So if your DM tells you that the campaign starts with 10th-level characters, and you make a vampire, your vampire only actually has two levels. Worse, even if you are playing in a game where you are high enough level, you have to deduct that LA from whatever level you’re suppose to be, and you only get that many class levels. Most importantly, it means that if your DM says your character is 8th level or lower, you cannot play a vampire at all (as any vampire counts as a minimum of 9th level). This means that a vampire counts as a character 8 levels higher than he or she actually is for the purposes of XP. In addition to all of these things (and some minor bonuses and resistances and the like), the vampire template applies a Level Adjustment of +8. Vulnerability to sunlight, garlic, mirrors, holy symbols, or running water Summoning rats, bats, or wolves, or turning into one of these or into fog Undead type, with all the benefits and drawbacks that this entails The vampire template is in the first Monster Manual, and “can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature,” granting several special abilities and drawbacks, including:
