Daniel Real (order #8546869)

BLOOD MAGIC
5th Edition Supplement
DESIGN
Joshua Raynack

EDITING
Cameron Guill

ART
Dusan Kostic
Wizards of the Coast

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Daniel Real (order #8546869)

 CHARACTERISTICS Blood mages often forgo
tradition, seeing it as a hindrance toward obtaining
knowledge rather than a foundation. Since very
few understand their motives and lack of regard for
proven arcane conventions, many believe they are
free spirits.
This is often a misperception. Blood mages
may not confine themselves to the laborious task of
scribing spells, but will instead focus that energy
into a structured dance or exercise. This
deliberate movement of the body increases the
flow of blood and intertwines its power with the
Weave.

ALIGNMENT Blood magic is a learned craft that

requires intense control over the body; therefore,
most wizards who follow this arcane path are lawful
in nature. Although most blood mages have
distaste for tradition, their ideals might stem from a
strong sense to acquire power through hard work
and determination. Others instead commit
themselves to certain people who can aid in their
quest for power and therefore they may not uphold
a particular ideal.

RELIGION A myriad of gods have blood magicians

as worshippers. While secret wizard covens,
consumed with bloodlust, might venerate Bhaal,
the few that see injury and death as a part of life
may look toward Kelemvor. On the other hand,
those that travel the dark path of blood magic often
seek ancient remnants ascribed to Jergal. Blood
mages that revere the Pitiless One ignore his now
contemporary role as a servant to Kelemvor. These
adventurers instead hunt the ruins of Netheril for
forgotten rituals that promise to bind their blood to
the Weave.

BACKGROUNDS Blood mages that spend years

lood MAGIC
B
in seclusion investigating foreboding ruins often live as a
hermit. Many learn dance and acrobatics to better shape
and control circulation within the body. Some might spend
Practitioners of blood magic often lead some of their early life amongst soldiers to pursue the art of
troubled lives. Other, more learned scholars battlefield medicine or understand the circulatory system
do not understand the need or desire to from those slain in conflict.
inflict harm on oneself when patience and
careful study yield similar results. Those RACES Human wizards, with such short life spans in
witnessed to it, see the practice as barbaric comparison to other races, seek to understand the nature of
Artwork: Wizards of the Coast

and self-loathing. life and death, therefore enticed to learn blood magic.
While elves lack the physical build as well as disdain such
ADVENTURERS Blood mages, like most wizards, travel arcane practices, half-elf blood mages relish the
in search for knowledge. Unlike those who study the opportunity to forge their own path between human
traditional schools of magic, enlightenment must come tradition and elven heritage.
from within rather than discovered in a library surrounded
by dusty tomes. While blood mages do not ignore ancient
texts, these wizards often learn their craft through
experimentation and performing rituals in places steeped
in arcane energy.

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  Blood Sense. The sound of blood pumping in the
ARCANE TRADITION veins of the living registers upon your senses like a
soothing rhythm upon your being. Expend 1 blood
Wizards in the Forgotten Realms, in a fevered hunger to point as an action to focus your awareness upon the
unlock arcane secrets of ancient empires, often follow immediate area to reveal the presence of living
untapped paths of the Weave. creatures. Until the end of your next turn, you know
the location of any beast, giant, or humanoid, within 60

BLOOD MAGIC (Version 1)

feet that is not behind total cover. You know the type
of any being whose presence you sense, but not the
"My blood courses with arcane power while your blood, identity of the creature.
when I begin, will simply spill from your body."
 Fortitude of Blood. Expend 1 blood point as a bonus
Blood mages learn to heighten their spellcraft through action to gain a bonus to Constitution saving throws,
manipulating the Weave and uniting the power of blood which lasts for 1 minute, equal to your Intelligence
and arcane might. Blood is life, though wizards that travel modifier (minimum of +1).
this path of magic view the sanguine fluid flowing through You can invoke this ritual twice. Afterward, you
their veins as a wellspring of arcane power. cannot perform it again until you finish a short or long
rest.
BLOOD SAVANT You combine the source of your
arcane power with the blood flowing through your veins. After a long rest, unexpended blood points vanish.
When you select this arcane tradition at 2nd level, you gain
proficiency in Medicine and double your proficiency bonus BURN THE BLOOD At 6th level, you gain resistance to
to any check made with the skill, instead of your normal psychic and fire damage. Furthermore, whenever you
proficiency bonus. begin casting a spell of 1st level or higher that deals
Furthermore, when you perform the Arcane Recovery psychic or fire damage, a wave of pain and anguish erupts
feature, you also regain 1 expended hit die. from you. This wave causes creatures of your choice
within 10 feet to suffer psychic or fire damage (you choose
BLOOD MAGIC Starting at 2nd level, you invoke blood each time you activate this feature) equal to half your
magic to gain supernatural powers. You can use a bonus wizard level.
action to call upon the power of blood by either inflicting a
minor or severe wound upon yourself. CULL THE BLOOD At 6th level, you learn to
Minor Wound. Inflicting a minor wound requires the manipulate the flow blood, even if it is not your own, to
expenditure of 1 hit die. Instead of regaining hit points, either stem death or empower your blood magic.
you gain 1 blood point.
Severe Wound. Inflicting a severe wound requires  Blood Siphon. When you reduce a creature to 0 hit
the expenditure of 2 hit dice. Instead of regaining hit points with a melee or spell attack, and the creature
points, you gain 2 blood points. dies, you gain 1 blood point.

While you possess one or more blood points, you gain the  Mark of Blood. When an attack scores a critical hit
following features: against a living creature within 10 feet, you can spend
1 blood point as either a bonus action or reaction. Until
 Armor of Vitality. When you do not wear armor, the end of your next turn, you gain advantage on at-
your AC equals 13 + your Constitution modifier. tack rolls against the creature.

 Lifeblood. You gain advantage on your first death  Wellspring of Life. When you make a death saving
saving throw of the day. throw and roll a 19-20 on the d20, you regain 1d6 hit
points instead of normal.
Furthermore, you can expend blood points to perform the At 14th level, you regain 1d6 hits points when you
following blood rituals: instead roll a 18-20 on a death saving throw.

 Blood Agony. When you hit a creature with a melee INHERITOR OF BLOOD At 10th level, you can invoke
or spell attack, you can expend 1 or more blood points the power of blood in others to bind your wounds. Should
to deal psychic damage to the target, in addition to the you drop to 0 hit points and do not die outright, you can
damage of the attack. The extra damage is 1d6 for 1 make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. If you succeed,
blood point, plus 1d6 for each additional blood point, one willing creature within 30 feet can expend one hit die
to a maximum of 5d6. and you regain a number of hit points equal to the result.
At 14th level, increase the damage die of Each time you use this feature after the first, increase
Blood Agony to a d8. the DC by 5. When you finish a short or long rest, reset
the DC to 10.

Daniel Real (order #8546869)

 SOUL BURN At 10th level, you can transform the blood A TALE OF TWO TRADITIONS
within your veins into raw arcane power. As a bonus action You may wonder why there are two wizard traditions with
on your turn, expend one or more blood points to create the same name? When I first designed the class, I wanted the
one spell slot. For each blood point you expend, roll 1d6 character tempted to risk life for power. Hit dice seemed
and consult the following Creating Spell Slots table for the the obvious choice although I felt uneasy about the trade off
result. You cannot create a spell slot higher than 5th level. (I never liked the idea of characters giving up something
inherent to access class features).
CREATING SPELL SLOTS In the end, the original felt overpowered in the right
circumstances. In an adventuring group with a cleric or bard
Spell Slot Gained Dice Result with powerful healing abilities, the character does not need
to exert hit dice during a rest.
1st 7-9
After I made the changes and updated the product with
2nd 10-16 the second version (which overhauled the tradition entirely),
I discovered Mike Mearls highlighted the virtues of the
3rd 17-20
original in an Unearthed Arcana article.
4th 21-23 Much to my horror, I nixed it during the latest update and
it no longer existed in the product. Therefore, in this
5th 24+ update, I included both versions.
Feel free to include one or both versions in your game.
Since blood magic is an ancient tradition and learned through
BLOOD SOUL MAGUS When you achieve 14th level,
discovery rather than proper training, blood mages can differ
you learned the final secret of weaving blood and raw from one another.
arcane power into one source of magic. When you inflict a
minor or severe wound through your Blood Magic feature,
you gain a greater number blood points. When you inflict a Blood Pool. You have a number of blood points
minor wound, instead gain 2 blood points, while a severe determined by your wizard level. You can have more
wound yields 4 blood points. blood points than shown on the table for your level.

BLOOD MAGIC (Version 2)

BLOOD POOL
Level Blood Points
"My blood courses with arcane power while your blood,
when I begin, will simply spill from your body." 2-4 2
5-8 3
Blood mages learn to heighten their spellcraft through
manipulating the Weave and uniting the power of blood 9-12 4
and arcane might. Blood is life, though wizards that travel 13-16 5
this path of magic view the sanguine fluid flowing through
their veins as a wellspring of arcane power. 17-20 6

BLOOD SAVANT You combine the source of your

arcane power with the blood flowing through your veins. Healing. Any form of healing you receive staunches the
When you select this arcane tradition at 2nd level, you gain flow of blood and can close the hemophilic wound. When
proficiency in Medicine and double your proficiency bonus you regain one or more hit points, you also lose 1 blood
to any check made with the skill, instead of your normal point. When you no longer have any blood points, the
proficiency bonus. hemophilic wound heals.
Furthermore, when you perform the Arcane Recovery
feature, you also regain 1 expended hit die. Blood Rites. You learn two blood rituals of your choice,
detailed below under Blood Rites.
BLOOD MAGIC Starting at 2nd level, you can form a When you gain a level in the wizard class, you can
bond between your lifeblood and the magical energies of choose one of the blood rites you know and replace it with
the Weave. As an action, you call upon the power of blood another blood rite that you can learn.
by inflicting a ritualistic wound upon yourself.
While the wound does not deal damage or break EMPOWERED BLOOD At 6th level, when you roll
concentration, it is a hemophilic wound and therefore damage for a spell, you can reroll a number of damage dice
remains open. Once you staunch the flow of blood, you up to your Constitution modifier (minimum of one). You
weaken the connection to the Weave. must use the new result.
When you inflict a hemophilic wound, you gain access Once you use this feature, you must finish a
to a pool of blood points (described below). Once you short or long rest before you can use it again.
inflict a hemophilic wound, you cannot inflict another such Starting at 14th level, you can use it twice
wound again until you finish a long rest. before a rest, but only once in the same turn.

Daniel Real (order #8546869)

 VARIANT RULE: BLOOD COMPONENT CASTING A SPELL
You can use blood as a spellcasting focus for your wizard
Spell Level Blood Point Cost Level
spells. When you cast a spell, inflict a wound upon yourself
and take 1 point of necrotic damage for each level of the 1st 2 2nd
spell. This damage does not break concentration and ignores
resistance and immunity. 2nd 3 5th
You cannot use the blood component feature if a spell 3rd 5 13th
indicates a cost for a component. You must have that
specific component before you can cast the spell. 4th 6 17th

BLOOD AWAKENING Starting at 10th level, you can Potent Blood. When you cast a wizard cantrip, you can
bestow consciousness upon the blood of a dead creature expend 1 blood point to add your proficiency bonus to the
causing the lifeblood to reinvigorate the corpse. damage.
You can cast revivify once using a wizard spell slot.
Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you Silence the Pain. You can expend 1 blood point and
finish a long rest. concentrate (as if concentrating on a spell) to gain
resistance to psychic damage. While you invoke this blood
CULL THE BLOOD At 14th level, you can manipulate rite, psychic damage does not cause you to break concen-
the blood of another creature and cull it free from its tration.
confinement, drawing it from the body all at once. The
pressure ruptures tissues and organs causing intense pain. Staunch the Wound. When you start your turn with 0
As an action, one creature within 30 feet must make a hits points, you can spend 1 blood point to become stable.
Constitution saving throw, taking 10d10 necrotic damage
on a failed save or half as much on successful one. This VARIANT: BLOODLINES WITH GREAT LINEAGE
feature has no effect on constructs, oozes, plants, and With the permission of your Game Master, you can expand
undead. the power gained from a humanoid life spark should the life
Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you extinguish bear a great lineage. As it stands, the power
you finish a long rest. assumes the life spark originates from one with a common
ancestry, such as a peasant or warrior. However, as you
advance, you can achieve further power from a humanoid life
BLOOD RITES spark of grand lineage to cast potent divination magic.
The blood rites are in alphabetical order.
Uncommon Lineage: A humanoid with an uncommon
lineage has a rich heritage, though holds little power. A
Blood Focus. When you cast a spell that does not indicate
minor noble, such as a knight or courtier, serve as examples
a cost for a component, you can spend 1 blood point to cast of a humanoid with an uncommon lineage.
the spell without material components. Beginning at 7th level, when you expend a humanoid life
spark of an uncommon lineage, you can cast either Arcane
Blood Ritual. You can expend 2 blood points to cast a 1st Eye or Divination (your choice) using a sorcerer spell slot of
level spell with the ritual tag from a spell list from any the same level.
class. You must cast the spell as a ritual.
Rare Lineage: A humanoid with a rare lineage, such as
Blood Spell. You can spend blood points to cast a spell an distant heir to a throne or even a member of royalty,
that you prepared without expending a spell slot on your bears the potential of great power.
turn. The Casting a Spell table shows the cost of casting a Beginning at 9th level, when you expend a humanoid life
spell of a given level. You can cast a spell no higher level spark with a rare lineage, you can cast either Legend Lore or
than 4th and must meet the minimum level required to Scrying (your choice) using a sorcerer spell slot of the same
cast the spell. level.

Fortitude of Blood. You can expend 1 blood point and Your Game Master reserves the right to decide the potency
concentrate (as if concentrating on a spell) to gain of the lineage a humanoid life sparks holds. Although not
proficiency in Constitution saving throws. humanoids, a powerful giant king or demon prince can hold
great power in their veins.
Phantom Vigor. When you cast a wizard cantrip, you can
spend 1 blood point as a bonus action to gain 1d4 + 4
temporary hit points.

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 Dragon. You can expend a dragon life spark to gain an
SORCEROUS ORIGIN advantage on your next saving throw. This advantage lasts
until the end of your next turn.
The arcane tradition of blood magic spawns less studious Elemental. When you hit a creature with a weapon or
pupils to unlock its potential. spell attack, you can expend an elemental life spark to deal
an extra 1d8 points of damage. The extra damage can be

KING’s BLOOD (BLOODLINE SORCERY)

either bludgeoning or fire (your choice).
Fey. When you hit a creature with a weapon or spell
Bloodlines are a powerful source of magic. Most kingdoms attack, you can expend a fey life spark as a bonus action to
forbid the practice of blood sorcery since many believe it beguile or frighten the target. The target must make a
relies on the strength of a noble lineage. Though the Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, it is charmed or
rumors and suspicions are true, only a few able to harness frightened (your choice) until the end of your next turn.
its secrets reserve such power. Fiend. You can expend a fiend life spark as a bonus
Nevertheless, kings and queens, along with great tribal action to gain resistance to fire damage until the end of
chieftains, believe it a sinister form of blood magic and your next turn.
hunt the purveyors with zeal. On the other hand, several Giant. You can expend a giant life spark to gain
serve as advisors to immoral rulers. The depraved advantage to Strength checks until the end of your next
sovereigns often surround themselves with unwitting turn.
courtiers of strong heritage as a source for their blood Humanoid. You can expend a humanoid life spark as
sorcerer. an action to cast augury without expending a spell slot or
material components.
PORTENT OF BLOOD Beginning at 1st level, when Monstrosity. You can expend a monstrosity life spark
you choose this origin, you can select guidance when you as a bonus action to gain temporary hit points equal to 1d6
learn a sorcerer cantrip. + half your sorcerer level.

PROPHETIC REFLEXES At 1st level, when you cast a VESSEL OF GHOSTS At 14th level, you can retain the
divination spell, you can choose a number of creatures you fleeting essence contained within a life spark. At the end
can see equal to 1 + the spell's level. The chosen creatures of a long rest, you can expend one or more hit dice.
gain a +1 bonus to initiative checks. This bonus lasts until Instead of gaining hit points, you can prevent 1 life spark
you are incapacitated or you take a short or long rest. You from disappearing with each hit die you expend.
cannot use the feature again until you finish a rest.
WELLSPRING OF LIFE At 14th level, the very presence
LIFE SPARK Starting at 6th level, when you reduce a of a life spark revitalizes your strength and well-being. If
hostile creature to 0 hit points with a melee weapon or you possess at least one life spark at the end of a short rest,
spell attack, you capture a portion of its fleeting soul and you or one other creature within 10 feet can regain hit
forge 1 life spark. Once per turn, you can expend a life points as if you expended 1 hit die.
spark to gain a benefit depending on the nature of creature Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again after
whose essence you captured. a long rest.
You can hold a number of life sparks equal to your
Constitution modifier. At the end of a long rest, any SHAPE LIFE SPARK When you achieve 18th level, you
unspent life sparks fade into the great beyond. can manipulate the fleeting essence contained within a life
Some life spark powers require your target to make a spark. When you expend a life spark, you can benefit from
saving throw to resist its effects. Calculate the saving any one of the listed life spark powers regardless of the
throw DC as follows: creature's nature when you captured it.

Life Spark save DC = 8 + your proficiency

bonus + your Charisma modifier.

Aberration. You can expend an aberration life spark as

a bonus action to gain a +2 bonus to AC until the end of
your next turn.
Beast. You can expend a beast life spark as an action to
cast speak with animals without the expenditure of a spell
slot.
Celestial. You can expend a celestial life spark as a
bonus action to gain resistance to all damage until the end
of your next turn.

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 SHADOWED BLOOD At 10th level, when you use the
FIGHTER ARCHETYPE second wind feature while you are in darkness, you can
regain hit points equal to 2d6 + your fighter level instead of
Blood magic flows in the veins of powerful masters and normal.
often transfer such gifts to minions.
DARK STRENGTH At 15th level, creatures have a

BLOOD THRALL
disadvantage to Strength saving throws against your blood
drinker feature.
Within the deepest reaches of night, bound through blood
AGILE EVASION At 18th level, you can use the Dodge
to serve a vampire or demonic overlord, you linger in a
realm of madness from which few ever return. The action as a bonus action. Once you use this feature, you
strength of your dark master pulsates through your veins must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.
and whether from a forbidden ritual or enthralling kiss, it
BLOOD THRALLS IN BAROVIA
empowers your resolve.
While Blood Mage wizards and King’s Blood sorcerers both
Though free from loathsome servitude, the haunting
fit into the macabre atmosphere of Ravenloft, Blood Thrall
voice of your master forever beckons you to return.
fighters are born to the setting. In a place where evil
Blood thralls learn to draw strength from the dark gifts
flourishes, blood thrall warriors fight to maintain their
bestowed upon them by the perverse beings who once
identity every day. The guilt of horrible deeds they
bound them to service. It requires a deep inner resolve to
committed haunts many good-aligned souls.
wield these dark boons without succumbing to savagery.

BLOOD DRINKER When you select this archetype at 3rd

level, you can gain nourishment from the blood of your
victims. When you hit a living creature with a melee
weapon attack, your attack deals an extra 1d8 points of
damage. If the target is Large or smaller, it must also make
a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, you gain
temporary hit points equal to the roll of your extra damage
+ your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice).

Blood Drinker save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus +

your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice).

You can use this feature twice between rests and only once
a turn. Once you expended all uses of this feature, you
must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.

DARK GIFT At 7th level, you learn to draw upon the

blood of your patron that still courses through your veins.
You gain one of the following features of your choice.
Aberrant Climber. As a bonus action, you gain a
climbing speed equal to your current speed until the end
of your turn.
Celerity. You can take a bonus action on each of your
turns in combat to take the Dash action.
Charming Gaze. As a bonus action, one creature
within 5 feet cannot make an opportunity attack until the
start of your next turn. Creatures immune to the charmed
condition are unaffected by charming gaze.
Dark Sight. You can cast darkvision on yourself at
will, without expending material components.
Freed Mind. You have advantage on saving throws
against being charmed.
Shadow Life. When a target fails its Strength saving
throw against your blood drinker feature, you gain 5
additional temporary hit points.

Artwork: Dusan Kostic

Daniel Real (order #8546869)
 MAGIC ITEMS
Curse. This is a cursed sword and once drawn, it will
not allow the wielder to sheath the blade unless it spills
blood. Furthermore, when you deal damage to a living
Adventurers discover strange and interesting relics over the creature with the blade, you must succeed on a DC 15
course of their journeys within the Realms. Forged in Wisdom saving throw or continue to attack until you or the
blood, the following magic items exist in a campaign that creature drops to 0 hit points, or you are unable to reach
allows the Blood Magic Arcane Tradition. the creature to make a melee attack against it.
While unsheathed, the wielder cannot benefit from a
BLOOD-DREADER long or short rest.
Weapon (any sword), rare (requires attunement) You can release the sword of its curse as normal.
Afterward, the sword becomes a +1 weapon with no other
You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with properties.
this magic weapon against nonliving creatures. Otherwise,
it functions as a normal sword.
Curse. When you deal damage to a living creature with
this blade, you must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving
throw. On a failed save, you feint and fall unconscious.
You can repeat the saving throw at the end of each turn,
ending the effect with a success.
You can break the cursed enchantment as normal.
Afterward, the sword becomes a +1 weapon with no other
properties.

BLOOD LEECH
Weapon (any sword), uncommon (requires attunement)

You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with

this magic weapon.
If you make an attack using this weapon, at the end of
your turn, if you did not hit at least one target, blood leech
deals 5 (1d10) necrotic damage to you (this damage cannot
be avoided and overcomes all immunities and resistances).
Until the end of your next turn, the next attack you make
deals an extra 2d6 points of necrotic damage to the first
target it hits.

POTION OF CRUOR
Potion, varies

When you consume this potion, you regain expended hit

dice determined on the rarity of the potion, shown on the
following table. The liquid appears as coagulated blood,
thick and syrupy. Once consumed, further potions of cruor
have no effect until you first finish a long rest.

POTIONS OF CRUOR
Potency Rarity HD Regained
Normal Uncommon 1
Greater Rare 2
Superior Very Rare 3

SANGUINE BLADE
Weapon (any sword), rare (requires attunement)

You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with

this magic weapon against living creatures. Otherwise, it
functions as a normal sword.

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