Z's Blood Magic (5e Sourcebook)/Mechanics
Contents
Blood Magic Mechanics
Here are the basic mechanics of my Blood Magic system.
| Hemocraft Level |
Proficiency Bonus |
Hemocraft Die | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacraments Known |
Rites Known | |||
| 1st | +2 | (1)d4 | 1 | 2 |
| 2nd | +2 | (1)d4 | 2 | 3 |
| 3rd | +2 | (1)d4 | 2 | 4 |
| 4th | +2 | (1)d4 | 2 | 5 |
| 5th | +3 | (2)d6 | 3 | 6 |
| 6th | +3 | (2)d6 | 3 | 7 |
| 7th | +3 | (2)d6 | 3 | 8 |
| 8th | +3 | (2)d6 | 3 | 9 |
| 9th | +4 | (2)d6 | 4 | 10 |
| 10th | +4 | (2)d6 | 4 | 10 |
| 11th | +4 | (3)d8 | 4 | 11 |
| 12th | +4 | (3)d8 | 4 | 12 |
| 13th | +5 | (3)d8 | 5 | 12 |
| 14th | +5 | (3)d8 | 5 | 13 |
| 15th | +5 | (3)d8 | 5 | 13 |
| 16th | +5 | (3)d8 | 5 | 14 |
| 17th | +6 | (4)d10 | 6 | 14 |
| 18th | +6 | (4)d10 | 6 | 15 |
| 19th | +6 | (4)d10 | 6 | 15 |
| 20th | +6 | (4)d10 | 6 | 15 |
Hemocraft
Each blood magi has a special die, known as a Hemocraft die, used to measure their power. This die begins as a d4, but increases in size as you grow stronger and able to endure greater sacrifice, as shown on the Hemocraft Die column of the Hemocraft table above. Any time an ability calls for your Hemocraft die, use the size of die noted on the table for your Hemocraft level.
You determine your Hemocraft level by adding together all your levels in the Cardinal class, and one-third (Rounded down) of your levels in subclasses that grant access to the Hemocraft feature. Use this total to determine the size of your Hemocraft die, the number of Hemocraft die your may roll when you Rend yourself, and the number of Sacraments and Rites you may know.
Rend Ichor
The main mechanic of your Hemocraft Die is to Rend yourself, inflicting harm in order to achieve a goal, be it a dice roll, or the activation or amplification of a Hemocraft ability. If a feature allows you to Rend to a type of roll, you Rend yourself according the feature's description, and add the Rend Bonus to the result of the roll. Regardless of the type of roll you Rend to, unless otherwise specified, you can choose to Rend either before the roll is made, or after the roll is made, but before you know if it is a success or a failure, at your discretion. When you Rend, whether it be Rending to a roll or Rending to activate or amplify an ability, you roll your Hemocraft die at least once (See below), and record the result. This number is known as your Rend Result, which is used to calculate both the number of hit points you lose to that Rend, and the Rend Bonus granted to you by the Rend. Hit points lost during a Rend are not damage in a traditional sense, and thus the loss cannot be mitigated or reduced in any way. The type of Rend Bonus granted to you in exchange for harming yourself in this way depends on whether the Rend was Minor or Major, as follows:
- The Rend Bonus granted by a Minor Rend is equal to +1, plus one-fifth of the Rend Result, rounded to the nearest increment of 5.
- The Rend Bonus granted by a Major Rend is equal to the Rend Result.
As you gain strength, you can begin to harm yourself further and further for greater power, by rolling your Hemocraft die more than once when you rend. When you Rend yourself, you may roll your Hemocraft die a number of times up to the number in parentheses shown in the Hemocraft Die column of the Hemocraft table above, and totaling them together to find the Rend Result.
Traditionally, Minor Rending is allowed for d20 rolls (Such as ability checks or attack rolls), and Major Rending is reserved for instances when smaller dice would be affected (Such as damage rolls). Unless a feature specifically says you can Rend to a particular type of roll and whether the Rend you are allowed to perform is Major or Minor, you cannot Rend to that type of roll. You can Rend any amount of times per turn or per round, but you cannot rend more than once for a feature unless the feature's description specifically denotes it.
Enervation and Decay
Your sacrifice of life force causes your inner flame to sputter, and struggle to regain momentum. Once you Rend, you suffer from debilitation effects for a short time, making it difficult to get back on your feet immediately. Many a blood mage user has fallen prey to overzealous use of their own power.
The two effects are known as Crimson Enervation and Crimson Decay. Crimson Enervation prevents you from regaining hit points while under its effects. While you suffer the effects of Crimson Decay, all hit points you regain are reduced by half.
Upon Rending yourself, you suffer from Crimson Enervation until the beginning of your next turn, and from Crimson Decay until one minute has passed since the last time you chose to Rend yourself.
Injury Level
Some blood magic abilities change based on how many hit points the user is missing. This is measured in the creature's Injury level. There are four Injury Levels, defined as follows.
Uninjured
A creature is Uninjured when it's current hit points are equal to its maximum hit points.
Bloodied
A creature is Bloodied when it's current hit points are less than its hit point maximum.
Injured
A creature is Injured when it's current hit points are equal to or less than one-half of it maximum hit points. Injured replaces Bloodied.
Critical
A creature is Critical when it's current hit points are equal to or less than its number of Hit Dice, plus it's Constitution modifier. Critical replaces Injured.
Corpse Magic
Each creature that possesses the Hemocraft feature gains access to Corpse Magic, as some blood magic abilities allow or require you to harvest blood from a creature's remains. However, there are several limitations on this.
First, the creature's remains must be close to you. You may affect a corpse up to 5ft away for every point of proficiency bonus you possess - 10ft away at +2, 15ft at +3, and so on; This is your Corpse Magic range. If affecting more than one corpse with a single harvesting ability, all targeted corpses must be within your Corpse Magic range of both you and of each other in order to affect them all.
Second, the corpse's age comes into question, as over time, blood loses its potency, beginning the moment it leaves one's body, or the moment one's body is no longer occupied by their soul. You can gain no benefit from harvesting the blood of a creature that has been dead for more than 1 minute, unless otherwise specified by an ability.
Third, the corpse must be of a creature that possesses some form of blood or similar fluid within its body in order for you to harvest any such liquid. You cannot harvest blood from the remains of a Construct or Undead creature, unless the DM specifies otherwise - For example, the corpse of a vampire that has recently fed may be eligible, despite being Undead. Likewise, if there is no blood within a corpse - Such as a corpse you have already harvested, or, for example, the remains of a humanoid that has been bled dry by a vampiric creature - Then you cannot harvest blood from that corpse.
Fourth, the corpse's size is of importance, as too small a creature cannot possess enough blood on its own to harvest. An average Medium creature's corpse can be harvested once, but the number of times an oddly sized corpse can be harvested varies, as shown on the table below. In order to successfully complete a harvest, you must drain the essence from enough corpses to at least equal one full harvest (Such as 4 Tiny corpses, 2 Small corpses, 2 Tiny corpses and one Small corpse, etc).
| Corpse Size |
Maximum Number Of Harvests |
|---|---|
| Tiny | 1/4 |
| Small | 1/2 |
| Medium | 1 |
| Large | 2 |
| Huge | 3 |
| Gargantuan | 4 |
And finally, the creature's life force must be strong enough to fuel the magic you're using it to fuel - And, just like a fire requires more and more fuel to continue burning the larger it grows, your magic requires that you harvest stronger and stronger creatures as you and your magic grow stronger. Thus, before harvesting a creature, ask your DM if it seems to your character's instinct that the creature is strong enough to harvest, based on your level and the creature's CR, as shown on the table below. If a creature's CR is less than the CR listed on the table for a character of your level, you can gain no benefit from harvesting its blood.
| Character Level |
Minimum Enemy CR |
|---|---|
| 1st-4th | 1/4 |
| 5th-7th | 1 |
| 8th-10th | 2 |
| 11th-13th | 3 |
| 14th-16th | 4 |
| 17th-19th | 5 |
| 20th+ | 6 |
Sacrifice Casting
Some blood magic features will grant you access to Sacrifice Points. These points represent your ability to convert your life force into raw magical energy. You can spend these points to achieve a variety of magical effects. Any feature that gives you access to Sacrifice Points grants you the following abilities.
- Sacrifice Points: You possess a specified number of Sacrifice Points. You can never have more Sacrifice Points than your specified maximum. You regain all expended Sacrifice Points when you finish a long rest. When you expend one or more Sacrifice Points, for each point you spend, you lose hit points equal to one roll of your Hemocraft die. Additionally, upon expending one or more Sacrifice Points, you suffer the effects of Crimson Enervation until the beginning of your next turn, and from the effects of Crimson Decay for 1 minute, as if you had chosen to Rend yourself.
- Sacrificial Rending: When you Rend yourself, you can choose to expend one Sacrifice Point. In doing so, you roll your Hemocraft die one additional time for that Rend, adding the result to the Rend Result, increasing both the Rend Bonus and the number of hit points you lose, in place of the normal hit point loss incurred by expending a Sacrifice Point.
- Sacrificial Casting: When you cast a spell, you may choose to cast it by expending a requisite amount of Sacrifice Points, instead of expending a spell slot. When you spend the requisite number of Sacrifice Points, the spell is cast as if from a spell slot of the corresponding level, as shown on the table below. You cannot use Sacrificial Casting to cast a spell as if from a spell slot of 6th level or higher, and you can only cast a spell as if from a spell slot of a level for which you possess at least 0* spell slots; For example, you can only replicate a 3rd-level spell slot if you possess at least 0* 3rd-level slots.
| Spell Slot Level |
Sacrifice Point Cost |
|---|---|
| 1st | 2 |
| 2nd | 3 |
| 3rd | 5 |
| 4th | 6 |
| 5th | 7 |
Sacraments
As a blood magi, you learn how to use your blood to perform sacred - Or profane - Rites of hemocraft magic, awakening a primal connection within yourself, binding a magical force to your blood; These forces are called Sacraments. You can unleash this force sparingly by merely living, but spilling your blood amplifies it further, allowing you to create spectacular effects at the cost of a little pain. You gain access to Sacraments as shown in the Sacraments Known table of the Hemocraft table above. When you gain access to a Sacrament, you also gain access to the Will that belongs to that Sacrament, and its Sign, if any.
Each Sacrament contains many different Rites, which are specific blood magic effects you can learn, much like spells. You learn Rites as shown in the Rites Known column of the Hemocraft table above. You must meet a Rite's prerequisites in order to learn it. You automatically gain access to the Will of every Sacrament you possess, as well as its Sign, if any, and you can learn your Rites from any Sacrament you possess.
