Blood Mage (3.5e Class)

Blood Mage

<-general description->.

Making a Blood Mage

<-Strong points and weak points, and effectiveness with party members.->.

Abilities: Intelligence determines how powerful a spell a Blood Mage can cast, how many spells a Blood Mage can cast per day, and how hard those spells are to resist (see Spells, below. Like a sorcerer or wizard, a Blood Mage benefits from high Dexterity and Constitution scores.

Races: Humans are more likely to join this class Alignment: Any non good.

Starting Gold: 3d4 times10 gp (100gp).

Starting Age: "As wizard"

Table: The Blood Mage

Hit Die: d6

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Spells per Day
		Fort	Ref	Will		0	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Summon Familiar, Flesh Runes	3	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Blood Magic	4	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+3		4	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4		4	3	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5th	+2	+2	+2	+4	Bloodied Silent	4	3	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—
6th	+3	+2	+2	+5		4	3	3	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
7th	+3	+2	+2	+5		4	4	3	2	1	—	—	—	—	—
8th	+4	+2	+2	+6	Sudden Still	4	4	3	3	2	—	—	—	—	—
9th	+4	+3	+3	+6		4	4	4	3	2	1	—	—	—	—
10th	+5	+3	+3	+7		4	4	4	3	3	2	—	—	—	—
11th	+5	+3	+3	+7	Craft Contingent Spell	4	4	4	4	3	2	1	—	—	—
12th	+6/1	+4	+4	+8		4	4	4	4	3	3	2	—	—	—
13th	+6/1	+4	+4	+8		4	4	4	4	4	3	2	1	—	—
14th	+7/2	+4	+4	+9	Bloodied Empower	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	2	—	—
15th	+7/2	+5	+5	+9		4	4	4	4	4	4	3	2	1	—
16th	+8/3	+5	+5	+10		4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	2	—
17th	+8/3	+5	+5	+10	Bloodied Maximize	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	2	1
18th	+9/4	+6	+6	+11		4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	2
19th	+9/4	+6	+6	+11		4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3
20th	+10/5	+6	+6	+12	Bloodied Metamagic	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Class Skills 2 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) The Blood Mage’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int). |} Class Features All of the following are class features of the Blood Mage. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Blood Mages are proficient with all simple weapons, but not with any type of shield. They can use light armor. Spells: A Blood Mage casts arcane spells which are drawn from the sorcerer/wizard spell list. A Blood Mage must choose and prepare her spells ahead of time (see below). To learn, prepare, or cast a spell, the Blood Mage must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a Blood Mage’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the Blood Mage’s Intelligence modifier. Like other spellcasters, a Blood Mage can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Wizard. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Intelligence score. Blood Mages are unique in that they do not have a spell book, but rather they ritualistically scar themselves with the arcane formula required to learn their spells each day. This means that they need never fear losing their spell book, but it also means that the number of spells they can know is limited by their skill. As such, while they prepare spells as a Wizard, they have a limited number of spells known. A Blood Mage must choose and prepare his spells ahead of time by getting a good night’s sleep and spending 1 hour studying his markings. While studying, the Blood Mage decides which spells to prepare. Blood Mages choose their spells from the sorcerer/wizard list. Table: Blood Mage Spells Known Level Spells Known 0 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 1st 5 3 — — — — — — — — 2nd 6 3 — — — — — — — — 3rd 6 4 1 — — — — — — — 4th 7 4 2 — — — — — — — 5th 7 5 2 1 — — — — — — 6th 8 5 3 2 — — — — — — 7th 8 6 3 2 1 — — — — — 8th 9 6 4 3 2 — — — — — 9th 9 6 4 3 2 1 — — — — 10th 10 6 5 4 3 2 — — — — 11th 10 6 5 4 3 2 1 — — — 12th 10 6 6 5 4 3 2 — — — 13th 10 6 6 5 4 3 2 1 — — 14th 10 6 6 5 5 4 3 2 — — 15th 10 6 6 5 5 4 3 2 1 — 16th 10 6 6 5 5 5 4 3 2 — 17th 10 6 6 5 5 5 4 3 2 1 18th 10 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 3 2 19th 10 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 20th 10 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 Summon Familar: A Blood Mage can obtain a familiar. Doing so takes 24 hours and uses up magical materials that cost 100 gp. A familiar is a magical beast that resembles a small animal and is unusually tough and intelligent. The creature serves as a companion and servant. The Blood Mage chooses the kind of familiar he gets. As the Blood Mage advances in level, his familiar also increases in power. If the familiar dies or is dismissed by the sorcerer, the Blood Mage must attempt a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw. Failure means he loses 200 experience points per Blood Mage; success reduces the loss to one-half that amount. However, a Blood Mage’s experience point total can never go below 0 as the result of a familiar’s demise or dismissal. A slain or dismissed familiar cannot be replaced for a year and day. A slain familiar can be raised from the dead just as a character can be, and it does not lose a level or a Constitution point when this happy event occurs. A character with more than one class that grants a familiar may have only one familiar at a time. Flesh Runes: A Blood Mage does not use a spell book; instead, he inscribes the arcane formula required for his spells deeply into his skin. These runes allow him to channel his lifeblood into the magic he wields. The scars make the Blood Mage suffer a -4 penalty on his Disguise check to hide the fact that he is a Blood Mage. Anyone who does see the runes however does not necessarily realize their significance, which requires a DC 15 Knowledge (Arcana) check. Blood Magic: At 2nd level a Blood Mage gains the ability to turn his life force (his blood) directly into the raw magical energy required to power a spell. He can opt to take an amount of Constitution Burn (as shown on the table “Constitution Burn by Spell Level”) to spontaneously cast a spell without expending spell slots as a full round action. If the Blood Mage dies from this Constitution loss, then the last spell still functions normally, even if this means that the Blood Mage effectively has a negative Constitution score. If the spell is of a level that the Blood Mage could not normally cast (such as from metamagic augmentation with Bloodied Metamagic and similar abilities) the Blood Mage dies instantly as the spell is cast. (still having normal affect, the Blood Mage's loss of life still does not ruin the spell). However, if the Blood Mage is resurrected, then he suffers a number of points of permanent Constitution loss that cannot be removed by any means equal to the number of spell levels that the killing spell was minus the level of the Blood Mage's highest level spell slot. Constitution Burn by Level Spell level Constitution Burn Highest spell level+3 : Death and 3 points of permanent Constitution loss. Highest spell level+2 : Death and 2 points of permanent Constitution loss. Highest spell level+1 : Death and 1 point of permanent Constitution loss. Highest spell level:7 points 2nd Highest spell level:6 points 3rd Highest spell level:6 points 4th Highest spell level:5 points 5th Highest spell level:4 points 6th Highest spell level:4 points 7th Highest spell level:3 points 8th Highest spell level:2 points 9th Highest spell level:2 points 10th Highest spell leve:1 points Bloodied Silent: At 5th level a Blood Mage may prepare a spell with the metamagic feat Silent Spell even if he does not posses it. The level of the spell is raised as normal. Upon casting the spell, he takes 1 point of constitution burn. If the spell is unused by the end of the day then no points of constitution are lost. If the Blood Mage already has Silent Spell or gains it at a later level, then the Blood Mage can spontaneously cast the spell with the effect of the Silent Spell feat without raising its caster level as a full round action. This use deals the number of points of constitution that a spell of the total effective level of the spell (including metamagic feats) would if it was cast with the Blood Magic ability. If this spell was cast with the Blood Magic class feature, then it deals twice as much total ability burn. Bloodied Still: At 8th level a Blood Mage may prepare a spell with the metamagic feat Still Spell even if he does not posses it. The level of the spell is raised as normal. Upon casting the spell, he takes 1 point of constitution burn. If the spell is unused by the end of the day then no points of constitution are lost. If the Blood Mage already has Still Spell or gains it at a later level, then the Blood Mage can spontaneously cast the spell with the effect of the Still Spell feat without raising its caster level as a full round action. This use deals the number of points of constitution that a spell of the total effective level of the spell (including metamagic feats) would if it was cast with the Blood Magic ability. If this spell was cast with the Blood Magic class feature, then it deals twice as much total ability burn. Craft Contingent Spell: At 11th level a Blood Mage gains the item creation feat Craft Contingent Spell (if you are not using Complete Arcane, then you can replace this bonus feat with any other item creation feat for which you qualify). Bloodied Empower: At 14th level a Blood Mage may prepare a spell with the metamagic feat Empower Spell even if he does not posses it. The level of the spell is raised as normal. Upon casting the spell, he takes 2 points of constitution burn. If the spell is unused by the end of the day then no points of constitution are lost. If the Blood Mage already has Empower Spell or gains it at a later level, then the Blood Mage can spontaneously cast the spell with the effect of the Empower Spell feat without raising its caster level as a full round action. This use deals the number of points of constitution that a spell of the total effective level of the spell (including metamagic feats) would if it was cast with the Blood Magic ability. If this spell was cast with the Blood Magic class feature, then it deals twice as much total ability burn. Bloodied Maximize: At 17th level a Blood Mage may prepare a spell with the metamagic feat Maximize Spell even if he does not posses it. The level of the spell is raised as normal. Upon casting the spell, he takes 3 points of constitution burn. If the spell is unused by the end of the day then no points of constitution are lost. If the Blood Mage already has Maximize Spell or gains it at a later level, then the Blood Mage can spontaneously cast the spell with the effect of the Maximize Spell feat without raising its caster level as a full round action. This use deals the number of points of constitution that a spell of the total effective level of the spell (including metamagic feats) would if it was cast with the Blood Magic ability. If this spell was cast with the Blood Magic class feature, then it deals twice as much total ability burn. Bloodied Metamagic: At 20th level a Blood Mage gains the ability to use all of his metamagic feats to spontaneously modify his spells. Upon casting a spell modified with this ability, the Blood Mage takes a number of points of Constitution Burn as if the spell was cast with his Blood Magic class ability. If this spell was cast with the Blood Magic class feature, then it deals twice as much total ability burn. Epic Blood Mage Table: The Epic Blood Mage Hit Die: d6 Level Special 21st bonus feat 22nd 23rd bonus feat 24th 25th bonus feat 26th 27th bonus feat 28th 29th bonus feat 30th <-number of skill points-> + Int modifier skill points per level. Bonus Feats: The epic Blood Mage gains a bonus feat (selected from the list of epic blood mage bonus feats) at 21st level and every 2 levels after 21st. Epic blood mage Bonus Feat List: <-list of bonus epic feats->. Elf Blood Mage Starting Package Weapons: Shortspear (1d6, crit ×2, range inc. 20 ft., 3 lb., onehanded, piercing). Light crossbow (1d8, crit 19–20/×2, range inc. 80 ft., 4 lb., piercing). Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 4 + Int modifier. Skill Ranks Ability Armor Check Penalty Knowledge (Arcana) 4 Int — Spellcraft 4 Int — Concentration 4 Int — Decipher Script 4 Int — Hide(cc) 2 Dex 0 Move Silently(cc) 2 Dex 0 Search(cc) 2 Int — Spot 2 Wis — Feat: Endurance Spells Known:0-level spells—detect magic, ghost sound, light, mage hand, read magic. 1st-level spells—mage armor, magic missile, sleep. Gear: Backpack with waterskin, one day’s trail rations, bedroll, sack, and flint and steel. Hooded lantern, 5 pints of oil. Spell component pouch. Case with 10 crossbow bolts.. Gold: 3d4 gp Campaign Information Playing a Blood Mage Religion: Due to the rather macabre nature of this class, good deities are not overly welcoming towards a traveling Blood Mage. Most of this class worship gods of knowledge such as Boccob or Wee Jas, whereas Vecna is also a common god among the truly evil members of this class. Many Blood Mages worship no god at all, relying soly on their own power to see them through. Other Classes: Blood Mages are not known for their interpersonal skills. Paladins distrust them at best and are openly hostile at worst, regardless of the Mage’s alignment. They tend to relate poorly to other primary arcane spellcasters as they are almost universally extremely competitive with their peers. They respect the healing power of divine magic and its users but tend to be rather flippant with religion in general. They have little in common with fighters and other primary combatants, and while they realize that without the defensive services provided by such characters they would have no hope of survival, in non combat venues they usually remain apathetic towards the martial classes. In fact, the class they get along best with happens to be the Bard. The bard’s spellcasting is no threat to the blood mage, and the typical antics of bards in general soften the Blood Mage’s callus exterior. Combat: Blood Mages are similar to sorcerers in that their role is largely defined by the spells they chose to inscribe upon their flesh. They have powerful if costly metamagic abilities built into their class and they use them as often as they dare. Advancement: As metamagic focused characters, Blood Mages should grab up as many of such feats as they can. Generally multiclassing is not advised due to the inevitable slowing of the Blood Mage’s spell progression. Yet, this class lends itself better than most to the idea of an armored mage with its still spell ability. Blood Mages in the World “ within my blood lies the power to overcome the limitations of mortal magic, who could turn that down? ” —<-NPC name->, Human Blood Mage Blood Mages tend to be reclusive and secretive, coming out only when they have a great and pressing need to. The only known exception to this is in the case of a blood mage apprentice who was expelled but not killed, which is a rare event in and of itself. Daily Life: <-day in the life of a character of this class->. Notables: <-notable NPCs of this class->. Organizations: Blood Mages rarely organize except to form one-on-one apprenticeships. Sometimes such apprenticeships can last many years and be quite stable, especially with a lawfull master and apprentice. More commonly however these relationships break down after a relitivly short time, and what happens afer that is largely a function of the master and apprentice's moral alignments. NPC Reactions: Blood Mages are fairly obscure, and as such do not garner a specific response from ordinary people. Yet any new spellcaster will be subject to some amount of suspicion and due to the inscribed runes and powerful magic that Blood Mages wield, they are often even more reviled than sorcerers. Blood Mage Lore Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Arcana) can research Blood Mages to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs. Knowledge (arcana) DC Result 15 Blood Mages are dangerous spellcasters who can occasionally cast extremely powerful spells. They cover their bodies in strange runes. 20 Blood Mages draw power from the blood flowing through their veins, allowing them to cast spells that go beyond the normal limits of power. The runes allow them to focus and use the power of their blood in their spells. 25 At this check result, the character learns the whereabouts of a specific blood mage, friendly or otherwise. Blood Mages in the Game The Blood Mage is a fine example of a anti-hero class, one who through dubious means achieves noble ends. Of course, they can just as easily be used as villains to confound players who are bored at just running into one more sorcerer. Blood Mages are obscure enough to be simply dropped into a campaign with the explanation being that the PCs simply have never heard of this specialized form of spellcaster. Adaptation: This class does not need to have its slightly evil tone. Indeed the loss of constitution could be a holy sacrifice for a divine or otherwise holy cause, and death from spell casting Sample Encounter: <-DM placement for NPCs of this class.->. EL whatever: <-Encounter scenario and character info on sample NPC including stat block. The CR of the NPC is typically the same as the EL for the encounter.->. Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Classes → Base Classes