Blood Hunter

When the young man's blindfold was
removed he found himself in a dimly lit
room surrounded by hooded figures. He
stood in front of a small dais that held a
vial of gleaming crimson liquid. Months of
training had led him to this moment. If he
survived drinking the vial, the Hunter's Bane,
he would never be the same. Becoming more
than human, he would finally have the power
to avenge his family that lay dead all these years.

As the horde of demonic spawn lurched toward
her, the aging half-elf ran her thin blade along her
palm, coating it in her blood. In an instant, the blood
ignited, wreathing her sword in a ghastly blue flame.
She fell upon the horde as a blur of azure fire and cold
steel. The hellspawn would find no mercy from her today.

In the light of the pale moon, an almost feral halfling got down on all fours to sniff the tracks before him. The scent of
goblin was unmistakable, vile rags and rotten meats. With a bestial howl, the halfling grew in size and wiry gray fur burst forth from his arms and legs. As fast as the wind, the halfling werewolf began another hunt in the light of the full moon.

All of the strange and monstrous warriors described above are Blood Hunters, occult guardians who infect and inoculate their blood with accursed power so they may hunt monsters.

Hit Points

• Hit Dice: 1d12 per Blood Hunter level
• Hit Points at 1st Level: 12 + your Constitution modifier.
• Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d12 (or 7) + 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: Constitution, Charisma
• Skills: Choose two: Athletics, Acrobatics, Arcana, History, Insight, Investigation, Nature, Religion, and Survival

Equipment

As a Blood Hunter start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) a martial weapon or (b) two simple weapons
• (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) four javelins
• (a) studded leather armor or (b) scale mail armor
• alchemist's supplies and an explorer's pack

Alternately if your group uses the starting wealth rule to purchase equipment, Blood Hunters start with 5d4 x 10 gp.

Quick Build

You can make a Blood Hunter quickly by following these suggestions. First, make Constitution your highest ability score, followed by Strength. Second, choose the Haunted One background. Finally, take the Versatile Fighting Style.

Hunter's Bane

You have survived the Hunter's Bane, a dark alchemical ritual that suffuses your blood with sinister magic, granting you an enhanced knowledge and awareness of evil. At 1st level, you gain proficiency in either Arcana, Nature, or Religion.

As a bonus action, you can use this dark insight to analyze a creature you can see within 30 feet, making an ability check using the corresponding skill below (DC equals 8 + its CR):

Skill	Creature Types
Arcana	Aberrations, Dragons, Monstrosities
Nature	Beasts, Elementals, Oozes, Plants
Religion	Celestials, Fey, Fiends, Undead

    On a success, you learn one characteristic of your choice from the following list: its highest ability score, lowest ability score, damage vulnerabilities, damage immunities, damage resistances, condition immunities, or another weakness (like a troll's Regeneration being stopped by taking fire damage).

If your choice doesn't apply to that creature, your DM will reveal another relevant characteristic of their choice to you.

Fighting Style

At 1st level, you adopt a Fighting Style that best reflects your training. You cannot select a Fighting Style more than once, even if a feature allows you to select another Fighting Style.

Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can switch your Fighting Style for another Fighting Style of your choice.

The Blood Hunter

Level	PB	Features	Rite   Die	Rites   Known
1st	+2	Hunter's Bane, Fighting Style	—	—
2nd	+2	Blood Rites, Crimson Offering	d4	2
3rd	+2	Occult Order	d4	2
4th	+2	Ability Score Improvement	d4	2
5th	+3	Extra Attack, Grim Psychometry	d6	3
6th	+3	Crimson Brand	d6	3
7th	+3	Order Feature	d6	3
8th	+3	Ability Score Improvement	d6	3
9th	+4	Improved Psychometry	d6	4
10th	+4	Dark Augmentation	d6	4
11th	+4	Improved Crimson Offering, Vital Control	d8	4
12th	+4	Ability Score Improvement	d8	4
13th	+5	Order Feature	d8	5
14th	+5	Crimson Anchor	d8	5
15th	+5	Hardened Soul	d8	5
16th	+5	Ability Score Improvement	d8	5
17th	+6	─	d10	6
18th	+6	Order Feature	d10	6
19th	+6	Ability Score Improvement	d10	6
20th	+6	Sanguine Mastery	d10	6

Archery

You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls with ranged weapons.

Dual Wielding

While two-weapon fighting, you make your off-hand attack as part of your Attack action instead of as your bonus action, and you add your ability modifier to the damage of this attack.

You cannot also make an off-hand attack as a bonus action.

Dueling

When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with it.

Featherweight Fighting

While you are unarmed or wielding only light weapons, and are not wearing medium or heavy armor, your walking speed increases by 10 feet, and you gain a +1 bonus to your damage rolls with light melee weapons and unarmed strikes.

Warning: Depictions of Self Harm

This class contains mild descriptions of self-harm. If you, or a player in your game, are uncomfortable with depictions of self-harm, then you should think twice before playing a Blood Hunter character.

Blood Rites Known

At 2nd level, you know two Blood Rites of your choice from the list at the end of this class. When you reach certain Blood Hunter levels you learn more Rites of your choice, as shown in the Rites Known column of the Blood Hunter class table.

Once you invoke a Blood Rite you must finish a short or long rest before you can invoke that Blood Rite again. When you have no uses of a Blood Rite remaining, you can make a Vital Sacrifice (detailed below) to use that Rite again.

Blood Rites can only be used against creatures with blood. However, when you make a Vital Sacrifice to empower a Rite, you can target any creature, regardless if it has blood or not.

Finally, whenever you learn a new Blood Rite, you can replace one of the Blood Rites you know with
another Rite of your choice.

Rite Die

Some Blood Rites use your Rite Die, which starts as a d4.
At certain Blood Hunter levels, this die grows, as shown in the Rite Die column of the Blood Hunter class table.

Vital Sacrifice

Some Blood Rites allow you to sacrifice your own life to fuel deadly effects. When you make a Vital Sacrifice, you reduce both your maximum and current hit points by one roll of your Rite Die. This reduction cannot be lessened in any way.

If you have temporary hit points, you can reduce these in place of reducing your current hit points. You always reduce your maximum hit points when you make a Vital Sacrifice.

At the end of your next long rest, any reductions to your maximum hit points from Vital Sacrifices return to normal.

Saving Throws

If a Blood Rite requires a creature to make a saving throw to resist its effects, you use your Rite save DC, as shown below:

Starting at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of
once, when you take the Attack action on your turn.

Occult Order

Choose the Occult Order which best represents the training, skill, and sinister blood magic abilities of your Blood Hunter:

Alchemists & Experimentation

The Mutagens included here are the most common examples created by Alchemist Blood Hunters. Talk to your DM about crafting custom Mutagens based on abilities from monsters that you slay or study!

Blasphemous Prayer

3rd-level Order of Heretics feature
You are able to channel divine energies despite your status as a heretic. You gain two Channel Divinity options: Censure the Divine, which is detailed below, and one Channel Divinity of your choice from those available to Cleric Divine Domains at 2nd level. For the second, you use your Blood Hunter level in place of any mentions of Cleric level and your Rite save DC.

You can use each of your Channel Divinities once, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest.

When you have no uses left, you can make a Vital Sacrifice to use either of your Channel Divinity options again.

Heretical Knowledge

3rd-level Order of Heretics feature
Despite your beliefs, you understand the traditional religious practices, rites, and prayers. You gain the following benefits:

• You gain proficiency in Religion. If already proficient, you add double your proficiency bonus to all Religion checks.
• You learn two Cantrips of your choice from the Cleric
  spell list. Constitution is your spellcasting modifier.
• If you use Hunter's Bane to analyze a Celestial,
  Fiend, or Undead, you add one roll of your
  Rite Die to your ability check.

Unholy Restoration

7th-level Order of Heretics feature
You can draw life from one creature and transfer it to another in a dark mockery of the divine. As an action, you can force a creature you can see within 30 feet to make a Constitution saving throw against your Rite save DC. On a failure, it takes necrotic damage equal to four rolls of your Rite Die, and half as much necrotic damage on a success. It has disadvantage on its saving throw if you touch it as part of this action.

As part of the action, a creature you can see within 30 feet regains hit points equal to half the necrotic damage dealt.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all uses when you finish a long rest. When you have no uses left, you can make a Vital Sacrifice to use this feature again.

Divine Anathema

13th-level Order of Heretics feature
When you use Censure the Divine you can empower it with
a Vital Sacrifice, forcing creatures of your choice within 30 feet must make on a Constitution saving throw against your Rite save DC, in place of its normal effects. On a failed save, creatures have their speed reduced by 10 feet.

Creatures repeat this saving throw at the end of each of their turns. On a failure, their speed is further reduced by 10 feet, and on a success they regain 10 feet of speed. This effect ends when a creature's speed becomes 0, at which point it is petrified, or when a creature's speed returns to normal.

Celestials and Fiends have disadvantage on saving throws to resist this feature. Once a creature succeeds against this feature it is immune to its effect until the following dawn.

Utmost Transgression

18th-level Order of Heretics feature
You use your occult knowledge to bind denizens of heaven.
As an action, you can cast summon celestial ^TCE, at 5th-level, using Constitution as its spellcasting modifier. The Celestial
      is bound against its will by unholy blood magic, allowing
            you to ignore the material component of the spell, but
               the duration of the spell is reduced to 1 minute.

                  Once you cast this spell you must finish a short
                  or long rest before you can cast it this way again.

Beast Form

3rd-level Order of the Pale Moon feature
You can control your lycanthropy, allowing you to shift your form. Choose one beast of CR 1 or lower without a flying or
a swimming speed, to be the Beast Form of the animal your lycanthropic curse is based on. Common Beast Forms are boars, brown bears, dire wolves, tigers, and rats.

As a bonus action, you can make a Vital Sacrifice to shift into the Beast Form chosen above, following all the rules of Wild Shape from the Druid class, as found in Chapter 3 of the Player's Handbook, except for the following changes:

• You retain your current and maximum hit points.
• You gain temporary hit points equal to twice your level.
• Your Beast Form's natural weapons use your Rite Die as their damage die, unless their damage die is higher.

You remain in your Beast Form for 1 hour. You revert to your normal form if you are incapacitated or if you use your bonus action to revert. At the end of the hour, you can make another Vital Sacrifice to remain in Beast Form for 1 hour.

Hybrid Form

3rd-level Order of the Pale Moon feature
As a bonus action, you can shift into a Hybrid Form, a fusion of both beast and humanoid, gaining the benefits listed below:

• Your walking speed increases by 10 feet.
• You gain temporary hit points equal to your level.
• You grow claws and fangs that count as simple weapons with the Light property for the purposes of two-weapon fighting. On hit, they deal slashing damage equal to one roll of your Rite Die + your Strength modifier.

You remain in your Hybrid Form for 1 minute. You revert to your normal form early if you are incapacitated or if you use your bonus action to revert. At the end of the transformation you can make a Vital Sacrifice to extend it by 1 minute.

Once you transform into your Hybrid Form you
must finish a short or long rest before you can
transform again. If you have no uses left, you
can make a Vital Sacrifice to shift into
your Hybrid Form again.

Feral Senses

3rd-level Order of the Pale Moon feature
Your lycanthropy heightens your primal senses. When you make a Wisdom (Perception) or Wisdom (Survival) check that is based on your sense of hearing, sight, or smell, you gain a bonus to your roll equal to one roll of your Rite Die.

Also, whenever you use Hunter's Bane to analyze a beast, monstrosity, or a shapeshifter of any kind, you gain a bonus
to your ability check equal to one roll of your Rite Die.

Lycan Warrior

7th-level Order of the Pale Moon feature
You are able to draw out more power from your curse. While you are in Beast or Hybrid Form you gain the benefits below:

• Your Form's attacks count as magical for overcoming resistances and immunities to nonmagical damage.
• You gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from non-magical and non-silvered attacks.
• If you are holding a Crimson Offering weapon when you shift, the effect transfers to one of your Form's weapons.

Feral Prowess

13th-level Order of the Pale Moon feature
Your curse fuels your bloodlust and allows you to shrug off minor wounds. At the start of each of your turns while you are in Beast or Hybrid Form, you regain hit points equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum of 1), so long as you have at least 1 hit point and less than half your hit points.

Also, you have advantage on attack rolls against creatures marked by Crimson Brand while in Beast or Hybrid Form.

Lycanthropic Mastery

18th-level Order of the Pale Moon feature
You have achieved mastery over your lycanthropic curse. You can shift into your Beast Form or Hybrid Form at will, without having to make a Vital Sacrifice. Moreover, your Beast Form and Hybrid Form transformations last indefinitely.

Finally, you can take the Dash action as a bonus action
on your turn, so long as you end this movement closer
to a hostile creature you can see.

Spectral Nature

3rd-level Order of Salt & Iron feature
You have tainted your soul with ghastly power.
You require half the amount of sleep, food, and
drink for the average member of your race.

Also, you can use a bonus action to enter a
temporary Spectral State, which lasts until the end
of your current turn. While in this state, you are resistant
to all bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from non-magical and non-silvered attacks, and you can move through solid objects and creatures as if they were difficult terrain. If you end your movement inside a creature or object, you are instantly shunted to the nearest unoccupied space, taking 1d10 force damage for every 5 feet you were shunted.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to
your Constitution modifier (minimum of once), and you
regain all uses when you finish a long rest. You can
make a Vital Sacrifice to use this feature again.

At certain levels in this class, the duration of
this Spectral State increases: at 7th-level
(1 minute), 13th-level (1 hour), and
at 18th level (indefinite). You can
end this state as a bonus action.

Warrior of the Dawn

3rd-level Order of Salt & Iron feature
Your blood magic is especially potent when used against the undead. whenever you use Hunter's Bane to analyze Undead, you can add one roll of your Rite Die to your ability check.

Also, when you use Crimson Offering, you can choose to empower your Crimson Offering with the signature magicks of your Order, granting you the following additional benefits:

• The bonus damage of Crimson Offering is radiant.
• You gain resistance to necrotic damage.
• The weapon sheds bright light in a 30-foot radius.

Curse Specialist

7th-level Order of Salt & Iron feature
Your knowledge and experience with undead enhances the power of your blood magic. You can target any creature with your Blood Rites, even if it does not have blood in its veins.

In addition, at the end of each long rest you can choose one Blood Rite you know. You can invoke that Rite one additional time before you must make a Vital Sacrifice to use it again.

Blood Magic Specialist

3rd-level Order of Undying Thirst feature
Your curse grants you increased control over your blood magic. You learn one additional Blood Rite, but it doesn't count against your total number of Blood Rites Known.

Also, your affinity for blood magic increases the size of your Rite Die to a d6. At certain Blood Hunter levels,
your Rite Die increases again: at 5th level it becomes
a d8, at 11th level a d10, and finally a d12 at 17th level.

Finally, whenever you use Crimson Offering, you can
choose for its bonus damage to be necrotic damage.

Vampiric Nature

3rd-level Order of Undying Thirst feature
The ancient disease of your Order has irreparably changed your physiology. Your teeth elongate into fangs which you can use for unarmed strikes. On hit, they deal piercing damage equal to one roll of your Rite Die + your Strength modifier.

Moreover, whenever you use Hunter's Bane to analyze an Undead, you can add one roll of your Rite Die to the check.

Essence Drain

7th-level Order of Undying Thirst feature
You can drain the very life-essence from your foes. When you hit a creature with a fang attack, you can restore a number of your maximum hit points equal to the piercing damage dealt. Piercing damage from your fang attacks ignores resistances and immunities to non-magical damage.

Once you use this feature to restore maximum hit points must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.

Sinister Resilience

7th-level Order of Undying Thirst feature
When you deal necrotic damage to a creature with a Blood Rite or another Blood Hunter feature, you can choose to gain temporary hit points equal to half the necrotic damage dealt.

While these temporary hit points last, you are resistant to necrotic, poison, and all bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from all non-magical and non-silvered attacks.

However, if you take radiant damage, all of your temporary hit points from this feature are immediately dispelled, and the total radiant damage is applied to your normal hit points.

Misty Escape

13th-level Order of Undying Thirst feature
When a creature you can see hits you with an attack, you can use your reaction to turn into a cloud of swirling mist, and the triggering attack automatically misses. You instantly reappear in an unoccupied space you can see within 30 feet.

Once you use this reaction you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again. When you have no uses left,
    you can make a Vital Sacrifice to use this reaction again.

Order of Witch Knights

Blood Hunters who join the dark Order of Witch Knights are driven by an overwhelming desire to destroy the great evils of the world. Those especially dedicated, those willing to give up anything, are often approached by Eldritch Powers, beings of otherworldly might. These benefactors offer power in return for a fraction of the warrior's soul or unquestioning fealty.

Sanguine Warrior

7th-level Order of Witch Knights feature
You seamlessly weave minor spells with weapon attacks. If you use your action to cast a Witch Knight spell, or activate a spell you are concentrating on (such as witch bolt), you can make a weapon attack as a bonus action on that turn.

Moreover, when you cast a Witch Knight spell while you are holding a weapon empowered by Crimson Offering, you can cause the spell to deal the damage type of your Crimson Offering in place of the normal damage of that spell.

Bewitched Strikes

13th-level Order of Witch Knights feature
The Eldritch magic in your blood seeps into your weapons. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, that creature has disadvantage on the next saving throw it makes against a Blood Rite or spell you cast before the end of your next turn.

    Profane Sacrifice

    18th-level Order of Witch Knights feature
     You can offer the death of your foes to your Eldritch Power
           for enhanced magicks. If a hostile creature dies within
           30 feet of you, you can use your reaction to regain one
         Pact Magic spell slot, or gain temporary hit points equal
        to one roll of your Rite Die + your Intelligence modifier.

          Once you use this feature you must finish a short or
        long rest before you can use it again.

Rite of Agony

As a bonus action, you invoke this Rite and force one creature that you can see within 30 feet to make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, it has disadvantage on Strength and Dexterity ability checks and saving throws, and each time it makes an attack it takes necrotic damage equal to one roll of your Rite Die. These effects end at the end of your next turn.

Empowered Agony. The effects of this Blood Rite last for 1 minute. The creature repeats this saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect early on a success.

Rite of Anxiety

As a bonus action, you invoke this Rite and curse a creature you can see within 30 feet, making it susceptible to outside influence. For 1 minute, creatures of your choice who make
a Charisma check to influence the target can add one roll of your Rite Die to the result of their ability check.

Empowered Anxiety. The creature also has disadvantage on the first Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma saving throw it is forced to make before the end of your next turn.

Rite of Binding

As a bonus action, you invoke this Rite and force a Large or smaller creature that you can see within 30 feet to make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, its speed is reduced to 0 and it can't use reactions until the end of your next turn.

Empowered Binding. You can target a
creature of any size with this Rite, and
it lasts for 1 minute. Creatures can
repeat this saving throw at the end
end each of their turns, ending
the effects on a success.

Rite of Blindness

When a creature that you can see within 30 feet hits another creature you can see with an attack, you can use a reaction to invoke this Rite. The attacker subtracts one roll of your Rite Die from its attack roll, potentially turning a hit into a miss.

Empowered Blindness. The creature must also subtract one roll of your Rite Die from every weapon and spell attack roll it makes until the end of that creature's following turn.

Rite of Confusion

As a bonus action, you invoke this Rite to curse one creature you can see within 30 feet that is concentrating on a spell. It must succeed a Wisdom saving throw or lose concentration.

Empowered Confusion. The creature must subtract one roll of your Rite Die from its saving throw to resist this Rite.

Rite of Knowledge

When you learn this Rite you learn four ritual spells of 3rd-level or lower from any spell list. You can only cast them as rituals, and to do so you must make a Vital Sacrifice.

Rite of Revelation

When you use your Hunter's Bane to analyze a creature you can see, you can invoke this Rite to automatically succeed on your ability check against that creature.

Empowered Revelation. Choose one damage immunity the creature has and turn it into resistance, or one damage resistance it has and dispel it. This effect lasts for 1 minute.

If the creature has no damage immunities or resistances, you learn three Hunter's Bane characteristics of your choice.

Rite of Siphoning

As an action, you can invoke this Rite and force one creature you touch to make a Charisma saving throw.
On a failed save, the creature takes necrotic
damage equal to two rolls of your Rite Die,
and you gain temporary hit points equal to
the necrotic damage taken by the creature.

Empowered Siphoning. The necrotic
        damage from this Rite is treated
                as the maximum possible
                     amount instead of
                             rolling.

Rite of Decay

Prerequisite: 13th-level Blood Hunter
As an action, you invoke this Rite to force a creature you can see within 30 feet to make a Constitution saving throw as you corrupt its blood. On a failure, it takes necrotic damage equal to four rolls of your Rite Die, its speed is halved, and it cannot take reactions. It can repeat this Constitution saving throw as an action. On a success, the effects of this Rite end, but on a failure, it takes additional necrotic damage equal to two rolls of your Rite Die and suffers one level of exhaustion.

Empowered Decay. This Rite ignores necrotic resistance and treats necrotic immunity as resistance. Also, any creature killed by this Rite is reduced to a pile of flesh-colored dust.

Rite of Nightmares

Prerequisite: 13th-level Blood Hunter
As an action, you invoke this Rite to force a creature you can see within 30 feet to make a Wisdom saving throw, infecting its mind with nightmarish phantasms. On a failed save, the creature takes psychic damage equal to four rolls of your Rite Die and is frightened of you for 1 minute.

The creature repeats this Wisdom saving throw at the end of each of its turns. On a successful save, the effects of this Rite end, but on a failed save, the creature takes additional psychic damage equal to two rolls of your Rite Die.

Empowered Nightmares. The creature is incapacitated and has a speed of 0 for the duration of this Rite's effects.

Rite of Thralldom

Prerequisite: 13th-level Blood Hunter
As an action, you invoke this Rite and touch a live humanoid, smearing a drop of your blood on its face. It must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or become enthralled by you for 1 minute, or until it is reduced to 0 hit points.

An enthralled humanoid is friendly to you and obeys your orders completely. In combat it shares your initiative and acts during your turn. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but it only takes the Dodge action on its turn unless you use your bonus action to command it to take one of the actions from its stat block or another action.

You can only have one creature enthralled by a Blood Rite at a time. Attempting to enthrall another creature with a Rite instantly frees any other creatures you have enthralled.

Empowered Thralldom. The humanoid is enthralled by this Blood Rite for up to 1 hour.