Vampires are chaotic evil undead that prey upon the living, feeding on blood and life energy. Unlike many undead, they can pass as living. They cast no reflection, however, cast no shadows, and move in complete silence.
"Oriental" vampires share many of their occidental cousins' strengths and weaknesses, but also have the ability to turn invisible instead of assuming gaseous forms. They cannot charm their victims, however, as western vampires can.
Another oriental variant, the hopping vampire, has virtually nothing in common with the others. They are hideous, decaying, speechless corpses, forced to hop because of their extreme rigor mortis. They cannot see, but can identify the living by sensing their breath.
There is also a breed of fiendish vampires called blood+fiends.
The vampire god Kanchelsis was said - in the most secret of myths - to have been created accidently when the Seldarine attempted a ritual that involved sacrificing their own blood. This blood was corrupted by a human god of evil, and the corrupted blood became Kanchelsis, a being divided between his urbane, sophisticated aspect - the Rake - and a savage horror known as the Beast. Kanchelsis dwells in the Abyss in the Layer catalogued as the 487th, the so-called Lair of the Beast and Mansion of the Rake.
Sources:
Monster Manual (D&D 1.0)
Monstrous Manual (D&D 2.0)
Monster Manual (D&D 3.5)
Fiend Folio (D&D 3.0)
Libris Mortis
Oriental Adventures (D&D 3.0), page 169
Monster Mythology
Fiendish Codex I: The Lost Annals
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