Arcane Tradition: Blood Magic
"Sacrifice sharpens the weave. Every wound is a promise kept."
— Seraphine of the Crimson Vault

The Blood Magic tradition embraces the ancient and forbidden practice of hemocraft—magic fueled by the sacrifice of one's own life force. These wizards carve spells into their flesh, channel pain into power, and curse enemies with marks that bleed them dry.

Where other wizards fear death, the blood mage wields it—weaponizing their mortality to bend the arcane to their will. Every ability in this tradition offers powerful effects at a cost, demanding razor-sharp resource management and tactical aggression. If traditional wizards are masters of precision, blood mages are berserk surgeons, carving power from the brink of death itself.

This subclass is not recommended for new players. It is designed for those who enjoy risk-reward gameplay, glass-cannon strategies, and narrative themes of sacrifice, mortality, and control. A blood mage wins by bleeding smarter, not longer.

⚠️ Player Note: Blood Magic is an advanced subclass built around strategic self-harm and timing. You will be sacrificing your own HP frequently, and most effects bypass resistances and cannot be reduced or prevented. Survival is a puzzle—solve it or bleed out.

Blood Mark

Blood Mark

As a bonus action, choose a creature within 60 feet. You inscribe a volatile magical brand upon its life force. This mark lasts for 1 minute and requires your concentration (as if concentrating on a spell).

When you do, take necrotic damage equal to half your wizard level (rounded up).

This damage bypasses resistance, immunity, and temporary hit points, and cannot be avoided, reduced, or redirected.

While the target is marked:

• The first time each turn you cast a Wizard spell or cantrip that targets the creature, you may cause it to take additional necrotic damage equal to your wizard level + Intelligence modifier (minimum 1).

• This bonus damage can trigger only once per turn.

The mark ends early if:

• You cast a spell of 5th level or higher

• You lose concentration

• You inscribe a new Blood Mark

Uses: A number of times per long rest equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum 1)
Recharge: Regain 1 use on a short rest and all on a long rest.

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Additional Rule Clarification:

• Only the wizard who inscribed the mark benefits from its effects.

Bloodcurse

Bloodcurse

When a creature affected by your Blood Mark deals damage to you, you may use your reaction to invoke a bloodcurse.

That creature must make a Constitution saving throw.

DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + Intelligence modifier

On a failed save, it takes damage equal to the amount it dealt to you.

• If the damage had a specific type, the reflected damage is of the same type

• If the damage was mixed or untyped, the damage becomes necrotic

Uses: Twice per long rest
Restriction: No more than once per round

Clarification:
If you are under the effect of Crimson Carapace when using Bloodcurse, the damage reflected is equal to the damage you took after applying resistance.

Bloodstorm

Bloodstorm

You detonate the arcane pressure in a creature’s veins, unleashing a cascade of pain through nearby flesh like lightning through a thunderhead of blood.

When you cast a Wizard spell that:

• Targets only one creature, and

• That creature has blood (not a construct, elemental, ooze, or undead),

you may choose to trigger a Bloodstorm.

When you do, take necrotic damage based on the spell’s level:

• Cantrip or 1st–3rd level spell: Take necrotic damage equal to half your wizard level (rounded up)

• 4th–5th level spell: Take necrotic damage equal to your full wizard level

This damage bypasses resistance, immunity, and temporary hit points, and cannot be avoided, reduced, or redirected.

If the spell deals damage to the target, you may select a second creature:

• Within 10 feet of the previous creature

• Within your line of sight

• That also has blood

That creature takes necrotic damage equal to half the damage dealt to the previous creature (rounded down, minimum 1).

You may repeat this process, selecting a new creature within 10 feet of the last affected and within line of sight.

• You may affect up to your Intelligence modifier number of creatures (minimum 1).

• A creature can only be affected once per Bloodstorm.

Uses: Once per turn
Trigger Limit: Only once per casting of an eligible spell

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Clarification:

• Bloodstorm only activates if the spell targets a single creature and affects no others—including via bounces, jumps, or upcasting.

• Bloodstorm does not trigger additional effects from Blood Mark unless the marked creature is directly targeted by the original spell.

• The bonus damage from Blood Mark is not included when calculating damage to determine Bloodstorm’s cascade.

Crimson Carapace

Crimson Carapace

Your blood, already spilled, clings to your skin and coils around your spirit. In the shadow of death, it hardens into armor.

While your current hit points are equal to or less than half your maximum, you gain resistance to all damage.

This resistance ends immediately if:

• You are healed above half your hit points

• You fall unconscious

• You die

This resistance does not apply to damage caused by your own subclass features (such as Blood Mark, Bloodforged Memory, or Hemorrhagic Conduction).
It also does not stack with any other source of universal damage resistance.
It is suppressed while under the effects of Polymorph, Shapechange, or similar magic.

Trigger Condition:
This resistance applies only after your hit points are reduced to half or lower.
It does not reduce the triggering blow that brings you below half.

Concentration Checks:
When you take damage while benefiting from Crimson Carapace, the DC for any Constitution saving throw to maintain concentration is based on the damage taken after applying this resistance.

Grim Feast

Grim Feast
When your blood magic runs dry, you reach for the lifeforce of the fallen to reignite your power.

If you have no uses of Blood Mark remaining, you may use your action to siphon vitality from a corpse within 5 feet of you.

The corpse must:

• Have had 30 or more maximum hit points in life

• Be a creature that had blood

When you do, you regain 1 expended use of Blood Mark.

You may use this feature again whenever you have no Blood Mark uses remaining.

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Activation: Action
Trigger: Only usable when all Blood Mark uses are expended
Target: A dead creature within 5 feet that had blood and 30+ max HP

Hemoglyph

Hemoglyph
Your veins accept a burden of magic—a single spell, scribed in suffering, coursing through you until it is spent in silence… or spilled in blood.

When you prepare your spells, choose one Wizard spell of 1st to 5th level that targets one or more creatures. This becomes your bound spell until your next long rest.

You may choose to cast the bound spell without expending a spell slot or material components. When you do, you take necrotic damage equal to twice the spell’s level.

This damage bypasses resistance, immunity, and temporary hit points, and cannot be avoided, reduced, or redirected.

You cannot cast the bound spell as a reaction.

You must choose a new bound spell after each long rest.

Clarification:
You may still cast the chosen spell normally using spell slots. You are not required to use Hemoglyph when casting it.