From the moment you embark on the path of the Blood Hunter and choose to specialize as a Blood Weaver at level 3, you gain the fundamental ability to wield Hemocraft magic. This ancient and arcane craft, rooted in the manipulation of blood, becomes the cornerstone of your power. Hemocraft magic allows you to harness your life force, channeling it into a myriad of potent abilities that define your journey and combat style. While these abilities draw upon your own vitality, they are not limited by your Blood Curses unless explicitly stated, offering a versatile arsenal that grows with you.
Hemocraft Die Progression:
Your Hemocraft die represents the pool of arcane energy you can draw from your own blood to fuel your Hemocraft abilities. As you grow in power and understanding, the potency of this die increases, reflecting your enhanced mastery over blood magic.
Levels 1-4: At the inception of your journey and upon embracing the Blood Weaver specialization at level 3, your Hemocraft die is a 1d4. Even in these early stages, the ability to tap into your hemocraft proves crucial, laying the foundation for the formidable powers you will develop.
Levels 5-10: As you advance in
experience and prowess, your Hemocraft die evolves into a 1d6. This increase signifies a deeper connection to the blood magic coursing through your veins, enabling more powerful and varied uses of your abilities.
Levels 11-16: Further mastery and refinement of your hemocraft elevate your Hemocraft die to a 1d8. At this stage, your control over blood magic allows for even greater feats, showcasing your ascent towards the apex of Hemocraft mastery.
Levels 17-20: In the zenith of your power, from level 17 onwards, your Hemocraft die reaches its pinnacle at 1d10. This level of mastery represents a near-complete symbiosis with the essence of blood magic, allowing for the execution of truly formidable and awe-inspiring abilities.
Special Considerations:
The use of Hemocraft die is integral to activating your Blood Weaver abilities. It is a direct measure of the energy you can harness from your own blood, balancing the risk and reward inherent in such potent magic.
While some abilities powered by your Hemocraft die may also involve Blood Curses, the vast majority draw solely on this internal reservoir of arcane power, allowing for frequent and versatile use across a broad
spectrum of situations.
Soten, which translates to hidden move or sudden escape, is a foundational technique of the Blood Weaver, enabling them to manipulate their own blood to momentarily boost their agility or slip away from peril. This manipulation of life force grants them an ephemeral, yet crucial, advantage in maneuverability, allowing them to navigate the battlefield with uncanny speed and precision.
Usage:
At the cost of one Hemocraft die, you can tap into the essence of your being to either Disengage or Dash as a bonus action on your turn. This ability manifests as a visual spectacle of your mastery over blood, with spectral blood tendrils lifting you off the ground or a swift gust of crimson energy propelling you forward, leaving a fleeting trail of blood mist in your wake.
Limitations
You must choose between Disengage and Dash when using this feature, both actions cannot be utilized simultaneously.
Soten can be employed once per short rest, reflecting the significant exertion and control required to bend the Hemocraft to your will in such a direct manner.
Special Considerations
Utilizing this feature does not consume your turn's allotted movement, allowing you to further
extend your tactical options for either engaging with enemies or positioning yourself more favorably, however it does not extend beyond you usual movement speed.
The ability to employ Soten at an early level demonstrates the Blood Weaver's intrinsic understanding and manipulation of their blood for tactical advantage, underscoring the physical and arcane duality of their craft
You tap into the primal aspect of blood magic, allowing you to physically manifest your Hemocraft power through a visceral bite. By channeling your arcane energy into your fangs, you can tear into the life essence of your foes, siphoning their vitality to bolster your own resilience.
Usage:
As a bonus action on your turn, choose one creature within 5 feet of you that you can attempt to bite. Make a melee attack roll against the target using your Strength or Dexterity modifier for the attack roll, whichever is higher. On a hit, the target suffers damage equal to your Hemocraft die, and you gain temporary hit points equal to the damage dealt.
Crystaline Barrier:
Upon gaining these temporary hit points, your mastery over blood magic reacts instinctively to the stolen vitality, crystallizing the blood around you into a shimmering, protective barrier. This barrier grants you a +1 bonus to AC as long as the temporary hit points remain. The barriers crystalline structure is a spectacle of arcane defense, manifesting as jagged, blood-red shards that orbit your form or coat your skin in a protective layer, deflecting blows and turning aside weapons and spells with equal
disdain.
Special Considerations
The temporary hit points gained from this ability do not stack with other sources of temporary hit points, only the highest bonus applies.
The AC bonus provided by the crystalline barrier is a magical effect and does not stack with other magical effects that modify AC in the same manner. If multiple effects of this nature are active, only the highest bonus applies.
This feature can be used a number of times equal to your intelligence modifier (minimum of once) and regains all expended uses after a long rest.
Nosferatu, drawing its name from the folklore of undying creatures of the night, grants Blood Weavers the ability to transform their vitality into a form of swift retaliation. With this defensive technique, a Blood Weaver can conjure and hurl a shard of their own crystallized blood in response to an incoming melee attack, turning an instance of vulnerability into an opportunity for counterattack.
Usage:
As a reaction to being targeted by a melee attack, you can activate Nosferatu to project a shard of crystallized blood towards your attacker, inflicting 1d6 damage. This powerful defense mechanism can be employed twice per long rest, underscoring the physical and magical exertion required to crystallize and weaponize one's blood instantaneously.
Enhancement with blood Maledict:
Nosferatu's damage can be augmented through the integration of your Blood Maledict feature. To do so, you must pass a dc15 constitution saving throw. Success means you manage to form the blood shard without suffering any harm, while failure results in you taking half the damage rolled, as the blood shards creation takes a toll on your body.
Enhancing Nosferatu with a Hemocraft die does not consume a usage
of your Blood Maledict, but it does count as one use of Nosferatu.
Limitations
Nosferatu is specifically designed to counter melee attacks, requiring tactical discernment regarding its activation.
The conditional enhancement with a Hemocraft die, depending on a successful roll, adds a layer of risk versus reward, emphasizing the physical demands of manipulating ones blood in such a direct manner.
Special Considerations
The act of conjuring a crystalline blood shard epitomizes the Blood Weaver's theme of self-sacrifice and retaliation, embodying their willingness to endure pain for power.
This feature highlights the dual nature of the Blood Weaver's craftmelding defense with offense, life force with lethal intent.
Self inflict damage is rounded up for the purpose of halving damage.
Forsaken Blood taps into the ancient and obscure lore of those who were cast out, forgotten by time, yet whose blood was imbued with a potent and resilient force. By willingly drawing upon your own essence and paying a price in blood, you invoke the strength and fortitude of the forsaken, channeling their resilience and might into your very being.
Usage:
As an action, you can choose to suffer damage equal to one Hemocraft die to invoke the power of the Forsaken Blood. Upon doing so, you immerse yourself in the essence of the forsaken, gaining a bonus of 1d4 to all your rolls to hit and attack for 1 minute.
This ability can also be utilized outside of combat to enhance an ability check, lending you the foresight and precision of those who walked the paths forgotten by many.
Enhancement with blood Maledict:
Nosferatu's damage can be augmented through the integration of your Blood Maledict feature. To do so, you must pass a dc15 constitution saving throw. Success means you manage to form the blood shard without suffering any harm, while failure results in you taking half the damage rolled, as the blood shards creation takes a toll on your body.
Enhancing Nosferatu with a
Hemocraft die does not consume a usage of your Blood Maledict, but it does count as one use of Nosferatu.
Limitations
Forsaken Blood can be invoked twice per long rest, a limit that represents the physical and spiritual toll of drawing upon such potent but demanding energies.
Upon reaching level 14, you unlock a deeper connection to the forsaken legacy, granting you an additional use of this ability.
You may only utilise the power of the Forsaken Blood for ability checks when out of combat.
Special Considerations
The self-inflicted damage from invoking Forsaken Blood cannot be reduced or negated in any way, as it represents a pact and sacrifice necessary to draw forth the power of the forsaken.
The 1d4 bonus to hit and ability rolls embodies the subtle yet pervasive influence of the forsaken, enhancing your capabilities in a broad array of situations, reflecting their adaptability and cunning.
Night's Gift draws upon the dual nature of darknessoffering solace and instilling fear through the disciplined mastery of blood magic. By channeling the night's essence into their hemocraft, Blood Weavers can either heal and protect their allies or inflict devastating curses on their foes, all while sacrificing a part of themselves. This ability showcases a Blood Weaver's deep connection with the mysterious energies of the night, utilizing these forces to either shield the innocent or punish the wicked.
Usage:
Blessing of the NightThe self-inflicted damage from activating either aspect of Night's Gift cannot be mitigated or avoided, representing the necessary sacrifice to harness the night's energy.
Nights Wrath Alternatively, as an action, you may choose to suffer damage equal to your Hemocraft die to afflict an enemy within 30 feet with a curse. The enemy takes necrotic damage equal to twice the Hemocraft die rolled and suffers the effects of the Bane spell, ensnared by the oppressive might of the night. This spell-like effect saps their strength and luck, symbolized by shadows that hinder and harry.
Limitations
Forsaken Blood can be invoked twice per long
rest, a limit that represents the physical and spiritual toll of drawing upon such potent but demanding energies.
Importantly, this ability consumes one of your Blood Curse slots. The use of Night's Gift is thus strategically significant, requiring careful consideration as it taps into the same reservoir of power as your Blood Curses.
Special Considerations
The choice between aiding allies or weakening enemies with Night's Gift highlights the Blood Weaver's nuanced control over their powers, showcasing the delicate balance they maintain between destruction and restoration.
The Bane effect from Night's Wrath applies automatically without a saving throw, underscoring the undeniable potency of the curse as it springs from the depths of the Blood Weaver's arcane prowess.
At the zenith of your mastery over blood and the secrets it holds, you unlock the ability to transform into a being of ancient and terrifying power: a vampire. This transformation draws upon the undead essence within your hemocraft lineage, granting you formidable abilities borne of the night. This power is a double-edged sword, offering unmatched prowess while hiding within the shadows, yet rendering you vulnerable under the bane of sunlight.
Usage:
As a bonus action, you can morph into a vampire form, provided you are not exposed to direct sunlight. This transformation lasts for up to 1 hour, or until you choose to revert to your original form as a bonus action. Transformation is also forcibly ended if you fall unconscious, reach 0 hit points, or perish.
While in Vampiric Form, your equipment and armor blend into your new existence, granting you a base AC of 16. This AC cannot be enhanced by armor, though shield usage remains effective.
The Vampiric Form can be activated once per long rest, a limitation reflecting the profound power and the strain it exerts on your physical and mystical essence.
Vampiric Form Features
Demonic FlightSprouting bat-like wings, you
gain a flight speed of 30 feet, soaring through the air with the agility and freedom of the night's creatures.
Momento MoriWhen you attack with advantage, the shadows and your predatory nature coalesce to sharpen your strikes, granting you a +1 bonus to the attack roll.
EvasionYour form becomes one with the darkness, granting you extraordinary reflexes. Upon succeeding a Dexterity saving throw that would normally halve damage, you instead take no damage
Upon reaching the pinnacle of your journey as a Blood Weaver, you become the embodiment of the night's deadliest predator: Hunter of the Night. This ultimate mastery over your vampiric nature enhances your abilities, granting you newfound strengths that defy the natural weaknesses of your form and making you a paragon of undead might. As Hunter of the Night, you stand as a sovereign entity among shadows, feared by those who dwell both in light and darkness.
enhancements to vampiric form:
Fortified PresenceYour transformation now endows you with an imposing base AC of 18, a reflection of your indomitable will and the dark power that envelops your form.
Mastery over sunlightThe sun's rays, once your bane, now wash over you without effect. You can initiate your transformation into Vampiric Form even under direct sunlight, free from the previous constraints of Weakness to Sunlight. This signifies your transcendence over the traditional vulnerabilities of vampirism, marking you as a true hunter of the night.
Predatory PrecisionYour attacks in Vampiric Form become even more deadly, allowing you to score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20. This heightened lethality
showcases your apex status as a predator, where your every strike is a dance with death.
Regenerative Criticalswhen landing a critical hit, you receive 50% (rounded up) damage as healing.
Bloodthirsty TriumphIn your hunt, the spilling of your enemy's blood becomes a source of sustenance. When you score a critical hit against a creature that is neither Undead nor Construct, you regain hit points equal to a roll of your Hemocraft die. This ability to draw life from the brink of death itself, whether or not the creature succumbs to your attack, emphasizes your role as a fearsome predator whose very essence is intertwined with the cycle of predation and survival.
At 1st level, you gain the ability to channelor sometimes sacrificea part of your vital essence to curse and manipulate creatures through hemocraft magic. You know 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 at 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level. Each time you learn a new blood curse, you can also choose one of the blood curses you know and replace it with another blood curse.
Each time you use your Blood Maledict feature, you choose which curse to invoke from the curses you know. While invoking a blood curse, but before it affects the target, you can choose to amplify the curse by taking necrotic damage equal to one roll of your hemocraft die. This damage cant be reduced in any way. An amplified curse gains an additional effect, noted in the curses description. Creatures that do not have blood are immune to blood curses unless you have amplified the curse.
Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again. You can use Blood Maledict twice between rests starting at 6th level, three times starting at 13th level, and four times starting at 17th
level.
At 1st level, you have survived the Hunters Banea dangerous, long-guarded ritual that alters your lifes 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 checks to recall information about such creatures.
The Hunters 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 a saving throw to resist the features effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows
Hemocraft save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Hemocraft modifier
(your choice between Intelligence or Wisdom)
At 2nd level, 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 youre 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 cant 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 cant 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. The extra damage dealt by your rite is fire damage.
Rite of the Frozen. The extra damage dealt by your rite is cold damage.
Rite of the Storm. The extra damage dealt by your rite is lightning damage.
Rite of the Dead. The extra damage dealt by your rite is necrotic damage. (Prerequisite: 14th level)
Rite of the Oracle.
The extra damage dealt by your rite is psychic damage. (Prerequisite: 14th level)
Rite of the Roar. The extra damage dealt by your rite is thunder damage. (Prerequisite: 14th level)
At 6th level, 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 its 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 Hemocraft 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 cant use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
When you reach 9th level, 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 DMs discretion, a suitably high roll might cause your character to experience brief visions of the past connected to the object or location.
Starting at 10th level, 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 Hemocraft modifier (minimum of +1).
Starting at 13th level, the psychic damage from your Brand of Castigation increases to twice your Hemocraft modifier (minimum of 2). Additionally, a branded creature cant 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.
When you reach 14th level, you have advantage on saving throws against being charmed and frightened.
Upon reaching 20th level, 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.