A to Z of Vampires: Vrykolakas

We come now to Greece which is the home of the Vrykolakas and a host of smilar creatures with similar sounding names.They ranged all the way from Greece into Romania and France.  The word is believed to have come from the Bulgarian word vǎrkolak, which actually means were-wolf.

The vrykolakas is sometimes described as a werewolf or more aptly a demonic, undead werewolf.

In game terms the vrykolakas is a werewolf that came back from the dead as a powerful vampire. Once rising it is ravenous, attacking anyone it meets outside.  Legend has it that the vrykolakas will go from house to house knocking on the door. It will knock once and then move on to the next house.

The vrykolakas will move about in the night but it has no qualms about operating during the day.  The problem is that the body of the vrykolakas has swollen with stolen blood and will look stretched.  The vrykolakas can also shift into a large werewolf-like creature.

Here is the Vrykolakas in OSRIC format.

Vrykolakas (Vampire)
(turned as type 10)
Frequency: Rare
No Encountered: 1d6
Size: Man-sized
Move: 120 ft
Armor Class: 1
Hit Dice: 8+3
Attacks: 3 (claw/claw/bite)
Damage: 1d6+4/1d6+4/1d4+Blood Drain
Special Attacks: Per Vampire; Blood Drain
Special Defenses: Per Vampire
Magic Resistance: Standard
Lair Probability: 25%
Intelligence: Exceptional
Alignment: Chaotic evil
Level/XP: 8/3,810 + 12/hp

The Vrykolakas is a powerful type of vampire  that occurs when a werewolf comes back from the dead. The vrykolakas is a fierce fighter attacking with 2 claws and a bite per round.  Each bite of the vampire drains blood at the rate of 1 Constitution point per bite.  Victims drained to 0 Constitution will rise again as a vampire.  Victims that don't die must have a remove curse or remove lycanthropy  of they will become a werewolf.
The vrykolakas is immune to sunlight but can be repelled by holy items.

To destory a vrykolakas one must drag it out into the sunlight, stake it to the ground with iron spikes, cut off it's head and then burn the body.  The ashes must be taken to a crossroads where they are dispersed.