D&D rules do not determine the entire metaphysics of a fantasy universe.
In the Forgotten Realms, I do not think there is an official stance on whether Vampires have a soul or not. They are as sentient and emotional. Their body is dead, magically maintained, yet their mind/emotions remain. Maybe their soul is still linked or anchored to the vampire body.
When I DM, I see vampires as having a soul, but twisted, trapped, cursed; similar to the Bram Stoker version (a mind-soul twisted that can sometimes be healed and leave the world).
There pretty much is a consensus about vampires NOT having souls. Sure, WoTC may not have made a public statement about it but are we to ignore the sourcebooks?
"Fae'run Vampires" and their Thralls might be different from our real world folklore.
There are many things that do not make much sense to me in general.
Why the no mirror image thing? Why the fear for a christian cross?
Or maybe even silver, or garlic, etc.
Vampires really are just "homebrew" creatures to some degree.
But yeah the fact that Astarion is nowwhere classified as Undead feels like lazyness to me.
Yeah but according to D&D vampires don't have souls, because undead creatures die and are then reanimated as undead. Once you die your soul passes through the astral sea and goes to the City of Judgement. It's not just my folklore, it's about the actual rules. Basically this would allow Astarion to be in the Seldarine version of Heaven while still being a vampire of Faerun.
