What can break a Vampire’s Charm besides Greater Restoration?

Question

Our party faced a vampire. The charm of a vampire lasts 24 hours. He began charming our party one-by-one. As each character was charmed, we seemed to have nothing to reverse it. About the only thing that seemed to save us was the use of magical darkness so we couldn’t see it - but it had True Sight so its attacks were at Advantage. It was close to a TPK.

We noticed Jeremy Crawford also clarified that Dispel Magic doesn’t work.

Is there anything a party can do to break a Vampire’s Charm besides Greater Restoration?

Answer 1

Yes, several ways

There are several spells and class abilities which can reverse or suspend the "charmed" condition, and therefore this specific charm.

Spells

Calm Emotions (2nd level):

Each humanoid in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point you choose within range must make a Charisma saving throw; a creature can choose to fail this saving throw if it wishes. If a creature fails its saving throw, choose one of the following two effects. You can suppress any effect causing a target to be charmed or frightened. When this spell ends, any suppressed effect resumes, provided that its duration has not expired in the meantime.

Hallow (5th level):

First, celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead can’t enter the area, nor can such creatures charm, frighten, or possess creatures within it. Any creature charmed, frightened, or possessed by such a creature is no longer charmed, frightened, or possessed upon entering the area. You can exclude one or more of those types of creatures from this effect.

Dispel Evil and Good (5th level):

You can end the spell early by using either of the following special functions.

Break Enchantment

As your action, you touch a creature you can reach that is charmed, frightened, or possessed by a celestial, an elemental, a fey, a fiend, or an undead. The creature you touch is no longer charmed, frightened, or possessed by such creatures.

As you note, Greater Restoration (5th level):

You imbue a creature you touch with positive energy to undo a debilitating effect. You can reduce the target’s exhaustion level by one, or end one of the following effects on the target:

• One effect that charmed or petrified the target

Antimagic Field (8th level):

Spells and other magical effects, except those created by an artifact or a deity, are suppressed in the Sphere and can't protrude into it. A slot expended to cast a suppressed spell is consumed. While an effect is suppressed, it doesn't function, but the time it spends suppressed counts against its Duration.

Power Word Heal (9th level):

A wave of healing energy washes over the creature you touch. The target regains all its hit points. If the creature is charmed, frightened, paralyzed, or stunned, the condition ends. If the creature is prone, it can use its reaction to stand up. This spell has no effect on undead or constructs.

Class Abilities

Path of the Beserker Barbarian's Mindless Rage:

Beginning at 6th level, you can’t be Charmed or Frightened while raging. If you are Charmed or Frightened when you enter your rage, the effect is suspended for the duration of the rage.

Oath of Devotion Paladin's Aura of Devotion:

Starting at 7th level, you and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you can’t be Charmed while you are conscious.

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.

Monk's Stillness of Mind:

Starting at 7th level, you can use your action to end one effect on yourself that is causing you to be Charmed or Frightened.

Warlock's (Archfey patron) Beguiling defenses:

You are immune to being charmed, and when another creature attempts to charm you, you can use your reaction to attempt to turn the charm back on that creature.

Situations which break the Charm

The charm itself can be broken early in several specific circumstances:

Each time the vampire or the vampire's companions do anything harmful to the target, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. Otherwise, the effect lasts 24 hours or until the vampire is destroyed, is on a different plane of existence than the target, or takes a bonus action to end the effect.

A vampire's Charm is powerful

The duration, lack of Concentration, and unlimited usage of this charm make it in my opinion, the most powerful charm effect in the game. A vampire is a fearsome opponent, and one that, played correctly, you will end up enthralled to if you go against it unprotected, even with a "level-appropriate" party.

Answer 2

Breaking charm through planar separation

As noted in @Vigil's answer:

Each time the vampire or the vampire's companions do anything harmful to the target, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. Otherwise, the effect lasts 24 hours or until the vampire is destroyed, is on a different plane of existence than the target, or takes a bonus action to end the effect.

Since the charm effects break when the vampire is on a different plane of existence from its victims, then shunting either the vampire or its victims to other planes of existence for a moment would seem to break the effect.

So, possibilities:

1. Banishment (4^th level) against the vampire. Assuming that the vampire is native to the plane, it'll still get shunted to a demiplane for up to a minute, breaking all of its current charm effects.

2. Contingency storing Blink. This only works for the caster and only once, but the idea's that if the caster is charmed, then Blink will go off, shunting the caster to another dimension and breaking the charm effect on them. If allowed, the contingent condition could be the caster getting charmed; otherwise, it could be something like an ally shouting a trigger word when the ally notices that the caster's been charmed.

3. 7^th-level spells and higher enable a lot of options, e.g. Plane Shift or Etherealness.

4. Items like a Bag of Holding, Portable Hole, or Handy Haversack can put creatures into an extradimensional space. If a vampire or charmed ally can be forced into one such item, it should break charm effects.

5. Combat near some sort of dimensional/planar portal, e.g. one created by Rope Trick (2^nd-level) or Magnificent Mansion (7^th-level), may allow the vampire or its charmed victims to be forced through the portal as necessary.

Answer 3

As prevention

There are multiple effects that can help to avoid getting affected in the first place if you know what you will face. The most accessible spell for this is protection from evil and good. It makes you immune to the effect for 10 minutes (~ 1 encounter), is only first level, adds other considerable bonuses, but requires concentration. So warding a whole party with it is not simple.

There are also various class features that can help. If you have a bard, they can sing a song of Countercharm to give advantage on the saves. A paladin of devotion will also grant immunity to charm with his aura.

Also anything else that boosts saves will help, but that is a long list that I will not include here.

Ending the effect

You are much more restricted here. If you are willing to burn higher level spell slots you can use greater restoration (that you have mentioned) or dispel evil and good as a permanent solution. there are also spells of even higher level that can help.

Calm emotions provides only a temporary solution, but can cover your whole party with one casting. You will want to end the fight quick (possibly by fleeing) if this is the only thing holding the party together.

Answer 4

Charm has to be cast on humanoids you can see that can see you.

Contingency let's you cast a spell before the charm completes as long as you prep for it.

Contingency + polymorph. Make yourself non-humanoid or something without eyes if someone tries to charm you.

Contingency + mislead or invisibility or greater invisibility. You can't charm what you can't see.

If you want to stop the charm after it succeeded. Contingency + banish or blink. Visit a different plane.

Answer 5

No

From the Charm power:

Each time the vampire or the vampires allies do anything harmful to the target, it can repeat it's saving throw

This can be interpreted as a direct attack, or more liberally an attach on one's allies, either way you get to roll a DC17 save each turn if the vampire actually attacks.

Otherwise the effect lasts for 24 hours or until the vampire is destroyed, is on another plane of existence than the target, or uses a bonus action to end the effect

So there doesn't seem to be anything else that can end the effect, it doesn't actually even mention greater restoration, or potentially crucially; death.