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When creating a character, and specifically when generating its stats by dice-rolling, do you still roll the same number of times when you don't use all the ability scores?
As an example, would a vampire roll to generate 6 ability scores, and then just discard one because it doesn't have a constitution stat; Or, would it only roll 5 scores? This is assuming that the player gets to assign the numbers they roll to the stats they choose.
The PFSRD's Character Creation Outline lists the steps in order:
etc.
That list puts determining ability scores (including rolling for stats) before choosing a race. Insofar as the outline would be considered RAW, your vampire would generate 6 ability scores, then choose to play a vampire and lose their CON.
Pathfinder does address creating characters without CON scores, here (scroll down just a bit to the "Construct" type).
That said, as a GM, I would have that character roll one fewer stats than usual (and, in a point-buy game, would require that they leave a virtual 10 there, rather than selling off the points for other stats). This is what Pathfinder says to do.
I am going to go out on a leg here and say, yes, you should, if only because not doing so can lead to really weird situations.
Read this line from the undead type entry:
Resurrection and true resurrection can affect undead creatures. These spells turn undead creatures back into the living creatures they were before becoming undead.
As undead can be brought back from the dead as a living being, not knowing what their constitution score was before they were turned into the walking dead means you won't have any idea what their constitution score would be once they are alive once more.
The downside to this, as I see it, is that you may very well be giving a munchkin the opportunity at a 'free' roll. "Oh, one of my stats is a 5, I'll just add that to constitution because that'll be an ability score - anyway while I am undead" is something I could easily see happening.
If min-max behavior is a concern, it might be preferred to simply assume that they had a perfectly average constitution of 10 and stick with rolling the other 5 ability scores only.
As far as I can tell, Paizo never addressed this. I don't believe Wizards ever did either, so we don't even have them to look to for guidance.
Mathematically, there isn't any good answer, unfortunately. Rolling only five means you have a lower chance of getting a particularly high roll, but also a lower chance of getting a particularly low one. Your results won't have the same probability distribution that the others had. But rolling six gives you the same chance to get a high result, while also letting you just drop your lowest score, which is a large advantage.
Then again, rolling for ability scores inherently initializes your game with imbalanced stats; if balance and fairness are the goals, you shouldn't be using it at all. Point-buy, of course, works out neatly by just multiplying the point-buy value by ⅚. It's not actually fair either way with rolling, but rolling isn't supposed to be fair. Rolling five gives the closer results.
Per the 3.5 srd, looks like vampires have Ø con (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/vampire.htm). So you'd roll 5.
Vampire Spawn's Ø con link to this http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#constitution which defines Ø con. I found that interesting as well, though a little tangential.
I also believe I've seen monsters with equivalent — scores (though cannot quote any/find any quickly) that would infer the same.
Disclaimer: Very minimal Pathfinder experience but I'd be surprised if a core monster like vampire differed much. Pathfinder seems to have cleaned up some of the stranger 3.5 rules, I would be skeptical this is one of them. Someone with a Pathfinder book (maybe you!) could probably easily tell you if it's Ø/— con or not though.
