Bloodlines

[Fighter1000]

This thread is for Dungeons and Dragons 3.5.
Will someone please tell me how Bloodlines work?
Unearthed Arcana doesn't do a very good job of explaining it, in my opinion.
I want to make a character using the Bloodlines variant but I'm confused!
Your help would be greatly appreciated, fellow Playgrounders.

[gr8artist]

IIRC, you get racial bonuses over time. Normally, a template like half-angel would impose a level adjustment, meaning you start off stronger than your teammates but don't get to level up for a while. It throws balance off at lower levels, and delays character advancement.
Bloodlines offset this problem by giving you your benefits over time, and therefore diluting the penalties over the course of your growth.
At certain points, after reaching a certain level, your next level gets essentially "wasted" by taking a bloodline level instead. After taking that level, you get some new perks and bonuses, but you're still not a full-blown half-angel.
Consider it multiclassing, but you take the bloodline class levels scattered throughout your career.

[Urpriest]

Bloodlines are a contentious topic. PlzBreakMyCampAn has one (especially powerful, though not the most powerful) interpretation, while gr8artist has a weaker one. I don't know if there's a good summary of all the options out there, but in general this is the sort of thing that needs a lot of research to give a satisfactory answer, and you'd best avoid them if you're not prepared to hunt down the references yourself.