Q 475: I'm currently running Expedition to Castle Ravenloft. My PC's are higher level than normal though (but I've increased the levels on Strahd and many of the other major bad guys).
A new player is joining the group with a cleric. He is taking the Divine Spell Power feat from Complete Divine, which can allow him to boost his caster level by up to 4 when expending a turn attempt.
Holy Word gets very damaging when your caster level starts exceeding the HD of the creatures you cast it on. I'm concerned what effect this might have on the main bad guy in a few levels (the PC's are only 10th level now). What effects of Holy Word will affect a Vampire, and what ways are there to gain resistance to it?
If it makes a difference, I boosted Strahd with the Master Vampire PrC and gave him the Vampire Lord template (WotC web site), which actually makes the vampire lord impossible to truly kill (even if you cut off his head, burn the body and the head separately, disperse his body ashes in a river, soak his head ashes in holy water and bury them in consecrated ground, he can still be brought back to life if his ashes are dug up, separated from the holy water, dried out, and an unhallow spell is placed upon the head ashes.)
So, basically, does "Destroying" a vampire, via either turning or Holy Word, actually kill the vampire outright?