Dark Arts (Blood Magic)

You stand before a barbarian as he licks his lips, his great axe ready to cleave you in half. He laughs as you draw a small bone dagger in retort. A quick slashing motion with your dagger causes blood to spill, ruby slowly dripping from your blade. The laughing immediately stops as a confused expression overcomes the barbarian’s face. He stares with dread as your wrist bleeds from the self-inflicted wound. Then he feels it, the tendons in his hand decay to where he can no longer hold the great axe. Pain shoots up his arms as it begins to rot from the inside. He drops to his knees as the curse takes hold. The last thing he sees, moments before his passing, is you, licking blood from your dagger with a smile.

 

You have discovered that your blood is laden with magical properties granting you access to the weave, but rather than embracing those properties, you have chosen to abandon Mystra and the power the weave offers in order to pursue the dark arts.

Dark Practices: Blood

1st-level Blood Magic feature

Beginning at 1st level, you sacrifice your connection to the weave in order to ignore the laws set by Mystra, goddess of magic.

• You can no longer regain spell slots from means other than the class feature Font of Magic, however, the slots gained by this feature replace any previously gained but unused slots of the same level. (You can't stack spells slots gained from Font of Magic)
• You are able to learn spells from the Warlock spell list.
• You have acquired a humanoid bone dagger, also known as a Kundela, that you use for your blood rituals. This dagger has special properties depending on what race the bone is made from. (see class feature Kundela Craft)

Blood Magic

1st-level Blood Magic feature

When you cast a spell of 1st level or higher, as part of that spell's casting time, you can harm yourself to use your blood as fuel for the spell. You can also use a bonus action to spill your blood to restore sorcery points. The amount of blood you choose to spill determines what you can use it for. See the Hematology Table for conversion rates.

Hematology Table

Your Blood	Units of Blood	Spell Level	Sorcery Points
1d6+1 hp	1	1st	n/a
2d6+2 hp	2	2nd	1
3d6+3 hp	3	3rd	2
4d6+4 hp	4	4th	3
5d6+5 hp	5	5th	4
6d6+6 hp	6	6th	5
7d6+7 hp	7	7th	6
8d6+8 hp	8	8th	7
9d6+9 hp	9	9th	8
10d6+10 hp	10	n/a	9

Additionally, you learn extra spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the Blood Spells table. Each of these spells counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it 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 an evocation or necromancy spell from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell list.

Blood Spells

SORCERER LEVEL	SPELLS
1st	inflict wounds, hex
3rd	cloud of daggers, ray of enfeeblement
5th	bestow curse, vampiric touch
7th	blight, shadow of moil
9th	contagion, enervation

 

Note: The spells Hex, cloud of daggers, shadow of moil, and enervation are licensed content, so you must own said source material and/or add the spells yourself.

Kundela Craft

1st-level Blood Magic feature

You gain proficiency with Woodcarver's Tools which you use to craft a bone dagger, also known as a Kundela. Crafting a Kundela takes 8 hours, requiring a suitable bone and additional materials of your choosing (feathers, gold filament, etc.) worth 25 gp. The process to craft a new Kundela destroys your old one.

To harvest a bone suitable enough to craft a Kundela, you must make a successful Wisdom (medicine) or Dexterity (slight of hand) check against a DC equal to the creatures experience level or CR (minimum of 10). This check can only be made once but is made with advantage or disadvantage depending on the creature’s size. (Tiny/Small = Disadvantage, Medium/Large = Normal, Huge/Gargantuan = Advantage) A bone cannot be harvested from a creature that is a construct, elemental, ooze, plant or is incorporeal.

Once crafted, your Kundela can be used as a melee weapon or as an arcane focus for spells fueled by blood. When used either way, your Kundela imbues your spell or melee attack with special bonuses. These bonuses only apply to one attacked creature (unless noted otherwise) and are determined by the race of creature you harvested the bone from.

• Aberration: spell/melee attacks deal extra psychic damage equal to your charisma modifier.
• Beast: spell/melee attacks deal extra slashing damage equal to your charisma modifier.
• Celestial: spell/melee attacks deal extra radiant damage equal to your charisma modifier.
• Dragon: spell/melee attacks deal extra elemental, damage based off the dragon’s type (see Dragon Table below), equal to your charisma modifier.
• Fey: creatures you attempt to charm save at disadvantage.
• Fiend: when you cast the spells hex or bestow curse, your target makes its save for bestow curse at disadvantage and you may roll with advantage when you are forced to maintain concentration for either spell.
• Giant: spell/melee attacks deal extra bludgeoning damage equal to your charisma modifier.
• Humanoid: no additional bonuses.
• Monstrosity: spell/melee attacks deal extra piercing damage equal to your charisma modifier.
• Undead: spell/melee attacks deal extra necrotic damage equal to your charisma modifier.

Dragon Table

Dragon Type	Damage Type
Black/Copper	acid damage
Blue/Bronze	lightning damage
Brass/Gold/Red	fire damage
Gem	thunder damage
Green	poison damage
Silver/White	cold damage

Blood Reaping

6th-level Blood Magic feature

Whenever you or a creature, that is not a construct, elemental, ooze, plant, or undead, within 20 feet of you is dealt slashing or piercing damage, you can use your reaction to have any aerosolized blood to collect, forming into a small floating sphere of blood that orbits you.

• The amount collected is equal to the damage you or the creature took divided by 10 rounded down (minimum 0), this amount is counted as units of blood. The blood sphere can hold a number of units equal to half your class level rounded up.
• When you cast a spell or use sorcery points, you can draw them from the blood sphere, at a ratio shown on the Hematology table (see class feature Blood Magic), if the sphere has enough units stored.
• The blood sphere can be destroyed if it is targeted by the spell dispel magic. The DC equals 10 + the max units of Blood the sphere can hold. On a successful check, the blood falls to the ground and coagulates becoming useless.
• The range of effect for this feature increases to 25 feet at level 14, and to 30 feet at level 18.

The sphere can only hold blood until you take a long rest, after which the blood falls to the ground and coagulates becoming useless.

(After taking a long rest you must reduce the amount of units the blood sphere holds to 0.)

Blood Curse

14th-level Blood Magic feature

Starting at level 14, when you cast Hex on a creature, using fresh blood drawn from your body to fuel the spell, you can choose to invoke a blood curse once each round to cause an additional effect. If the target drops to 0 hit points before this spell ends, you can use a bonus action on a subsequent turn of yours to curse a new creature. A creature that is a construct, elemental, ooze, plant, or undead, is immune to the effects of the blood curse.

• Open wound: When you hit the cursed creature with an attack, you can treat the 1d6 necrotic damage imposed by Hex as slashing damage or piercing damage. (Creatures that are immune to slashing or piercing damage are immune to this curse effect.)
• Blood Bath: If you are within 10 feet of the cursed creature and it is dealt slashing or piercing damage, you can use your reaction to heal yourself half the damage it took after any reductions. (Creatures that are immune to slashing or piercing damage are immune to this curse effect.)
• Shared Suffering: Any time you receive slashing, piercing or bludgeoning damage, you can use your reaction to inflict half that damage to your cursed target. (Creatures that are immune to slashing, piercing or bludgeoning damage are immune to this curse effect.)
• Blood Manipulation: When your cursed target makes an attack roll or is forced to make a saving throw, you can use your reaction to force it to roll at disadvantage.
• Septicemia: Using blood as fuel, you can cast Inflict Wounds on the cursed target if they are within 30 feet of you. This attack is made with advantage and as usual, the amount of blood or units of blood you use determines the level at which the spell is cast. (see class feature Blood Magic)

Once you use this curse, you cannot do so again until you have finished a long rest.

Blood Puppeteer

18th-level Blood Magic feature 

You have learned to control the blood in creatures without having to sacrifice your own to do so. Constructs, elementals, oozes, plants, and undead are immune to this feature.

Once per long rest, you can use an action to target a creature that you can see within 30 feet of you. That creature must make a Constitution saving throw against your spell DC. On a failed save, you can use your reaction to control that creature's actions and movement on its turn, including any of the creature’s abilities such as using a breath weapon. While under your control, you cannot have the creature to stab itself, throw itself onto a spear, immolate itself, or do some other obviously self-harming act. At the end of each of it’s turns, the creature can make another saving throw, ending your control on a success.

The initial save, and saves made to free themselves are made at disadvantage if your are wielding a Kundela made from the same race as the creature you are trying to control, otherwise your control ends after 1 minute has passed. On succeeding the initial save, the creature isn't controlled but instead takes 3d10 necrotic damage as it's blood vessels burst fighting the control of your blood magic.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest or by expending 15 sorcerer points.

Optional Rule: Forbidden Magic

Optional Rule: Forbidden Magic

At 18th level, your mastery of blood control grants you such power that with it you are able to achieve one of two forbidden magics that lie beyond what any mortal has ever hoped to achieve.

DM ruled not allowed

DM ruled not allowed.

Forgotten Magic

Optional Rule: Forbidden Magic 

It is Mystra's divine rule that no magic greater than 9th level can be cast. By separating yourself from Mystra and the weave, you are able ignore that rule.

To cast a spell of 10 level you must sacrifice your own life blood dealing 20d6+10 damage to yourself using a Kundela made from one of your own bones. A spell of 10 level may be an adventure in and of itself to learn.

Vampirism

Optional Rule: Forbidden Magic

At 18th level, you have achieved such an understanding of blood manipulation that you have unlocked the secret of vampirism. For you, this dark gift requires the following tasks:

• You must slay another humanoid that loves or reveres you, then drink the dead humanoid’s blood within 1 hour of slaying it.
• You must die a violent death at the hands of one or more creatures that hate you.

When the conditions are met, you rise the following night as a vampire.

Do not select this trait until after you become a vampire.