Blood Magic Origin 3.0

(I have an original Blood Magic Origin that was actually the first thing I ever posted on DnDBeyond. After several years of thought and tinkering, I wanted to refine the subclass a bit).

You are fascinated by blood as an element that requires learning and manipulation, just as the other elements of the world. Your studies have allowed you to bend and utilize blood in a variety of ways. Through your bloodbending, you can manipulate both your own blood and the blood of others in matters of combat as well as subterfuge, movement, and other actions necessary.

Bloodletting Arcana

When you choose this subclass at 1st level, you gain the following features:

- You gain proficiency in light armor, shortswords, scimitars, and rapiers.

- Your max HP increases by +1 at first level. Also, at each subsequent level, when you gain additional HP when you level up, increase that total by +1.

- You also learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class. Each of these spells count as a Sorcerer spell for you, but doesn't count against the number of Sorcerer spells you know. Whenever you gain a sorcerer level, you can replace one spell you gained from this feature with another spell of the same level. The new spell must be a Necromancy or an Abjuration spell from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell list.

1st level: False Life, Cure Wounds

3rd level: Misty Step, Enhance Ability

5th level: Vampiric Touch, Slow

7th level: Death Ward, Blight

9th level: Contagion, Enervation

Bend Thy Blood

Starting at 1st level when you choose this subclass, you have mastered the magical bending of your own blood and can use it in various manners of combat, creativity, and subterfuge. 

You may use these spells as if they were cantrips, but you must usually harm yourself by rolling a Sanguine die and spending that rolled amount of HP in order to gain the blood to manipulate for these abilities to work. Your Sanguine die begins at 1d4 at 1st level and increases to 1d6 at 5th level, 1d8 at 11th level, and 1d10 at 17th level.

Some of these abilities also allow you to spend spell slots on them to increase their power.

Bloodbending Options (Self):

- Manipulate: This is essentially a Monk's Elemental Attunement or the Prestidigitation cantrip, but with blood. As an action, any blood you find within 30 ft on the ground, spattered on a wall, from a self-inflicted wound, etc., can be made to do simple, harmless tricks and nonsense. Or, perhaps, disguise a crime scene... 

- Weapon: As a bonus action, you roll your Sanguine die and spend the rolled HP to summon a weapon made of blood in your hand. The weapon lasts for 1 minute or until dispelled. You are proficient with this weapon and it may take any shape of a one-handed weapon you choose. This weapon deals 1d8 + your CHA modifier necrotic damage per hit, and you regain 1d4 HP per hit, and also has the following traits: Light, Finesse, Thrown (20/60), and Return. You may also choose to summon two Blood Weapons at once (costing 2 rolls of your Sanguine die). If you are wielding two Weapons in this fashion, you may use a bonus action to make a second attack on your turn. You may add your CHA modifier to the damage of the second attack. The weapon increases in power at 5th, 11th, and 17th level, increasing damage die to 2d8/3d8/4d8, and the HP regained is increased by +2/+4/+6.

- Barrier: As a reaction, you roll your Sanguine die and spend the rolled HP to grant you a shield of blood that reduces incoming damage from an attack equal to (three times the Sanguine die roll, rounded up + your CON modifier).

- Grasp: As an action, you roll your Sanguine die and spend the rolled HP to summon a whip of blood. Choose a target creature within 30 feet of you that you can see. That creature must make a DEX saving throw based on your spellcasting ability modifier. On a failed save, the creature takes 2d10 necrotic damage, and you can either knock it prone or pull it up to 30 feet closer to you. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage, and suffers no other effects. This can be cast from a spell slot, each level of spell slot increases damage dealt by 1d10 necrotic. Example: level 5 slot deals 7d10 necrotic damage.

- Blast: As an action, you may spend any number of Hit Die and then blast the spent blood either as a wave that affects all creatures within 30 feet of you or in a line 60 feet long and 5 feet wide, affecting all creatures in the line. All creatures hit by either attack must make a DEX saving throw based on your spellcasting modifier. On a failed save, the creature takes necrotic damage equal to the amount rolled on the spent Hit Die. On a successful save, it takes half damage. This can be cast from a spell slot, each level of spell slot increases damage dealt by 1 roll of your Sanguine die. Example: level 5 slot adds 5 Sanguine die rolls to the damage. You do lose the additional HP rolled with the Sanguine die.

- Infect: As an action, you roll your Sanguine die and spend the rolled HP to send your blood to infect a target creature within 60 feet of you that you can see that also has blood. The target creature must make a WIS saving throw based on your spellcasting modifier. On a failed save, the target takes necrotic damage equal to the amount rolled on the Sanguine die and has disadvantage on the next attack roll, ability check, or saving throw it attempts. The damage dealt by this spell increases to twice the Sanguine die roll at 5th level, three times the roll at 11th level, and four times the roll at 17th level.

Bend the Blood of the Dead

Starting at 6th level, you have advanced with your blood magic to the point where you may utilize the blood of corpses to fuel your abilities. You may use these spells as if they were cantrips, but there must be nearby corpses nearby so you have their blood to tap into.

Some of these abilities also allow you to spend spell slots to increase their power. 

Bloodbending Options (Corpses):

- Destabilize: As an action, you target a corpse within 30 feet of you that has blood. It then explodes as the blood within boils and bursts in a messy blast. All creatures within 5 feet of the exploding corpse must make a DEX saving throw based on your spellcasting modifier. On a failed save, a creature takes 2d10 necrotic damage. On a successful save, it takes half damage. This ability grows in strength as you progress in level: the base damage increases to 3d10 at 11th level and 4d10 at 17th level, and also the blast radius of the spell increases to 10 feet at 11th level. You may cast this ability using a spell slot; spending a spell slot not only doubles the blast radius of the spell, but each level of the spell slot used increases the damage dealt by 1d10. Example: level 5 spell slot would inflict 5d10 additional necrotic damage.

- Puppetry: As an action, you can target a Small or Medium corpse that has blood within 30 ft of you and manipulate the blood within the body to puppeteer the corpse into working on your behalf. Treat this as if you just cast Animate Dead on the body, but with the following restrictions: you can only reanimate the corpse as a Zombie, and this counts as a Concentration ability for you. You can only maintain Concentration on the Zombie for up to 10 minutes and cannot reanimate the same corpse more than once.

- Harvest: You take blood from nearby corpses and use it to fuel your sorcery. As an action, you harvest the blood from all corpses that have blood within 60 feet of you. A corpse's blood can only be harvested once. You may use the gathered blood to EITHER regain a number of Sorcery Points equal to the number of corpses harvested, OR regain a number of spell slots equal to half the number of corpses harvested, rounded down. You may also spend a spell slot when using this ability; each level of spell allows you to heal 1d6 HP for one corpse harvested. Example: level 5 slot allows you to heal 1d6 from each of up to 5 corpses.

- Extra-Sanguinary Perception: As an action, you taste of a corpse's blood. By tasting the blood, you gain advantage on ability checks to track similar creatures. For the next 8 hours, you remember the creature's species, enabling you to help sense when the blood of such a species is within 300 feet of you. You gain advantage on Perception, Nature, and Survival checks to determine such matters. 

- Corpse Lash: As an action, you take the blood of one corpse within 30 feet of you and send it out against one other creature within 30 feet of the corpse. The target creature must make a DEX saving throw or take 2d10 necrotic damage and you can either Grapple the target OR pull the target prone. On a successful save, the target takes half damage. You can choose to spend a spell slot to increase the damage of this ability, the level of the spell increases the damage by 1d10 necrotic. Example: level 5 spell deals 7d10 necrotic damage.

Bend the Blood of the Living

Starting at 14th level, you have advanced with your blood magic to the point where you may utilize the blood of other living creatures that have blood to fuel your abilities. You may use these spells as if they were cantrips, but your targets usually must fail saving throws so you have their blood to tap into, otherwise the spell will be wasted.

Some of these abilities also allow you to spend spell slots to increase their power. 

Bloodbending Options (Living Beings):

- Rip and Tear: As an action, choose a target creature that has blood within 60 feet of you, rip its blood out, and send it to attack another creature within 30 feet of the original target. The target creature must make a CON save based on your spellcasting modifier; it has disadvantage on the roll if it is below full health. On a successful save, nothing happens. If the creature fails on the save, it takes 2d8 necrotic damage and you then send its blood at the second target. Make a ranged spell attack against the second target; on a hit, the ripped blood eviscerates the second target for 2d8 necrotic damage. You may cast this using a spell slot; if you do so the damage dealt increases by 1d8 per spell level (example: level 5 slot deals 7d8 to first target and 7d8 to second).

- Haze: As an action, choose a target creature within 30 feet of you and cause its blood to pump faster. This can grant it some invigorated physical traits, or can cause it to twitch violently and go out of control. The creature must be willing to be affected. If willing, the creature must make a CON save based on your spellcasting modifier. If it succeeds on the save, its movement speed increases by 20 feet and it can take an additional Action on their next turn in combat. This Action can only be used to Attack, Dash, or Disengage. However, if the creature fails the CON save, they begin twitching so violently that they have disadvantage on all attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws until the end of its next turn. You may spend a spell slot to increase this ability's power; for each level of the spell, you extend the duration of the effects by 1 additional around. Example:  a 4th level spell slot increases the duration to 30 seconds, while a 9th level increases the duration to 1 minute.

- Siphon: You rip blood from a target creature and grant it to yourself or to an ally. As an action, you target a creature within 30 feet of you that has blood, forcing it to make a CON saving throw based on your spellcasting ability modifier. On a failed save, the creature is Stunned until the start of your next turn and you forcefully wrench that creature's blood from their veins, draining them of 1d10 HP. On a successful save, nothing happens. If blood is drained from the target, you may direct it to yourself or an allied creature within 30 feet of you. Whether it's you or the ally, that creature can spend 1 Hit Die to gain an amount of HP equal to the amount drained from the target. You may spend a spell slot to increase this ability's power; for each level of the spell, you increase the amount of blood siphoned by 1d10. Example, a 5th level slot increases it to 6d10 HP siphoned.

- Boil: You can cause a nearby creature's blood to boil over and violently explode. As an action, you may spend any number of your Hit Die to infect a creature within 60 feet of you and cause its blood to boil out of control, emitting a massive bloody explosion in a 20-foot radius sphere from the target. The original target must make a CON save or take 2d8 necrotic damage for each Hit Die you spend on this ability. It only takes half damage on a successful save, rounded down. All creatures within the 20-foot radius of the explosion also take half of the damage dealt to the original target, rounded down.

-Suffocate: You close off vital arteries and cause a nearby creature's blood to stop pumping in their body. As an action, a target creature that has blood within 60 feet of you must roll a CON save or is considered suffocating for the next 1 minute or until your concentration is broken. Follow 5e rules on Suffocation while this ability is in effect. If you break concentration and the target creature is at 0 HP but not yet dead, it immediately stabilizes. On a successful CON save, nothing happens.

- Blood Tracking: You may track an individual if you have a sample of their blood. You must have a Vial of a target creature's blood; by tasting of it, you can determine whether that creature is within 1 mile of you, and if it's within 1 mile, you can also determine what direction the creature is from you. You have advantage on Perception, Nature, and Survival checks to determine such matters.

Mastery of Blood

Starting at 18th level, you have mastered your blood magic to the point where you may control other creatures via their blood and emit other truly terrifying displays of sanguinary power. You may use these spells as if they were cantrips, but using and maintaining these abilities will require more than just concentration from you. 

Bloodbending Options (Mastery):

- Control: By infecting a creature with your own magical blood, you can turn a target creature into your unwilling servant temporarily. As an action, choose a target creature within 120 feet of you that you can see and has blood, then roll 1 of your Sanguine die and spend the rolled HP to infect that creature. Target must make WIS save based on your spellcasting modifier, though with disadvantage. If succeeds, nothing happens to the target. If fails, you have complete control of that creature for up to 1 minute and may order it as if it was a loyal companion to you. At the end of each subsequent turn, the controlled creature re-rolls WIS save, now without disadvantage; a success breaks it free. However, to maintain this ability you must roll another Sanguine die per turn of control, losing the HP each time. 

- Rush: As a bonus action, you roll 1 Sanguine die and spend the rolled HP to coax your body into dissolving into a sentient mass of blood and then quickly reforming, essentially teleporting using your own life force. Your very movement becomes extremely difficult to track, allowing you to not only move very quickly but also conduct multiple actions against one or more enemies in a single round of combat. For every 5 feet you move on your turn, you may take an extra action against a target creature within 10 feet of you. This action can only be used to Attack or Disengage. If you are targeting only a single creature with this ability, the target has a chance to predict your movements, catch you in the act, and stop your onslaught. Starting with your second extra action and continuing for each of your extra actions afterward, the target creature rolls a WIS save. On a successful save, they can use their reaction to make a melee attack or a Grapple check against you while you're teleporting. If they hit or grab you, it snaps you out of this spell. You also must roll another Sanguine die for every extra action you take. This spell ends when you run through your full movement on your turn. If you make it through your full movement without being stopped, you gain one level of exhaustion when the spell ends.

- Life Link: You merge your own life force with another creature's, either to help keep them alive or to hinder them. As an action, choose a target creature within 30 feet of you and roll 1 Sanguine die, spending the rolled HP to infect that creature. The creature must make a WIS save. On a success, nothing happens. On a failed save, your life forces are linked. Every time you or the creature takes damage, the other takes identical damage. Any conditions inflicted on either you or the creature also affects the other, provided that those conditions don't end the link by knocking you unconscious. Also, any immunities that the creature enjoys are now only resistances. The link either lasts for 1 hour or until the creature has taken damage equal to your maximum HP total.