Becoming a vampire- Gnome Beguiler?

[Dwarfi]

Hello everyone, its been a while.
DnD 3.5

So in my current adventure, my Lv8 gnome beguiler met its maker in the shape of a giant ogre greatsword.
My group is currently trying to find a creative way to bring me back to life... more or less. We are extremely short on wealth so a real resurrection is out of the question. Reincarnation would be possible but there is no  temple around the desert in which we are.
Our latest addition to the group is an elvish wizard with a liking to necromancy and some other dark arts. One of his posessions is a magical staff made from a spine and a skull.
We havent completely figured out what this thing is capable of, since we found it, but it can cast death knell to gather charges, which can be used up to cast certain spells. (None of them is anywhere near "good")

And so the idea came up, to revive me in the form of a zombie... which I dont like.
Or a vampire , which would actually be very cool. It fits the beguiler and the character. The problem is obvious, that I would instantly become way more powerfull then the rest of the group.
Not to mention the usual vampire problems like travelling, crossing water and the +8LV adjustment.

Therefore I was looking around for alternatives.
So far the vampire spawn seem more fair for a game then a full blown vampire lord.
But the problems remain.

Of course its up to the DM what can or cant be done, but he likes to hear ideas if we want to play something in particular.
Maybe some homebrewing.

A+1Lv adjustment would be ok for me
So what do you think would be a fair deal for that, slightly more powerfull then a spawn, not too powerfull ? Have you played a vampire before?
Stuff like telepathy, dominate or enthrall would be fitting abilities.
My character is a masterfull alchemist, so maybe I can produce an extra strong sun lotion of some sort... and as I am a gnome I can use a really small coffin to carry it around on my horsy.

I am open for ideas.

[polycrac]

I think there is a 'deathless' template somewhere that is much lower in LA than Vampire - I also seem to remember that is isn't actually 'evil' (in the same way undead usually are). Also, there is a conversion somewhere to allow low level undead to become free-willed (which improves the playability of zombies skeletons etc. I'll poke through my bookshelf & see if I can find them.

[polycrac]

Deathless is in Book of Exalted Deeds, p157

[polycrac]

I think the other one was the Awaken Undead spell from Libris Mortis - grants free will to low level undead.

[phaedrusxy]

Necropolitan is the "default" low/no LA undead template people typically use. It basically just gives you the undead type with no real abilities beyond that.

[Dwarfi]

I would like the rpg element of an actual vampire.
The sun problem could be solved with my 20+ alchemy skill, maybe I can produce a high quality sun protection lotion.

[phaedrusxy]

The offical WotC vampire is basically unplayable without some way to mitigate the LA (gestalt with it only one one side, etc). I'd advise you to forget about it, or ask if you can use some alternative like this homebrew class.

Edit: Almost forgot this. You might check it out. Although the fact that actual undeath isn't attained until level 7 is completely ridiculous, IMO.

[Dwarfi]

Thanks for the links. The 2nd one seems better fitted. I think if anything works at all, my DM might come up with something by himself. Otherwise I guess I will just drop the idea.
I still dig the idea of becoming a vampire gnome but I think it might throw things off too much.

Maybe I get a lucky reincarnation and become a dwarf or a human... something with a better body then a gnome. ^^

[Fredgerd]

You could always see if you could enter into it as a savage progression (as with the rules given in Savage Species). Some DMs will even let you take class levels in between savage levels, so you could potentially even optimize around that. It might not be the strongest thing you could do, but it'd probably be fun (the ultimate deciding factor) and everything is playable. Even commoners if your clever enough.

[DavidWL]

Necropolitan is the "default" low/no LA undead template people typically use. It basically just gives you the undead type with no real abilities beyond that.

+1



Best,
David

[Dwarfi]

Thanks for the ideas. In the end I was resurrected with a divine item instead.
So no vampire and no undeath.

[awaken_D_M_golem]

... just because Thor loves you, doesn't
mean you can't divinate a local vamp. 
Go visit.  Say "Bite Me!" 
Party kills vamp while you undiscombobulate.
Dude what happened, I feel terrible?
It was just like last Saurnday night 'cept with different fore-and-after-play.