Sanguine Sorcery
By @homebrewlesbian
A soldier on the battlefield raises an arm, slicing through the air. The body of her opponent bursts, cut in half as if struck by a blade. A charismatic priest snaps his fingers, puppeteering his follower and bending their blood to his whim. A quiet girl reaches out to a hurt farmer, blood running from her ears as she mends his wounds.
These are all examples of Sorcerers whose power is intrinsically linked to the ichor of life and death itself: blood.
Sanguine Sorcery Features
| Sorcerer Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 1st | Blood Identity, Sanguine Empowerment |
| 6th | Blood Sense, Crimson Manipulations |
| 14th | Improved Crimson Manipulations |
| 18th | Blood Rush |
Blood Identity
At 1st level, your magic becomes intertwined with the blood coursing through your veins. You gain the ability to replace your spellcasting modifier with Constitution if you so choose.
You additionally know the Rend cantrip and learn the following spells as Sorcerer spells, none of which count against your total spells known.
Additional Spells
| Sorcerer Level | Spell |
|---|---|
| 1st | Cure Wounds, Inflict Wounds |
| 3rd | Crown of Madness, Hold Person |
| 5th | Life Transference, Vampiric Touch |
| 7th | Blight, Infect Wounds |
| 9th | Enervation, Hold Monster |
Sanguine Empowerment
Also at 1st level, you gain the ability to empower your spells with your own blood. As a free action, when rolling damage for a spell, you may expend any number of your hit die, adding an additional 2d6 necrotic damage per dice expended.
If you use more than one of your hit dice empowering a single spell, you take half of the additional damage dealt, ignoring any resistance you may have to necrotic damage.
Blood Sense
At 6th level, you are attuned to the presence of gore. As an action, you can open your awareness to detect creatures with blood running through their veins. Until the end of your next turn, you know the location of any creature within a 60 ft. radius that is not an Undead, Construct, or Ooze. You know and can track the location of a given creature within that range, however, you do not know any specifics of that creature's identity.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to 1 + your spellcasting modifier. When you finish a long rest, you regain all expended uses.
Crimson Manipulations
Additionally at 6th level, you gain new ways to manipulate the spells granted to you by Sanguine Sorcery called Crimson Manipulations, enhancing your blood magic. Crimson Manipulations cannot be stacked with metamagic. The following Crimson Manipulations cost 1 sorcery point and can only be used to influence specific spells listed below:
Blood Pressure
Applicable spells: Crown of Madness, Hold Person, Hold Monster
When holding a creature under your command, you may elect to crush their body in your grasp. Each turn they are held by you, they are forced to make a Strength saving throw, taking 1d10 force damage on a success and half on a failure.
Hemorrhage
Applicable spells: Inflict Wounds, Vampiric Touch, Blight, Infect Wounds, Enervation
You can add additional d4s of necrotic damage to these damage-dealing spells. The number of d4s is equivalent to the level at which the spell was cast. At 14th level this increases to a d6.
Increased Casualty
Applicable spells: Inflict Wounds, Vampiric Touch, Blight, Infect Wounds, Enervation
You may reroll 1's on the damage dice. You can elect to use this Crimson Manipulation after seeing the initial rolls.
Improved Crimson Manipulations
At 14th level you have gained new ways to manipulate your blood magic. You gain the following Crimson Manipulations, costing 2 sorcery points:
Lingering Wound
Applicable spells: Inflict Wounds, Vampiric Touch, Blight, Infect Wounds, Enervation
You leave a rapidly bleeding wound on your foe, surely to be lethal without treatment. On each turn for up to a minute after you have used this manipulation, they take 1d10 + your spellcasting modifier necrotic damage. They may use their action and a successful constitution save against your spell save DC to staunch the bleeding, ending the effect.
Puppeteer's Clutch
Applicable spells: Crown of Madness, Hold Person, Hold Monster
When holding an opponent under the grip of your blood magic you can increase your control of their body. Your opponents have disadvantage on saving throws to break free of your control. This does not include the saving throw made when the spell is cast.
Blood Rush
At 18th level, when you have less than half of your hit points remaining, you can use a bonus action to regain a number of hit points equal to 5 x your Constitution modifier + your Sorcerer level.
You regain the ability after a long rest.
Homebrew Spells
Rend
Necromancy Cantrip
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: 120 ft
- Components: V, S
- Duration: Instantaneous
An invisible blade of energy is released by the caster. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 1d10 slashing damage as their flesh is split open.
This spell's damage increases by 1d10 when you reach 5th level (2d10), 11th level (3d10), and 17th level (4d10).
Infect Wounds
4th-level Necromancy
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: 60 ft.
- Components: V, S M (a small knife or vial of poison)
- Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Up to five creatures of your choice that you can see within range and are below their hit point maximum must make Constitution saving throws. On a failed save they take 3d8 necrotic damage at the end of each of your turns while concentration is maintained. On a successful save they take half damage.
Art Credits
Rush of Blood by Cynthia Shepphard