Circle of Bloodshed

It is strange now to think of druids and their Circles as anything similar to modern day wizards and arcanists: the archaic traditions of half-misunderstood, half-forgotten bywords, myths, and folk-belief versus tried and true, logical, and repeatable results. Surely druid magics are a product of their rituals and sacrifices to nameless nature deities and their known dalliances with the realm of Faerie? Ah, but then you’ve been told an insidious lie perpetuated so artlessly by cunning old men, in order to diminish their links to the sordid, the dark, the forbidden. This is because the first of wizards were the druids. Even of old, they would select those of the special sight: green boys and girls who find themselves noticing the strange world around them more than their peers; to be taught their artes in secluded forest clearings. Barely hedge-mages now by our estimation, these were men who sought to understand and speak the language of the world that revolved around them. And had they not succeeded? Now, it is a common sight to see a druid speak to a passing bird, or even touch a tree to receive their daily news, be the midwife to a farmer’s cow, or quietly end the suffering of a rabid dog. The wonder is lost on us when the matronly village-healer provides a poultice or a draught diligently taught to her by a kindly passing druid in her girl-hood so many years ago; forgetting why this specific combination of plant-matter, brackish river water, and animal-humours is efficacious at all in easing muscle-aches, or birth-pains, or even the prevention of conception. We dismiss such sights as a sort of belief, that such things are earned on faith from forgotten forest gods like the divine miracles granted a knight-priest or a church cleric. What we fail to see is the sharp, ever-perceptive mind of a philosopher of the natural world, of a casual polyglot capable of speaking as many languages as there are creatures around his or her domain, of a constant ambassador of civilization as it encroaches on the forest glades, and on the ancient meadows, and on the dark, dark woods.

 ~ translated excerpt from foreword of ‘The Fyrst Of The Wyse,’ by Lord Magister Solerro, Count D'Verloren

 

Circle of Bloodshed

For the layman, Druids of the Circle of Bloodshed are indistinguishable from their other brethren; aloof but kindly personages who commune with nature and intercede with the primal world on behalf of simple folk. Both of these things a druid may be capable of, but the truth is, all druids know such power may sometimes have a steep cost; that the price for this intercession may require something more to balance the scales. Druids of the Circle of Bloodshed have learned to take their payment and pay such tolls using the vitality coursing in blood. Regular folk must take care what boon they ask of such a druid. The difference lies in the subtleties of things: these druids would smother the lycanthrope youth to save the village oxen herds; they would scuttle the ship and drown the sick crew to prevent plague reaching harbor. Were such a druid perhaps asked to dowse for iron by the foreman of a dried-up mine, the druid might ask the assistance of the foreman's most able-bodied worker, returning much later with the location of a new ore vein and without their borrowed companion. These unfortunates are usually found days later: bound with ropes of hemp, throats cut, with mouthfuls of poisonous mistletoe berries, half-sunk in the deepest part of the nearby peat bog.

 

Blood Manipulation

Upon choosing this Druid Circle at 2nd level, you become proficient in Medicine. If you are already proficient in this skill, you double your proficiency modifier whenever you make checks associated with this skill. In addition, you learn the Chill Touch cantrip, which doesn’t count against the number of druid cantrips you know. For you, the hand appears to be made of glistening blood, its range is reduced to 60 feet, and in addition to its regular effects, on a roll of a 5 or 6 on a d6 die, creatures that are not undead have disadvantage on attack rolls against you until the end of your next turn.

 

Blood Conduit

Starting when you choose this Druid Circle at 2nd level, you learn to tap into the well of energies that is inherent in the blood of all living things. With this energy you can transfer hit points up to your Wisdom modifier + three times your druid level between your druid and other targets. This pool of energy replenishes whenever you finish a long rest.

As an action, touch another creature. If the creature is unwilling it must make a Constitution saving throw against your Spell Save DC (8 + your proficiency modifier + your Wisdom modifier). If they succeed, the ability does not affect them and you may not attempt it on them again for another 24 hours. If they fail, they know you have created a conduit between you.

Upon touching an affected target you may transfer hit points between you. You can either drain hit points from the subject to heal your druid by the same amount, or draining your hit points to heal the subject. In both instances the limit is the maximum amount of conduit energy remaining. If you are fully healed, you may use this ability to gain temporary hit points. The temporary hit points remain as normal but may be drained away to heal a creature connected to you with the conduit. You cannot give another creature temporary hit points using the conduit.

Alternatively, you can expend 3 points from the conduit pool to influence the way it acts and behaves for a short time. You have advantage on Charisma (Persuasion or Deception, your choice) checks against the affected creature and it is friendly to you for 10 minutes. It is unaware that it was charmed. Creatures immune to being Charmed are not affected by this apart from the transference of hit points itself.

This ability has no effect on undead and constructs. The conduit closes at the end of your turn.

Bloodshed Spells

Your understanding of the primal power present in blood fills you with the ability to cast certain spells. At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level you gain access to circle spells that tap into the coursing vitality of a living creature. You gain the following associated spells as circle spells.

Once you gain access to a circle spell, you always have it prepared, and it doesn’t count against the number of spells you can prepare each day. If you gain access to a spell that doesn’t appear on the druid spell list, the spell is nonetheless a druid spell for you.

Druid Level	BLOODSHED Spells
3rd	command, inflict wounds
5th	enemies abound, life transference
7th	blight, death ward
9th	awaken, modify memory

 

Simulacrum Vitae

Beginning at 6th level you learn to use the energy of your Wild Shape ability to influence the ebbing life force within the newly dead. As an action, you can expend one use of your Wild Shape feature to call the memory of life into a fresh, or still bleeding corpse, rather than assuming a beast form.

You target a creature medium or smaller within 60 feet of you that you can see that has died within the last minute, and a cord of pulsing red energy leaps from your hand towards the creature. The creature’s body discombobulates, and melts into red oozing slime and reforms into a Blood Puppet.

The Blood Puppet is friendly to your companions and obeys your commands. See this creature’s game statistics in the Blood Puppet stat block. A Blood Puppet remembers things from its former life, especially recent happenings, and is a willing subject of interrogation for such things that it knew. It behaves listlessly and speaks in a monotone if it could speak before it died, but it recognizes people that it knew in life. This recognition is driven by its memories, and lacks emotional context. For example: someone it may have hated in life is reduced to someone that it previously knew, and acts accordingly; or someone that it cared for previously no longer provokes the same care or adoration as it previously does. Thus, it may speak of things it never would have in life to those that approach it, such as secrets it held, which now hold no value to the Blood Puppet. It appears as a medium-sized, humanoid-shaped creature regardless of its previous form, with a pulsing translucent membrane for skin, keeping in a glistening red liquid of indeterminate substance, with only the suggestion of eyes, nose or a mouth. It does not register as Undead to abilities or spells that try and detect its undeath, but is affected by harmful effects that specifically target undead creatures such as a Turn Undead.

In combat, a Blood Puppet shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. While active, you share a telepathic link with the Blood puppet as if it were under the effects of a Dominate Monster with no chances of it breaking free via a saving throw. The Blood puppet can no longer use weapons as it did in life. To attack it will try to bite at its target to drink blood; the magics animating it is similar, though of much lesser magnitude, to those that gave rise to vampires.

The Blood Puppet lasts for 1 hour, until it is reduced to 0 hit points, until it is dismissed, or until you use your Wild Shape to create a new Blood Puppet. The Blood Puppet’s duration increases to 8 hours by 14th level. You may only have one Blood Puppet active at any one time. Once a Blood Puppet dies, the red liquid within it dulls in color as it shrivels into a husk the color of stone, small enough to fit in the palm, shortly crumbling into dust. Creatures transformed into a Blood Puppet can be restored to life only by means of a True Resurrection or a Wish spell.

 

Blood Puppet

Medium Undead, Neutral

Armor Class 14

Hit Points equal to its Constitution modifier + your Wisdom modifier + five times your level in this class

Speed 50 ft., burrow 5 ft.

STR           DEX          CON          INT           WIS           CHA

16(+3)     14(+2)      16(+3)     10(+0)       11(+0)        7(-2)

Saving Throws Dex +5*  Con +6*  Wis +3*

Damage Immunities Poison

Condition Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion, Poisoned

Senses Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10

Languages Understands All Languages It Spoke In Life But Only Speaks In Common

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Semblance of Life. The Blood puppet is undetectable to abilities that would serve to detect an undead creature. It still suffers from effects that are specifically harmful to the undead such as a Turn Undead ability. In addition, it regains 2 hit points at the start of its turn. If the it takes radiant or necrotic damage, the Blood Puppet does not regain 2 hit points at the start of the Blood Puppet’s next turn.

 Bloody Largess*. The following numbers increase when your proficiency bonus increases by 1: the Blood puppet’s skill and saving throw bonuses above increase by 1, the bonuses to hit and damage of its regular attack increases by 1, and the bonus to damage of its Violent Hemorrhage increases by 2.

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Actions

Vicious Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5* to Hit, range 5ft., one target creature can see. Hit: 10 (2d4 +6*) slashing damage. The Blood Puppet is healed for half the damage dealt in hit points if the target creature is not Undead or a Construct.

Violent Hemorrhage. Unless the damage that reduces the Blood Puppet to 0 hit points is radiant or from a critical hit, the Blood Puppet bursts asunder in an explosion of vitriolic gore. Each creature in a 10-foot radius must make a Constitution saving throw. A target takes 2d6+4* acid damage and is poisoned on a failed save, or takes half damage and is not poisoned on a success.

Hemographic Psychometry

By 10th level, you begin to see memories stored in shed blood, and you gain advantage on Intelligence (Investigation and History) checks dealing in places where a quantity of blood was spilled. For example, when tracking a fleeing creature using the blood trail it left after being wounded, you may see the destination the creature is running to or the allies it thinks may help it in its time of need; you may also see the distant echoes of bloody battles long ago or scenes of foul play and those suffering from sickness in the blood.

Conduit Maledictum

Beginning at 10th level, whenever you use your Blood Conduit ability, you can expend 5 of your remaining conduit pool to remove a level of exhaustion from an ally, or inflict a level of exhaustion on an enemy. In addition, your study of the body has allowed you to remove poisons and disease from the blood of your allies. Each poison or disease you remove will each cost 5 of your conduit’s energy.

Furthermore, your understanding of the blood and the ailments that afflict it has evolved further and it allows you to spend 5 points from your conduit pool to inflict a disease of your choice directly into the blood of a hostile creature as listed for the Contagion spell via your Blood Conduit ability. Each disease you inflict on a creature will take 5 points:

• Blinding Sickness. Pain grips the creature’s mind, and its eyes turn milky white. The creature has disadvantage on Wisdom checks and Wisdom saving throws an is blinded.
• Filth Fever. A raging fever sweeps through the creature’s body. The creature has disadvantage on Strength checks, Strength saving throws, and attack rolls that use Strength.
• Flesh Rot. The creature’s flesh decays. It has disadvantage on Charisma checks and vulnerability to all damage.
• Mindfire. The creature’s mind becomes feverish. The creature has disadvantage on Intelligence checks and Intelligence saving throws, and the creature behaves as if under the Confusion spell during combat.
• Seizure. The creature is overcome with shaking. The creature has disadvantage on Dexterity checks, Dexterity saving throws, and attack rolls that use Dexterity.
• Slimy Doom. The creature begins to bleed uncontrollably. The creature has disadvantage on Constitution checks and Constitution saving throws. In addition whenever the creature takes damage, it is stunned until the end of its next turn.

Crystallized Vitality

By 14th level, you learn to condense the power of blood into a solid, tangible form. Whenever you use your Simulacrum Vitae ability, you have the option of creating a Hemocrystal instead of raising a Blood Puppet. Alternatively, if you have an active Blood Puppet that is at more than half its hit point maximum, you can expend one use of your Wild Shape to convert it into a Hemocrystal.

Power erupts from your hands and the recently dead creature melts into the familiar red ooze, but condenses instead into a smooth, bright-crimson gemstone about the size of a walnut. You may only have up to two Hemocrystals in your possession at any one time. The Hemocrystal remains for 8 hours until used or until you take a long rest. While it persists, you can use the Hemocrystal as your druidic focus. You can only create a maximum of 3 Hemocrystals per day, before a long rest.

The Hemocrystal is an unstable creation, and in another creature’s hands it breaks violently within two rounds, unleashing echoes of painful memory and primal power, causing any creatures within a 5-foot radius to make an Intelligence saving throw or take 4d10 psychic damage on a failed save, and half the damage on a successful one. The Hemocryst ruptures only if touched by other creatures apart from yourself.

As an action, you can consume the energies trapped within the Hemocrystal to do one of the following:

• You can use the Hemocrystal to cast a 5th level spell or lower without using a spell slot. You will still need to supply any consumed material components that have a gold cost in order to do so.
• You can regain all of your spent Blood Conduit energy.
• You can remove up to two points of exhaustion from yourself or another creature and restore up to half its maximum hit dice.
• You create a protective shield of red sparking energy around you, you gain temporary hit points equal to half of one of your Blood Puppets' hit point maximum, rounded down.
• You can summon a Blood Puppet in an unoccupied space within 30-feet of you. Having come from a Hemocrystal, this Blood Puppet has had all memory of its previous life scoured away. It no longer remembers information from its previous life and is of basic child-like intelligence. It speaks and understands Common due to its telepathic link with you.