For our next campaign I'll be playing an Ixalan Vampire (details freely available on the WotC site, page 14) and I want to make a build around making the Bloodthirst ability into my signature attack:
Bloodthirst: You can drain blood and life energy from a willing creature, or one that is grappled by you, incapacitated, or restrained. Make a melee attack against the target. If you hit, you deal 1 piercing damage and 1d6 necrotic damage. The target’s hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken, and you regain hit points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
Feast of Blood: When you drain blood with your Bloodthirst ability, you experience a surge of vitality. Your speed increases by 10 feet, and you gain advantage on Strength and Dexterity checks and saving throws for 1 minute.
Assumptions:
Bloodthirst is a natural weapon attack (not stated explicitly, but lines up with other racial attacks) with no additional properties
Bloodthirst does not count as an unarmed attack (RAI as per multiple Crawford tweets for similar abilities)
Crucially, as the wording is 'equal to the necrotic damage taken' then (RAW at least) adding extra damage dice or causing the attack to deal extra necrotic damage also boosts the self-healing.
A concept built around enhancing this ability should have both:
A way to fulfil one of the necessary conditions (incapacitated, paralysed, petrified, restrained, stunned, unconscious, grappled by the vampire) - without help from others, as our party does not do the whole 'synergy' thing.
Boosts to the necrotic damage that Bloodthirst inflicts
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Concept 1 - Zealot Barbarian
Meets the condition by being the king of grappling, and can even bite on the same turn as the grapple with Extra Attack.
Features which improve Bloodthirst:
Rage damage (+2 to +4, necrotic as it specifically adds to the roll)
Divine Fury (+1d6 and half of level once per turn)
Brutal Critical (+1d6 to +3d6 on a critical hit)
Pros - Pretty easy to fulfil the Bloodthirst requirement, can work as a self-healing tank, can constantly wear waistcoat thanks to Unarmoured Defence
Cons - MAD, racial bonuses do little for the class, falls off a little at higher levels
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Concept 2 - Death Cleric
Meets the condition with a (weaker) grapple, or more likely by casting Hold Person / Monster
Features which improve Bloodthirst:
Channel Divinity (+5 and twice level, once to thrice per rest)
Divine Strike (+1d8 to +2d8 once per turn)
Hold Person / Monster (auto crit if used to meet the condition)
Pros - Can essentially heal self fully with Channel Divinity, pulls ahead on average at higher levels, fits vampire image more closely
Cons - Much more awkward to meet Bloodthirst's requirement, less survivability in melee range, may need to multiclass for reliable disabling skill
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So, I'm looking for advice and suggestions on:
Ways to reliably meet the status condition prerequisite (including from other classes)
Ways to add to the necrotic damage roll (again, including from other classes. Hex would've been great if not for concentration!)
Are the concepts going to be unplayably bad? It's a fun group, the character doesn't need to be amazing, just not worthless.
I disagree with the assumption that Bloodthirst is a natural weapon attack instead of just a special melee attack... there aren't many features that key off of whether something is a "natural weapon" or not, so that part isn't what's alarming... but there are a lot of features that discriminate between "melee weapon attack" vs other types of melee attack. Nothing in Bloodthirst describes it as a melee weapon attack, it doesn't use a weapon, you acknowledge yourself that it isn't an unarmed strike... so RAW it looks to me to just be a special melee attack, like Grapple and Shove. Note, this means that the Zealot build above wont work.
Untyped extra dice (e.g. Sneak Attack) probably don't just match the base damage type, they probably do untyped damage. This is a blank spot in the rules with some big repercussions for lots of game situations and builds, so its a bummer they didn't devote some more space to discussing it... but I would assume that your DM will not allow a Bloodthirst to do extra necrotic damage because of Hunters Mark or the like. Of course, spells and abilities that explicitly add necrotic damage would seem to be fair game, and would enhance your bite as you describe.
I will say, Bloodthirst is interesting among special melee attacks in that it doesn't provide what action must be taken to use it. Grapple and Shove both require the Attack action, so aren't usually elligible to a replace a Bonus Action or Reaction attack. Bloodthirst is more flexible, if you can find a feature that lets you make "an attack" or "a melee attack" as a Bonus Action instead of a "weapon attack". Opportunity Attacks already allow you to make "a melee attack" not tied to being a weapon attack, so Bloodthirst is OA-elligible.
A "grappled" or "restrained" creature is very easy to set up with a Fighter focused on grapples. Bonus points, as you unlock more attacks in your attack action, even more bites become possible! Not much needs to be said beyond "take Grappler for the advantage," but I'll add some more detail. Tavern Brawler doesn't provide you much benefit over just using your first attack to grapple, unless you want to be making Unarmed Strikes in the first place (monk levels). Its hard to find a Fighter subclass that doesn't primarily benefit "weapon attacks," so synergies are limited... the Cavalier level 10 and 18 abilities will let you make more (Bloodthirst) Opportunity Attacks, so that probably wins out, but Eldritch Knight might be nice for giving you spells (though the features that interact with cantrips/weapon attacks will be largely useless). Purple Dragon Knight has no direct synergies at all, but kind of vibes with the Conquistador thing that Ixalan Vampires are supposed to have!
You need not go Fighter 20 for a grappler, though other class splashes will slow down your multi-attack progression. One or two levels of Rogue to get Expertise in Athletics is a very nice splash, which can more than make up for having less than 20 Strength until you get there. Mastermind could be a cute subclass to pick up if you want to go deeper into the class, because it will let you use your Bonus Action to help your team from 30 foot range while you're busy dragging around your blood bag, but I wouldn't go any deeper into the class than that since Sneak Attack won't be applying on your bites. Scout 3 has a hilarious reaction that I love to stick on grapplers (usually because I'm building to supplex and weaponize move speed), but wouldn't really do much for you other than giving you a way to more effectively separate squishy targets from their minions that are chasing you down. You could take Bard instead to get this expertise, but it takes more levels to do so and is more MAD... Glamour Bard (as discussed below) has some nice charming abilities which might vibe with your theme.
Oath of Glory Paladin and Barbarian also get honorary mention for possibly improving your general Grapple capabilities, but neither feel necessary, especially if you pick up Expertise in Athletics.
Option 2: The Hypnotist
A "willing" or "incapacitated" creature is subject to Bloodthirst, which opens up quite a few paths to charm your way into their veins. On the "incapacitated" front, the School of Enchantment Wizard has a strong level 2 ability which incapacitates others until the end of your next turn, but it does take an Action, meaning that biting them would require either two rounds or Action Surge. At high levels, you can even make them forget what happened during this time, so I think Enchantment Wizard is probably the best option for a Vampire that wants to seduce its prey. Other spells, like Hypnotic Pattern, Sleep, or Hold Person also inflict incapacitated... but many will break when the target takes any damage, so getting multiple bites in at once may be a challenge.
"Willing" is a pretty fuzzy concept that your DM will have a lot of control over, so its dangerous to build around. The College of Glamour Bard has abilities at 3 and 6 which may be relevant: at 3, you can make several people at once "idolize you" after a one minute performance. That may be enough to get them to consent to being bitten once... but making the attack/damaging them will then break the effect for them and their allies. At level 6, you can start throwing around Command at will with a Bonus Action, but Command can be tough to find words for that will do what you want. Would "submit" or "consent" be enough to command a creature to let you bite it (multiple times)? Would "embrace" be enough to command a creature to grapple itself to you? Your mileage may vary with your DM. At 14, the Great Old One Warlock develops the possibility of even turning a creature into a permanently-Charmed thrall, but even then... Charmed doesn't actually require that the DM allow you to command that creature or do whatever you please with it, it simply requires that they take no hostile actions against you. What (if anything) beyond that your DM permits is ultimately up to them.
Were I to design a character that takes advantage of several of these tricks, I'd suggest an Enchantment Wizard 14, possibly with either Glamor Bard 6 (for being able to double-Command pairs of targets at will with Bonus Actions), or Eldritch Knight 6 (for bumping up your multiclass spell slots slightly, while unlocking Action Surge for 2 more bites the same round you Enthrall someone). At least two levels of fighter for Action Surge (for same-round biting after Enthrall) seems hard to pass up, and wouldn't slow you down much even if you want to focus on Wizard.
Option 3: The Beast
A wildshaped Druid retains the racial features of their humanoid form, so long as the Beast is "physically capable" of utilizing them. For Bloodthirst, this would mean, so long as the Beast has a mouth with which to Bite, you still have Bloodthirst! Beasts don't have many ways to incapacitate, but several have a Grapple option, or even one which Restrains! Ultimately this is a riff off of Option 1 above, so having multiple attacks per attack action and/or Action Surge will be helpful, because by default a Beast's multiattack will let you use its special attacks multiple times, not any and all other special melee attacks a character has available (like Grapple, Shove, and Bloodthirst). Expertise in Athletics unfortunately won't help, because the DCs set in Beast special attacks aren't dependent on an opposed Athletics check like normal.
Unfortunately, many of the early contenders for Grapple Beasts (e.g. Giant Crab) have a swim speed, and thus aren't eligible for Wild Shape until at least Druid 4. However, in later levels once things like Giant Constrictor Snake open up, you can start to really rampage.
Hi all,
For our next campaign I'll be playing an Ixalan Vampire (details freely available on the WotC site, page 14) and I want to make a build around making the Bloodthirst ability into my signature attack:
Bloodthirst: You can drain blood and life energy from a willing creature, or one that is grappled by you, incapacitated, or restrained. Make a melee attack against the target. If you hit, you deal 1 piercing damage and 1d6 necrotic damage. The target’s hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken, and you regain hit points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
Feast of Blood: When you drain blood with your Bloodthirst ability, you experience a surge of vitality. Your speed increases by 10 feet, and you gain advantage on Strength and Dexterity checks and saving throws for 1 minute.
Assumptions:
A concept built around enhancing this ability should have both:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Concept 1 - Zealot Barbarian
Meets the condition by being the king of grappling, and can even bite on the same turn as the grapple with Extra Attack.
Features which improve Bloodthirst:
Pros - Pretty easy to fulfil the Bloodthirst requirement, can work as a self-healing tank, can constantly wear waistcoat thanks to Unarmoured Defence
Cons - MAD, racial bonuses do little for the class, falls off a little at higher levels
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Concept 2 - Death Cleric
Meets the condition with a (weaker) grapple, or more likely by casting Hold Person / Monster
Features which improve Bloodthirst:
Pros - Can essentially heal self fully with Channel Divinity, pulls ahead on average at higher levels, fits vampire image more closely
Cons - Much more awkward to meet Bloodthirst's requirement, less survivability in melee range, may need to multiclass for reliable disabling skill
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, I'm looking for advice and suggestions on:
Thanks for reading!
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
I will say, Bloodthirst is interesting among special melee attacks in that it doesn't provide what action must be taken to use it. Grapple and Shove both require the Attack action, so aren't usually elligible to a replace a Bonus Action or Reaction attack. Bloodthirst is more flexible, if you can find a feature that lets you make "an attack" or "a melee attack" as a Bonus Action instead of a "weapon attack". Opportunity Attacks already allow you to make "a melee attack" not tied to being a weapon attack, so Bloodthirst is OA-elligible.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Option 1: The Grappler
A "grappled" or "restrained" creature is very easy to set up with a Fighter focused on grapples. Bonus points, as you unlock more attacks in your attack action, even more bites become possible! Not much needs to be said beyond "take Grappler for the advantage," but I'll add some more detail. Tavern Brawler doesn't provide you much benefit over just using your first attack to grapple, unless you want to be making Unarmed Strikes in the first place (monk levels). Its hard to find a Fighter subclass that doesn't primarily benefit "weapon attacks," so synergies are limited... the Cavalier level 10 and 18 abilities will let you make more (Bloodthirst) Opportunity Attacks, so that probably wins out, but Eldritch Knight might be nice for giving you spells (though the features that interact with cantrips/weapon attacks will be largely useless). Purple Dragon Knight has no direct synergies at all, but kind of vibes with the Conquistador thing that Ixalan Vampires are supposed to have!
You need not go Fighter 20 for a grappler, though other class splashes will slow down your multi-attack progression. One or two levels of Rogue to get Expertise in Athletics is a very nice splash, which can more than make up for having less than 20 Strength until you get there. Mastermind could be a cute subclass to pick up if you want to go deeper into the class, because it will let you use your Bonus Action to help your team from 30 foot range while you're busy dragging around your blood bag, but I wouldn't go any deeper into the class than that since Sneak Attack won't be applying on your bites. Scout 3 has a hilarious reaction that I love to stick on grapplers (usually because I'm building to supplex and weaponize move speed), but wouldn't really do much for you other than giving you a way to more effectively separate squishy targets from their minions that are chasing you down. You could take Bard instead to get this expertise, but it takes more levels to do so and is more MAD... Glamour Bard (as discussed below) has some nice charming abilities which might vibe with your theme.
Oath of Glory Paladin and Barbarian also get honorary mention for possibly improving your general Grapple capabilities, but neither feel necessary, especially if you pick up Expertise in Athletics.
Option 2: The Hypnotist
A "willing" or "incapacitated" creature is subject to Bloodthirst, which opens up quite a few paths to charm your way into their veins. On the "incapacitated" front, the School of Enchantment Wizard has a strong level 2 ability which incapacitates others until the end of your next turn, but it does take an Action, meaning that biting them would require either two rounds or Action Surge. At high levels, you can even make them forget what happened during this time, so I think Enchantment Wizard is probably the best option for a Vampire that wants to seduce its prey. Other spells, like Hypnotic Pattern, Sleep, or Hold Person also inflict incapacitated... but many will break when the target takes any damage, so getting multiple bites in at once may be a challenge.
"Willing" is a pretty fuzzy concept that your DM will have a lot of control over, so its dangerous to build around. The College of Glamour Bard has abilities at 3 and 6 which may be relevant: at 3, you can make several people at once "idolize you" after a one minute performance. That may be enough to get them to consent to being bitten once... but making the attack/damaging them will then break the effect for them and their allies. At level 6, you can start throwing around Command at will with a Bonus Action, but Command can be tough to find words for that will do what you want. Would "submit" or "consent" be enough to command a creature to let you bite it (multiple times)? Would "embrace" be enough to command a creature to grapple itself to you? Your mileage may vary with your DM. At 14, the Great Old One Warlock develops the possibility of even turning a creature into a permanently-Charmed thrall, but even then... Charmed doesn't actually require that the DM allow you to command that creature or do whatever you please with it, it simply requires that they take no hostile actions against you. What (if anything) beyond that your DM permits is ultimately up to them.
Were I to design a character that takes advantage of several of these tricks, I'd suggest an Enchantment Wizard 14, possibly with either Glamor Bard 6 (for being able to double-Command pairs of targets at will with Bonus Actions), or Eldritch Knight 6 (for bumping up your multiclass spell slots slightly, while unlocking Action Surge for 2 more bites the same round you Enthrall someone). At least two levels of fighter for Action Surge (for same-round biting after Enthrall) seems hard to pass up, and wouldn't slow you down much even if you want to focus on Wizard.
Option 3: The Beast
A wildshaped Druid retains the racial features of their humanoid form, so long as the Beast is "physically capable" of utilizing them. For Bloodthirst, this would mean, so long as the Beast has a mouth with which to Bite, you still have Bloodthirst! Beasts don't have many ways to incapacitate, but several have a Grapple option, or even one which Restrains! Ultimately this is a riff off of Option 1 above, so having multiple attacks per attack action and/or Action Surge will be helpful, because by default a Beast's multiattack will let you use its special attacks multiple times, not any and all other special melee attacks a character has available (like Grapple, Shove, and Bloodthirst). Expertise in Athletics unfortunately won't help, because the DCs set in Beast special attacks aren't dependent on an opposed Athletics check like normal.
Unfortunately, many of the early contenders for Grapple Beasts (e.g. Giant Crab) have a swim speed, and thus aren't eligible for Wild Shape until at least Druid 4. However, in later levels once things like Giant Constrictor Snake open up, you can start to really rampage.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.