Sanguine Knight (Needs Playtesting) ————— Created by Lance Dennison

The Sanguine Knight’s blade carves through the man’s knee, and the blood from the fresh wound clings to the cold steel, creeping toward her gauntleted hand to join the rest of the blood from her casualties, which floats around her form, dipping in and out of the facets in her chestplate. The man stumbles on his ruined leg, and she lashes out with her blade, stabbing deep into his chest. With her sword, she holds the dying man upright as it begins to draw the blood from his body, pulling it up the length of the blade. All he can do as his life drains away is sputter, mouth full of his own blood. His death is not dignified—choking, unable even to scream. His eyes, filled with terror and anguish, soon fade to a blank, glazed stare. She kicks the drained body off her blade and moves deeper into the battlefield, her gaze fixed toward the man leading this assault. The barbaric Captain finishes off an opponent of his own, wrenching his greataxe from the chest of the fallen man before him.

The Sanguine Knight raises her blade to the sky, and the stolen blood rushes along her arm to the edge of the sword, forming a new razor-sharp edge that gleams a brilliant crimson in the blinding sunlight. The hulking man hefts his weapon above his shoulders and leaps forward, bringing it down upon her. She raises her shield, slicking it with blood, and deflects the blow to the side and it shears off the adornment fixed to the center. She seizes the opening to lunge for his chest, but he uses his grounded axe to pivot his mass, narrowly evading the killing blow. Yet the tip of her blood-sharpened sword pierces his layered armor, biting into his shoulder. For a moment, she pauses to watch her sigil sink into the bloody muck of battle. Her attention snaps back as she senses the blood rushing down her blade, invading the man's veins, and she swiftly pulls the sword back toward her face. He is struck by an invisible wave of pressure, planting him in place. A small streak of his blood clings to the metal, shining spectacularly in the sun. As the Captain struggles to move, his veins bulge, and his face contorts with strain, as though he were trapped underwater. She brings the blood to her lips, and in a heartbeat, he is overwhelmed by a torrent of power. His face loses all color, his eyes wide and frantic. He loses control of his body as his flesh freezes with the cold of a thousand blizzards, his muscles tensing near the point of tearing. His veins feel as if they’re filled with molten lead, searing him from the inside down to the smallest capillary, the corruption reaching every cell in his body in his last few heartbeats.

As his body contorts under the stress, the Knight dashes toward the now kneeling man at frightening speed, bashing off his helm with a strike of her shield. She grips his long hair as tightly as her gauntlet allows, raising her sword into the sky. The collected blood coalesces, summoning a flash of red light, and she slices through his neck. Holding his severed head aloft, bathed in a haunting crimson glow, the shouts of her men fill the air. She plunges her sword into the corpse, her blade greedily drinking the remaining blood. It flows up the grooves in the steel like water through conduits, spreading across her skin, her magic stitching together her own wounds.

Spellcasting Ability

Tainted Blade 2

Whenever you make a melee attack against a creature, you can add 1 Blood Dice as Necrotic damage. If you can kill the creature without this damage, you can spread your Tainted Blade damage to another creature within 20 ft. of the slain creature.

Sanguine Shield 3

After a creature hits you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to raise your AC for one round, at the expense of your own health. You lose hit points equal to 1 Blood Dice and add your Proficiency Bonus to your AC until the end of your next turn.

Ability Score Improvement / Feat 4

When you reach 4th level, you can take a feat, 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.

Bloodhound 5

After you have come in contact with a creature’s blood, in any form, you have advantage on tracking (Survival) checks to find that creature for 8 hours. This can only be performed to track one creature per long rest. This feature can only be used on a unique source of blood once.

Blade Bite 6

After dealing damage to a creature with a melee weapon, you can use your bonus action or reaction to store a 1d4 Bite Dice to a damage pool for later use. The number of dice gained per attack is equal to half of your Proficiency Bonus (rounded down) and the maximum number of dice you can store is equal to double your Proficiency Bonus. So, at level 6, you can gain 1 Bite Dice per attack for a maximum of 6d4 Bite Dice. This cannot be used on any non-magical constructs.

After dealing damage to a creature with a melee weapon, you can use your bonus action to expend all stored Bite Dice as Necrotic damage. Otherwise, you can use your action to heal for all stored Bite Dice.

Additionally, you can use your bonus action and lose hit points equal to 1 Blood Dice to make an extra attack with your melee weapon, adding the hit points lost as a bonus to break AC. If this attack crits, you gain 2 Bite Dice.

Purity 7

You are now immune to the poison status effect.

You can spend 1 minute on a willing, or unconscious creature to carefully guide poison out of their bloodstream, curing the poisoned status effect or any other effect caused by a non-magical poison. For example: you can cure paralysis caused by a poisoned dart.

With a DC 12 Medicine check they take 1d4 slashing damage, if failed they take 2d4 slashing damage; this damage cannot be lethal nor counts against death saving throws. This action requires a blade capable of cutting the creature’s skin. This can also be used to remove non-magical diseases, but it takes 1 hour and you must succeed on three out of five DC 12 medicine checks. If you fail, the target falls unconscious for 1d6 hours. This cannot be used on any non-magical constructs.

Ability Score Improvement / Feat 8

When you reach 8th level, you can take a feat, 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.

Vulture 9

You can heal 1 Blood Dice for each corpse of size meduim or larger creature, excluding non-magical constructs, at the end of combat. The corpse does not need to be one of an enemy, however this might carry social consequences. The corpse is visibly drained after using this feature.

Blood Boil 10

Uses before long rest: 2
Use an action to target a creature within 30 feet, they must make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC. If they fail, they can not take a bonus action on any attack action for a maximum of 8 turns, but have an increased movement speed by 5 ft., and increased to 10 ft. if fleeing from you. You also know the exact location of the creature while they are under this effect up to 300 ft. If they fail the save at the end of their turn, the DC increases by 1. If they pass on the first roll, they take 2 Blood Dice necrotic damage instead. This cannot be used on any non-magical constructs.

Blood Pact 10

Once per day, you can spend 1 hour and 2 gold pieces worth of candles and incense to perform a ceremony to give up to 10 willing creatures 3 Blood Dice temporary HP and +4 to Constitution saving throws. This effect lasts 4 hours.

If they fail a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC, they gain 5 Blood Dice temporary HP instead. If they roll a critical success on the saving throw, they only gain 1 Blood Dice temporary HP. This cannot be used on any non-magical constructs.

Spine Chiller 11

You gain Proficiency (or Expertise) to Intimidation.

You have advantage on Intimidation checks on a creature if you have recently drawn blood from them.

Ability Score Improvement / Feat 12

When you reach 12th level, you can take a feat, 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.

Purity Improvement 13

Upon reaching level 13 you have advantage on Constitution saving throws.

Bloodbath 14

Uses before long rest: 3
You can use an action to take 1 Blood Dice damage to heal all creatures besides yourself within 40 feet of you for 1 Blood Dice + PB. However, if you killed a creature this turn you can perform this as a bonus action without taking damage. This cannot be used on any non-magical constructs.

Fester 15

Uses before long rest: 1
As an action, you choose a creature that you have damaged within the last 3 rounds and within 30 feet of you. They make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC. If they fail, they gain the poisoned condition. They can use their bonus action for 3 rounds to try and resist the poison. If they succeed on two of the three saves, they are poisoned for 1 minute. If they fail two, they are poisoned until a long rest and they take necrotic damage equal to your Constitution modifier after each of their turns while in combat and not under the unconscious status. This damage cannot set the creature below 1 hit point.

Ability Score Improvement / Feat 16

When you reach 16th level, you can take a feat, 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.

Conjure Sanguine Elemental 17

Uses before long rest: 1
Duration: 1 hour
You can use an action to expend all of your Bite Dice to conjure a Sanguine Elemental. It takes its turn right after yours. The statblock for this creature is located on the right.

• If unprompted, it will defend you and your allies, with you as a priority, otherwise it can follow verbal commands given by friendly creatures in common.
  
• It can lift anything of reasonable size up to 150 pounds.

Ability Score Improvement / Feat 19

When you reach 19th level, you can take a feat, 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.

Siphon 20

Uses before long rest: 1
Range: 20 ft.
As an action, you can siphon the living energy out of all creatures within a 20-foot radius for 6d6 necrotic damage each (you can exclude any creature that you can see). You can use your bonus action to heal for half of the damage dealt. This does not affect any non-magical constructs.

If you heal for over your max hit points you can heal another creature within 30 feet for the remaining health.