Blood Hunter (Updated)

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Overview & Creation

These warriors have chosen to merge the martial pursuit of deadly weapon play with elements of vicious blood magic to create impressively effective combat techniques. They surrender their own vitality to form a bond with their weapon, allowing them to harness the elements in a whirlwind of dangerous strikes. Their deep knowledge and unnatural connection with wicked creatures allows them an advantage in tracking, hunting, and destroying even the most resilient of abhorrent fiends. By mastering control over their own lifeblood and the lifeblood of others, they gain insight into their foes and the ability to manipulate them from the inside. Some brew crude, poisonous alchemical tonics from the harvested organs of felled monsters, mutating their blood and bodies to be even further in tune with their quarry, becoming something other than human themselves. Others go further, reaching out and making a pact with lesser dark entities in hopes of using their grim gifts against greater evils. Many blood hunters push too far for their goals, falling to their own hubris and becoming the monsters they’ve chosen to hunt. This is the greatest fear of a blood hunter, and of the societies at large that shun them.

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Class Features

Blood Maledict At 1st level, you gain the ability to channel, and sometimes sacrifice, a part of your vital essence to curse and manipulate creatures through hemocraft magic. You gain one blood curse of your choice, detailed in the “Blood Curses” section at the end of the class description. You learn one additional blood curse of your choice, and you can choose one of the blood curses you know and replace it with another blood curse, at 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level.   When you use your Blood Maledict, you choose which curse to invoke. While invoking a blood curse, but before it affects the target, you can choose to amplify the curse by losing a number of hit points equal to one roll of your hemocraft die, as shown in the Hemocraft Die column of the Blood Hunter table. An amplified curse gains an additional effect, noted in the curse’s description. Creatures that do not have blood in their bodies are immune to blood curses, unless you have amplified the curse.   You can use this feature once. Beginning at 6th level, you can use your Blood Maledict feature twice, at 13th level you can use it three times between rests, and at 17th level, you can use it four times between rests. You regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.   Fighting Style At 2nd level, you adopt a style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can’t take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.   Archery You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons.   Dueling When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.   Great Weapon Fighting When you roll a 1 or 2 on a non-rite damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.   Two-Weapon Fighting When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.   Crimson Rite At 2nd level, you learn to invoke a rite of hemocraft within your weapon at the cost of your own vitality. Choose one rite from the Primal Rites list below to learn.   As a bonus action, you can activate a crimson rite on a single weapon with the elemental energy of a known rite of your choice that lasts until you finish a short or long rest, or if you aren’t holding the weapon at the end of your turn. When you activate a rite, you lose a number of hit points equal to one roll of your hemocraft die, as shown in the Hemocraft Die column of the Blood Hunter table.   For the duration, attacks from this weapon deal an additional 1d4 damage of the chosen rite’s type. This damage is magical, and increases as you gain levels as a blood hunter, as shown in the Hemocraft Die column of the Blood Hunter table. A weapon can only hold a single active rite at a time.   You learn an additional Primal Rite at 7th level, and access to an Esoteric Rite at 14th level.   Primal Rites Choose from the following:   Rite of the Flame. Your rite damage is fire damage.   Rite of the Frozen. Your rite damage is cold damage.   Rite of the Storm. Your rite damage is lightning damage.   Esoteric Rites Choose from the following:   Rite of the Dead. Your rite damage is necrotic damage.   Rite of the Oracle. Your rite damage is psychic damage.   Rite of the Roar. Your rite damage is thunder damage.   Blood Hunter Order At 3rd level, you commit to an order of blood hunter martial focus. Choose Order of the Ghostslayer, Order of the Profane Soul, Order of the Mutant, or Order of the Lycan, all detailed at the end of the class description. The order you choose grants you features at 3rd level, and again at 7th, 11th, 15th, and 18th level.   Ability Score Improvement When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.   Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.   Extra Attack Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.   Brand of Castigation At 6th level, whenever you damage a creature with your Crimson Rite feature, you can choose to sear an arcane brand of hemocraft magic into it (requires no action). You always know the direction to the branded creature, and each time the branded creature deals damage to you or a creature you can see within 5 feet of you, the creature takes psychic damage equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1 damage).   Your brand lasts until you dismiss it, or you apply a brand to another creature. Your brand counts as a spell for the purposes of dispel magic, and the spell level is equal to half of your blood hunter level (maximum of 9th level spell).   Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.   Grim Psychometry When you reach 9th level, you have a supernatural talent for discerning the history surrounding mysterious objects or places touched by evil. When making an Intelligence (History) check to recall information about a darker past surrounding an object you are touching, or a location you are present in, you have advantage on the roll. The information gleaned often leans towards the more sinister influences of the past, and sometimes conveys visions of things previously unknown to the character on higher rolls.   Dark Augmentation Upon reaching 10th level, arcane blood magic suffuses your body, permanently reinforcing your resilience. Your speed increases by 5 feet, and whenever you make a Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution saving throw, you gain a bonus to the saving throw equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1).   Brand of Tethering Starting at 13th level, the psychic damage from your Brand of Castigation increases to twice your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 2 damage).   In addition, a branded creature can’t take the Dash action, and if a creature branded by you attempts to teleport or leave their current plane via ability, spell, or portal, they take 4d6 psychic damage and must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the teleport or plane shift fails.   Hardened Soul When you reach 14th level, you have advantage on saving throws against being charmed and frightened.   Sanguine Mastery Upon becoming 20th level, you hone your control over blood magic, mitigating your sacrifice and empowering your capability. Once per turn, whenever a blood hunter feature requires you to roll a hemocraft die, you can choose to reroll the die and choose which result to use.   In addition, whenever you score a critical hit with a weapon attack empowered by your Crimson Rite, you regain one expended use of your Blood Maledict feature.   Blood Curses The blood curses are presented in alphabetical order.   Blood Curse of the Anxious As a bonus action, you magnify the adrenaline in the body of a creature within 30 feet of you, making them susceptible to forceful influence. Until the end of your next turn, all creatures have advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) checks directed at the target creature.   Amplify. The next Wisdom saving throw the target makes before this curse ends has disadvantage. Once you’ve amplified this blood curse, you must finish a long rest before you can amplify it again.   Blood Curse of Binding As a bonus action, you can attempt to bind a creature you can see within 30 feet of you that is no more than one size larger than you. The target must succeed on a Strength saving throw or have their speed be reduced to 0 and they can’t use reactions until the end of your next turn.   Amplify. This curse lasts for 1 minute and can affect a creature regardless of their size. At the end of each of its turns, the cursed creature can make another Strength saving throw. On a success, this curse ends.   Blood Curse of Bloated Agony As a bonus action, you curse a creature that you can see within 30 feet of you to painfully swell until the end of your next turn. For the duration of this curse, the creature has disadvantage on Strength and Dexterity ability checks, and suffers 1d8 necrotic damage if it makes more than one melee or ranged attack during its turn.   Amplify. This curse lasts for 1 minute. At the end of each of its turns, the cursed creature can make a Constitution saving throw. On a success, this curse ends.   Blood Curse of Corrosion Prerequisite: 15th level, Order of the Mutant   As a bonus action, a creature within 30 feet of you becomes poisoned. At the end of each of its turns, the target can make another Constitution saving throw. On a success, the curse ends.   Amplify. The cursed creature suffers 4d6 necrotic damage, and suffers this damage again every time it fails its Constitution saving throw to end this curse at the end of its turn.   Blood Curse of the Exorcist Prerequisite: 15th level, Order of the Ghostslayer   As a bonus action, you can choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of you that is charmed, frightened, or possessed. The target creature is no longer charmed, frightened, or possessed.   Amplify. The creature that charmed, frightened, or possessed the target of your curse suffers 3d6 psychic damage and must make a Wisdom saving throw or be stunned until the end of your next turn.   Blood Curse of Exposure When a creature you can see within 30 feet is hit by an attack or spell, you can use your reaction to temporarily weaken their resilience against it. Until the end of the turn, the target loses resistance to the damage types of the triggering attack or spell.   Amplify. The target instead loses invulnerability to the damage types of the triggering attack or spell, having resistance to them until the end of the turn.   Blood Curse of the Eyeless When a creature you can see within 30 feet of you makes an attack roll, you can use your reaction to roll one hemocraft die and subtract the number rolled from the creature’s attack roll. You can choose to use this feature after the creature’s roll, but before the DM determines whether the attack roll succeeds. The creature is immune if it is immune to blindness.   Amplify. You apply this curse to all of the creature’s attack rolls until the end of the turn. You roll a new hemocraft die for each affected attack.   Blood Curse of the Fallen Puppet When a creature you can see within 30 feet of you drops to 0 hit points, you can use your reaction to give that creature a final act of aggression. That creature immediately makes a single weapon attack against a target of your choice within its attack range.   Amplify. You can first move the cursed creature up to half their speed, and you grant a bonus to the cursed creature’s attack roll equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1).   Blood Curse of the Howl Prerequisite: 18th level, Order of the Lycan   As an action, you unleash a blood-curdling howl. Each creature within 30 feet of you that can hear you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you until the end of your next turn. If they fail their saving throw by 5 or more, they are stunned while frightened in this way. A creature that succeeds on this saving throw is immune to this blood curse for the next 24 hours.   You can choose any number of creatures you can see to be unaffected by the howl.   Amplify. The range of this curse increases to 60 feet.   Blood Curse of the Marked As a bonus action, you can mark a creature that you can see within 30 feet of you. Until the end of your turn, whenever you deal rite damage to the target, you roll an additional hemocraft die of rite damage.   Amplify. The next attack roll you make against the target before the end of your turn has advantage.   Blood Curse of the Muddled Mind As a bonus action, you curse a creature that you can see within 30 feet of you that is concentrating on a spell. That creature has disadvantage on the next Constitution saving throw it must make to maintain concentration before the end of your next turn.   Amplify. The cursed creature has disadvantage on all Constitution saving throws made to maintain concentration of spells until the end of your next turn.   Blood Curse of the Souleater Prerequisite: 18th level, Order of the Profane Soul   When a creature that isn’t a construct or undead is reduced to 0 hit points within 30 feet of you, you can use your reaction to usher their soul to your patron in exchange for power. Until the end of your next turn, your weapon attacks have advantage.   Amplify. In addition, you regain an expended warlock spell slot. Once you’ve amplified this blood curse, you must finish a long rest before you can amplify it again.

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Starting Equipment

(a) a martial weapon or (b) two simple weapons (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) hand crossbow and 20 bolts (a) studded leather armor or (b) scale mail armor an explorer’s pack

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Subclass Options

Order of the Ghostslayer:

  The Order of the Ghostslayer is the oldest of the orders, having originally rediscovered the secrets of blood magic and refined them for combat against the scourge of undeath. Ghostslayers seek out and study the moment of death, obsessing over the mysteries of the transition and how it can become corrupted by unholy powers to rise once more. Tuning their abilities to annihilate such abominations, these zealous blood hunters seek out the sources of such necromantic energies, intent to destroy them wherever they arise.  

Order of the Lycan:

  Of the many terrible curses that plague the realm, few are as ancient or as feared as Lycanthropy. Passed through blood, this affliction seeds a host with the savage strength and hunger for violence of a wicked beast. The Order of the Lycan is a proud order of blood hunters who undergo “The Taming,” a ceremonial inflicting of lycanthropy from a senior member. These hunters then use their abilities to harness the power of the monster they harbor without losing themselves to it. Through intense honing of one’s own willpower, combined with the secrets of the order’s blood magic rituals, members learn to control and unleash their hybrid form for short periods of time. Enhanced physical prowess, unnatural resilience, and razor-sharp claws make these warriors a terrible foe to any evil that crosses their path. Yet, no training is perfect, and without care and complete focus, even the greatest of blood hunters can temporarily lose themselves to the bloodlust.  

Order of the Mutant:

  The process of the Hunter’s Bane is a painful, scarring, and sometimes fatal experience. Those that survive find themselves irrevocably changed, enhanced. Some found this experience exalting, embracing the ability to alter one’s own physiology through a combination of hemocraft and corrupted alchemy. Over generations of experimentation, a splinter order of blood hunters began to emerge, one that focused on brewing toxic elixirs to modify their capabilities in battle, altering their blood and, over time, become something beyond what they once were. They called themselves the Order of the Mutant. Researching their targets to know their strengths and weaknesses, these blood hunters can alter their biology to be best prepared for the coming conflict.