Last night I went to see +Dracula Untold with my wife (a review tomorrow on Fili Archives) and found the movie a heck of a lot better than any of the reviews that came out on Friday claimed it to be. Yes it was a bit rushed in some places and drawn out in others, but over all it was pretty wicked.
One of the coolest effects in the film was Dracula’s ability to become a horde of bats and reassemble at will in an almost instantaneous fashion. This gave the fighting scenes a wonderful constant momentum where the action was always moving forward and never bogged down. To me this is a cool replacement/combination of the traditional mist form/shape change found in a lot of vampire fiction.
The following replaces both Misty Escape and Shape change in the 5e edition of Dungeons & Dragons for Vampires (MM p. 297).
Colony of Bats. If the vampire is not in the presence of either direct sunlight or running water it can use its action to shift in a colony of Hive-Mind bats. While in this form the vampire can move a rate of 5 feet or 60 feet flying and its stats remain unchanged. If the Colony of Bats attacks a target during this time it counts as a bite attack.
Primal instincts. If the vampire is dropped to zero health points he will shift into his Colony of Bats form and attempt to return to his coffin. During this time he is at disadvantage for all rolls and cannot attack.
Note: post created from my tablet while at my daughters’ gymnastics practice. Please forgive any style or spelling issues as this is a rather strange way of doing this.
Note 2: it is perfectly possible to use these variant abilities in OSR material. I would suggest adding a saving throw for a successful Primal Instincts.
