Blood Hunter

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 must have an Intelligence score of 13 or higher and a Strength or Dexterity score of 13 or higher in order to multiclass in or out of this class.

As a blood hunter, you gain the following class features.

Hit Dice: 1d10 per blood hunter level
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

Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
Tools: Alchemist's supplies
Saving Throws: Dexterity, Intelligence
Skills: Choose three from Athletics, Acrobatics, Arcana, History, Insight, Investigation, Religion, and Survival

• (a) a martial weapon or (b) two simple weapons
• (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) hand crossbow and 20 bolts
• (a) studded leather armor or (b) scale mail armor
• an explorer's pack

Beginning at 1st level, 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 a saving throw to resist the feature’s effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:

Hemocraft save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier.

At 1st level, 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. 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.

At 2nd level, you adopt a 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.

• Archery. You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons.
• 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 non-rite 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.
• Two-Weapon Fighting. When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.

At 2nd level, you learn to invoke a rite of hemocraft within your weapon at the cost of your own vitality. Choose one rite from the Primal Rites list below to learn.

As a bonus action, you activate a crimson rite on a single weapon with the elemental energy of a known rite of your choice that lasts until you finish a short or long rest, or if you aren’t holding the weapon at the end of your turn. When you activate a rite, you lose 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.

While active, attacks from this weapon deal an additional 1d4 damage of the chosen rite’s type. This damage is magical, and increases as you gain levels as a blood hunter, as shown in the Hemocraft Die column of the Blood Hunter table. A weapon can only hold a single active rite at a time.

You learn an additional Primal Rite of your choice at 7th level, and choose an Esoteric Rite to learn 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. Rite of the Oracle. Your rite damage is psychic damage. Rite of the Roar. Your rite damage is thunder damage.

At 3rd level, you commit to an order of blood hunter martial focus. The order you choose grants you features at 3rd level, and again at 7th, 11th, 15th, and 18th level.

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action.

At 6th level, whenever you damage a creature with your Crimson Rite feature, you can choose to sear an arcane brand of hemocraft magic into it (requires no action). You always know the direction to the branded creature, and each time the branded creature deals damage to you or a creature you can see within 5 feet of you, the branded creature suffers psychic damage equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1 damage).

Your brand lasts until you dismiss it, or you apply a brand to another creature. Your brand counts as a spell for the purposes of dispel magic, and the spell level is equal to half of your blood hunter level (maximum of 9th level spell).

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

When you reach 9th level, you have a supernatural talent for discerning the history surrounding mysterious objects or places touched by evil. When making an Intelligence (History) check to recall information about a darker past surrounding an object you are touching, or a location you are present in, you have advantage on the roll. The information gleaned often leans towards the more sinister influences of the past, and sometimes conveys visions of things previously unknown to the character on higher rolls.

Upon reaching 10th level, arcane blood magic suffuses your body, permanently reinforcing your resilience. Your speed increases by 5 feet, and whenever you make a Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution saving throw, you gain a bonus to the saving throw equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of one).

Starting at 13th level, the psychic damage from your Brand of Castigation feature increases to twice your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 2).

In addition, a branded creature can’t take the Dash action, and if a creature branded by you attempts to teleport or leave their current plane via ability, spell, or portal, they take 4d6 psychic damage and must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the teleport or plane shift fails.

When you reach 14th level, you have advantage on saving throws against being charmed and frightened.

Upon becoming 20th level, you honed your control over blood magic, mitigating your sacrifice and empowering your capability. Once per turn, whenever a blood hunter feature requires you to roll a hemocraft die, you can choose to reroll the die and choose which result to use.

In addition, whenever you score a critical hit with a weapon attack empowered by your Crimson Rite, you regain one expended use of your Blood Maledict feature.