# Blood Hunter
*Source: Blood Hunter 2022*
> [!tldr] Class and Feature Progression
>
> <table class="class-progression">
> <thead>
> <tr><th colspan='5'></th></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><th class"level">Level</th><th class"pb">PB</th><th class"feature">Features</th><th class="value">Hemocraft Die</th><th class="value">Blood Curses Known</th></tr>
> </thead><tbody>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">1st</td><td class"pb">+2</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Hunter's Bane (Level 1)' class='internal-link'>Hunter's Bane</a>, <a href='#Blood Maledict (Level 1)' class='internal-link'>Blood Maledict</a></td><td class="value">1d4</td><td class="value">1</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">2nd</td><td class"pb">+2</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Fighting Style (Level 2)' class='internal-link'>Fighting Style</a>, <a href='#Crimson Rite (Level 2)' class='internal-link'>Crimson Rite</a></td><td class="value">1d4</td><td class="value">1</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">3rd</td><td class"pb">+2</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Blood Hunter Order (Level 3)' class='internal-link'>Blood Hunter Order</a></td><td class="value">1d4</td><td class="value">1</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">4th</td><td class"pb">+2</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Ability Score Improvement (Level 4)' class='internal-link'>Ability Score Improvement</a></td><td class="value">1d4</td><td class="value">1</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">5th</td><td class"pb">+3</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Extra Attack (Level 5)' class='internal-link'>Extra Attack</a></td><td class="value">1d6</td><td class="value">1</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">6th</td><td class"pb">+3</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Brand of Castigation (Level 6)' class='internal-link'>Brand of Castigation</a>, <a href='#Blood Maledict Improvement (Level 6)' class='internal-link'>Blood Maledict Improvement</a></td><td class="value">1d6</td><td class="value">2</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">7th</td><td class"pb">+3</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Order feature (Level 7)' class='internal-link'>Order feature</a>, <a href='#Crimson Rite Improvement (Level 7)' class='internal-link'>Crimson Rite Improvement</a></td><td class="value">1d6</td><td class="value">2</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">8th</td><td class"pb">+3</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Ability Score Improvement (Level 8)' class='internal-link'>Ability Score Improvement</a></td><td class="value">1d6</td><td class="value">2</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">9th</td><td class"pb">+4</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Grim Psychometry (Level 9)' class='internal-link'>Grim Psychometry</a></td><td class="value">1d6</td><td class="value">2</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">10th</td><td class"pb">+4</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Dark Augmentation (Level 10)' class='internal-link'>Dark Augmentation</a></td><td class="value">1d6</td><td class="value">3</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">11th</td><td class"pb">+4</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Order feature (Level 11)' class='internal-link'>Order feature</a></td><td class="value">1d8</td><td class="value">3</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">12th</td><td class"pb">+4</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Ability Score Improvement (Level 12)' class='internal-link'>Ability Score Improvement</a></td><td class="value">1d8</td><td class="value">3</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">13th</td><td class"pb">+5</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Brand of Tethering (Level 13)' class='internal-link'>Brand of Tethering</a>, <a href='#Blood Maledict Improvement (Level 13)' class='internal-link'>Blood Maledict Improvement</a></td><td class="value">1d8</td><td class="value">3</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">14th</td><td class"pb">+5</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Hardened Soul (Level 14)' class='internal-link'>Hardened Soul</a>, <a href='#Crimson Rite Improvement (Level 14)' class='internal-link'>Crimson Rite Improvement</a></td><td class="value">1d8</td><td class="value">4</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">15th</td><td class"pb">+5</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Order feature (Level 15)' class='internal-link'>Order feature</a></td><td class="value">1d8</td><td class="value">4</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">16th</td><td class"pb">+5</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Ability Score Improvement (Level 16)' class='internal-link'>Ability Score Improvement</a></td><td class="value">1d8</td><td class="value">4</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">17th</td><td class"pb">+6</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Blood Maledict Improvement (Level 17)' class='internal-link'>Blood Maledict Improvement</a></td><td class="value">1d10</td><td class="value">4</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">18th</td><td class"pb">+6</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Order feature (Level 18)' class='internal-link'>Order feature</a></td><td class="value">1d10</td><td class="value">5</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">19th</td><td class"pb">+6</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Ability Score Improvement (Level 19)' class='internal-link'>Ability Score Improvement</a></td><td class="value">1d10</td><td class="value">5</td></tr>
> <tr class="class-progression"><td class"level">20th</td><td class"pb">+6</td><td class"feature"><a href='#Sanguine Mastery (Level 20)' class='internal-link'>Sanguine Mastery</a></td><td class="value">1d10</td><td class="value">5</td></tr>
> </tbody></table>
^class-progression
## Hit Points
- **Hit Dice**: 1d10 per Blood Hunter level
- **Hit Points at First Level:** 10 + CON
- **Hit Points at Higher Levels:** add 6 OR 1d10 + CON (minimum of 1)
## Starting Blood Hunter
- **Saving Throw Proficiencies**: Dexterity, Intelligence
- **Skill Proficiencies**: *Choose 3:* [Acrobatics](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#Acrobatics), [Arcana](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#Arcana), [Athletics](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#Athletics), [History](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#History), [Insight](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#Insight), [Investigation](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#Investigation), [Religion](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#Religion), or [Survival](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#Survival)
- **Weapon Proficiencies**: Simple weapons and Martial weapons
- **Tool Proficiencies**: alchemist's supplies
- **Armor Training**: [Light armor](/3-Content/Rules/item-types.md#Light%20Armor), [Medium armor](/3-Content/Rules/item-types.md#Medium%20Armor), and [Shields](/3-Content/Compendiums/items/shield-xphb.md)
**Starting Equipment:** You start with the following items, plus anything provided by your background.
- (a) a martial weapon or (b) two simple weapons
- a [light crossbow](/3-Content/Compendiums/items/light-crossbow.md) and [20 bolts](/3-Content/Compendiums/items/crossbow-bolts-20.md)
- (a) [studded leather armor](/3-Content/Compendiums/items/studded-leather-armor.md) or (b) [scale mail](/3-Content/Compendiums/items/scale-mail.md) armor
- an [explorer's pack](/3-Content/Compendiums/items/explorers-pack-xphb.md) and [alchemist's supplies](/3-Content/Compendiums/items/alchemists-supplies-xphb.md)
Alternatively, you may start with 4d4 × 10 gp to buy your own equipment.
## Multiclassing Blood Hunter
**Ability Score Minimum:** Dexterity 13 or Strength 13
When you gain a level in a class other than your first, you gain only some of that class's starting proficiencies.
- **Skill Proficiencies**: *Choose 1:* [Acrobatics](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#Acrobatics), [Arcana](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#Arcana), [Athletics](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#Athletics), [History](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#History), [Insight](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#Insight), [Investigation](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#Investigation), [Religion](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#Religion), or [Survival](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#Survival)
- **Weapon Proficiencies**: Simple weapons, Martial weapons
- **Tool Proficiencies**: alchemist's supplies
- **Armor Training**: [Light armor](/3-Content/Rules/item-types.md#Light%20Armor), [Medium armor](/3-Content/Rules/item-types.md#Medium%20Armor), [Shields](/3-Content/Compendiums/items/shield-xphb.md)
## Blood Hunter
Marred but resolute, his grimacing face dripping with sweat, a half-orc reddens a finger in the blood of his own wounds, then draws a glowing ruby glyph in the air between him and the bloody behemoth facing him. He grips the weightless sigil, twisting it to unleash streams of dark energy that curse the blood of the monster's own veins to even the odds.
A mysterious half-elf swathed in a worn cloak and rugged leather armor carefully investigates the site of a roadway massacre, her eyes flashing with recognition as she meditates on the remnants of the grisly scene. Suddenly, she jumps to her feet, certain in the knowledge of what creature was responsible, where it can be found—and how little time she has before it kills again.
Stepping into lightless chambers filled with ancient dust and lingering whispers, the halfling picks up the warning of imminent danger from the scraping of bone and claw on nearby stone. She winces as she runs her blade across her palm, the steel transmuting blood and essence into glowing runes of powerful magic, eager to brand and burn the flesh of her enemies.
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.
### Sacrifice to Preserve Life
Far from the judging eyes of society, blood hunters have mastered the secretive techniques of hemocraft, finding blood magic's esoteric nature effective against evils that resist divine rebuke or arcane bindings. Through careful study and practice, blood hunters hone the rites of hemocraft into unique combat techniques, forfeiting a portion of their own health to call blood curses down upon their enemies or summon the elements to aid their strikes. Willing to suffer whatever it takes to achieve victory, these adept warriors have forged themselves into a potent force dedicated to protecting the innocent.
### A Monster to Fight Monsters
Whether driven by the wish to make a difference, the need to take vengeance, or the hope of finding a place to belong in an uncaring world, every blood hunter has their own reasons for undertaking the ritual of the Hunter's Bane that starts them on this path. In joining an order of blood hunters, one also joins a family bound by service to each other and a common cause. For many, this might be the only family they have left—or have ever known—making the kinship felt between blood hunters an all-but-unbreakable bond.
Outside the camaraderie of their orders, however, the life of a blood hunter is not an easy one. The ritual of the Hunter's Bane can leave a character visibly changed, and prone to unsettling the people around them. Likewise, witnessing hemocraft can invoke superstitious fears from even the most learned scholars. While some cultures have come to accept the good deeds of many blood hunter orders, many blood hunters hide their calling unless absolutely necessary. They feel more comfortable in the wilds and wastes of the world, or drift through the outskirts of society, protecting the poor and defenseless from dark intention and the corrupting touch of fiends.
In choosing this path, every blood hunter irrevocably gives a part of themself to their cause—physically, emotionally, and sometimes morally. Each order of blood hunters practices its own ideals and methods, often employing techniques with dark origins that test the strength and will of those who employ them. Many wrestle with the fear of losing this struggle. And so a life of discipline and vigilance drives a blood hunter's travels as they wander the countryside, in search of like-minded adventurers and whispers of dark deeds afoot.
### Creating a Blood Hunter
As you create a blood hunter, the most important aspects of your character are why you were driven to this lifestyle, and why do you seek to give up everything to wallow in the dark with the evils you hunt? Did you lose a loved one to a fiendish beast and now wish to prevent others from suffering the same fate? Do you seek a sense of purpose and security, and found this among the order that has taken you in? Have you always carried a seed of darkness within you, and seek kin to watch over you and prevent you succumbing to it? Were you once a holy warrior who strayed from his faith and was cast out, but still seek to give yourself to the cause of protecting the innocent? Or are you a criminal with a dark past seeking to make amends, taking this life as a path of penance?
What is your relationship with the powers of hemocraft and the abilities it promises to grant you as you step closer to its mastery? Do you respect and fear the ancient power that surges through your veins, using them only when necessary? Do you relish in the strength it offers you, embracing your gifts and using them freely? Are you worried the superstitions are right, and this power will eventually turn you into one of the monsters you hunt? Or has your study instilled you with the confident control of mind over matter, certain you can bend these gifts to bring a brighter dawn?
Consider too that while a blood hunter belongs to an order, many strike out on their own to do their best work. What made you leave the comfort of your order? Do you intend to return, or have you decided you have more to learn in the world beyond? What do you seek in other adventurers that can help you meet your goals?
While most blood hunters follow a path of good or neutrality in their pursuits, some have fallen to the dark, seductive side of hemo craft and use their abilities for selfish and evil purposes. These deviants are always thrown from the order, and often hunted along with the creatures they once trained to fell.
### Quick Build
You can make a blood hunter quickly by following these suggestions. First, make Strength or Dexterity your highest ability score, depending on whether you want to focus on melee weapons, or archery (or finesse weapons). Make Intelligence your next highest if you plan to focus on the potency of blood curses and mystical power. Choose a higher Constitution next, as you want to have extra hit points to burn on your crimson rite or amplifying blood curses. Then, select the [urchin](/3-Content/Compendiums/backgrounds/urchin.md) or [soldier](/3-Content/Compendiums/backgrounds/soldier.md) background.
### Blood Hunter Multiclassing
Should you wish to multiclass into a blood hunter, the prerequisites and proficiencies gained are listed below.
#### Blood Hunter Multiclassing Prerequisites
##### Ability Score Minimum
Strength 13 or Dexterity 13, and Intelligence 13
#### Blood Hunter Multiclassing Proficiencies
##### Proficiencies Gained
Light armor, medium armor, shields, simple weapons, martial weapons, alchemist's supplies.
#### Blood Hunter Multiclassing with Warlock
##### Proficiencies Gained
If multiclassing Order of the Profane Soul with Warlock levels, add a third of your blood hunter levels (rounded down) to your Warlock level and consult the Warlock progression table in the Player's Hand book for total Spell Slots, Cantrips known, and Spell Slot Level.
## Class Features
### Hunter's Bane (Level 1)
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](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#Survival)) checks to track fey, fiends, or undead, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about such creatures.
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:
<span class='abilityDc'>**Hemocraft save DC**: Wisdom or Intelligence + Proficiency Bonus</span>
### Blood Maledict (Level 1)
Also at 1st level, 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, detailed in the "Blood Curses" section at the end of the class description. 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.
### Fighting Style (Level 2)
At 2nd level, you adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can't take the same Fighting Style option more than once, even if you 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 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, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. 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.
### Crimson Rite (Level 2)
Also at 2nd level, 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.
#### Rite of the Flame
The extra damage dealt by your rite is fire damage.
#### Rite of the Frozen
The extra damage dealt by your rite is cold damage.
#### Rite of the Storm
The extra damage dealt by your rite is lightning damage.
#### Rite of the Dead
The extra damage dealt by your rite is necrotic damage. (Prerequisite: 14th level)
#### Rite of the Oracle
The extra damage dealt by your rite is psychic damage. (Prerequisite: 14th level)
#### Rite of the Roar
The extra damage dealt by your rite is thunder damage. (Prerequisite: 14th level)
### Blood Hunter Order (Level 3)
At 3rd level, you commit to an order of blood hunters whose philosophy will guide you throughout your life: the Order of the Ghostslayer, the Order of the Lycan, the Order of the Mutant, or the Order of the Profane Soul, each of which is detailed at the end of the class description. Your choice grants you features at 7th level and again at 11th, 15th, and 18th level.
### Ability Score Improvement (Level 4)
When you reach 4th 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.
Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.
### Extra Attack (Level 5)
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the [Attack](/3-Content/Rules/actions.md#Attack) action on your turn.
### Brand of Castigation (Level 6)
At 6th level, 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](/3-Content/Compendiums/spells/dispel-magic-xphb.md), 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.
### Blood Maledict Improvement (Level 6)
Beginning at 6th level, you can use your Blood Maledict feature twice between rests.
### Order Feature (Level 7)
At 7th level, you gain a feature granted by your Blood Hunter Order.
### Crimson Rite Improvement (Level 7)
At 7th level, you learn an additional Crimson Rite.
### Ability Score Improvement (Level 8)
When you reach 8th 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.
Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.
### Grim Psychometry (Level 9)
When you reach 9th level, you gain a supernatural talent for discerning the secrets surrounding mysterious relics or places touched by evil. Whenever you make an Intelligence ([History](/3-Content/Rules/skills.md#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.
### Dark Augmentation (Level 10)
Starting at 10th level, 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).
### Order Feature (Level 11)
At 11th level, you gain a feature granted by your Blood Hunter Order.
### Ability Score Improvement (Level 12)
When you reach 12th 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.
Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.
### Brand of Tethering (Level 13)
Starting at 13th level, 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.
### Blood Maledict Improvement (Level 13)
Beginning at 13th level, you can use your Blood Maledict feature three times between rests.
### Hardened Soul (Level 14)
When you reach 14th level, you have advantage on saving throws against being [charmed](/3-Content/Rules/conditions.md#Charmed) and [frightened](/3-Content/Rules/conditions.md#Frightened).
### Crimson Rite Improvement (Level 14)
At 14th level, you learn an additional Crimson Rite.
### Order Feature (Level 15)
At 15th level, you gain a feature granted by your Blood Hunter Order.
### Ability Score Improvement (Level 16)
When you reach 16th 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.
Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.
### Blood Maledict Improvement (Level 17)
Beginning at 17th level, you can use your Blood Maledict feature four times between rests.
### Order Feature (Level 18)
At 18th level, you gain a feature granted by your Blood Hunter Order.
### Ability Score Improvement (Level 19)
When you reach 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.
Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.
### Sanguine Mastery (Level 20)
Upon reaching 20th level, 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.
## Optional Features
> [!example]- Optional Features: Blood Curse
> 
^list-optfeature-bc
> [!example]- Optional Features: Crimson Rite
> 
^list-optfeature-cr
> [!example]- Optional Features: Fighting Style, Fighter
> 
^list-optfeature-fs-f