Order of Elder Blood

To be a carrier of elder blood is to be a living font of power, liquid potential flowing within your veins and heightening your aptitude for hemocraft far beyond the normal limits of an average practitioner. It is a gift gained through the circumstances of one’s birth, impossible to achieve through practice or esoteric rituals—though many have tried and failed.

Blood hunters sworn to the Order of Elder Blood carry this power within themselves and learn to wield it against the wicked evils threatening the mortal world. Among other hunters they often fill the role of leaders, guiding strikes and shouting commands while weaving maledicts to weaken foes.

Elder Blood

Beginning when you join this order at 3rd level, your blood is more potent than that of others, deepening your control and understanding of hemocraft. You gain the following benefits:

Otherworldly Instinct. You learn the detect evil and good spell, and can cast it without expending a spell slot or requiring any verbal or somatic components. Once you’ve cast this spell once, you must finish a short- or long rest before you can do so again.

Power in Blood. Your Hemocraft die increases in size, from a d4 to a d6. It increases again at 5th level (d8), 11th level (d10), and 17th level (d12).

Sanguine Potency. Whenever you activate a crimson rite on a weapon you are holding or amplify a blood curse, you can choose to do so without dealing damage to yourself. Once you have used this feature, you must finish a long rest before you can do so again. You can use this feature twice between long rests at 6th level, three times starting at 11th level, and four times starting at 17th level.

Weaver of Curses

At 7th level, your skill in utilizing blood curses is second to none. You may choose to learn an additional blood curse from the options listed in your Blood Maledict feature. Whenever you finish a long rest, you may choose to replace this blood curse with a different one.

Blood Curse of Binding

As a bonus action, you attempt to bind a Large or smaller creature you can see within 30 feet of you, which must make a Strength saving throw. On a failure, the cursed creature’s speed is reduced to 0 and it can’t use reactions until the end of your next turn.

Amplify. This curse lasts for 1 minute and can affect any creature regardless of size. The cursed creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the curse on itself on a success.

Blood Curse of Bloated Agony

As a bonus action, you curse a creature that you can see within 30 feet of you, causing its body to swell until the end of your next turn. For the duration, the creature has disadvantage on Strength checks and Dexterity checks, and takes 1d8 necrotic damage if it makes more than one attack during its turn.

Amplify. This curse lasts for 1 minute. The cursed creature can make a Constitution saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the curse on itself on a success.

Blood Curse of Exposure

When a creature you can see within 30 feet of you takes damage from an attack or spell, you can use your reaction to temporarily weaken its resilience. Until the end of the target’s next turn, it loses resistance to all the damage types dealt by the triggering attack or spell (including for that triggering effect).

Amplify. The target instead loses invulnerability to the damage types of the triggering attack or spell, but has resistance to those damage types until the end of its next turn.

Blood Curse of the Anxious

As a bonus action, you harry the body or mind of a creature within 30 feet of you, making them susceptible to forceful influence. Until the end of your next turn, Charisma (Intimidation) checks made against the cursed creature have advantage.

Amplify. The next Wisdom saving throw the cursed creature makes before this curse ends has disadvantage.

Blood Curse of the Eyeless

When a creature you can see within 30 feet of you makes an attack, 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 hits or misses. The creature is immune to this curse if it is immune to the blinded condition.

Amplify. You apply this curse to all the creature’s attack rolls until the end of the creature’s turn. You roll separately 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 instill that creature with a final act of aggression. The creature immediately makes one weapon attack against a target of your choice within its range.

Amplify. You can first cause the cursed creature to move up to half its speed, and you grant a bonus to its attack roll equal to your Hemocraft modifier (minimum of +1).

Blood Curse of the Marked

As a bonus action, you mark a creature that you can see within 30 feet of you. Until the end of your turn, whenever you hit the cursed creature with a weapon for which you have an active crimson rite, you roll an additional hemocraft die when determining the extra damage from the rite.

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 or using a feature that requires concentration. That creature has disadvantage on the next Constitution saving throw it makes 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 until the end of your next turn.

Dark Vitality

Also at 7th level, the potency of your blood enhances your body’s natural resilience. You gain resistance to poison damage and necrotic damage, and advantage on saving throws made to avoid or end the poisoned condition. Furthermore, you are immune to disease.

Brand of the Grand Hunt

At 11th level, you can call upon your allies to join you as hunters of foul prey. When you brand a creature with your Brand of Castigation feature, you can choose a number of willing creatures within 30 feet of you up to your Hemocraft modifier and designate them as hunters for the duration. A hunter always knows the direction to the branded creature as long as it’s on the same plane as them, and when a hunter makes an attack roll against a branded creature while within 30 feet of you, you can use your reaction to give them advantage on the roll. When you do so, their attack scores a critical hit on a 19-20, provided it is a weapon attack.

Blood Curse of Ruptured Veins

At 15th level, you can exert dominance over the blood of others to devastating effect. You gain the Blood Curse of Ruptured Veins for your Blood Maledict feature. This doesn’t count against your number of blood curses known.

Blood Curse of Ruptured Veins. As an action, choose a creature you can see within 30 feet of yourself. The target must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes necrotic damage equal to five rolls of your hemocraft die, and becomes incapacitated until the end of your next turn. On a successful save, a creature takes half damage and isn’t incapacitated, but suffers disadvantage on the next ability check or attack roll it makes.

Amplify. The target gains disadvantage on its saving throw to resist the effect.

Rites of the Elder Blood

At 18th level, you’ve been taught ways to greatly empower your crimson rites at a cost. When you activate a crimson rite on a weapon you are holding, you can choose to apply an extra effect to the weapon for the duration:

Arc. When you hit a creature with the weapon, one creature of your choice within 5 feet of the target also takes the damage of your crimson rite.

Chain. When you hit a creature with the weapon, the target’s movement is halved until the beginning of your next turn.

Hunt. When you hit a creature with the weapon, the next attack roll made against this target before the beginning of your next turn and by a creature other than yourself has advantage.

Moon. When you hit a creature with the weapon, you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to the damage dealt by your crimson rite.

Thorn. When you hit a creature with the weapon, you roll an additional hemocraft die when determining the extra damage from your crimson rite.

When you use this feature, you can choose to apply an additional effect by taking damage equal to one roll of your hemocraft die, which cannot be reduced or prevented in any way. For each extra effect you wish to apply, you suffer one additional die of damage, for a maximum of five rolls of your hemocraft die. Alternatively, in place of taking damage, you can expend uses of your Sanguine Potency feature.