Azure Mage

“If the world is full of monsters, the only way to defeat them is to become one yourself.” - Elder Azure Mage Quina

To ensure victory over even the most savage foes, there are those who have spent long years practicing a monastic tradition with unlimited potential; the art of Blue Magic. Clothed in distinctive dark blue cloaks , the Azure Mages though few in number are feared for their ability to harness a monster's strength and add it to their own. Blue magic is an art that allows a person to mimic the awesome powers of monsters and far exceed the normal boundaries of mortals. However, using this power places an enormous strain on there body. And while the magical process of absorbing a monster’s essence into oneself becomes easier over time, there is an increased danger of a blue mage succumbing mentally and spiritually to the monster within…

Azure Mages are a secret sect of sages, scholars and mages who study all there is to know about monsters and their origins and as such the Azure Mage elders are very careful with who they select to train with. Many elders will spend decades looking for those who hold a spark of great potential within their soul. Scholars wishing to become an Azure Mage undergo an intense ritual where there soul is infused with the essence of a monster. This ritual changes them unlocking the raw magical powers within them turning them into a sorcerer capable of absorbing monstrous abilities. Only when an Azure Mage has fully mastered their powers, are they allowed to become a Elder and learn how to perform the ritual needed to become an Azure Mage.

Azure Affinity

When you choose this Origin at 1st level, you gain proficiency with longswords, scimitars, and light armor. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make to identify monsters and their special powers or vulnerabilities. If you lack proficiency in the required skill, you are treated as having it only for the purposes of these monster knowledge checks. (Proficiency bonus would not be doubled in this case).

Azure Resilience

Your undergoing of the Azure Ritual bestows energies which make you more physically capable. At 1st level, your hit point maximum increases by 1 and increases by 1 again whenever you gain a level in this class. Additionally, your supernatural abilities gives you strong natural defenses. While you aren’t wearing armor, your AC your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier.

Azure Lore

Starting when you choose this Origin at 1st level, your unique physiology allows you to absorb and permanently learn to use spells and monster abilities. When you are the target of a spell or a monster’s non-weapon ability, you may use your reaction to attempt to learn that ability.

Make a Concentration check. If the ability causes damage, the DC equals 10 or half the damage you take, whichever number is higher. If the ability does not cause damage, the DC equals 8 + the creature's proficiency bonus.

On a success, you may add the ability to your list of Azure Lore. You can learn up to two Azure Lore "spells" at 1st level, and increase the number amount you can learn by 2 for every odd level in this class gained (two more at levels 3, 5, 7 ect). If learning a new Lore would cause you to exceed this maximum, you may choose a Lore ability you know and replace it with the new one. You may not learn an ability from a monster whose Challenge Rating exceeds the equivalent spell level you can cast in the Sorcerer class. See chart below to see equivalent spell level according to monster CR. You cannot learn lair or legendary abilities.

You may use this ability a number of times up to your proficiency bonus and regain all uses on a Long Rest.

Challenge	Slot Level
<1	0th
1 – 3	1st
4 – 5	2nd
6 – 7	3rd
8 – 9	4th
10 – 11	5th
12 – 13	6th
14 – 15	7th
16 – 17	8th
18 >	9th

Absorb Essence

At 6th level, you gain the ability Absorb Essence. The Azure Blood can attempt to learn passive or defensive abilities from creatures by magically absorbing their essence.

Consuming a monster's essence in this manner takes at least 10 minutes and requires you to spend 1 Sorcery Point. Make a Constitution saving throw, the DC for which equals 8 + the creature's proficiency bonus + the creature's Constitution modifier. On a success, you learn the ability as if it were gained with Azure Lore. Otherwise you become sick and the failure leaves you exhausted(Gain a level of Exhaustion).

You add this ability to your Azure Lore. Each passive ability costs 1 Sorcery point to maintain, reducing the available Sorcery points by that amount. These abilities are always ‘on’ and cannot be turned off to regain access to the reserved Sorcery points. The blue mage’s form often changes to reflect the abilities learned. For example, if you gain the natural base armor of the Galeb Duhr, then your skin can take on a rocky appearance.

Azure Opposition

At 14th level, your numerous encounters with magical beasts and spell casters has given you the ability to quickly assess and counter the effects of a spell you can see. You count as always having counter spell prepared. You may cast Counterspell without expending a spell slot once per long rest. You may increase the level of this spell by spending two additional sorcery points, when you do so you may only up cast up to 5th level. For example if you need to up cast Counterspell to 5th level you would need to spend four sorcery points to up cast this spell. You may only up cast this to the level of spell you are able to cast, and after using this ability, you may not do so again until you complete a long rest.

Unbridled Learning

At 18th level, though still limited in the number of powers you can have, passive abilities no longer require Sorcery Points to maintain, freeing up those Sorcery points for other uses. Your ability to learn Azure Lore is no longer limited by CR. You may now also learn legendary abilities.