Blood Hunter ★ - WIP
Marred but resolute, his grimacing face dripping with sweat, a half-orc reddens a finger across his wounds to draw a glowing, ruby glyph in the air. He grips the weightless, completed sigil, twisting it to unleash dark magical energies that fire forward, cursing the stalking behemoth from within its own veins to better even the odds.
A mysterious half-elf swathed in a worn cloak and rugged leather armor carefully investigates a grizzly scene off the roadway, her eyes flashing with recognition as she meditates on the remnants of the massacre. The survivor who warily hired her withdraws with a jump as the half-elf suddenly shoots to her feet, sure in the knowledge of the culprit, where it calls home, and how little time there is to find it.
Stepping into the lightless chambers of ancient dust and lingering whispers, the halfling’s nose picks up the pungent smell of imminent danger as she hears the scraping of bone and claw on nearby stone. She winces as she grips her sword tightly, feeling her vitality drain as the blade is engulfed in arcane flames, eager to brand and burn the flesh of her enemies.
Often feared or misunderstood, and driven by an unending drive to destroy the wicked, blood hunters are clever, arcane warriors who have bound their essence to the dark creatures they hunt to better stalk and survive their prey. Armed with the rites of forbidden blood magic and a willingness to sacrifice their own vitality and humanity for the cause, they protect the realms from the shadows, ever vigilant to avoid becoming the same monsters they choose to hunt.
You can make a Blood Hunter quickly by following these suggestions. First, make Strength or Dexterity your highest ability score, depending on whether you want to focus on melee weapons, or archery (or finesse weapons). Make Intelligence your next highest if you plan to focus on the potency of blood curses and mystical power. Lastly, choose a higher Constitution, as you want to have extra Hit Points to burn on your crimson rite or amplifying Blood Curses.
Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per Blood Hunter level after 1st
Skills: Choose 3 from Acrobatics, Arcana, Athletics, History, Insight, Investigation, Linguistics, Martial, Mercantile, Religion, and Survival.
Armor: Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shields
Weapons: Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons
Tools: Alchemist's Supplies
Ability Score Minimum: Strength 13 or Dexterity 13, Intelligence 13
Armor: Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shields
Weapons: Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons
Tools: Alchemist's Supplies
Creating a Blood Hunter
To create a Blood Hunter, consult the following lists, which provide Hit Points, proficiencies, and starting equipment. If you're considering multiclassing, see the "Multiclassing" section. Quick BuildYou can make a Blood Hunter quickly by following these suggestions. First, make Strength or Dexterity your highest ability score, depending on whether you want to focus on melee weapons, or archery (or finesse weapons). Make Intelligence your next highest if you plan to focus on the potency of blood curses and mystical power. Lastly, choose a higher Constitution, as you want to have extra Hit Points to burn on your crimson rite or amplifying Blood Curses.
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d10 per Blood Hunter levelHit Points at 1st Level: 10 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per Blood Hunter level after 1st
Proficiencies
Saving Throws: Dexterity, IntelligenceSkills: Choose 3 from Acrobatics, Arcana, Athletics, History, Insight, Investigation, Linguistics, Martial, Mercantile, Religion, and Survival.
Armor: Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shields
Weapons: Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons
Tools: Alchemist's Supplies
Starting Equipment
You start with 80 GP which you may use to buy your own equipment. This equipment will be what you start play with, and you keep any remaining unspent GP. Ask your GM for the list(s) of purchaseable items. Alternatively, you can choose to gain the following equipment:- (a) Longsword or (b) Warhammer
- 2 Daggers
- Studded Leather Armor
- Explorer's Pack
- 6 GP
Multiclassing
For rules on Multiclassing, refer to the PHB and/or speak with your GM.Ability Score Minimum: Strength 13 or Dexterity 13, Intelligence 13
Armor: Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shields
Weapons: Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons
Tools: Alchemist's Supplies
Note on Blood Hunter Training
As you create your Blood Hunter character, consider why you were driven to this lifestyle, and why you seek to give up on everything to wallow in the dark with the evils you hunt? Did you lose a loved one to a fiendish beast and now wish to prevent others from suffering the same fate? Do you seek a sense of purpose and security, and found this among the order that has taken you in? Or are you a criminal with a dark past seeking to make amends, taking this life as a path of penance? What is your relationship with the powers of hemocraft and the abilities it promises to grant you as you step closer to its mastery? Do you respect and fear the ancient power that surges through your veins, using them only when necessary? Or has your study instilled you with the confident control of mind over matter, certain you can bend these gifts to bring a brighter dawn? Consider too that while a Blood Hunter belongs to an order, many strike out on their own to do their best work. What made you leave the comfort of your order? Do you intend to return, or have you decided you have more to learn in the world beyond? What do you seek in other adventurers that can help you meet your goals? Or were you kicked out of your order as a result of you falling to the dark, seductive side of hemocraft, and are now hunted along with the creatures your order hunts? Consider also, the cost of your hemocraft. Though it often takes the form of blood, a Blood Hunter's abilities are derived from the user's vitality. When you use them, must you shed blood? Do you age and wither? Or do your limbs lose fat? Your abilities are potent yes, but they always come at a cost.Multiclassing with Warlock
If your Blood Hunter is part of the Order of the Profane Soul and also has Warlock levels, add 1/3 of your Blood Hunter levels (rounded down) to your Warlock level and consult the Warlock progression table in the PHB for total Spell Slots, Cantrips known, and Spell Slot level. You should consider aligning your Otherworldly Patron feature between both classes, but your GM might allow an exception.Blood Hunter
| Level | Proficiency Bonus | Features |
Hemocraft Die | Blood Curses Known | Weapon Art Uses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +2 | Hunter's Bane, Blood Maledict, Weapon Arts |
1d4 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | +2 | Fighting Style, Crimson Rite |
1d4 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | +2 | Blood Hunter Order |
1d4 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | +2 | Feat |
1d4 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | +3 | Extra Attack |
1d6 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | +3 | Brand of Castigation, Blood Maledict (2/rest) |
1d6 | 2 | 3 |
| 7 | +3 | Order Feature, Crimson Rite |
1d6 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 | +3 | Feat |
1d6 | 2 | 3 |
| 9 | +4 | Grim Psychometry |
1d6 | 2 | 4 |
| 10 | +4 | Dark Augmentation |
1d6 | 3 | 4 |
| 11 | +4 | Order Feature |
1d8 | 3 | 4 |
| 12 | +4 | Feat |
1d8 | 3 | 4 |
| 13 | +5 | Brand of Tethering, Blood Maledict (3/rest) |
1d8 | 3 | 4 |
| 14 | +5 | Hardened Soul, Crimson Rite |
1d8 | 4 | 4 |
| 15 | +5 | Order Feature |
1d8 | 4 | 4 |
| 16 | +5 | Feat |
1d8 | 4 | 5 |
| 17 | +6 | Blood Maledict (4/rest) |
1d10 | 4 | 5 |
| 18 | +6 | Order Feature |
1d10 | 5 | 5 |
| 19 | +6 | Feat |
1d10 | 5 | 5 |
| 20 | +6 | Sanguine Mastery |
1d10 | 5 | 5 |
Hunter’s Bane
1st-level Blood Hunter feature You have survived the Hunter’s Bane, a dangerous, long-guarded ritual that alters your life’s blood, forever binding you to the darkness and honing your senses against it. You have Advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track Fey, Fiends, or Undead, as well as on Intelligence Ability Checks to recall information about them. The Hunter’s Bane also empowers your body to control and shape hemocraft magic, using your own blood and life essence to fuel your abilities. Some of your features require your target to make Saving Throws to resist the feature’s effects. The Saving Throw DC is calculated as follows:Hemocraft save DC = 8 + your Proficiency Bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Blood Maledict
1st-level Blood Hunter feature You gain the ability to channel, and sometimes sacrifice, a part of your vital essence to curse and manipulate creatures through hemocraft magic. You gain one Blood Curse of your choice, detailed in the “Blood Curses” section at the end of the class description. You learn one additional Blood Curse of your choice, and you can choose one of the Blood Curses you know and replace it with another Blood Curse, at 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level. When you use your Blood Maledict, you choose which curse to invoke. While invoking a Blood Curse, but before it affects the target, you can choose to amplify the curse by losing a number of Hit Points equal to one roll of your Hemocraft Die, as shown in the Hemocraft Die column of the Blood Hunter table. An amplified curse gains an additional effect, noted in the curse’s description. Creatures that do not have blood in their bodies are immune to Blood Curses, unless you have amplified the curse. You can use this feature once. Beginning at 6th level, you can use your Blood Maledict feature twice, at 13th level you can use it three times between Rests, and at 17th level, you can use it four times between Rests. You regain all expended uses when you finish a Short or Long Rest.Weapon Arts
1st-level Blood Hunter feature Your training with weapons allows you to use a number of special weapon actions called, Weapon Arts, that a skilled weapon wielder might use to turn the tides of battle. You can use Weapon Arts the number of times shown for your Barbarian level in the Weapon Art Uses column of the Barbarian table, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Short or Long Rest. You prepare a number of Weapon Arts from the List of Weapon Arts equal to half the amount of uses you have, rounded down. When you finish a Long Rest, you can practice exercises like weapon drills and change the Weapon Arts you have prepared. You can use a Weapon Art you have prepared only while wielding one of the prerequisite weapons listed in it’s description, and only if you have Proficiency with that weapon. If a Weapon Art requires a Saving Throw, it is: 6 + your Proficiency Bonus + your Weapon Attack Bonus (Ability Modifier used for the weapon). If a Weapon Art is used as a “Special Weapon Attack”, it replaces one of your attacks from the Attack action.Fighting Style
2nd-level Blood Hunter feature You adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can't take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again. Whenever you gain a Feat from the Blood Hunter class, you can replace a Fighting Style you know with another Fighting Style available to Rangers. This replacement represents a shift of focus in your martial practice.
Archery
You gain a +2 bonus to Attack Rolls you make with ranged weapons. Blind Fighting
You have Blindsight with a range of 10 feet. Within that range, you can effectively see anything that isn’t behind total cover, even if you’re Blinded or in darkness. Moreover, you can see an Invisibile creature within that range, unless the creature successfully hides from you. Dueling
When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to Damage Rolls with that weapon.
You gain a +2 bonus to Attack Rolls you make with ranged weapons. Blind Fighting
You have Blindsight with a range of 10 feet. Within that range, you can effectively see anything that isn’t behind total cover, even if you’re Blinded or in darkness. Moreover, you can see an Invisibile creature within that range, unless the creature successfully hides from you. Dueling
When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to Damage Rolls with that weapon.
Great Weapon Fighting
When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll. The weapon must have the Two-handed or Versatile property for you to gain this benefit. Thrown Weapon Fighting
You can draw a weapon that has the Thrown property as part of the attack you make with the weapon. In addition, when you hit with a ranged attack using a thrown weapon, you gain a +2 bonus to the Damage Roll. Two-Weapon Fighting
When you engage in Two-Weapon Fighting, you can add your Ability Modifier to the damage of the second attack.
When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll. The weapon must have the Two-handed or Versatile property for you to gain this benefit. Thrown Weapon Fighting
You can draw a weapon that has the Thrown property as part of the attack you make with the weapon. In addition, when you hit with a ranged attack using a thrown weapon, you gain a +2 bonus to the Damage Roll. Two-Weapon Fighting
When you engage in Two-Weapon Fighting, you can add your Ability Modifier to the damage of the second attack.
Crimson Rite
2nd-level Blood Hunter feature You learn to invoke a rite of hemocraft that infuses your weapon strikes with elemental energy. As a Bonus Action, you can activate any rite you know on one weapon you’re holding. The effect of the rite lasts until you finish a Short or Long Rest. When you activate a rite, you take Necrotic Damage equal to one roll of your Hemocraft Die. This damage can’t be reduced in any way. While the rite is in effect, attacks you make with this weapon are magical, and deal extra damage equal to your Hemocraft Die of the type determined by the chosen rite. A weapon can hold only one active rite at a time. Other creatures can’t gain the benefit of your rite. You choose one rite from the Crimson Rites below when you first gain this feature. You learn an additional Crimson Rite at 7th level, and again at 14th level. Rite of the Flame. Your rite damage is Fire Damage. Rite of the Frozen. Your rite damage is Cold Damage. Rite of the Storm. Your rite damage is Lightning Damage. Rite of the Dead. Your rite damage is Necrotic Damage. (Prerequisite: 14th level) Rite of the Oracle. Your rite damage is Psychic Damage. (Prerequisite: 14th level) Rite of the Roar. Your rite damage is Thunder Damage. (Prerequisite: 14th level)Blood Hunter Order
3rd-level Blood Hunter feature You commit to an order of Blood Hunter martial focus. Choose one of the Orders detailed at the end of the class description. The order you choose grants you features at 3rd level, and again ay 7th, 11th, 15th, and 18th level. There are a handful of secretive orders of Blood Hunters that guard their cryptic techniques and rituals. One must adhere to one of these orders to even be granted access to the Hunter’s Bane rite that starts their journey, and only once they’ve proven their dedication and ability will the secrets of the order begin to be revealed. It’s within these small, enigmatic sects that the real power of a blood hunter is learned.Feat
4th-level Blood Hunter feature You gain the Ability Score Improvement feat or another feat of your choice for which you qualify.Extra Attack
5th-level Blood Hunter feature You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.Brand of Castigation
6th-level Blood Hunter feature When you damage a creature with a weapon for which you have an active Crimson Rite, you can channel hemocraft magic to sear an arcane brand into that creature (no action required). You always know the direction to the branded creature as long as it’s on the same plane as you. Further, each time the branded creature deals damage to you or a creature you can see within 5 feet of you, the branded creature takes Psychic Damage equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1). Your brand lasts until you dismiss it or until you use this feature to apply a brand to another creature. Your brand can be dispelled with Dispel Magic, and is treated as a spell with a level equal to half your Blood Hunter level (maximum 9th level). Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Short or Long Rest.Feat
8th-level Blood Hunter feature You gain the Ability Score Improvement feat or another feat of your choice for which you qualify.Grim Psychometry
9th-level Blood Hunter feature You gain a supernatural talent for discerning the secrets surrounding mysterious relics or places touched by evil. Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check to recall information about the sinister or tragic history of an object you are touching or your current location, you have Advantage on the check. At the GM’s discretion, a suitably high roll might cause your character to experience brief visions of the past connected to the object or location.Dark Augmentation
10th-level Blood Hunter feature The magic of hemocraft suffuses your body to permanently reinforce your resilience. Your Speed increases by 5 feet, and you have a bonus to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution Saving Throws equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1).Feat
12th-level Blood Hunter feature You gain the Ability Score Improvement feat or another feat of your choice for which you qualify.Brand of Tethering
13th-level Blood Hunter feature The Psychic Damage from your Brand of Castigation increases to twice your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 2). Additionally, a branded creature can't take the Dash action, and if it attempts to teleport or to leave its current plane by any means, it takes 4d6 Psychic Damage and must make a Wisdom Saving Throw. On a failure, the attempt to teleport or leave the plane fails.Hardened Soul
14th-level Blood Hunter feature You have Advantage on Saving Throws against being Charmed and Frightened.Feat
16th-level Blood Hunter feature You gain the Ability Score Improvement feat or another feat of your choice for which you qualify.Feat
19th-level Blood Hunter feature You gain the Ability Score Improvement feat or another feat of your choice for which you qualify.Sanguine Mastery
20th-level Blood Hunter feature Your mastery of blood magic reaches its height, mitigating your sacrifice and empowering your expertise. Once per turn, whenever a Blood Hunter feature requires you to roll a Hemocraft Die, you can reroll the die and use either roll. Additionally, whenever you score a Critical Hit with a weapon for which you have an active Crimson Rite, you regain one expended use of your Blood Maledict feature.Blood Curses
As a Blood Hunter, you have access to a range of blood curses that can tax the resilience of any foe.Blood Curse of the Anxious
As a Bonus Action, you harry the body or mind of a creature within 30 feet of you, making them susceptible to forceful influence. Until the end of your next turn, Charisma (Intimidation) checks made against the cursed creature have Advantage. Amplify. The next Wisdom Saving Throw the cursed creature makes before this curse ends has Disadvantage.Blood Curse of Binding
As a Bonus Action, you attempt to bind a Large or smaller creature you can see within 30 feet of you, which must make a Strength Saving Throw. On a failure, the cursed creature’s Speed is reduced to 0 and it can’t use Reactions until the end of your next turn. Amplify. This curse lasts for 1 minute and can affect any creature regardless of size. The cursed creature can repeat the Saving Throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the curse on itself on a success.Blood Curse of Bloated Agony
As a Bonus Action, you curse a creature that you can see within 30 feet of you, causing its body to swell until the end of your next turn. For the duration, the creature has Disadvantage on Strength checks and Dexterity checks, and takes 1d8 Necrotic Damage if it makes more than one attack during its turn. Amplify. This curse lasts for 1 minute. The cursed creature can make a Constitution Saving Throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the curse on itself on a success.Blood Curse of Corrosion
Prerequisite: 15th level, Order of the Mutant As a Bonus Action, you cause a creature within 30 feet of you to become Poisoned. The cursed creature can make a Constitution Saving Throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the curse on itself on a success. Amplify. The cursed creature takes 4d6 Necrotic Damage when you inflict this curse, and it takes this damage again each time it fails a Constitution Saving Throw to end the curse.Blood Curse of the Exorcist
Prerequisite: 15th level, Order of the Ghostslayer As a Bonus Action, you choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of you that is Charmed or Frightened, or which is under a possession effect. The target creature is no longer Charmed, Frightened, or possessed. Amplify. A creature that Charmed, Frightened, or possessed the target of your curse takes 3d6 Psychic Damage and must succeed on a Wisdom Saving Throw or be Stunned until the end of your next turn.Blood Curse of Exposure
When a creature you can see within 30 feet of you takes damage from an attack or spell, you can use your Reaction to temporarily weaken its resilience. Until the end of the target’s next turn, it loses Resistance to all the damage types dealt by the triggering attack or spell (including for that triggering effect). Amplify. The target instead loses Immunity to the damage types of the triggering attack or spell, but has Resistance to those damage types until the end of its next turn.Blood Curse of the Eyeless
When a creature you can see within 30 feet of you makes an attack, you can use your Reaction to roll one Hemocraft Die and subtract the number rolled from the creature’s Attack Roll. You can choose to use this feature after the creature’s roll, but before the GM determines whether the attack hits or misses. The creature is Immune to this curse if it is Immune to the Blinded condition. Amplify. You apply this curse to all the creature’s Attack Rolls until the end of the creature’s turn. You roll separately for each affected attack.Blood Curse of the Fallen Puppet
When a creature you can see within 30 feet of you drops to 0 Hit Points, you can use your Reaction to instill that creature with a final act of aggression. The creature immediately makes one weapon attack against a target of your choice within its range. Amplify. You can first cause the cursed creature to move up to half its Speed, and you grant a bonus to its Attack Roll equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1).Blood Curse of the Howl
Prerequisite: 18th level, Order of the Lycan As an Action, you unleash a bloodcurdling howl. Each creature within 30 feet of you that can hear you must succeed on a Wisdom Saving Throw or become Frightened of you until the end of your next turn. If a creature fails its Saving Throw by 5 or more, it is Stunned while Frightened in this way. A creature that succeeds on its Saving Throw is immune to this Blood Curse for the next 24 hours. You can choose any number of creatures you can see to be unaffected by the howl. Amplify. The range of this curse increases to 60 feet.Blood Curse of the Marked
As a Bonus Action, you mark a creature that you can see within 30 feet of you. Until the end of your turn, whenever you hit the cursed creature with a weapon for which you have an active Crimson Rite, you roll an additional Hemocraft Die when determining the extra damage from the rite. Amplify. The next Attack Roll you make against the target before the end of your turn has Advantage.Blood Curse of the Muddled Mind
As a Bonus Action, you curse a creature that you can see within 30 feet of you that is Concentrating on a spell or using a feature that requires Concentration. That creature has Disadvantage on the next Constitution Saving Throw it makes to maintain Concentration before the end of your next turn. Amplify. The cursed creature has Disadvantage on all Constitution Saving Throws made to maintain Concentration until the end of your next turn.Blood Curse of the Soul Eater
Prerequisite: 18th level, Order of the Profane Soul When a creature that isn’t a Construct or Undead is reduced to 0 Hit Points within 30 feet of you, you can use your Reaction to offer their life energy to your patron in exchange for power. Until the end of your next turn, you make attacks with Advantage and you have Resistance to all damage. Amplify. Additionally, you regain an expended Warlock Spell Slot. Once you’ve amplified this Blood Curse, you must finish a Long Rest before you can amplify it again.This site is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC. About the Artwork
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