via a ritual, instead of being a spawned vampire.
I was considering Kemnebi at first as well, but my main concern was if he'd be able to much more directly interfere with things because he technically had a minion of his in the party. I'd've had to come up with a way for her to resist his control, since he takes notice of the party about halfway into the adventure.
The character can be turned into a vampire via a ritual, instead of being a spawned vampire.
Ultimately the player decided to actually start living, with plans to become a vampire later, so we'll see how that shakes out!
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I was considering Kemnebi at first as well, but my main concern was if he'd be able to much more directly interfere with things because he technically had a minion of his in the party. I'd've had to come up with a way for her to resist his control, since he takes notice of the party about halfway into the adventure.
Ultimately the player decided to actually start living, with plans to become a vampire later, so we'll see how that shakes out!
The character can be turned into a vampire via a ritual, instead of being a spawned vampire.
Just tell the player to come up w/ a reason during character creation about how they broke free from their sire's control.
That being said, relish that sweet taste of PC death!
There is Drakar Fademore, vampire Blood Lord, mentioned in book three of the Guns of Alkenstar AP.