This is a rough draft for my new Blood Mage. This is a "Full Caster" Class that uses the constitution as its spellcasting ability. It is not your typical caster however and should more resemble the Warlock than the Wizard or Sorc. I'm looking for feedback and will be posting the next part every few days.
Corruption Points
Immediately after completing a long rest, roll a number of d6’s equal to your level in this class. You gain a number of Corruption points equal to 1 + the amount rolled. These points represent the total amount of Life Essene that you can exert until you complete your next long rest.
To cast one of your Blood Mage spells of 1st level and higher you must expend a number of Corruption Points equal to the level of at which you would like to cast the Spell.
Blood Magic
You draw your power form the very life force inside you. Arcane energy flows through your veins begging to be harnessed and released. Rather than using spell slots like most casters, you cast your spells directly with your own Corruption.
Spell Level
Corruption Point Cost
1
2
2
3
3
5
4
6
5
7
Unlike most spell casters the power of a Blood Mage varies day to day depending on a series of rolls made for there daily corruption point total.
For Example
Let us look at 3 level Blood Mage. Upon completing a Long Rest, the Blood Mage will gain 3d6+1 Corruption Points.
Min
Average
Max
4
12
19
High Risk & High Reward
On a bad day a 3 Level Blood Mage may only be able to cast 2x 1 level Spells or 1x 2 level. However, on a good day a Blood Mage may be able to cast as many as 8x 1 level spells or 6x 2 level spells.
This uncertainty of this characters the power day to day, can cause massive swings from Risky to Risk adverse behavior.
It's an interesting concept, but I'm not sure that having random casting ability day to day is the best idea. At the very least, it doesn't fit a blood mage, which I'd expect to expend health in exchange for casting ability, or gain casting ability from enemies slain nearby, or both. This would fit a more chaos based class, but it's still a bit unreliable. Also, I did a few random calculations with assorted levels, and the average spellcasting ability appears to fall behind other caster classes quite drastically. I'd get if it fell back a bit, due to the potential to be incredibly powerful, but at 9th level it's a whopping 25 points behind having equal average spellcasting ability to a sorcerer of equal level.
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"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
While I agree with WoobyDoobyDoo that random casting ability is not a good idea, being able to cast the same way as a Sorcerer on your best day does fit the idea of being more like a Warlock. Remember, we're aiming for a magical capability on par with Pact Magic, not with Arcane Spellcasting.
Probably a better way to handle this issue is to actually use the existing Pact Magic ability, or something similar to it, rather than using this Corruption ability for the actual casting. I'd instead use the Corruption Points more like Sorcery Points, allowing the caster to add additional effects or damage dice or other things to a spell cast in exchange for a number of Corruption Points spent. Then, the Corruption Points being more random is less of an issue.
Or, you can scale the Corruption Die based on class level, and use the result of the Corruption Die to determine the level of all Spell Slots that day. Though at low levels that would probably need a negative modifier applied to it to prevent casting 1st level spells at 4th level slots at class level 1... So something like levels 1 through 3 you'd use a D4 for Corruption Points, but then for Pact Slot level you'd subtract 2, with a minimum result of 1. If you roll a 4, you have 4 Corruption Points, and your Blood Pact slots would be 2nd level. But if you roll a 1, you only get 1 Corruption Point, and your Blood Pact slots are 1st level. Build from there for scaling up to higher levels. I'd think you'd want to limit the max level of Blood Pact slots, though, and instead focus any remaining power budget into the effects you spend Corruption Points on. So the highest level Blood Pact slots generated by the Corruption Die should probably cap at 6 or so.
That's another important question, though. Will Blood Pact slots refresh on Short Rest, or Long Rest? If they refresh on Short Rest, do you reroll the Corruption Die on Short Rest as well?
And since it's probably inevitable, are you planning on a Class Feature that allows you to consume hitpoints to generate more spellcasting ability? That's something else important to consider in terms of power budget. And you're probably going to consider a feature that restores the caster's health in some way, either by amplifying the amount gained through existing spells with life draining effects or by simply healing the caster when they kill or deal a crit to another creature.
A final note, it's probably a good idea from a balance perspective to not make everything in the class scale with Con. The reason being that Con is already a desirable stat for literally everyone, since it increases the hitpoints available. If both the offense and defense of the class both scale on the same stat, players using the class will have little incentive to raise other stats. Generally, people max their offense stat (Str/Dex for martial, Int/Wis/Cha for casting), then pad out their defense stats (Con, then Dex towards whatever armor where applicable). After that most people stop worrying about stats and start looking at Feats. If this Blood Magic scales based on Con, then you've combined both of those desires to a single stat, and are freeing up a lot of ASIs to go into Feats, which can allow a lot of really wonky and potentially super cheesy build options. Like taking Magic Initiate: Cleric to get Cure Wounds to restore the user's own hitpoints so they can spend more with the class feature. And since you'd also be generating a Bloodmage Spell List, you will want to be careful what spells you put on it, because you should probably also make Magic Initiate and Spell Sniper Feats for the Bloodmage, which could affect the balance of other classes as well.
I don't know why you're converting sorcerer slots into spell slots. Also, 9th level sorcerers have 4 3 3 3 1, not 4 3 3 2 1, and a 9th level blood mage gets average 32, not 33(well, actually 32.5 but in most circumstances with d&d you round down). I was talking about comparing a sorcerer's spellcasting ability in corruption points to the average corruption points a blood mage would get at that level.
When I had stated it would be like pact magic, I was meaning that spells up to the 5ht level would be cast via one way, spells of the 6th level and higher will be cast as one per day through a different mechanic.
The original idea is that this class would not have any spell slots, only corruption points. So a blood mage would cast directly from the corruption points. A player would then decide how many points (up to 7, to cast it at the 5th level) they would use to cast the spell. This class would be able to upcast at will (up to the 5th level) making a class about resource managing.
General Notes
I'm aware of the idea that players will invest heavily in CON from the start as a spellcasting modifier, and therefore players will probably focus on Con and Dex. My thought is giving this class d4+Con hit point increase per level, to help limit the hit points a caster will get.
This class will not get hit dice healing (such as healing during a short rest) and will also need to use corruption points to heal
corruption points will be reset at a long rest.
I've debating giving a fixed amount equal to your level in this class + the random making it less random.
Alternatively, you could give them relatively low base points, and allow them to gain extra points when a creature dies nearby, depending on the creature's level/cr.
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"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
My plan is requiring to use the death of a humanoid to cast the 6+ level spells, so literally, a Blood mage would want to bring some peons along on boss fights just to cast his high spells when they die ... #ConflictWithThePaladin?
Rejuvenate: At the 1st level, you can tap into your own Corruption to heal your mortal vessel. On your turn as a Bonus Action you can expend 1 Corruption points to heal yourself by 1d6 + the Blood Mage's constitution modifier Hit points.
This is to offset the fact the Blood mage doesn't get healing. It is a lot of healing for a bonus action but it can only be applied to oneself.
Shield of Corruption: At the 2nd level, you can harness your corruption to deflect attacks against your mortal Vessel. When hit with a melee attack, you can expend 1 corruption point to do 1d6 points of necrotic damage to the target.
One point to cast a slightly debuffed cure wounds on yourself? What? That's incredibly powerful, and could make the blood mage an incredibly powerful tank. With shield of corruption, that's more building towards being a tank, and it should also at least require a reaction.
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"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
I like the idea of leaning into it being a bit Warlock-like, in terms of being a class with less "slots", but with the potential to fire each spell with more power.
I think the character should gain more corruption points on a short rest, but just 1d6. At early levels this will be beast, but once you hit around level 6 or 7 the gain will be fairly minor. I think capping them at 5th level spells keeps the class from being too easy to abuse, but at higher levels I feel like you're going to have to give the class some pretty good unique abilities to make up for the fact that they don't get access to 6th-9th level spells.
Still, I agree this feels more like a "chaos mage" than a "blood mage". Something that could be interesting would to be the ability to spend HP to gain corruption points. So how I would use it is... as a bonus action, a blood mage can roll a d6... their max hp is lowered by the number rolled, but they gain a number of corruption points equal to the number of hp lost. The lost max hp is recovered after taking a long rest. It's a feature that won't necessarily be used often, but making it effect max HP instead of just HP total makes it a harder gamble on the player's part.
Giving the class a level 1 ability that allows them to lower max hit points to regain corruption points is a good idea.
On your turn as a Bonus Action, you can harness the Coruption in your own blood. Your maximuim Hit Points are decreased by 1d6, and you regain the same number of Corruption Points. Your Maximuim hit points are reset when you complete your next Long Rest.
Im thinking you gotta balance it through corruption points .... Make Max health and corruption points interchangeable both ways .... lose health to gain corruption points and spend corruption points to gain health ... Then you could also gain corruption points by killing things (perhaps only humanoids, or maybe something like favored enemies)
Immediately after completing a long rest, you gain a number of Corruption Points equal to twice your level in this class + your Constitution Modifier. These points represent the total amount of Life Essene that you can exert until you complete your next rest. To cast one of your Blood Mage spells of 1st level and higher you must expend a number of Corruption Points equal to the level of at which you would like to cast the Spell.
Spell Level
Corruption Point Cost
1st
2
2nd
3
3rd
5
4th
6
5th
7
You draw your power from the very life force inside you. Arcane energy flows through your veins begging to be harnessed and released. Rather than using spell slots like most casters, you cast your spells directly with your own Corruption.
That's incredibly underpowered, but that's okay if you're going with the idea that the blood mage has the potential to get much more powerful by sacrificing health. Perhaps you could even say that a blood mage actually starts with zero corruption points, and instead gaining corruption points is level based.
Also, I find it interesting that the most common blood mages would actually commonly be races like dwarves, hobgoblins, and other constitution granting races.
This is a rough draft for my new Blood Mage. This is a "Full Caster" Class that uses the constitution as its spellcasting ability. It is not your typical caster however and should more resemble the Warlock than the Wizard or Sorc. I'm looking for feedback and will be posting the next part every few days.
Please gives me your feedback.
It's an interesting concept, but I'm not sure that having random casting ability day to day is the best idea. At the very least, it doesn't fit a blood mage, which I'd expect to expend health in exchange for casting ability, or gain casting ability from enemies slain nearby, or both. This would fit a more chaos based class, but it's still a bit unreliable. Also, I did a few random calculations with assorted levels, and the average spellcasting ability appears to fall behind other caster classes quite drastically. I'd get if it fell back a bit, due to the potential to be incredibly powerful, but at 9th level it's a whopping 25 points behind having equal average spellcasting ability to a sorcerer of equal level.
"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
So if you take all of a 9th level sorcerers spell slots and convert them to Sorc Points you get
5 + (4*3) + (3*3) + (3*2) + (4*1) = 36 +9 Actual Sorc Points. = 45 total points.
A blood mage would roll 9d6 + 1 = 33 total points average but could have as few as 10 or as many as 55
Perhaps this should become a D8? 9d8 +1 would average 42 total pints... but could have as few as 10 or as many as 73
While I agree with WoobyDoobyDoo that random casting ability is not a good idea, being able to cast the same way as a Sorcerer on your best day does fit the idea of being more like a Warlock. Remember, we're aiming for a magical capability on par with Pact Magic, not with Arcane Spellcasting.
Probably a better way to handle this issue is to actually use the existing Pact Magic ability, or something similar to it, rather than using this Corruption ability for the actual casting. I'd instead use the Corruption Points more like Sorcery Points, allowing the caster to add additional effects or damage dice or other things to a spell cast in exchange for a number of Corruption Points spent. Then, the Corruption Points being more random is less of an issue.
Or, you can scale the Corruption Die based on class level, and use the result of the Corruption Die to determine the level of all Spell Slots that day. Though at low levels that would probably need a negative modifier applied to it to prevent casting 1st level spells at 4th level slots at class level 1... So something like levels 1 through 3 you'd use a D4 for Corruption Points, but then for Pact Slot level you'd subtract 2, with a minimum result of 1. If you roll a 4, you have 4 Corruption Points, and your Blood Pact slots would be 2nd level. But if you roll a 1, you only get 1 Corruption Point, and your Blood Pact slots are 1st level. Build from there for scaling up to higher levels. I'd think you'd want to limit the max level of Blood Pact slots, though, and instead focus any remaining power budget into the effects you spend Corruption Points on. So the highest level Blood Pact slots generated by the Corruption Die should probably cap at 6 or so.
That's another important question, though. Will Blood Pact slots refresh on Short Rest, or Long Rest? If they refresh on Short Rest, do you reroll the Corruption Die on Short Rest as well?
And since it's probably inevitable, are you planning on a Class Feature that allows you to consume hitpoints to generate more spellcasting ability? That's something else important to consider in terms of power budget. And you're probably going to consider a feature that restores the caster's health in some way, either by amplifying the amount gained through existing spells with life draining effects or by simply healing the caster when they kill or deal a crit to another creature.
A final note, it's probably a good idea from a balance perspective to not make everything in the class scale with Con. The reason being that Con is already a desirable stat for literally everyone, since it increases the hitpoints available. If both the offense and defense of the class both scale on the same stat, players using the class will have little incentive to raise other stats. Generally, people max their offense stat (Str/Dex for martial, Int/Wis/Cha for casting), then pad out their defense stats (Con, then Dex towards whatever armor where applicable). After that most people stop worrying about stats and start looking at Feats. If this Blood Magic scales based on Con, then you've combined both of those desires to a single stat, and are freeing up a lot of ASIs to go into Feats, which can allow a lot of really wonky and potentially super cheesy build options. Like taking Magic Initiate: Cleric to get Cure Wounds to restore the user's own hitpoints so they can spend more with the class feature. And since you'd also be generating a Bloodmage Spell List, you will want to be careful what spells you put on it, because you should probably also make Magic Initiate and Spell Sniper Feats for the Bloodmage, which could affect the balance of other classes as well.
I don't know why you're converting sorcerer slots into spell slots. Also, 9th level sorcerers have 4 3 3 3 1, not 4 3 3 2 1, and a 9th level blood mage gets average 32, not 33(well, actually 32.5 but in most circumstances with d&d you round down). I was talking about comparing a sorcerer's spellcasting ability in corruption points to the average corruption points a blood mage would get at that level.
"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
When I had stated it would be like pact magic, I was meaning that spells up to the 5ht level would be cast via one way, spells of the 6th level and higher will be cast as one per day through a different mechanic.
The original idea is that this class would not have any spell slots, only corruption points. So a blood mage would cast directly from the corruption points. A player would then decide how many points (up to 7, to cast it at the 5th level) they would use to cast the spell. This class would be able to upcast at will (up to the 5th level) making a class about resource managing.
Alternatively, you could give them relatively low base points, and allow them to gain extra points when a creature dies nearby, depending on the creature's level/cr.
"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
My plan is requiring to use the death of a humanoid to cast the 6+ level spells, so literally, a Blood mage would want to bring some peons along on boss fights just to cast his high spells when they die ... #ConflictWithThePaladin?
Level 1 ability
This is to offset the fact the Blood mage doesn't get healing. It is a lot of healing for a bonus action but it can only be applied to oneself.
Level 2 ability
One point to cast a slightly debuffed cure wounds on yourself? What? That's incredibly powerful, and could make the blood mage an incredibly powerful tank. With shield of corruption, that's more building towards being a tank, and it should also at least require a reaction.
"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
So here's my thoughts on it...
I like the idea of leaning into it being a bit Warlock-like, in terms of being a class with less "slots", but with the potential to fire each spell with more power.
I think the character should gain more corruption points on a short rest, but just 1d6. At early levels this will be beast, but once you hit around level 6 or 7 the gain will be fairly minor. I think capping them at 5th level spells keeps the class from being too easy to abuse, but at higher levels I feel like you're going to have to give the class some pretty good unique abilities to make up for the fact that they don't get access to 6th-9th level spells.
Still, I agree this feels more like a "chaos mage" than a "blood mage". Something that could be interesting would to be the ability to spend HP to gain corruption points. So how I would use it is... as a bonus action, a blood mage can roll a d6... their max hp is lowered by the number rolled, but they gain a number of corruption points equal to the number of hp lost. The lost max hp is recovered after taking a long rest. It's a feature that won't necessarily be used often, but making it effect max HP instead of just HP total makes it a harder gamble on the player's part.
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I think you are right.
Giving the class a level 1 ability that allows them to lower max hit points to regain corruption points is a good idea.
Honestly, I'd change the core mechanic to paying max health for corruption points and gaining max health by killing things.
"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
That sounds pretty interesting... it would be pretty hard to balance, but it would make for a really unique character to play as.
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And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
Im thinking you gotta balance it through corruption points .... Make Max health and corruption points interchangeable both ways .... lose health to gain corruption points and spend corruption points to gain health ... Then you could also gain corruption points by killing things (perhaps only humanoids, or maybe something like favored enemies)
Similar to spell slots with sorcery points!
"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
Second version fo the Corruption Points
That's incredibly underpowered, but that's okay if you're going with the idea that the blood mage has the potential to get much more powerful by sacrificing health. Perhaps you could even say that a blood mage actually starts with zero corruption points, and instead gaining corruption points is level based.
Also, I find it interesting that the most common blood mages would actually commonly be races like dwarves, hobgoblins, and other constitution granting races.
"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
Remember that the Blood Mage will be able to regain Corruption Points by killing creatures or sacrificing Maximum Hit Points.