Vampires as a Playable Race in Ravnica

While I don't have any concrete plans for my Ravnica campaign (though I have a rough plot figured out) I have been very excited to run a D&D game in my favorite Magic plane.

Officially, Ravnica has eight playable races: Humans, Elves, Half Elves, Goblins, Vedalken, Loxodons, Minotaurs, and Simic Hybrids. But while those cover a lot of bases, there are a few I felt were somewhat glaring in their absence.

Merfolk and Viashino are easy enough to add: simply use Tritons and Lizardfolk respectively from Volo's Guide to Monsters. The one that I felt compelled to add, however, is Vampires.

Magic has treated Vampires as both pure scary monsters and also as one of Black's standard humanoid races (when they get tired of zombies.)

Given Ravnica's vaguely Central/Eastern European theme and the historical role they've played in the world (particularly House Dimir's Parun, the vampire Szadek) it seems fitting to let people play as vampires.

Taking the playable vampire race from Plane Shift: Ixalan as the main model, I've altered the race to allow for two sub-races and changed up the stats slightly.

As is pointed out in the Guildmaster's Guide, Ravnica vampires are different than others in that they can safely go out into the sun - not a vampire would want for shadows in an urban landscape like Ravnica. One question I have is whether to make playable vampire characters undead or allow them to be kind of "lesser vampires" who aren't fully undead yet.

The main bit of invention on my part is the Mind-Drinker's Mind Drain and Memory Thief abilities. The former is mainly just a re-skin of the Bloodthirst ability Blood-Drinkers have, but I wonder if Memory Thief is too powerful or not powerful enough.

Vampire Stats:

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2.

Age. Vampires don’t mature and age in the same way that other races do.

Alignment. Vampires might not have an innate tendency toward evil, but their thirst to feed upon others often encourages vampires to abandon moral forbearance.

Size. Vampires are the same size and build as humans. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. Your nature as a creature of the night grants you superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Vampiric Resistance. You have resistance to necrotic damage.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Vampire.

Subrace: When you create a vampire character, choose a subrace, between Blood-Drinker and Mind-Drinker.

            Blood-Drinker Vampires:

By far the most common form of vampire, Blood-Drinkers can subsist on the blood of living creatures, including humanoids. Blood-Drinkers are linked together through Bloodline families.

Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Bloodthirst. You can drain blood and life energy from a willing creature, or one that is grappled by you, incapacitated, or restrained. Make a melee attack against the target. If you hit, you deal 1 piercing damage and 1d6 necrotic damage. The target’s hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken, and you regain hit points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.

Feast of Blood. When you drain blood with your Bloodthirst ability, you experience a surge of vitality. Your speed increases by 10 feet, and you gain advantage on Strength and Dexterity checks and saving throws for 1 minute.

            Mind-Drinker Vampires:

Far less common than blood-drinkers, Mind-Drinker vampires are generally more solitary and secretive than their blood-drinking kin. Nearly all mind-drinkers serve as operatives of House Dimir, but some choose to ignore the guild’s dictates and either keep to themselves or in very rare instances, join other guilds (there are rumors of a few mind-drinkers working for the Azorius to aid in interrogating criminal suspects.)

Ability Score Increase: Your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Mind Drain: You can drain thoughts and life energy from a willing creature or one that is grappled by you, incapacitated, or restrained within 15 feet. You can use an action to force the target to make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the target takes 1d6 psychic damage and you become aware of the target’s surface-level thoughts. The target’s hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the psychic damage taken, and you regain hit points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.

Memory Thief: When you use your Mind Drain ability on a creature, you can attempt to force them to recall a specific piece of information or memory, allowing you to peer into more guarded thoughts. Make a Charisma check contested with a Wisdom check from them. If you succeed, that memory or thought is revealed to you.

            Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a short or long rest.