Blood hunters are clever warriors driven by an unending determination to destroy evils old and new. Armed with rites of secretive blood magic and a willingness to sacrifice their own vitality and humanity for their cause, they protect the realms from the shadows — even as they remain ever vigilant against being drawn to the darkness that consumes the monsters they hunt.
| The Blood Hunter | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level | Proficiency Bonus | Hemocraft Die | Blood Curses Known | Features |
| 1st | +2 | 1d4 | 1 | Hunter's Bane, Blood Maledict |
| 2nd | +2 | 1d4 | 1 | Fighting Style, Crimson Rite |
| 3rd | +2 | 1d4 | 1 | Blood Hunter Order |
| 4th | +2 | 1d4 | 1 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 5th | +3 | 1d6 | 1 | Extra Attack |
| 6th | +3 | 1d6 | 2 | Brand of Castigation, Blood Maledict (2/rest) |
| 7th | +3 | 1d6 | 2 | Order Feature, Crimson Rite Improvement |
| 8th | +3 | 1d6 | 2 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 9th | +4 | 1d6 | 2 | Grim Psychometry |
| 10th | +4 | 1d6 | 3 | Dark Augmentation |
| 11th | +4 | 1d8 | 3 | Order Feature |
| 12th | +4 | 1d8 | 3 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 13th | +5 | 1d8 | 3 | Brand of Tethering, Blood Maledict (3/rest) |
| 14th | +5 | 1d8 | 4 | Hardened Soul, Crimson Rite Improvement |
| 15th | +5 | 1d8 | 4 | Order Feature |
| 16th | +5 | 1d8 | 4 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 17th | +6 | 1d10 | 4 | Blood Maledict (4/rest) |
| 18th | +6 | 1d10 | 5 | Order Feature |
| 19th | +6 | 1d10 | 5 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 20th | +6 | 1d10 | 5 | Sanguine Mastery |
Variant Hemocraft Ability Score: As a blood hunter, you use your Intelligence modifier for some of your class and subclass features. However, with your DM’s permission, you can choose to instead use your Wisdom modifier for all your blood hunter features that use your Intelligence modifier by default.
Multiclassing and the Blood Hunter. 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.
If your blood hunter is part of the Order of the Profane Soul and also has warlock levels, add one-third of your blood hunter levels (rounded down) to your warlock level and consult the Warlock progression table for total spell slots, cantrips known, and spell slot level. You should consider aligning your Otherworldly Patron feature between both classes, but your DM might allow you to have two different patrons at their discretion.
Creating a Blood Hunter
To create a Blood Hunter, consult the following lists, which provide your Primary Ability, Hit Points, and proficiencies. If you’re making a level 1 character, also consult the “Starting Equipment” section, and if you’re using the multiclassing rules, see “Multiclassing and the Blood Hunter” above.
Then look at the Blood Hunter table to see the class features you get at each level in this class. The descriptions of those features appear in the “Blood Hunter Class Features” section.
Primary Ability
Your primary abilities are Dexterity and Strength. When you choose this class at 1st level, you can either increase your Dexterity or Strength by 2.
Hit Points
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
Proficiencies
Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
Tools: Alchemist's supplies
Saving Throws: Dexterity, Intelligence
Skills: Choose three from Acrobatics, Arcana, Athletics, History, Insight, Investigation, Religion, and Survival
Equipment
- (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 and alchemist's supplies
Blood Hunter Class Features
As a Blood Hunter, you gain the following class features when you reach the specified levels in this class. These features are listed on the Blood Hunter table.
Level 1: Hunter's Bane
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 Hemocraft modifier (your choice between Intelligence and Wisdom).
Level 1: Blood Maledict
You gain the ability to channel—or sometimes sacrifice—a part of your vital essence to curse and manipulate creatures through hemocraft magic. You know one Blood Curse of your choice. 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 can’t be reduced in any way. An amplified curse gains an additional effect, noted in the curse’s 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.
Level 2: Fighting Style
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.
Level 2: Crimson Rite
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.
Rites
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)
Level 3: Blood Hunter Order
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.
| Official Subclasses | |
|---|---|
| Order | Source |
| Ghostslayer | Matt Mercer/DND Beyond |
| Lycan | Matt Mercer/DND Beyond |
| Mutant | Matt Mercer/DND Beyond |
| Profane Soul | Matt Mercer/DND Beyond |
| Unofficial Subclasses | |
| -- | -- |
Level 4: Ability Score Improvement
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.
Level 5: Extra Attack
You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action.
Level 6: Brand of Castigation
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 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 can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Level 9: Grim Psychometry
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 DM’s discretion, a suitably high roll might cause your character to experience brief visions of the past connected to the object or location.
Level 10: Dark Augmentation
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).
Level 13: Brand of Tethering
The psychic damage from your Brand of Castigation increases to twice your Hemocraft 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.
Level 14: Hardened Soul
You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed and frightened.
Level 20: Sanguine Mastery
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.