Bloodlines

Powderburn's Proficiency

At 3rd level, you gain proficiency with firearms, and you can use Strength in place of Dexterity for attack and damage rolls with firearms.

Blade and Shot

Also at 3rd level, you develop techniques for close-quarters gun brawls. You gain the following benefits:

• Using a firearm within 5 feet of a hostile creature doesn't impose disadvantage on your attack roll.
• You are able to wield firearms as improvised melee weapons with which you are proficient. When wielded this way, a one-handed firearm deals 1d4 bludgeoning damage on a hit, and a two-handed firearm deals 1d8 bludgeoning damage on a hit.
• When you hit an enemy within five feet with an attack, you can use your bonus action to make one attack with a firearm you are holding. If this attack hits, it deals 1d4 bonus fire damage. You can make this special attack a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier, regaining all uses after finishing a long rest.
• When you attack with a firearm while in your Blood Trance, you can choose to deal your bloodline damage type in place of the firearm's normal damage type.

Staggering Blast

At 7th level, you learn to daze enemies with the thunder of your close-range blasts. Once per turn when you hit a creature within 30 feet with a firearm, you can choose to stagger it. The creature is deafened and has disadvantage on all opportunity attacks until the end of its next turn.

Additionally, you are immune to the deafened condition.

Powderhorn Brew

At 14th level, you devise a vile concoction containing a bit of gunpowder, to stiffen one's resolve for challenges. You can prepare this brew over the course of 1 minute, after which a creature can drink it as an action. A creature drinking your Powderhorn Brew takes 1 damage and then gains temporary hit points equal to half your bloodrager level. While it has these temporary hit points, it makes its next Constitution, Wisdom or Charisma saving throw with advavantage, and it can add your Charisma modifier to its next Strength (Athletics) check.

Blackpowder Berserker

At 20th level, your blood trance puts you into a gunpowder-fueled haze. While in your blood trance, you gain the following benefits:

• All your attacks with firearms deal bonus fire damage equal to your blood trance bonus damage.
• After you hit a creature with a ranged attack from a firearm, your next attack against it is made with advantage.
• You can make the special attack from your Blade and Shot feature without expending a use.

Shadow's Grace

When you adopt this code at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in Stealth, or another swashbuckler proficiency of your choice if you are already proficient. Dim light doesn't impose disadvantage on your Wisdom (Perception) checks.

Dark Dodge

Also at 3rd level, you become an expert in slinking through the shadows. When you use your Nimble Step, you can attempt to Hide as part of the same action. Creatures you are hidden from can't perceive you for the distance of your Nimble Step unless you reveal yourself.

When you hit a creature that is unaware of your presence, you gain 1 Panache.

Skulking Strike

Also at 3rd level, you learn a new deed.

Skulking Strike: If you hit a creature with a melee attack that is unaware of your presence, you can spend 1 Panache to make it a Skulking Strike, which deals an extra 1d8 damage.

Sneaky Swashbuckling

At 7th level, you move with such quickness your enemies struggle to react. You have advantage on initiative rolls. In addition, when you score a critical hit against an enemy, it has disadvantage on attacks against you until the end of its next turn.

Backstab

At 11th level, you grow even more fearsome as you strike from the shadows. When you hit a creature that is unaware of your presence, you now gain 2 Panache. In addition, you can spend 1 additional Panache when you use your Skulking Strike to deal 1d8 additional damage.

Infiltration Tools

At 15th level, you build specialized equipment to aid with your calling. Over the course of a short or long rest, you can build one of the following:

• Smoke Screen. At the start of your turn (no action required), you can drop a canister that spews a thick plume of smoke. A 5-foot space you choose within 30 feet of you becomes heavily obscured until the end of your next turn. You can see through this smoke.
• Pepper Egg. As a bonus action, you can crush an eggshell full of fine pepper mist in the direction of an adjacent creature. It must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your Panache DC or be blinded until the end of its next turn.
• Water Spiders. As an action, you can don a set of inflatable pads on your feet. For 1 hour, you can walk on the surface of water and other liquids.

You can only have one infiltration tool at a time.

Shadow Draught

At 20th level, you have concocted a special elixir, tuned to your physique, that gives you the ultimate in stealth abilities. You can drink this elixir as a bonus action, which grants you the following benefits:

• You are invisible, as the improved invisibility spell.
• You have truesight out to 60 feet.
• If you take the Hide action, you can Hide even from creatures that would normally be able to perceive you with blindsight, truesight, or other senses.
• The first time each combat you use your Skulking Strike, it is an automatic critical hit.

The elixir's effects last for 10 minutes. You can brew a new elixir when you finish a long rest, but you can only ever have one at a time, and you are the only creature that can benefit from drinking it.

Forgesinger Spells

Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the table below. The spell counts as a troubadour spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of troubadour spells you know.

For a better-balanced but slightly less thematic experience, swap heat metal out for enkindle^SDS.

Song of the Smithy

When you adopt this tradition at 3rd level, your heart beats in time to the forge. You gain proficiency with smith's tools, and when you make a check with smith's tools you can use your Charisma modifier in place of Strength. In addition, you gain proficiency in medium and heavy armor.

Hammering Beat

At 3rd level, your Mystic Songs pulse with every ring of the blacksmith's hammer. Every time a creature starts its turn affected by your Mystic Song, you gain temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus. These temporary hit points fade after 1 minute.

In addition, you learn the following Mystic Song, which doesn't count against your Mystic Songs known.

Forging Strike

At 6th level, your music rings out like an armorer's strike. When an enemy is damaged by one of your concordant notes, a spectral hammer rips into its armor to make way for another strike. The next attack that hits the same creature deals bonus thunder damage equal to one roll of your Concordance die. Also, when you grant a concordant note, you can choose for it to deal fire damage instead of thunder (including the damage from Forging Strike).

Foundry's Fires

At 10th level, when you begin singing a mystic song, you can select one target to gain resistance to fire damage for the song's duration. You can change this selection as a bonus action.

Metallic Music

Also at 10th level, you learn to command a bit more ferromantic magic. Choose one 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-level spell of your choice with the ferromancy tag. These count as tradition spells for you.

Awakened Thews

At 15th level, you can perform a song over the course of 1 minute which imbues your allies with the blacksmith's mighty strength. After the performance, select a number of listeners up to your Charisma modifier. For 1 hour, each target has advantage on saving throws to avoid being knocked prone and gains temporary hit points equal to 2d6 + half your troubadour level.

Once you perform in this way, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest.

Armored in Song

At 20th level, your song is able to conjure a suit of spectral mail over you. While you are singing a Mystic Song, all attacks against you are made with disadvantage.

Appendix 1: Spell Sources

Spells used are available in these collections, all of which are free to use and reference for any purpose.

• Spells That Don't Suck is a set of spells by Omega Ankh and somanyrobots, creating replacements for problematic spells contained in first-party WotC materials. These are marked with ^SDS.
• So Many Spells is a set of wholly original spells written by somanyrobots. These are marked with ^S.
• Kibbles' Casting Compendium is the complete set of spells written by KibblesTasty. These are marked with ^K.

v0.5

• Added the Tradition of the Forgesinger!

v0.4

• Added the Code of the Nightblade!

v0.3

• Powderburn adjustments
  • Gave Str for firearm attacks

v0.2

• Created the Powderburn Discipline!

v0.1

• Created the Nightborn Bloodline