Conversion/ Part 1 of mega-brew project: The Sanguine Knight (Class)

[Gnomes2169]

This will be part of a three-part mega project that I am calling Blood, Bone and Spirit, and it will include a class for each of those, as well as related subclasses, feats, backgrounds and possibly races.

First off, this class (the Sanguine Knight) is one that I made about two years ago now, and I am more than happy to try and convert it. (If you want to see its 3.5 version, click this link: Clicky clicky (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?268605-(3-5-Base-class)-Sanguine-Knight)). This one will be a bit more tame, and I am trying to shoot for a class that can fill in the tank role without stealing the Bear Totem barbarian or (any) paladin's spotlight... Hopefully, I am doing alright. Feel free to jab me in the eye if I am failing at everything.


The Sanguine Knight

http://demiart.ru/tutorials/2/red_armour/347613004103a0a497.jpg
((Image does not belong to me and is being used as an example, nothing more))

A Blood-Sworn Protector: The sanguine knight is unique among his peers for his often misunderstood positions and roles in a battle. Most people confuse them for blood knights and warlords, following the path of the sanguine like vampires for their own personal gain... but this stigmata is only true in the smallest of all cases. More often, the sanguine knight is a man with a deeper, natural connection to his body and the blood of others, and this gives him a greater sense of empathy and respect for the lives of others. This connection gives him enhanced abilities, as well as the power to literally take a friend or loved one's wounds upon himself, sacrificing his own body for their good. This being said, there are some sanguine knights who give themselves the title "blood lord", who more than live up to the reputation and feed it, giving their souls and very humanities to become... something terrifying.

They are also misunderstood because of their title. While a sanguine knight may act noble or be incredibly loyal, he has not, in fact, ever been knighted. Or at least it is not very likely, as often a sanguine knight comes from common stock and there is no real order that they dedicate themselves to, which does not really lead to the most chivalrous of all paths. Because of this, the sanguine knight will tend to refer to himself by his chosen discipline instead of this misnomer of a title, hoping to shape himself and his reputation more by his chosen path than the unfortunate reputation that comes with his class.

Natural soldiers: The abilities of a sanguine knight almost seem to steer their lives towards violence, and they become naturally hardened towards the hardships and chaos of the battlefield. Whether they become pillars of invulnerability and beacons of strength for their allies, tyrants who lord over their foes and allies alike, or someone who walks the narrow line between being a walking weapon and a protector, their powers will ensure that they will be a notable presence on the battlefield.

Creating a Sanguine Knight


LevelProficiency bonusClass features
1+2Blood bond, bonded communication
2+2Fighting style, natural healer
3+2Crimson pledge feature
4+2Ability score improvement
5+3Extra attack
6+3Clear blood, Crimson revelry
7+3Crimson pledge feature
8+3Ability score improvement
9+4Enhanced body
10+4Crimson pledge feature
11+4Bonded transposition
12+4Ability score improvement
13+5Mettle
14+5Bonded concentration
15+5Crimson pledge feature
16+5Ability score improvement
17+6Bonded resurgence
18+6Enhanced body
19+6Ability score improvement
20+6Crimson pledge feature

Class Features
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d12 per level of sanguine knight
Hit Points at 1st Level: 12+your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d12+your Constitution modifier

Proficiencies
Armor: All armor and shields
Weapons: All simple and martial weapons
Tools: None
Saving throws: Constitution and Charisma
Skills: Choose any two of Athletics, Acrobatics, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Nature, Perception or Survival

Quick build
You can make a sanguine knight quickly by following these suggestions. First make your Constitution your highest score, with either dexterity or strength as a close second (depending on your chosen fighting style). Second, choose the Soldier, Folk Hero or Child of War (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?368269-5e-background-Child-of-War) background.

Equipment
(a)Chain mail or (b) leather, longbow and 20 arrows
(a)A martial one handed weapon and shield or (b) a martial two handed weapon or (c) a one handed martial weapon and 20 gold
(a)A Dungeoneer's pack or (b) an Adventurer's pack.

Abilities
Blood Bond: Starting at level 1 the sanguine knight can link himself to another living creature, allowing him to divert damage from that creature to himself. Every time a creature with a blood bond would take damage, the sanguine knight may choose to divert up to half the damage from any incoming damage source. A sanguine knight may create 1 blood bond at level 1, and may form an extra bond at level 5, 10, 15 and 20, to a maximum of 5. Only a living creature may be given a blood bond. A blood bond is ended if the sanguine knight or bonded member are slain, or if the sanguine knight uses an action to end it.

Just to make an example, for the sake of examples, let's say that we have two level 1 characters, one is Tim the Tiny (a random peasant with 6 hp) and the other is his blood bonded brother, Sam the Sanguine.

While adventuring, a hobgoblin rolls an attack against Tim and lands a hit. When the hobgoblin rolls for damage, it gets a 9 after all of the modifiers/ abilities are added up. This would normally mean that Tim needs to make death rolls. However, since Sam has a blood bond with Tim, he may absorb up to half of the incoming damage, reducing the damage dealt to Tim by 4, meaning that Sam takes 4 damage while Tim takes 5, and allowing Tim to stay standing (though, likely almost incapacitated anyway... because peasants suck. :smalltongue:)

Bonded communication: The blood bond is a living network that the sanguine knight and his allies can use for more than just combat. Starting at level 1 the sanguine knight and blood bonded allies within 100' of him may communicate with one another telepathically. This communication tends to be primitive, the transmission of images, scents, sounds and emotion instead of literal verbal communication. The sanguine knight's connection to his bonded allies grants him advantage on his intuition checks to determine the emotional state of his allies, and to determine if they are lying to him.

Fighting Style: At level 2 the sanguine knight may choose one fighting style from the following style list:
-Defense: While wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.
-Dueling: When you are wielding a weapon in one hand and no other weapons, your weapon gains a +2 bonus on damage rolls.
-Great Weapon: When you damage a creature with a melee weapon held in both hands you may reroll any weapon damage die that show a result of 1 or 2. You may only reroll dice in this manner once.
-Protection: When a creature you can see attacks a creature other than you within 5’ of you, you may use your reaction to impose disadvantage on that creature’s next attack roll. You must be wielding a shield to use this ability.

Natural Healer: The body of a sanguine knight will react more positively to any forms of recovery, firing off a surge of adrenaline to enhance the healing force. At level 2 when the sanguine knight is healed by any effect he adds his proficiency bonus to the amount of damage healed. This bonus is added to each expended hit die during a short rest.

Blood pledge: Upon reaching level 3, the sanguine knight decides on which of his natural talents to nurture and master for the rest of his life. He selects between one of four subclasses, the Immortal, Sanguine Blade, Protector and Blood Lord, and gains further abilities associated with their chosen subclass at levels 7, 10, 15 and 20.

Ability score increase: At level 4 the sanguine knight may improve their ability scores. They may either increase one ability score by 2, or two ability scores by 1. Alternately, if using the feats variant, the sanguine knight may learn a feat. The sanguine knight gains another ability score increase at levels 8, 12, 16 and 19.

Clear Blood: Upon reaching level 6, the sanguine knight gains advantage whenever he rolls to save against any effect that deals poison damage, against all magical and mundane poisons, and against any disease. He is immune to the poisoned condition.

Crimson Revelry: Starting at level 6 the sanguine knight’s body reacts to the chaos of battle, rapidly repairing his wounds and restoring his stamina. At the beginning of his turn if a creature within 200' other than the sanguine knight was injured, he will heal up to his constitution bonus in hit points. This healing is modified by Natural Healer. Crimson revelry will not heal a sanguine knight that is making death saving throws.

Enhanced Body: At level 9 the sanguine knight learns how to improve his body in one of six ways, selecting one of the abilities below. At level 18 he may select a second ability. Only your levels of sanguine knight count towards your advancement in this selection.
-Strength of Blood: All parts of the body are connected, and the sanguine knight knows how to use this to increase his physical power. He gains proficiency on all strength saving throws, and he gains proficiency in Athletics. If he already had proficiency in athletics, then he gains expertise in athletics and doubles his carrying capacity instead.
-Reflexive Core: Making his body far more reflexive and always at the ready, the sanguine knight gains proficiency on all dexterity saving throws. If he passes a dexterity saving throw with a partial effect he instead takes no effect.
-Unbroken Heart: Becoming ever closer to the unkillable heroes of legend, the sanguine knight enhances his already great stamina even further. Upon selection of this enhancement, the sanguine knight gains advantage on all constitution saving throws, adds +2 to his constitution score, and his maximum constitution score becomes 22. This is an exception to the rule that a character’s attributes may not normally be above 20.
-Crimson Intellect: Knowing that sometimes a warrior’s greatest weapon is not the one in his hand, but the one in his head, the sanguine knight learns to sharpen his intellect. Upon selection of this enhancement, the sanguine knight gains proficiency in intelligence saving throws and any two of the following skills: Arcane, history, nature or religion. If he fights a creature that who's lore is associated with any intelligence skill he has, he gains a +2 bonus on any attack rolls he makes against them.
-Body and Mind: Using the durability of his body to solidify the fortress of his mind, the sanguine knight gains proficiency in wisdom saves. Additionally, he may add his constitution modifier to his wisdom saving throws instead of his wisdom modifier.
-Speaker of Blood: Learning how to tap into his natural willpower and talent for leadership, the sanguine knight becomes the leader that he was born to be. Upon selection of this enhancement, the sanguine knight gains advantage on charisma saving throws, and he gains proficiency in the Persuasion skill. If he already had proficiency in Persuasion, then he may select a different charisma skill to gain proficiency in.

Bonded transposition: At level 11, the sanguine knight may use his connection through the blood bond to physically swap places with one of his bonded allies. As a reaction to an ally being hit by an attack in melee range within 100', the sanguine knight may immediately switch positions with them, becoming the new target of the attack and moving his ally out of harm's way. This movement does not provoke an opportunity attack on the bonded ally or the sanguine knight. The intercepted attack roll is remade, and if it hits then damage is dealt as normal. Bonded transposition may be used once per short or long rest.

Mettle: The sanguine knight eventually learns how to handle the hardships of the world, overcoming the charms, fears and overwhelming powers that threaten him more completely than any other. Starting at level 13 whenever he succeeds on a constitution or charisma saving throw with a partial or half effect, the sanguine knight instead takes no effect. On a failed save, he only takes the half or partial effect instead.

Bonded concentration: Beginning at level 14, the sanguine knight is able to assume control of an ally's ongoing concentration effect through the blood bond. As an action, the sanguine knight may become the new controller of a spell or ability with a duration that includes concentration in its descriptor. He then controls the spell, making concentration saving throws when applicable, and if the spell has a range of self, gaining the benefits it confers. If the spell may be re-targeted, then the sanguine knight may do so as per the spell's entry, otherwise the targets of the spell remain the same. Regardless of the spell's normal duration, a concentration spell transferred in this way has its remaining duration lowered or raised to 1 minute, after which it immediately ends. Bonded concentration may be used once per short or long rest.

Bonded resurgence: At level 17 the sanguine knight's mastery of the blood bond makes it so that his allies have a rather hard time dying. The first time a blood bonded ally would be dropped to 0 hit points per long or short rest but not killed outright, the sanguine knight may use his reaction to make it so that the ally is at 1 hit point instead.

Subclasses

The Immortal

The immortal is an undying guardian. Always standing at the front of a battle and protecting his less able allies, the immortal is driven by a sense of duty and a call to watch over others. Often true knights, the immortals are rigid in their faith and earning their loyalty is one of the greatest boons a being may receive. Their abilities make allies and themselves more durable, and they are famed for their ability to stand in the middle of literal armies, holding against the tides and not moving from their chosen position long after any other man would have fallen over and died.

[table]LevelAbility
3Diehard, enhanced body
7Bonded defense
10Bonded resilience
15Bonded pariah
20Undying

Diehard: The immortal begins his path early, being far, far more difficult to kill than any other man. Starting at level 3, the immortal must fail six death saving rolls instead of three to die whenever he would be reduced to 0 hit points, and he adds his proficiency bonus to the death saving throw. Additionally, he may continue to act while at 0 hit points, not falling unconscious like a normal character. He may take a move or bonus action without penalty, and if he succeeded on his original death saving throw he may make an action at the cost of rerolling the saving throw. He may not make reactions. Any attack rolls or skill checks made while at 0 hit points are made at disadvantage.

Enhanced body: An immortal’s body is superior to even another sanguine knight’s. At level 3, he may select an enhancement from the list that a sanguine knight can draw from at level 9. This brings him to 3 possible enhancements at level 18.

Bonded defense: The immortal and his bonded members share a special link, allowing them to see through each other’s eyes and avoid the attacks of enemies more easily. At level 7, the immortal and any creature he has established a blood bond with increases their armor class by +1 as long as at least one member is bonded to the immortal. Additionally, he increases his maximum hit points by +10 per blood bonded ally. At level 15, this bonus to armor class increases to +2. The bonus armor class stacks with all other bonuses to armor class, and the bonus hit points stack with other hit points.

Bonded resilience: Giving the strength of his body to increase the durability of his allies, the immortal improves the resilience of his bonded members. Starting at level 10, allies that the immortal has bonded have certain saving throws bolstered by their bond to the immortal. The immortal and his blood-bonded allies benefit add half of the sanguine knight's constitution bonus to their saving throws as long as they are on the same plane.

Bonded pariah: The immortal is more capable of taking the pains and hardships of his allies than a normal sanguine knight. Starting at level 15, he may activate this ability as a bonus action to divert all damage from his blood-bonded allies. As long as bonded pariah is active, all damage dealt to bonded allies is diverted to the immortal, allies automatically pass death saving throws, and they do not have to roll to maintain concentration checks. Bonded pariah may be used for up to three rounds per short rest, and automatically ends if the immortal begins making death saving throws. Rounds do not have to be used consecutively, and bonded pariah may be ended as a reaction or bonus action.

Undying: Enhancing his body and improving his abilities as much as he can, the immortal becomes almost impossible to kill. At level 20 the immortal increases his constitution score by +4, to a maximum of 24. If he has the unbroken heart body enhancement, his maximum constitution score is 26 instead. Additionally if the immortal is forced to make death saving throws, he automatically succeeds on the saving throw and may freely make actions as per his diehard ability. If he is damaged while at 0 hit points, he may make a constitution saving throw (DC 25 or 1/2 damage dealt, whichever is greater) to negate any failed death saving throws the hit would impose.

The Sanguine Blade

Those of the sanguine blade are walking weapons, honed to protect allies and destroy enemies. Working for themselves and any cause they find worthy, a sanguine blade is most often a brash sellsword or avenging soldier, typically of common blood and heroic aspiration. They live for battle, thrive in it, feed on it, and help others connected through the blood bond fight more effectively as well. One should not attack an ally of the sanguine blade lightly, for the vengeance that will follow is sure to be lethal...

[table]LevelAbilities[/b]
3Adrenaline surge, cruor blade
7Bonded assault
10Sweeping blade
15Bonded retaliation
20Draining blade

Adrenaline Surge: The sanguine blade's body is a honed weapon, meant to fight hardest when he is put under the most extreme of pressures. Starting at level 3 the sanguine blade may make a single weapon attack as a bonus action on his turn in a round where he was damaged by an enemy. Starting at level 10 he has advantage on this attack roll.

Cruor Blade: Starting on the path to be one of the most lethal weapons he can be, the sanguine blade takes command of those that he strikes with his weapon, ripping it from them to increase his reach. Starting at level 3, the sanguine blade coats his weapon with blood. A cruor blade must deal slashing or piercing damage, and must be a melee weapon. When a creature is damaged by a cruor blade, they must make a constitution saving throw (DC 8+proficiency bonus+con bonus) or take 1d4 bleeding damage at the start of their turn. A creature can stop the bleeding by using their action to attempt to perform a DC 15 medicine check, or by healing the bleeding creature with a spell. This effect can stack with itself, but it does not effect undead, constructs, elementals or oozes.

Bonded Assault: Drawing strength from his allies, the sanguine blade hits harder than he should. Starting at level 7 the sanguine blade and his bonded allies within 30' increase their damage rolls by +2. This damage bonus only modifies weapon attacks. At level 10 the radius increases to 90'. At level 15 all bonded allies on the same plane as the sanguine blade gain this damage bonus.

Sweeping Blade: Starting at level 10 the blood of the cruor blade begins to sweep out, striking at targets other than the initial target of the attack. Once per round, after declaring the target of his cruor blade, he may target any one creature within 5' of the original target and makes his attack roll as normal. He uses one attack roll against both creatures. If it hits a secondary target, this second target will be dealt the weapon’s damage without any strength or dexterity bonus (if any) added to the damage roll. Creatures damaged by this attack must make an opposed athletics check or be shoved as per the combat maneuver.

Bonded Retaliation: Becoming more fierce in his defense of his allies, the sanguine blade becomes a storm of blood and blades. Starting at level 15, if an enemy strikes one of his blood bonded allies in melee within 90' of the sanguine blade, the sanguine blade may use his reaction to instantly teleport to a space adjacent to his ally and that ally’s attacker and make an attack against the creature who damaged his ally.

Draining Blade: Reaching the peak of his skill, the sanguine blade becomes much more lethal and difficult to kill. Starting at level 20 his cruor blade begins to radiate either radiant or necrotic energy as he chooses. Once made, this choice may not be changed. His cruor blade will then deal 1d10 damage of the chosen energy type with every blow, healing the sanguine blade by the same amount. This damage does not apply to any secondary targets. Any creature damaged by this weapon must make a constitution save (DC 8+Proficiency bonus+Constitution bonus) or suffer one stage of exhaustion. If a creature has 2 or more stages of exhaustion and fail their saving throw, then they must make a constitution saving throw of the same DC or immediately fall asleep for 1d4 rounds.

Blood Lord

Manipulators of blood and twisters of the almost sacred blood bond, the blood lord is a blight to the world. Using their allies as little more than a convenience, the blood lord is a spreader of plagues and a generator of nightmares. Their bending of the blood bond allows them to twist mind and body, giving them minions both living and dead. This path is the most seductive, and appeals to any who desire power for whatever reason. While still not necessarily practiced only by those who devote themselves to evil, the darkness that accompanies this path can corrupt even the most pure intentions...

[table]LevelAbilities
3Manipulative bond, revel
7Infest corpse
10Blood puppet
15Pain
20Nightmare child

Abilities: For abilities that reference a saving throw, the saving throw DC is 8+Proficiency bonus+Constitution modifier.

Manipulative bond: Starting at level 3 the blood lord may attempt to force a temporary blood bond on an unwilling creature. As an action, he may force an adjacent living creature without a blood bond to make a wisdom saving throw. If they fail, they are treated as if they were bonded to the blood lord and they are charmed by the blood lord and any of his bonded allies, and the bloodlord has advantage on insight checks he makes against it. This blood bond and its effect last for up to one hour, and at the end of this hour the creature immediately becomes hostile to the blood lord and all of his blood bonded allies. Manipulative bond may be used once per short or long rest.

Revel: Starting at level 3 the blood lord takes euphoric joy in the suffering he causes others, becoming faster and more slippery when spattered with blood. Whenever he damages a creature with a melee attack, the blood lord may take the dash or disengage action as a bonus action.

Infest Corpse: With a gesture and a cruel command the blood lord can manipulate the corpses of those fallen in battle, infecting and desecrating them beyond all recognition. At level 7, the blood lord may infest a corpse with one of the following three effects as an action, gaining the benefits or causing the conditions listed within it. Any corpse that is infested becomes desecrated, and must either be brought to a hallowed area or restored by the spell greater restoration before it can be animated or raised from the dead. Infest corpse may be used twice per short rest.
-Consume: You infect a corpse with a small amount of your own blood, slowly converting everything in the corpse to match your own body. Any time in the next 24 hours you may activate this effect again to consume all of the converted blood at once, immediately healing yourself of 2d8+2+your constitution modifier damage. Consume may be maintained for one day.
-Nightmare engine: The corpse begins to ooze a black, endlessly shifting pool of shadows that reach out and infect the minds of those around it. For one minute, any creature other than the blood lord who starts their turn in or moves adjacent to the corpse must make a wisdom saving throw or immediately fall to their knees and be unable to move or take an action as their thoughts are overwhelmed with the horrors spawned from your depraved mind. A creature may remake this saving throw each turn, freeing themselves on a successful saving throw and becoming immune to the effect of nightmare engine for the next 24 hours. Creatures immune to the charmed condition, necrotic damage or psychic damage are immune to this ability. Using this ability consumes two uses of your infest corpse ability. Nightmare engine may be maintained for up to 1 minute.
-Putrefy: You cause the corpse to emit a sickening, blinding aura of disease. Any creature that starts their turn or moves within 10 foot of the corpse must make a constitution saving throw or be at disadvantage on all of their actions until they manage to start their turn outside of the aura. In addition, you may select any one disease to infest the corpse with, causing all creatures within the same 10 foot radius to make a saving throw at your save DC against contracting the disease. Diseases created by this ability go through their full incubation period as normal, and are treated in all other ways as if they were normal diseases. Putrefy may be maintained for 1 hour.

Blood Puppet: The blood lord may twist his bonds with slain creatures, animating the flesh to make a perfectly obedient servant. Starting at level 7, the blood lord may spend a blood bond on a 10 minute ritual to animate any medium or small sized humanoid corpse that has not been dead for more than one year. Even corpses with nothing more than a skeletal structure can be animated, and a blood puppet’s body and flesh will be restored to a life-like state, making the fact that they are dead almost impossible to detect from a casual glance. A blood puppet has no true life, memories, mental capabilities or will, they are literally just an extension of the blood lord’s psyche. As such, anything that targets the blood puppet’s mind or will such as charm spells and fear effects target the blood lord instead. He may intricately control every action of the puppet, giving it instructions and speaking through it as a bonus action, and he may see and hear what the puppet sees and hears as a move action.

A blood puppet has no hit points, and if dealt damage it will not show any signs of it. Instead, all damage dealt to the puppet is transferred directly to the blood lord, and is not mitigated by any damage resistance the blood lord may possess. The blood puppet may wear light or medium armor, may wield any simple weapons that the blood lord has proficiency in, and may not attune magic items. A blood puppet may make a single attack each round. At level 12, the puppet may make a second attack. The blood puppet has a strength and constitution score equal to the blood lord's constitution score, and had a dexterity score of 10. The puppet uses the blood lord’s saving throw bonuses if it is forced to make one and must remain within 1 mile of the blood lord. The blood puppet uses its ability scores for strength and dexterity skill checks, and the blood lord's ability scores for intelligence, wisdom and charisma checks. The blood puppet has disadvantage on passive perception checks. Finally, the blood puppet has a base movement speed of 30' if they are medium sized, and 25' if they are small.

Pain: Reaching out to take over the blood of a nearby creature, the blood lord causes the creature a blinding pain. Starting at level 15, the blood lord may spend an action to attempt to cause a creature within 60' of himself or his blood puppet excruciating pain, imposing disadvantage on all of the target creature’s attack rolls, and reducing the creature’s movement speed by 10’. A constitution saving throw may be made to resist this attempt. Maintaining pain requires the blood lord’s concentration, and a creature may re-attempt their constitution saving throw every minute, ending the effect on a successful saving throw. A creature is inflicted with these penalties for as long as they remain on the same plane as the blood lord.

A blood lord may suppress or enforce pain as a bonus action, regardless of how distant the creature is from the blood lord. While suppressed, the subject may not make any saving throws to remove the effect and the blood lord does not need to maintain concentration, but the target also does not suffer from disadvantage or movement reduction from this ability. If the blood lord later decides to enforce pain the creature may immediately make a new saving throw and the blood lord must maintain his concentration again. On a failed save, they once again suffer from the negative effects of pain, while on a successful save they are no longer subjected to the effect. Creatures immune to critical hits are immune to this ability. Pain may be used once per long rest, but may be activated or suppressed on any currently inflicted targets as a free action at-will. Only living humanoids, fey, monstrosities and beasts may be infected with pain.

Additionally, the blood lord may select one of the following effects to modify his pain ability. He may change his selected augmentation at the end of a long rest:
-Detain: A creature that fails their saving throw against your pain ability has their movement speed reduced to 0 until they succeed on their saving throw or until you suppress the ability. Additionally, a creature under the effects of your pain will have disadvantage on all strength and dexterity rolls, including saving throws.
-Soul twist: You may target undead, elementals and constructs with your pain ability. If you succeed on imposing pain and later suppress the effect and change which augment you have active, then the creature will automatically succeed on their saving throw if you attempt to impose pain unless you swap the augment back to soul twist.
-Unbreakable: After a creature fails their first saving throw against your pain ability, subsequent saving throws are made at disadvantage.

Nightmare child: Reaching the pinnacle of his fell craft, the blood lord is a horror to even look at. At level 20 he generates a black aura that infects those around him, boiling their blood with their most primal fears, sapping their will to fight, and driving them away. Whenever a hostile creature moves within 30' of the blood lord, they must make a charisma saving throw or be inflicted with the frightened condition and spend their actions running away from the blood lord for one minute. A creature may only be frightened once every 24 hours by this ability. Creatures immune to the frightened condition are immune to this effect. The blood lord himself becomes immune to all fear effects, and he gains advantage on saving throws against charm effects.



The sentinel is the final common role a sanguine knight can take. An incredibly empathic pledge, those who walk the path of the sentinel focus more on protecting the bodies of their allies and bringing down retribution on their enemies than on making themselves more powerful. They look through their ally's eyes and help them avoid the blows of enemies, their reflexes become faster, they can pierce the disguises and magical treachery of foes who would seek to harm their bonded friends, and the most powerful of their number are tireless watchers, piercing the veils of magic through the eyes of their comrades and stopping the advance of any foe, no matter how great.

LevelAbilities
3Armor master, bonded avoidance
7Retribution
10Vital gaze
15Reactive
20Wall of the collective

Armor master: Starting at level 3 the sentinel gains the defense fighting style. If he already has the defense fighting style, then he gains access to a different fighting style of his choice.

Bonded avoidance: At level 3 the sentinel can use its bond to heighten an ally's reflexes, allowing them to move out of the way or harm. When an ally is targeted by an enemy's attack or makes a dexterity saving throw, the protector may use their reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll, or give their ally advantage on their saving throw. If the sentinel has the protection fighting style, then they may use the fighting style once each turn without using their reaction.

Retribution: The sentinel is furious in their defense of their allies, and they bring down vengeance on those who would cause their friends harm. Starting at level 7 when an enemy in the sentinel's's reach damages an ally, the sentinel may use their reaction to make a melee attack against this enemy. If the target damaged an ally that the sentinel has a blood bond with, this attack deals an extra 2d8 damage on a successful hit.

Reactive: The reflexes and reactions of the sentinel are bolstered by their connection to their allies. At level 10 if the protector has used their reaction on any given round, then the protector regains the use of their reaction whenever one of their blood bonded allies starts their turn.

Vital gaze: Starting at level 15 the sentinel gains the ability to literally see the blood of a creature flowing through their veins, and they know a body's true form. The sentinel has truesight out to 30 feet, but it is limited to living creatures. Undead, constructs and elementals are examples of creatures not noticed by this brand of true sight.

Wall of the collective: Finally, at level 20 the sentinel becomes tireless, allows their allies to see like they do, and can keep the blades of their enemies from the bodies of their allies. Allies with a blood bond gain the vital gaze ability out to 10 feet, and the sentinel can see what they see with this granted truesight. The sentinel becomes immune to the effects of exhaustion, and when they damage an enemy using their reaction, that enemy is prevented from moving or acting any further for the rest of their turn.

[Gnomes2169]

Bonded in Blood
Requirements: The ability to make at least one blood bond
+1 constitution
-You may increase the number of bonds you can make by +1.
-If you or your bonded target are healed by any source, the other one is healed of up to 1d8+1 damage.
Special: You may take this twice. The second time you take this feat increases the number of blood bonds you may make by a further 1, and whenever you are healed by magic or use hit dice to recover hit points, you heal an extra 1d8+1 hit points.

Child of War
You were born in a war-torn country, and your history reflects this. Whether you were the only survivor of the ransacking of your birth city or you come from a long line of weary soldiers and broken families, you have had to live on your own for years, and have become quite self-sufficient and hearty because of it. You may not be who people look at and think of as a hero, and you are definitely not a leader, but you have lived outside of society for long enough that neither of these things bother or influence you. Instead, you adventure for your own purposes, though what those might be are for you alone to know...

Skill proficiencies: Stealth, Survival
Tool proficiency: Mounts
Languages: One language of your choice
Equipment: A locket or other keepsake that belonged to someone important, tinder and flint, a first aid kit, 50’ of rope, a dagger, the tool you have proficiency with.
Defining event: Something traumatic happened to end your mostly peaceful life, leaving you stranded and alone in a world that gave you no second chances. Instead of falling like so many in your situation would, you instead thrived, and you set off to find your own fortune. Decide or randomly determine what this event was and how you reacted to it by referencing the tables below.
d8Personality trait
1My hometown was destroyed by a particularly vicious attack
2My family was part of a guild war and were among the casualties
3I was part of my country’s army, and was the only survivor of my company after a one-sided defeat.
4My family was part of a criminal organization that was eliminated by its competition.
5I am part of a church who lost to a rival god’s disciples in a particularly bloody confrontation.
6I was kidnapped and held hostage by a rival noble house, I barely escaped with my from my captors and ignited a war in the progress.
7I was part of a pioneer caravan that was raided by a bandit army, leaving you stranded in the wilderness.
8I was the heir of a merchant empire before it fell into ruin and my brothers and sisters killed each other in the ensuing blood feud
9Two groups of outsiders dragged their eternal war onto the mortal plane, leaving me an orphan in the care of a traveling hero who tried and failed to save my home town.
10My town was controlled by a tyrannical regime that a group of adventurers removed. The power vacuum that was left behind caused multiple factions to rise up, and I was driven out of the town.

Feature: Safe House
After having been forced into hiding and attacked so many times, you know how to make a secure and secret hideaway that you can retreat to. By working for a week you may set up a safe house in a particular city, section of the wilderness or other location. This hideaway is large enough for yourself and up to four other people to live comfortably, and requires a DC 15 investigation check to discover. If you are able to reasonably find or purchase supplies, then you may increase the DC of this check by 5 by either spending 50 gold or one month of work improving the concealment of your safe house. You may have any number of safe houses at any time and you may start the game with a fully developed one in any one city or landmark.

Suggested characteristics:
A child of war tends to be cautious, if not outright paranoid. They are loners who take pride in their self-sufficiency, and while they are often seen as arrogant because of it it is often well earned. As well, they are often self-taught in their chosen profession, and look down on the more traditionally schooled members of their craft.

RollTrait
1I distrust strangers and people who earn my loyalty must work to keep it.
2I believe that someone is still hunting me, and do not like leaving my safe house because of it.
3I am proud of the things that I accomplish despite all of the odds being stacked against me.
4I weigh the risks and rewards of a situation before acting on it.
5I miss my home and my family, and tend to gravitate to the people and places that remind me of them.
6I dislike the company of others, and refuse to socialize unless absolutely necessary.
7I firmly believe in my own freedom and safety, and protect them above all else.
8I think that the few friends that I have are precious companions that must be protected at all costs.

RollIdeal
1Safety: Regardless of where I go, I should have a safe place to fall back on if necessary (Neutral)
2Justice: Those that commit atrocities should be punished, in or out of the court system. (Good)
3Spite: Those that slight me will pay for it dearly, regardless of how severe or real the insult may be. (Evil)
4Caution: One should know exactly what they are getting into and only act when they have all of the facts (Lawful)
5Phobia: I am afraid of the things that destroyed my life in the past, and will do my best to avoid them if I can. (Chaotic)
6Survivor: No matter what, I will have the tools and skills I need to survive in any situation. (Neutral)

RollBond
1I am looking for the creatures that destroyed my life to enact my vengeance.
2I am looking for a new home to call my own.
3I am looking for any family or friends that might have survived the horrific events of my life.
4I am looking for an item that might be able to restore my homeland to its former glory.
5I want to move on from my loss, but am afraid to trust others completely with my life or feelings.
6I refuse to move on from my past, and take solace in the heirloom that I was able to hold on to.

RollFlaw
1I am being hunted by the captors I escaped.
2I owe an organization my life, and am at its beck and call until I repay them.
3I have fallen back on drugs and alcohol to try and numb the pain of my loss.
4I cannot function if I lose my keepsake, and must keep it with me at all times.
5I am unable to function in crowds, and will attempt to escape any public places I enter.
6It hurts too much to talk about my past, and I cannot do it even if it is vital to the situation.

[PiggDaddy]

I like the sanguine knight very much. The flavor of the class seams very well defined for a hombrew and the immortal subclass is an excellent idea. This said, I don't really like the feats but that's just my personal opinion, not some issue with the mechanics.

[Gnomes2169]

The Bloodsworn

http://demiart.ru/tutorials/2/red_armour/347613004103a0a497.jpg
((Image does not belong to me and is being used as an example, nothing more))

Children of the Blood: Blood. There have always been those who were fascinated or drawn to the crimson liquid, and blood is a vital part of life. It should come as no surprise that there are some who demonstrate a particular control over blood, both their own and others, and that such control be more of an instinct and primal desire than a practiced magical art. Whether those with these talents are born, trained or created, all walk the world with the title of bloodsworn. Hardened to pain and struggle, the bloodsworn use their supernatural dominion of the cruor to influence both their own bodies and life force and those around them. From strengthening allies and sharing magic, to twisting minds and manipulating dead flesh, their power can either be a boon or a blight to everyone around them.

A Blood-Sworn Protector: A bloodsworn's most prominent feature is its blood bond, a unique ability that allows them to connect with the blood and body of other creatures. While this can provide many different benefits, or even be twisted to control others, at its core, a blood bond is used to protect those who are precious to the bloodsworn. In an almost supernatural manner, the bloodsworn can transfer wounds from their allies onto themselves, and they can fragment their own luck and energy to the protection of their allies, helping to keep them alive in the pitched chaos of combat. A blood bond is often an intimate connection, and only very rarely will a bloodsworn reject one once it has been formed.

Natural soldiers: The abilities of a bloodsworn almost seem to steer their lives towards violence, and they become naturally hardened towards the hardships and chaos of the battlefield. Trained to be masters of the sword, a bloodsworn chooses to specialize their control over their blood bond. Whether they become pillars of invulnerability and beacons of strength for their allies, tyrants who lord over their foes and allies alike, or someone who strolls the narrow line between being a walking weapon and a protector, their powers will ensure that they will be a notable presence on any battlefield.

Creating a Bloodsworn

LevelProficiency bonusClass featuresEnhancements
1+2Blood bond, bonded communication--
2+2Fighting style, natural healer--
3+2Crimson pledge feature--
4+2Ability score improvement1
5+3Empowered self, extra attack1
6+3Clear blood, Crimson revelry1
7+3Crimson pledge feature1
8+3Ability score improvement1
9+4Empowered self, 2
10+4Crimson pledge feature2
11+4Bonded transposition2
12+4Ability score improvement2
13+5Empowered self, mettle3
14+5Bonded concentration3
15+5Crimson pledge feature3
16+5Ability score improvement3
17+6Bonded resurgence3
18+6Empowered self4
19+6Ability score improvement4
20+6Crimson pledge feature4

Class Features
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d12 per level of sanguine knight
Hit Points at 1st Level: 12+your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d12+your Constitution modifier

Proficiencies
Armor: All armor and shields
Weapons: All simple and martial weapons
Tools: None
Saving throws: Constitution and Charisma
Skills: Choose any two of Athletics, Acrobatics, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Nature, Perception or Survival

Quick build
You can make a bloodsworn quickly by following these suggestions. First make your Constitution your highest score, with either dexterity or strength as a close second (depending on your chosen fighting style). Second, choose the Soldier, Folk Hero or Child of War (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?368269-5e-background-Child-of-War) background.

Equipment
(a) Chain mail or (b) leather, longbow and 20 arrows
(a) a martial one handed weapon and shield or (b) a martial two handed weapon or (c) a martial one handed weapon and 20 gold
A brace of 4 throwing daggers
(a) a Dungeoneer's pack or (b) an Adventurer's pack.

Abilities
Blood Bond: Starting at level 1 you can link your blood and body to that of another living creature, allowing you to take damage from that creature upon yourself. When a creature within 60 feet of you with whom you have a blood bond would be dealt damage, you may choose to reduce the damage dealt to your blood bonded ally by half (rounded down). After determining how much damage your ally is dealt, you are dealt the same amount of damage. You must be conscious to use a blood bond.
Creating a blood bond with a creature requires that both you and the target be willing, and you must use your action to establish this connection. You may may possess a number of blood bonds equal to your constitution modifier.
A blood bond is ended if the you or your bonded member die, or if you use an action to end it.

Just to make an example, for the sake of examples, let's say that we have two level 1 characters, one is Tim the Tiny (a random peasant with 6 hp) and the other is his blood bonded brother, Sam the Sanguine.

While adventuring, a hobgoblin rolls an attack against Tim and lands a hit. When the hobgoblin rolls for damage, it gets a 9 after all of the modifiers/ abilities are added up. This would normally mean that Tim needs to make death rolls. However, since Sam has a blood bond with Tim, he may absorb up to half of the incoming damage, reducing the damage dealt to Tim by 5, meaning that Sam and Tim take 4 damage each, which allows Tim to stay standing.

Bonded communication: The blood bond creates a living network that the bloodsworn and their allies can use to communicate. Starting at level 1 you and your blood bonded allies within 60 feet of you may communicate with one another telepathically. This communication tends to be primitive, the transmission of images, scents, sounds and emotion instead of literal verbal communication, and does not require that any members speak the same language.

Fighting Style: At level 2 the sanguine knight may choose one fighting style from the following style list:
Defense: While wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.
Dueling: When you are wielding a weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus on damage rolls with that weapon.
Great Weapon: When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gin this benefit.
Protection: When a creature you can see attacks a target other than you within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on that creature’s attack roll. You must be wielding a shield to use this ability.

Natural Healer:Your blood and body will react more positively to any forms of recovery, working in concert to increase the potency of any force curing your wounds. At level 2 whenever a class feature, spell or other effect causes you to regain hit points, you regain additional hit points equal to your proficiency bonus.

Blood pledge: Upon reaching level 3, you decide on which of your natural talents to nurture and master for the rest of your life. You select between one of four subclasses, the Blood Lord, Immortal, Sanguine Blade, and Protector, and gain further abilities associated with your chosen subclass at levels 7, 10, 15 and 20.

Ability score increase: At level 4 you may improve your ability scores. You may either increase one ability score by 2, or two ability scores by 1. Alternately, if using the feats variant, you may learn a feat. The sanguine knight gains another ability score increase at levels 8, 12, 16 and 19.

Enhanced self: At level 5 your connection to your body and life force allows you to improve yourself, increasing your capabilities. You learn one of the following enhancements you qualify for. At levels 9, 13 and 18 you learn an additional enhancement you qualify for.
Crimson Intellect: Your mastery of the blood bond gives you the ability to read a creature's essence, allowing you to predict their movements and find openings in their defenses, while also allowing you to glean a small amount of their lore. Upon selection of this enhancement, you gain proficiency in any two of the following Intelligence skills: Arcana, history, nature or religion. If you fight a creature that who's lore is associated with any Intelligence skill you have proficiency in, you gain a +2 bonus on any attack rolls you make against them.
Large pool: Your ability to recover from wounds is larger than most. The maximum number of hit dice you may possess is increased by half of your proficiency bonus (rounded up).
Speaker of Blood: Learning how to tap into you natural willpower and talent for leadership, you become more influential and capable of directing your allies. Upon selection of this enhancement, you gain proficiency in the Persuasion skill, and may use your bonus action to grant an ally who can hear you advantage on their next attack roll. If you already had proficiency in Persuasion, then you may select a different Charisma skill to gain proficiency in.
Strength of Blood: All parts of the body are connected, and you know how to use this to increase your physical power. You may add your half of proficiency score bonus to all Strength checks, and gain proficiency in the Athletics skill. If you already have proficiency in athletics, or gain proficiency in athletics from another source later, then you gains expertise in athletics and double your carrying capacity instead.

Body and Mind (requires level 9): Your blood is charged with the magic of the bonds and your chosen path, and you may use the strength of your body to shield your mind. Upon selecting this enhancement, you may add your constitution modifier to your wisdom saving throws instead of your wisdom modifier, assuming it is higher.
Bonded maneuvers (requires level 9): Members of your blood bond may use you as a bastion of protection, allowing them to flee to you safely. As long as a creature that has a blood bond with you moves directly towards you, they do not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Reflexive Core (required level 9): Your body is always ready for combat, becoming more reactive and flexible. You add your proficiency bonus to all Dexterity checks. If you pass a Dexterity saving throw with a partial effect on a successful save you instead take no effect.
Vital resonance (requires level 9): When you attack a creature adjacent to one of your blood bonded allies, you can call on your friend's strength to empower your blows. You add half of your proficiency bonus (rounded down) to the damage you deal with melee weapon attacks against creatures adjacent to a creature you have a blood bond with.

Crimson Tide: When you benefit from your crimson revelry class feature, you may also make a saving throw to end the effect of a spell or condition you are suffering from, rolling against its save DC. If you succeed on this saving throw, the spell or condition ends immediately and you may take your turn without suffering the negative effects.
Healing bond (requires level 13): You are able to share a part of the magic that infuses your blood with your bonded allies, helping them recover from their wounds. Whenever an ally who possesses one of your blood bonds recovers hit points from any source, they regain an additional amount of hit points equal to half of your proficiency bonus.
Master of Bonds (requires level 13): Your ability to create bonds is beyond that of a regular bloodsworn. The maximum number of blood bonds you may create increases by half of your proficiency bonus (rounded down).
Rapid recovery (requires level 13): When you are struck by an attack, you are able to call on your stamina to soften the blow. When you are dealt damage by any source except your blood bond, you may use your reaction to immediately roll one of your hit dice, healing by the amount rolled.

Aberrant form (requires level 18): Upon selection of this enhancement, your body changes in such a way that you can't really be considered a humanoid anymore. Choose one of the following creature types; Aberration or Ooze. From this point on you count as a creature of that type instead of your base humanoid creature type, gain immunity to psychic damage, are immune to the charmed condition, and your mind cannot be read unless you allow it to be. Finally, your ability scores cannot be lowered via magical or physical means.
Exultant slaughter (requires level 18): You live for combat, and bringing your foes a swift death increases your own vitality. When you kill a creature you regain three expended hit die. After regaining hit die in this manner you must finish a long or short rest before you can use this ability again.
Perfect Self (requires level 18): You know more ways to empower yourself that other bloodsworn, though the enhancements you know are less potent. You learn two new enhancements, one that you could learn at level 13 and one that you could learn at level 9.
Unbroken Heart (requires level 18): Becoming ever closer to the unkillable heroes of legend, you enhance your already great stamina even further. Upon selection of this enhancement you may add your proficiency bonus to constitution checks and add +4 to your constitution score. Your maximum constitution score becomes 24. This is an exception to the rule that a character’s attributes may not normally be above 20.

Extra attack: Starting at level 5 you may make an additional weapon attack when you take the attack action.

Clear Blood: Upon reaching level 6, the you are able to police your blood, quickly removing and destroying any foreign contaminants. You become immune to disease and poison damage, and may not be afflicted with the poisoned condition.

Crimson Revelry: Starting at level 6 your body reacts to the chaos of battle, rapidly repairing your wounds and restoring your stamina. If you dealt damage to a creature within 30 feet of you since the start of your last turn, you regain a number of hit points equal to your constitution modifier at the beginning of your turn. Crimson revelry will not heal you if you are making death saving throws.

Bonded transposition: At level 11, you may use your connection through the blood bond to magically swap places with one of your bonded allies. When a creature that you can see attacks a creature within 60 feet with whom you have a blood bond, you can use your reaction to take the place of the target of the attack. If that creature is willing you both teleport, swapping places in an instant, and you become the new target of the attack. If the result of the attack roll would hit you, regardless of whether it would have hit the original target, you take the attack’s damage normally. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long or short rest.

Mettle: You eventually learn how to handle the hardships of the world, overcoming the overwhelming powers that threaten you more completely than any other. Starting at level 13 whenever you succeed on a Constitution or Strength saving throw with a partial or half effect, you instead takes no effect. On a failed save, you only take the half or partial effect instead.

Bonded concentration: If a creature within 60ft of you with whom you have a blood bond is concentrating on a spell, you may take on the burden of maintaining it. If that creature is willing, he or she loses concentration on the spell at the same time that you begin concentrating on it, transferring control of the spell to you.
If a spell that you gain control of has a range of self, you gain any benefits it confers. Otherwise, the spell’s targets or effects remain the same. Any options that would normally be available to the caster are available to you. Any effect that references your spellcasting ability score uses your Constitution. You can only maintain concentration on the spell for 1 minute or for its normal duration, whichever is shorter.
You may use this feature a number of times equal to 1+your Constitution modifier, and regain all expended uses at the end of a long rest.

Bonded resurgence: At level 17 your mastery of the blood bond makes it so that your allies have a rather hard time dying. If a blood bonded ally within 60 feet of you would be dropped to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you may use your reaction to make it so that the ally is at 1 hit point instead. You must complete a long rest to use this ability again.

Subclasses

Blood Lord

Manipulators of blood and twisters of the blood bond, the blood lord is a blight to the world. Using their allies as little more than a convenience, the blood lord is a spreader of plagues and a generator of nightmares. Their bending of the blood bond allows them to twist mind and body, giving them minions both living and dead. This path is the most seductive, and appeals to any who desire power for whatever reason. While still not necessarily practiced only by those who devote themselves to evil, the darkness that accompanies this path can corrupt even the most pure intentions...

LevelAbilities
3Manipulative bond
7Infest corpse
10Blood puppet
15Aneurysm
20Nightmare child

Abilities: For abilities that reference a saving throw, the saving throw DC is 8+Proficiency bonus+Constitution modifier.

Manipulative bond: Starting at level 3 you may attempt to force a temporary blood bond on an unwilling creature. As an action, you may force an adjacent living creature without a blood bond to make a wisdom saving throw. If they fail, they are treated as if they were bonded to you and they are charmed by you and any of your bonded allies. This blood bond and its effect last for up to one hour, and at the end of this hour the creature immediately becomes hostile to you and all of your blood bonded allies. Manipulative bond may be used once per long or short rest.

Infest Corpse: With a gesture and a cruel command you can manipulate the corpses of those fallen in battle, infecting and desecrating them beyond all recognition. At level 7, you may infest a corpse that you touch with one of the following three effects as an action, gaining the benefits or causing the conditions listed within it. Any corpse that is infested becomes desecrated, and must either be brought to a hallowed area or restored by the spell greater restoration before it can be animated or raised from the dead. Infest corpse may be used once per long or short rest.
Consume: You infect a corpse with a small amount of your own blood, slowly converting everything in the corpse to match your own body. Any time in the next hour you may use a bonus action to activate this effect again to consume all of the converted blood at once, immediately healing yourself of 2d8+your constitution modifier damage.
You must be on the same plane as your infected corpse to consume it.
Nightmare engine: The corpse begins to ooze a black, endlessly shifting pool of shadows that reach out and infect the minds of those around it. For one minute, any creature other than you who starts their turn beside or moves adjacent to the corpse must make a Wisdom saving throw or become charmed. Creatures charmed by this effect immediately fall to their knees and become unable to move or take actions as their thoughts are overwhelmed with the horrors spawned from your depraved mind. A creature may remake this saving throw each turn, freeing themselves on a successful saving throw and becoming immune to the effect of nightmare engine for the next 24 hours. Creatures immune to psychic damage are immune to this ability.
Nightmare engine may be maintained for up to 1 minute.
Putrefy: You cause the corpse to emit a sickening, blinding aura of disease. Any creature that starts their turn or moves within 10 feet of the corpse must make a Constitution saving throw or have disadvantage on all of their attack rolls and ability checks until they manage to start their turn outside of the aura. In addition, you may select any one disease that you have encountered to infest the corpse with, causing all creatures within the same 10 foot radius to make a saving throw at your save DC against contracting the disease. Diseases created by this ability go through their full incubation period as normal, and are treated in all other ways as if they were normal diseases. Creatures immune to disease are immune to the effects of this ability.
Putrefy may be maintained for 1 hour.

Blood Puppet: You may twist your bond to control slain creatures, animating the flesh to make a perfectly obedient servant. Starting at level 10, you may use one of your open blood bonds to animate the corpse of a small or medium creature that has been dead for no more than 1 year. Corpses must still possess some kind of vital fluid and flesh, but a blood puppet’s body will be restored to an almost life-like state within 10 minutes of being animated, making the fact that they are dead almost impossible to detect from a casual glance. A blood puppet has no true life, memories, mental capabilities or will, they are literally just an extension of your psyche. As such, anything that targets the blood puppet’s mind or will such as charm spells and fear effects target you instead. You may intricately control every action of the puppet, giving it instructions and speaking through it as a bonus action, and you may see and hear what the puppet sees and hears as an action.
A blood puppet has no hit points, and if dealt damage it will not show any signs of it. Instead, all damage dealt to the puppet is transferred directly to you, and is not mitigated by any damage resistance you may possess. The blood puppet may wear light or medium armor and shields, may wield any simple weapons that you have proficiency in, and may attune one magic item. A blood puppet may make a single attack each round. The blood puppet has a Strength and Constitution score equal to your Constitution score, and has a Dexterity score of 10. Its proficiency score is equal to half of yours. The puppet uses your saving throw bonuses if it is forced to make one, and must remain within 60 feet of you. The blood puppet uses your Constitution score for Strength and Constitution checks, and your mental ability scores for Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma checks. The blood puppet has disadvantage on passive perception checks. Finally, the blood puppet has a base movement speed of 30' if they are medium sized, and 25' if they are small.
You may end your control of the blood puppet as an action, causing it to once again become an inanimate corpse. You may only control one blood puppet at any given time.

Aneurysm: Starting at level 15, creatures must be wary of even your slightest touch. As an action, you reach out ant touch a creature within reach, forcing them to make a constitution saving throw. If they fail this saving throw, then you form a small clot of blood in their brain that causes one of a small multitude of negative effects of your choice depending on where you place it.
Amygdala: The creature is frightened of every object and creature around it, and attacks anything that comes in reach.
Frontal lobe: The creature has their movement speed reduced to 0 and has disadvantage on all Intelligence checks.
Motor cortex: The creature has disadvantage on all Strength and Dexterity attack rolls and checks.
Sensory cortex: The creature has disadvantage on all saving throws.
Temporal lobe: The target is deafened, cannot speak, and automatically fails all Charisma checks.
Occipital lobe: The target is blinded.
All effects last for one minute, at which point the aneurysm bursts and blood floods into the brain, dealing 20d6+40 damage to the target and stunning it for one round.
You do not have to force the creature to make their saving throw immediately, instead waiting for the perfect time to activate the blood clot at your leisure. To plant an aneurysm in such a way, you must still expend your use of this ability when you come in contact with another creature, but can keep it dormant and hidden for up to a week before the blood you had gathered to cause the fatal condition fades away and becomes harmless again. At any time during this week, you can force the creature to make its saving throw against your save DC, inflicting the negative effects immediately on a failed save.
Magical healing does not cure this aneurysm. Creatures without a brain automatically pass their saving throw against this effect.
You must complete a long rest to regain use of this ability.

Nightmare child: Reaching the pinnacle of your fell craft, you are a horror to even look at. At level 20 you generate a black aura that infects those around you, boiling their blood with their most primal fears, sapping their will to fight, and driving them away. Whenever a hostile creature moves within 30' of you, they must make a Charisma saving throw or be inflicted with the frightened condition and spend their actions running away from you for one minute. A frightened creature may re-make their saving throw every round, ending the effect on a successful roll. A creature may only be frightened once every 24 hours by this ability. Creatures immune to the frightened condition are immune to this effect. The blood lord himself becomes immune to all fear effects, and he gains advantage on saving throws against being charmed.

The Immortal Champion
The immortal champion is an undying warrior. Always standing at the front of a battle and protecting his less able allies, the immortal champion is driven by a call to glory and the defense of those less able. An immortal does their best to live up to their name, continuing to stand and fight even when they are dealt mortal blows. Their use of the blood bond enhances the defenses of both themselves and their allies, working to create a living bulwark of flesh and steel. The most powerful members of this pledge are famed for being able to stand in the center of literal armies, fighting long past when others would have fallen to the blades of their foes.

LevelAbility
3Diehard
7Bonded defense
10Immortal inspiration
15Bonded martyr
20Undying

Diehard: You are far, far more difficult to kill than any other man. Starting at level 3, you must fail six death saving rolls instead of three to die whenever you would be reduced to 0 hit points, and you add your proficiency bonus to the death saving throw. Additionally, you may continue to act while at 0 hit points, not falling unconscious like a normal character. You may take a move or bonus action without penalty, and if you succeeded on your original death saving throw you may make an action at the cost of rerolling the saving throw. You may not make reactions. Any attack rolls or skill checks made while at 0 hit points are made at disadvantage.

Bonded defense: You and your bonded members share a special link, allowing you to see through each other’s eyes and avoid the attacks of enemies more easily while you take their durability as your own. At level 7, you and any creature you have established a blood bond with increases their armor class by +1. Additionally, you increase your maximum hit points by +10 per blood bonded ally.

Immortal inspiration: After reaching level 10, there is very little hardship that you have not experienced, and age has little meaning to you. You add half of your proficiency bonus to ability checks you are not proficient in, have no maximum age, and are immune to the effects of all forms of aging. Finally, you may select one additional enhancement from your Empowered Self class feature, bringing you up to 5 known by level 18.

Bonded martyr: You are more capable of taking the pains and hardships of your allies than a normal bloodsworn. Starting at level 15, you may activate this ability as a bonus action to divert all damage from your blood-bonded allies. As long as bonded martyr is active, all damage dealt to bonded allies is diverted to you, allies automatically pass death saving throws, and allies use your constitution bonus when they roll to maintain concentration checks.
You may use bonded martyr for up to 3 rounds whenever you finish a long or short rest, and the ability automatically ends if you are making death saving throws. Rounds do not have to be used consecutively, and bonded martyr may be ended as a reaction or bonus action.

Undying: Enhancing your body and improving your abilities as much as you can, you become almost impossible to kill. At level 20 if you are forced to make death saving throws, you automatically succeed on the saving throw and may freely make actions as per your diehard ability. If you are damaged while at 0 hit points, you may make a constitution saving throw (DC 15 or 1/2 damage dealt, whichever is greater) to negate any failed death saving throws the hit would impose. Additionally, upon obtaining this ability you no longer have disadvantage on attack rolls or skill checks while at 0 hit points.

The Sanguine Blade

Those of the sanguine blade are walking weapons, honed to hunt spilled blood and built to shed it. They eagerly join in battle, thriving and growing on the din and chaos, delighting in the pitch of conflict and becoming more unstoppable as they become more injured. From the moment it is drawn their blade is coated in blood that is as much a weapon as the steel it surrounds, controlled by the mind of the sanguine blade to lethal effect. Their use of the blood bond symbiotically empowers themselves and their allies, increasing their strength and skill. Finally, they become masters of identifying and tracking the blood of other creatures, almost becoming an encyclopedia of the crimson liquid.

LevelAbilities
3Cruor blade
7Adrenaline surge
10Bloodhound
15Bonded assault
20Draining blade

Cruor Blade: Starting on the path to be one of the most lethal weapons you can be, you can manifest a flowing coat of blood along your blade. A cruor blade must be a melee weapon that deals piercing or slashing damage, and increases its reach by 5ft. You may use your reaction to make an opportunity attack against an creature who moves into your reach or through a square that lies within your reach, unless they use the withdraw action.

Adrenaline Surge: Your body body is a honed weapon, meant to fight hardest when you are put under the most extreme of pressures. Starting at level 7 when you are at or below half of your maximum hit points you may use your bonus action each round to make a melee weapon attack and your movement speed is increased by 10 feet. Additionally, you gain 1d10 temporary hit points for each blood bond you possess the first time you would be reduced to half or fewer maximum hit points after a long or short rest. These temporary hit points last until you take a long or short rest.

Bloodhound: When you reach level 10 you are more in-tune with the blood of others, and are more capable of following foes fleeing from you. You have advantage on Wisdom (survival) or Intelligence (investigation) checks to track a creature and, on Constitution checks made to chase a wounded creature. You cannot fail to follow a trail of blood, no matter how old or faint. If you study a sample of blood for one minute you may determine the type of creature it came from, and if you have encountered the particular brand of creature before, you may determine its subtype or species.

Bonded Assault: Drawing strength from your blood bonds, you and your allies hit harder than you should. Starting at level 15 you and your bonded allies increase your attack bonuses by +1, and your damage with weapon attacks increases by +1d6.

Draining Blade: Reaching the peak of your skill, you become much more lethal and difficult to kill. Starting at level 20 your cruor blade begins to radiate your choice of radiant or necrotic energy. Once made, this choice may not be changed. Your cruor blade will then deal 1d12 damage of the chosen energy type with every blow, healing you by the amount of damage done by this energy.

Sentinel

The sentinel is the final common role a bloodsworn can take. An incredibly empathic pledge, those who walk the path of the sentinel focus more on protecting the bodies of their allies and bringing down retribution on their enemies than on making themselves more powerful. They look through their ally's eyes and help them avoid the blows of enemies, their reflexes become faster, they can see through the disguises and magical treachery of foes who would seek to harm their bonded friends. The most powerful of their number are tireless watchers, piercing the veils of magic through the eyes of their comrades.

LevelAbilities
3Armor master, bonded avoidance
7Retribution
10Reactive
15Vital gaze
20Wall of the collective

Armor master: Starting at level 3 you gain the defense fighting style. If you already have the defense fighting style, then you gain access to a different fighting style of your choice.

Bonded avoidance: At level 3 you can use your bond to heighten an ally's reflexes, allowing them to move out of the way or harm. When an ally is targeted by an enemy's attack or makes a dexterity saving throw, you may use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll, or give your ally advantage on their saving throw. If you have the protection fighting style, then you may use the fighting style once each turn without using your reaction.

Retribution: You are furious in their defense of your allies, and you bring down vengeance on those who would cause your friends harm. Starting at level 7 when an enemy in your reach damages an ally, you may use your reaction to make a melee attack against this enemy. If the target damaged an ally that you have a blood bond with, this attack deals an extra 1d8 damage on a successful hit.

Reactive bond: Your reflexes and reactions of are bolstered by your connection to your allies. At level 10 if you have used your reaction on any given round, then you regain the use of your reaction whenever one of your blood bonded allies ends their turn.

Vital gaze: Starting at level 15 you gain the ability to literally see the blood of a creature flowing through their veins, and you know a body's true form. You know if a creature is living or dead, and may see living creatures even if they are invisible or you are blind as long as they are within 60 feet of you. You know the true form of a living creature in a magically altered form within 60 feet of you. Finally, you can see any living creature hiding on the ethereal or astral realms within 60 feet of your relative location to them.

Wall of the collective: Finally at level 20 you become tireless, and you allow allies to see like you do. Allies with your blood bond gain the vital gaze ability out to 60 feet, and you can see what they see with this granted sense. You also becomes immune to the effects of exhaustion, and no longer require sleep or meditation to benefit from a long rest. You may complete long rests in 4 hours.

[PiggDaddy]

Why thank you, and I was actually going to add in the fluff for the subclasses and re-work a few things in the immortal subclass... And the Blood Lord subclass was also going to get overhauled. But what don't you like about the feats?
As I said, my dislike of these feats is just a matter of personal opinion not mechanical merit. I have never been a fan of feats that give players access to one of a classes core powers. As for the second feat I think feats in this edition should stay away from stacking numerical attack bonuses.

[Gnomes2169]

As I said, my dislike of these feats is just a matter of personal opinion not mechanical merit. I have never been a fan of feats that give players access to one of a classes core powers. As for the second feat I think feats in this edition should stay away from stacking numerical attack bonuses.

For the first feat, that's fair enough. Mostly, I was just thinking that classes other than the sanguine knight (such as the Barbarian) could use the bonds effectively as well, and the healing factor added in is useful for blood-bonded allies of the sanguine knight (who would benefit each time crimson revelry proc'd.)

For the second one, I noticed that too, and I'm planning to change that bit of the feat to just "gets advantage"...

[Gnomes2169]

Alright massive revamp of the Blood Lord subclass, and a few other edits here and there as well (especially to the Enhanced body ability). Also, bump!

[Amnoriath]

This class is way too much. No class has extra health on top of their hit die, let alone a d12 as a non-feature. Fast-Healing at level 2 that will be at least 6 if not 8(maybe 12 or 14). Additionally constitution to damage rolls is far better than the Warlock Pact Blade invocation 5 levels earlier in which this can add 8 instead of just 5. Vital Sight automatically bypasses any obscurity, even True Seeing can't do that. The for something it is one of the most resilient and better roll users I have seen it gets 5 archetype features which often 2 features each with its own various extentions.
1. The Immortal is effectively immortal for something that will have 400 hit points or more you felt the need to make it almost impossible to stop. Your conservative constitution roll is 24, which means attackers need to be dealing 48 damage a hit to possibly be a worry for you at 0. Very few can do that consistently, especially considering you are going to be immune to critical hits. The Rogue could but oh yeah since you need 6 to die and you auto succeed at one while he can only do so with one attack. You are already ahead of the curve to get your hit points back. The only thing that could possibly make you fail those throws in line with your automatics is a Paladin and he will probably waste all of his spells just to kill you with his smite when you are at 0 hit points.
2. Sanguine Blade, automatic Blood Frenzy at level 3. This is the best dip a Rogue could ever have. Many of these levels have 2 abilities and have a few kinds of auto teleportation across untyped distances. In addition he is effectively adding an extra attack in damage for every strike he makes.
3. Bloodlord, this is all kinds of broken, double action economy damage, refills, blasting, debuffs, and options galore.

[Gnomes2169]

This class is way too much. No class has extra health on top of their hit die, let alone a d12 as a non-feature.
This is a good point, and the hp ability (and incredible durability) are both removed.


Fast-Healing at level 2 that will be at least 6 if not 8(maybe 12 or 14).
Crimson revelry only works in combat, and even then only on rounds in which a creature within 200' was dealt lethal damage. Moving on from that...

Um... at level 2, with point buy or the stat caps, you have a maximum of fast healing 3 if you use the point buy, or 5 if you roll an 18 and then get Dwarf. This ability is to offset the damage that the sanguine knight will be taking from their allies with Blood Bonds, which is going to be rather quite a lot larger than what you are healing. By level 20, if you go immortal and take Unbroken Heart, you have a maximum of 14 hp/ round... which does not nearly heal the damage you will be absorbing from a single attack or AOE, let alone the damage being dealt to you. This said, unbreakable body has been trimmed to be only non-magic weapon resistance, immunity to the first two levels of exhaustion and immunity to sickened and stunned. This lowers resilience at level 20 by rather quite a lot, and crits still work. Oh, and natural healer only adds base proficiency instead of proficiency*2, so that 14 is the maximum fast healing the sanguine knight (immortal) can get at level 17.


Additionally constitution to damage rolls is far better than the Warlock Pact Blade invocation 5 levels earlier in which it can add 8 instead of just 5.
This is only for the immortal, and is the only option they have to increase their damage rolls. Every class has some way, even if it is only getting more and mor attacks (monk/fighter), or getting a flat bonus on top of other nice things (barbarian's rage, warlock's invocations) or even just rolling more dice on a hit (paladin and rogue). It gets to +8 by level 17 at the earliest, and is otherwise a +6 on only two attacks... compare the warlock and them adding +5 to each bolt from eldrich blast starting at level 2 (which nets them up to four attacks).

Vital Sight automatically bypasses any obscurity, even True Seeing can't do that.
Uh, it's literally a limited true sight. True seeing the spell gives you it, and true seeing will work on spirits, elementals, undead and constructs. Vital Sight only works over 60', and only on living creatures. It also has the limits of true seeing, in that it cannot reveal creatures with full cover.


The for something it is one of the most resilient and better roll users I have seen it gets 5 archetype features which often 2 features each with its own various extentions.
Are you talking about the Enhanced Body options, then let's go through them:
You get 3 (4 if you choose to go with the immortal) of these choices:
-Proficiency in athletics if you don't have it. Or expertise if you do, and the ability to double your carrying capacity (oh, and proficiency in the 2 strength saves the game even has... So niche as to not be mentionable)
-Proficiency in dex saves, and no damage on a success. This is weaker than a rogue with evasion, as the majority of sanguine knights will go with a str build, and this proficiency bonus is the only thing they will add to dex saving throws, so often the secondary effect won't proc.
-Unbroken heart lets you live, and makes you better at tanking. Nothing else.
-Crimson intellect gives you two int skill proficiencies and int save proficiencies (dubious use) and the ability to be a bit more accurate against creatures that can be identified with the skills you have.
-Body and mind was changed to just be con to wisdom saves and proficiency in wisdom saves.
-Speaker of blood gets you advantage on charisma saving throws (good for people that don't like to have their character run away) and proficiency in persuasion unless you have it, in which case you get a different skill. (Other advantages cut)

So totaled together, you can have:
4 new skills (or 3 and one expertise if you have proficiency in athletics). This also gets you proficiency in str/ int saves (both almost entirely replaced by skill checks, and rarely targeted even then) and advantage in charisma saves (hah. Also not all that useful) at level 18.
Or you could get the good saves rout, and take Reflexive core, Unbroken heart and Body and Mind. This also nets you 0 skills.
Or you could try to be a hybrid, but you will never be able to get them all or proficiency in all of the saving throws. None of them are exactly near the scale of spellcasting or action surge, though I suppose they are around the power level of a feat, and removing access to one of them wouldn't hurt... So the level 13 choice goes poof.


1. The Immortal is effectively immortal for something that will have 400 hit points or more you felt the need to make it almost impossible to stop. Your conservative constitution roll is 24, which means attackers need to be dealing 48 damage a hit to possibly be a worry for you at 0. Very few can do that consistently, especially considering you are going to be immune to critical hits. The Rogue could but oh yeah since you need 6 to die and you auto succeed at one while he can only do so with one attack. You are already ahead of the curve to get your hit points back. The only thing that could possibly make you fail those throws in line with your automatics is a Paladin and he will probably waste all of his spells just to kill you with his smite when you are at 0 hit points.
And I realize the problem here, thank you for pointing it out... However, remember that D&D 5e is not supposed to be PvP, and that the monsters you will be fighting will be hitting that hard. This said, crits now work, and while the immortal can take a good bit of punishment, it isn't near 400 hp anymore.


2. Sanguine Blade, automatic Blood Frenzy at level 3. This is the best dip a Rogue could ever have.
It wasn't trivially easy to get advantage as a rogue anyway?


Many of these levels have 2 abilities and have a few kinds of auto teleportation across untyped distances.[/qoute]
Teleportation range of 60' cuts down on that a bit, and both of them may only be used once a short rest. One eats your movement, the other your reaction. Both of them have specific requirements that are easy for a DM to work around (first one requires two living creatures within 60' and for you to be adjacent to one, the other requires an ally within 60' to be damaged in melee).

Edit: On second thought, bloody step is just gone. Only on teleportation type, only over 60', only as a reaction, and only if an ally is dealt damage in melee.


In addition he is effectively adding an extra attack in damage for every strike he makes.
This is a good point, and while I can't add in the change yet (on my way to work, had to leave my computer behind, 1d8 extra damage on draining blade that doesn't apply to secondary targets but heals the amount rolled would be a good way to cut it down.

DPR on a longsword duelist fighting one target becomes 6d8+27 (average 54) at maximum before a magic weapon if all three attacks hit. Likely 1/3-1/4 of them will miss, however, bringing the damage down to 34/ round or 42/ round.

I am seriously considering cutting damage down on their damage aura to just +2 and instead just scaling the radius, and will likely implement that change before I post this (yeah, editing as I go. I know, I'm cheating...).

3. Bloodlord, this is all kinds of broken, double action economy damage[/quote]
For double the damage when swarmed or hit with an AOE (basically cutting HP in half) you get a second body that can swing a sword worse and have less AC... Oh, and vulnerability to twinned, and if you want to give your second body a magic item that requires attunement, you need to sacrifice one of your main body's slots (meaning you or your puppet can have a magic sword, not both.) I'm considering making mental attacks aimed at the blood puppet re-target the bloodlord, setting the dex score to 10 and limiting it it simple weapons (though I think I already did that second one...) and limiting it to one attack/ round. Sound a bit better?


refills
To keep from melting when the enemies around them decide to AOE/ target blood-bonded allies. The blood lord is shockingly fragile when these things hit it!

That said, lowering it to 1 or 2/ short rest would not be unwarranted (in most cases, this will be your action and it will heal you for about as much as a Cure Wounds spell from a 5th level slot... Not that big of a deal.) Putrefy and Nightmare Engine should both require concentration, however...


blasting,
(The following numbers given are the average damage for each type of blood bolt with a failed dexterity save)

Once every 6 rounds you can deal 37 non-magical piercing or bludgeoning damage to a line of creatures, and either heal HP per creature or potentially poison them. Or you can deal 31 damage as a cone instead, or 31 damage once every 3 rounds, or 31 damage and maybe remove a spell slot if the creature can cast.

Corpse eruption (the highest damage technique you can do) deals damage in a 10' radius, and deals 42 damage. You can now use it twice, it allows a dexterity saving throw, and this is equal to a wizard's 5th level fire ball. Oh, an it's non-magical weapon damage as well.

So basically, the blood lord is a patch to not having a dedicated blaster, but not actually all that good at the job.


debuffs
Cripple is the second best debuff you have (the best being nightmare engine, which prevents you from healing after the encounter), and then you have putrefy (also concentration, lasts as long as the creature sits in the cloud) which is basically just an out-of-combat debuff to spread disease and murder people days or weeks down the line. The blood puppet's option is threatening, which is a bit too strong, I'll admit. Blood bolts have spell eating and the poisoned condition. Now let's look at changes/ actual costs.

Pain is more of a plot device than anything. You can have a single one active, and you can use it 1/ day. It targets Constitution, on average the highest saving throw, and now only works on only humanoids and beasts (unless you have soul twist, in which case you can also target undead, constructs and spirits). Of all the debuff options you have available, the only ones with real combat potential are Agony and Detain. Agony deals 4d6 damage once/ 10 rounds, which forces a concentration check and which is not lethal to the target. Detain holds the target in place for 10 rounds, which sounds great... Except it's concentration, and you have two bodies to damage (one of which is more vulnerable than the other), so the moment an AOE or swarm hits, you are likely to lose it, and it prevents you from using Nightmare Engine or Putrefy.

Nightmare engine uses an already-made corpse (so you have to carry one around with you or fight a swarm). It is basically a hold person (and gives saving throws each round) that also causes those afflicted to drop manufactured weapons. It only targets creatures adjacent to the corpse, has friendly fire, requires concentration, lasts for one minute and may only be used once/ short rest. It also consumes all of your out-of-combat healing, making it so your resident healer has to expend more of their healing resources on you.

Putrefy must target an already made corpse. It targets constitution, imposes disadvantage on attacks, has a range of 10' and incubates a disease in the target. It is also friendly fire, does not affect creatures immune to poison or disease, is a concentration effect (though this one lasts for up to one hour) and takes one use of your consume corpse ability (again, putting more strain on your healer).

Toxic bolts deal poison damage and inflict the poisoned condition. These are literally the most resisted/ immune damage type and status, so use is very much limited.

Threatening is now "you have advantage on intimidation checks against creatures within 10'." While potentially useful, not the strongest of all things.


options galore.

Options in and of themselves do not break a game or even a class (as the truenamer, binders, dragon fire adept and Magic of Incarnum demonstrated in 3.5) What breaks a class is options that are better than any other given option, that have universal applicability and no cost associated. Each option I gave the blood lord is there to cover some kind of weakness or flaw inherent in each technique (which I'll go through below), and the only straight-up non-situational buffs are the subclass's capstone and the consume corpse options.

Blood bolts are weak. They deal low amounts of non-magic weapon damage(!) to a short line(!), recharge once every 6 rounds(!) and allow a dexterity saving throw for half damage(!). Two options give damage other than weapon damage (both types do not affect undead), one makes the blast a more usable cone (still deals terrible damage) and one adds a little usability vs. casters... which are less than 10% of the monster manual. The casters also have to be living... So less than 5% now.

Blood puppets are vulnerable to attacks(!) (16 AC tops if it has a breastplate and shield, up to 19 if you give it a +3 breastplate), deal low damage(!) (19 dpr once you have 22 con and they attack twice), are inaccurate(!) (only have str to attack, no prof bonus), unskilled(!) (no prof bonus for physical skills), cut your health in half(!), consume your attunement slots if they attune a magic item (!) and make it so you have more points of vulnerability if a caster or creature uses a charm effect(!). One option lets them equip a magic item without consuming a slot, another one reduces incoming damage by 1/2 (effectively cutting your health by 1/4 instead of 1/2), another one treats the blood puppet's weapons as magic and add your prof bonus to their str/ dex skills, another one lets you add your prof bonus to their attack rolls, and the last one lets you use the blood puppet for a bit of intimidation. You can only have one of these augments, so choose wisely.

Consume corpse heals piddly amounts of damage(!), requires a fresh corpse(!), and is a 1 minute ritual so it's out of combat only(!). One augment increases the healing, one augment makes it an action, two augments are debuffs discussed above, and the last augment is a weak AOE.

Pain only targets humanoids and beasts(!), is concentration(!) and only ever effects a single target(!). One augment adds insignificant damage, one option pins a creature in place, one option gives you more possible targets, and the last option just makes it hard to break free.

Your final level 17 options are all small bonuses. One is low flight speed + a low damage melee bonus attack, one is immunity to charm and 120' of super darkvision and the last one is a fear aura.

Now, which one of these is so powerful that it breaks the game in half?

[Amnoriath]

Crimson revelry only works in combat, and even then only on rounds in which a creature within 200' was dealt lethal damage. Moving on from that...

Um... at level 2, with point buy or the stat caps, you have a maximum of fast healing 3 if you use the point buy, or 5 if you roll an 18 and then get Dwarf. This ability is to offset the damage that the sanguine knight will be taking from their allies with Blood Bonds, which is going to be rather quite a lot larger than what you are healing. By level 20, if you go immortal and take Unbroken Heart, you have a maximum of 14 hp/ round... which does not nearly heal the damage you will be absorbing from a single attack or AOE, let alone the damage being dealt to you. This said, unbreakable body has been trimmed to be only non-magic weapon resistance, immunity to the first two levels of exhaustion and immunity to sickened and stunned. This lowers resilience at level 20 by rather quite a lot, and crits still work. Oh, and natural healer only adds base proficiency instead of proficiency*2, so that 14 is the maximum fast healing the sanguine knight (immortal) can get at level 17.


This is only for the immortal, and is the only option they have to increase their damage rolls. Every class has some way, even if it is only getting more and mor attacks (monk/fighter), or getting a flat bonus on top of other nice things (barbarian's rage, warlock's invocations) or even just rolling more dice on a hit (paladin and rogue). It gets to +8 by level 17 at the earliest, and is otherwise a +6 on only two attacks... compare the warlock and them adding +5 to each bolt from eldrich blast starting at level 2 (which nets them up to four attacks).

Vital Sight automatically bypasses any obscurity, even True Seeing can't do that.
Uh, it's literally a limited true sight. True seeing the spell gives you it, and true seeing will work on spirits, elementals, undead and constructs. Vital Sight only works over 60', and only on living creatures. It also has the limits of true seeing, in that it cannot reveal creatures with full cover.


Are you talking about the Enhanced Body options, then let's go through them:
You get 3 (4 if you choose to go with the immortal) of these choices:
-Proficiency in athletics if you don't have it. Or expertise if you do, and the ability to double your carrying capacity (oh, and proficiency in the 2 strength saves the game even has... So niche as to not be mentionable)
-Proficiency in dex saves, and no damage on a success. This is weaker than a rogue with evasion, as the majority of sanguine knights will go with a str build, and this proficiency bonus is the only thing they will add to dex saving throws, so often the secondary effect won't proc.
-Unbroken heart lets you live, and makes you better at tanking. Nothing else.
-Crimson intellect gives you two int skill proficiencies and int save proficiencies (dubious use) and the ability to be a bit more accurate against creatures that can be identified with the skills you have.
-Body and mind was changed to just be con to wisdom saves and proficiency in wisdom saves.
-Speaker of blood gets you advantage on charisma saving throws (good for people that don't like to have their character run away) and proficiency in persuasion unless you have it, in which case you get a different skill. (Other advantages cut)

So totaled together, you can have:
4 new skills (or 3 and one expertise if you have proficiency in athletics). This also gets you proficiency in str/ int saves (both almost entirely replaced by skill checks, and rarely targeted even then) and advantage in charisma saves (hah. Also not all that useful) at level 18.
Or you could get the good saves rout, and take Reflexive core, Unbroken heart and Body and Mind. This also nets you 0 skills.
Or you could try to be a hybrid, but you will never be able to get them all or proficiency in all of the saving throws. None of them are exactly near the scale of spellcasting or action surge, though I suppose they are around the power level of a feat, and removing access to one of them wouldn't hurt... So the level 13 choice goes poof.


And I realize the problem here, thank you for pointing it out... However, remember that D&D 5e is not supposed to be PvP, and that the monsters you will be fighting will be hitting that hard. This said, crits now work, and while the immortal can take a good bit of punishment, it isn't near 400 hp anymore.


It wasn't trivially easy to get advantage as a rogue anyway?

3. Bloodlord, this is all kinds of broken, double action economy damage
For double the damage when swarmed or hit with an AOE (basically cutting HP in half) you get a second body that can swing a sword worse and have less AC... Oh, and vulnerability to twinned, and if you want to give your second body a magic item that requires attunement, you need to sacrifice one of your main body's slots (meaning you or your puppet can have a magic sword, not both.) I'm considering making mental attacks aimed at the blood puppet re-target the bloodlord, setting the dex score to 10 and limiting it it simple weapons (though I think I already did that second one...) and limiting it to one attack/ round. Sound a bit better?


To keep from melting when the enemies around them decide to AOE/ target blood-bonded allies. The blood lord is shockingly fragile when these things hit it!

That said, lowering it to 1 or 2/ short rest would not be unwarranted (in most cases, this will be your action and it will heal you for about as much as a Cure Wounds spell from a 5th level slot... Not that big of a deal.) Putrefy and Nightmare Engine should both require concentration, however...


(The following numbers given are the average damage for each type of blood bolt with a failed dexterity save)

Once every 6 rounds you can deal 37 non-magical piercing or bludgeoning damage to a line of creatures, and either heal HP per creature or potentially poison them. Or you can deal 31 damage as a cone instead, or 31 damage once every 3 rounds, or 31 damage and maybe remove a spell slot if the creature can cast.

Corpse eruption (the highest damage technique you can do) deals damage in a 10' radius, and deals 42 damage. You can now use it twice, it allows a dexterity saving throw, and this is equal to a wizard's 5th level fire ball. Oh, an it's non-magical weapon damage as well.

So basically, the blood lord is a patch to not having a dedicated blaster, but not actually all that good at the job.


Cripple is the second best debuff you have (the best being nightmare engine, which prevents you from healing after the encounter), and then you have putrefy (also concentration, lasts as long as the creature sits in the cloud) which is basically just an out-of-combat debuff to spread disease and murder people days or weeks down the line. The blood puppet's option is threatening, which is a bit too strong, I'll admit. Blood bolts have spell eating and the poisoned condition. Now let's look at changes/ actual costs.

Pain is more of a plot device than anything. You can have a single one active, and you can use it 1/ day. It targets Constitution, on average the highest saving throw, and now only works on only humanoids and beasts (unless you have soul twist, in which case you can also target undead, constructs and spirits). Of all the debuff options you have available, the only ones with real combat potential are Agony and Detain. Agony deals 4d6 damage once/ 10 rounds, which forces a concentration check and which is not lethal to the target. Detain holds the target in place for 10 rounds, which sounds great... Except it's concentration, and you have two bodies to damage (one of which is more vulnerable than the other), so the moment an AOE or swarm hits, you are likely to lose it, and it prevents you from using Nightmare Engine or Putrefy.

Nightmare engine uses an already-made corpse (so you have to carry one around with you or fight a swarm). It is basically a hold person (and gives saving throws each round) that also causes those afflicted to drop manufactured weapons. It only targets creatures adjacent to the corpse, has friendly fire, requires concentration, lasts for one minute and may only be used once/ short rest. It also consumes all of your out-of-combat healing, making it so your resident healer has to expend more of their healing resources on you.

Putrefy must target an already made corpse. It targets constitution, imposes disadvantage on attacks, has a range of 10' and incubates a disease in the target. It is also friendly fire, does not affect creatures immune to poison or disease, is a concentration effect (though this one lasts for up to one hour) and takes one use of your consume corpse ability (again, putting more strain on your healer).

Toxic bolts deal poison damage and inflict the poisoned condition. These are literally the most resisted/ immune damage type and status, so use is very much limited.

Threatening is now "you have advantage on intimidation checks against creatures within 10'." While potentially useful, not the strongest of all things.



Options in and of themselves do not break a game or even a class (as the truenamer, binders, dragon fire adept and Magic of Incarnum demonstrated in 3.5) What breaks a class is options that are better than any other given option, that have universal applicability and no cost associated. Each option I gave the blood lord is there to cover some kind of weakness or flaw inherent in each technique (which I'll go through below), and the only straight-up non-situational buffs are the subclass's capstone and the consume corpse options.

Blood bolts are weak. They deal low amounts of non-magic weapon damage(!) to a short line(!), recharge once every 6 rounds(!) and allow a dexterity saving throw for half damage(!). Two options give damage other than weapon damage (both types do not affect undead), one makes the blast a more usable cone (still deals terrible damage) and one adds a little usability vs. casters... which are less than 10% of the monster manual. The casters also have to be living... So less than 5% now.

Blood puppets are vulnerable to attacks(!) (16 AC tops if it has a breastplate and shield, up to 19 if you give it a +3 breastplate), deal low damage(!) (19 dpr once you have 22 con and they attack twice), are inaccurate(!) (only have str to attack, no prof bonus), unskilled(!) (no prof bonus for physical skills), cut your health in half(!), consume your attunement slots if they attune a magic item (!) and make it so you have more points of vulnerability if a caster or creature uses a charm effect(!). One option lets them equip a magic item without consuming a slot, another one reduces incoming damage by 1/2 (effectively cutting your health by 1/4 instead of 1/2), another one treats the blood puppet's weapons as magic and add your prof bonus to their str/ dex skills, another one lets you add your prof bonus to their attack rolls, and the last one lets you use the blood puppet for a bit of intimidation. You can only have one of these augments, so choose wisely.

Consume corpse heals piddly amounts of damage(!), requires a fresh corpse(!), and is a 1 minute ritual so it's out of combat only(!). One augment increases the healing, one augment makes it an action, two augments are debuffs discussed above, and the last augment is a weak AOE.

Pain only targets humanoids and beasts(!), is concentration(!) and only ever effects a single target(!). One augment adds insignificant damage, one option pins a creature in place, one option gives you more possible targets, and the last option just makes it hard to break free.

Your final level 17 options are all small bonuses. One is low flight speed + a low damage melee bonus attack, one is immunity to charm and 120' of super darkvision and the last one is a fear aura.

Now, which one of these is so powerful that it breaks the game in half?
1. I said will be, which means it will grow into that especially since you have constitution as almost a god stat. Compared to Imdominatable or 20th level capstones of a Paladin Archetype this is far better as well as much quicker. Additionally your blood bond kicks this in often. It isn't a level 2 ability. I'm sorry but you not being battle and not 0 hit points is not being situational.
2. Yours is the only one that gives a flat +8 or a +6 to all your allies. Barbarians only top out at 4. Rogues can only apply it to 1 attack in which they have to spend actions to set up. What you are talking about is one of the Eldritch Blast invocations in which doesn't normally add any bonus damage to the dice. So, in reality it is a non-optimized Fighter Archer with push back. I am talking about the Life-Drinker blade.
3. No, true seeing only bypasses magical obscurity or see the true form of polymorphed character. Yours bypasses natural as well, which makes Stealth auto-fail.
4. But even monsters don't average that kind of damage a hit. A Tarrasque(CR 30) with its bite averages 46 which is its most powerful physical attack and only can use it once a round. That is an unoptimized roll of 9 for you. Even the highest CR critter is incredibly likely to fail and even if you are unlucky you are still ahead in making the rolls to reset the counter
5. I am talking about in the Archetypes, not only have given 5 levels of it which only 2 others do so and top out at a level in which they can't dabble in other archetypes while yours still can. You have also often given them 2 abilities at that Archetype level which then often detailed more the one ability or sets of bonuses. The Sanguine Blade and Bloodlord are the most noticeable here.
6. No, they need to spend actions to do so in which they often need to be contested. If they are they are either momentary such as surprise or waste your action to deliver the huge attack. No, one has an ability that can spam advantage like this without consequences or a stupidly broken 9th level spell.
7. The Bloodlord is the quintessential example of how some people feel like they need to add a whole bunch of things they feel they should add. It is an archetype that says well the other two kind of those other two strategies so I am going to give the rest here without selection. An Archetype that has that shouldn't be an archetype, it should be a class in and of itself as all of those examples you used there are. No options in and of themselves aren't broken, but when the options are of a subset of a base class with a big meaty and over all resilient as well as lucky base offering a wide array of active options both in and out of combat it questions whether or not should the Bloodlord be the base class here rather than the near perfect chasis.
8. Magical damage is easy to get, and actually you have 1/3 or 1/2 chance to use it again the next time. You did change this though in a few different ways when I commented last. So don't change the game on me without telling me first and cry foul when I'm still using the other as a point of reference.:smallannoyed:
9. Depends on the sword. A magical sword with a strict bonus requires no attunement and the kind of skills you can take up with the advantages I wouldn't be surprised if one manages to convince others to waste mental attacks or enchantments on something that is immune. You also had it so where proficiency on attack stacked 2x. Durable makes it immune to anything but magical weapons.
10. It is healing that you don't have to spend hit die on or short rest to do so and you get to make traps with them. The latter is what I was mainly referring to.
11. Pain though is held over like a curse it can force creatures to constantly save until they fail in which then they need to wait until likely the end of the encounter. While the ability isn't really broken the fact is it can still use all of the other ones.
12. Flight of 50 speed isn't slow and no one is going to say a free attack is bad.

[Amnoriath]

All in all it feels like you felt the need to squish in a bunch of things rather than prioritize the unique concept of your class. You then tried to further expand with the Archetypes with the Bloodlord being the biggest culprit when the Bloodlord probably has some of the more flavorful material to prioritize from.

[Gnomes2169]

1. Compared to Imdominatable or 20th level capstones of a Paladin Archetype this is far better as well as much quicker. Additionally your blood bond kicks this in often. It isn't a level 2 ability.
When you get it, it's 3 points of in-combat only fast healing. This is to offset the 7-9 damage you will be taking either from attacks against you or attacks against allies. The champion fighter (which is a terrible subclass that should not be compared to genuinely) heals outside of combat up to 1/2 hp, and the oath of the ancients gives you rather a lot more in casting buffing goodness. Neither of those classes are taking nearly the magnitude of damage as the sanguine knight will be. (CR 2 creatures alone deal 11 damage on a normal hit, while CR 6 (where the sanguine knight will be healing 7 hp/ round) there are creatures bursting for 40, and more average creatures hitting for 16-24 twice/ round.) Taking half the damage for allies from most, if not all, hits is, in fact, a massive amount of damage to be taking.


2. Yours is the only one that gives a flat +8 or a +6 to all your allies. Barbarians only top out at 4. Rogues can only apply it to 1 attack in which they have to spend actions to set up. What you are talking about is one of the Eldritch Blast invocations in which doesn't normally add any bonus damage to the dice. So, in reality it is a non-optimized Fighter Archer with push back. I am talking about the Life-Drinker blade.
Um, true strength is only to yourself, is only +8 at level 17 if you take unbroken heart (likely, but with only 3 possible choices and 6 options, not necessarily the top pick) lasts for 1 minute/ long rest, and only applies to melee attacks. Swapping it to "use your constitution bonus instead of your strength bonus." Might work better (it maxes out at +3 damage instead), and would allow it to function off of short rests instead.

And do we have the same player's handbook? Because I'm looking at Agonizing Blast on page 110 and Lifedrinker on page 111, which both add your charisma modifier as damage on a hit.

3. No, true seeing only bypasses magical obscurity or see the true form of polymorphed character. Yours bypasses natural as well.
No, mundane cover still foils true sight. Monster Manual page 9:

A monster with truesight can, out to a specific range, see invisible creatures and objects, automatically detect visual illusions and succeed on saving throws against them, and perceive the original form of a shapechanger or creature that is transformed by magic. Furthermore, the monster can see into the ethereal plane within the dame rangel
((For ease of use, the parts of the sight that don't apply to what the sanguine knight can do are struck through, as the sanguine knight's truesight specifically only applies to living creatures))


Tarrasque(CR 30) with its bite averages 46 which is its most powerful physical attack and only can use it once a round. That is an unoptimized roll of 9 for you. Even the highest CR critter is incredibly likely to fail and even if you are unlucky you are still ahead in making the rolls to reset the counter
Flipping over to the first CR 16 creature in the book (the Planetar), it hits twice/ round for 43 damage. The very next creature (CR 21) is the Solar, who hits for 49 damage 2/ round, can searing burst as a legendary action (28 damage) and has a slaying longbow (32 damage, must make a DC 15 con save if under 100 HP or immediately die). The next creature on our list is the Behir, who is a CR 11 creature that deals 66 damage with its breath weapon. The beholder (CR 13) can petrify as a dex save, or hit with a disintegration ray or death ray (45 and 55 damage respectively). Death knight (CR 17) deals 70 damage with its hellfire orb, 28 before smiting with its attack (it makes 3, and can add 27x2 or 22x3 from it). Demilich (CR 18) can give you disadvantage and reduces max HP each hit. Balors just laugh on crits (9d8+8+9d8 damage). Bearded devils (CR 3) can easily swarm and bleed the immortal out (there would be around 20 of them for a CR 17 challenge. Good luck.) Dragon turtle (CR 17) breath weapon, 52 damage. Any young or older dragon's breath weapon, 42+. I've gotten through the D's, and there are creatures that easily force a DC 21+ saving throw on the sanguine knight without crits. The terrasque is not nearly the damage king you seem to be thinking, and there are many, many ways to kill without targeting HP (lich's power word kill, for example).

Now is it hard for a swarm to take the immortal down? Yes. Is it impossible? No, math and bad rolling still favor the swarm (especially bearded devils, which can ramp up the pain rather quickly). Everyone rolls a 1 eventually, after all. Maybe setting Undying to 1/long rest would be for the best, but you do vastly underestimate the raw power of a good chunk of the monster manual, methinks.


5. I am talking about in the Archetypes, not only have given 5 levels of it which only 2 others do so and top out at a level in which they can't dabble in other archetypes while yours still can.
I literally just used the fighter's subclass formula. I've honestly been thinking of switching the level 17 subclass abilities to level 20 and just giving the SK immunity to stunned and the first two levels of exhaustion at level 17, which would be a bit better...


You have also often given them 2 abilities at that Archetype level which then often detailed more the one ability or sets of bonuses. The Sanguine Blade and Bloodlord are the most noticeable here.
The sanguine blade has this once (remember, I removed bloody step entirely) and it is at level 3... Let's look at other classes that do this: Paladins (in fact, they get 3 abilities; two channel divinities and their bonus always-memorized spells list), all wizards (at level 1, no less), eldrich knights (spell casting and weapon bond), battle masters (superiority dice and maneuvers), Totem barbarian (spirit seeker and totem spirit), bards (proficiencies + extras), clerics (all domains give proficiencies+spells+special channel divinities that don't even follow the subclass progression), druid, rogue, warlock.

I think that's literally everything but the ranger, bard and champion fighter... One of which is a full caster, the other two are not all too useful. So the sanguine blade is more than alright having its two nice things at level 3... The immortal, however, I might just remove True Strength from, because of the overlap and the way it jars with the class fluff.


6. No, they need to spend actions to do so in which they often need to be contested. If they are they are either momentary such as surprise or waste your action to deliver the huge attack. No, one has an ability that can spam advantage like this without consequences or a stupidly broken 9th level spell.
So what you are saying is, limit it to only when you are at 1/2 or less HP? I'm hearing limit it to 1/2 or less HP...


7. The Bloodlord is the quintessential example of how some people feel like they need to add a whole bunch of things they feel they should add. It is an archetype that says well the other two kind of those other two strategies so I am going to give the rest here without selection. An Archetype that has that shouldn't be an archetype, it should be a class in and of itself as all of those examples you used there are. No options in and of themselves aren't broken, but when the options are of a subset of a base class with a big meaty and over all resilient as well as lucky base offering a wide array of active options both in and out of combat it questions whether or not should the Bloodlord be the base class here rather than the near perfect chasis.
Actually, before the edit I wanted to make a subset of the "blood knight" that might as well being a living vampire, using blood manipulation effects and fighting from there. Now that would actually be a solid base class to expand upon, but instead, I decided to re-focus the blood lord, making it into a blood bender instead. Where the other subclasses are a protector and a slayer respectively, the blood lord is a tyrant, evil with a capital E, and the abilities are thematic to that. Throwing blood as a weapon is the easiest thing to do, so that is the first ability. Not being able to do it every round out of hand forces the blood lord to stay in melee or rely on mundane equipment. Reconstituting and manipulating flesh is actually harder than just eating it, so I'ma swap around blood puppet and consume corpse. But the puppet fits the tyrant aspect of it, as does pain. Kill someone and make them serve you, or force someone to be your slave by racking them with pain? Check. Consume corpse is a holdout of the vampire aspect of the class, and very well might be changed because of that... But I think there is something that should be looked at here.

Each subclass for most of the PHB plays like... Well, the base class. Each paladin does a different thing, but they all play like a paladin and smite. Each cleric clerics, each sorcerer sorcerers, and each bard bards. However, each of them varies wildly in how they do this. For bards, you have a full support, and bards do support, but it is also a caster that can do more with skills and magic. The valor bard also supports, like all bards, and also mixes melee and damage into what it does. Both of them are still bards and feel like bards, despite having completely different focuses and playstyles. If we look at the totem barbarian, each of them looks and feels like a totem barbarian, despite even the subclass having different playstyles (Bear is a tank, the eagle is a mobile weapon dancer, and the wolf is a silent pack leader).

And then you have the fighter, ranger and rogue, who's subclasses play similarly only in name or one, maybe two similar ways (rouge gonna sneak, fighter gonna smack things with a stick, ranger gonna suck shoot). You could make one or two of their subclasses into base classes or just a part of the base class (*cough, champion, cough*) and they wouldn't play any differently.

The sanguine knight takes a little from column A and B. It is a heavily armored/ armed blood knight that tanks for and protects its allies. The immortal does this by being nearly unkillable, and granting protection to allies passively through its blood bond. The sanguine blade viciously retaliates, and passively makes his allies more powerful, allowing them to kill threats faster. And then you have the blood lord, who mechanically tanks for allies by debuffing enemies and adding a more easily targetable creature to inflict damage upon. All of them absorb damage in place of their allies, all of them recover health in some way, and all of them are melee-focused tanks. As well, all of them are blood-themed and use their blood bonds in their own unique ways (Immortal is defensive, sanguine blade is offensive, blood lord is manipulative).

Setting it like that, the oddball ability out is blood bolts... Which honestly, could be replaced with something forcing a creature into an unwilling blood bond, or maybe just dabbling in enhancing the members that have been bonded already. I can actually come up with something here...

Manipulate bond: Starting at level 3, the blood lord may attempt to force a temporary blood bond on an unwilling creature. As an action, he may force an adjacent living creature without a blood bond to make a wisdom saving throw. If they fail, they are treated as if they were bonded to the blood lord and they are friendly towards the blood lord and any of his bonded allies. Finally, the blood lord has advantage on all deception and persuasion skills when interacting with this creature. This blood bond and its effect last for up to one hour, and at the end of this hour the creature immediately becomes hostile to the blood lord and all of his blood bonded allies. Manipulative bond may be used once per short rest. Creatures immune to charm effects are immune to this ability.

Similarly, consume corpse will likely become infuse corpse, and consume will just be one of a (smaller pool of) options (likely, just consume, nightmare engine and putrefy.)


8. Magical damage is easy to get, and actually you have 1/3 or 1/2 chance to use it again the next time. You did change that though when I commented last.
As I said, editing. I am doing it as I go. As blood bolt is going away anyway, I'm not sure how relevant this might be... But while getting a magic weapon might be easy, I know no way to make an ability that deals weapon damage deal magical weapon damage unless the ability eventually grants it.


9. Depends on the sword. A magical sword with a strict bonus requires no attunement and the kind of skills you can take up with the advantages I wouldn't be surprised if one manages to convince others to waste mental attacks or enchantments on something that is immune. You also had it so where proficiency on attack stacked 2x. Durable makes it immune to anything but magical weapons.
And once again, the edits are real. None of these objections are still true, so judging it now, on its current incarnation, do you think it is broken? And durable gives resistance, not immunity... So it's taking 50% damage from energy attacks and normal weapon attacks, and 100% damage from magic weapons (which, as you noted, are easy to obtain).


10. It is healing that you don't have to spend hit die on or short rest to do so and you get to make traps with them. The latter is what I was mainly referring to.
Cure wounds, regeneration, lay on hands and heal are all also healing that you don't have to spend hit die on, and you actually do have to spend short rest to get it (charges recharge on a short rest). The reason it was given was to alleviate some of the healing pressure on clerics, which is why (even though it's being rewritten/ renamed) it's going to stick around as an option.


11. Pain though is held over like a curse it can force creatures to constantly save until they fail in which then they need to wait until likely the end of the encounter. While the ability isn't really broken the fact is it can still use all of the other ones.
Um... Once resisted, the creature is freed from pain permanently, and you only get one use of pain per day. It also requires your concentration to activate, and to maintain while activated, so... You actually can't chain it with your other concentration abilities.


12. Flight of 50 speed isn't slow and no one is going to say a free attack is bad.
I could have sworn it was 30'... typo. And the wing attack takes your bonus action (which would alternately be spent directing your blood puppet).

However, I'm replacing this entire ability with the an ability I call Nightmare child... Which should be fun for the whole family!

So then, change log from this post:

General
-Final subclass abilities are now obtained at level 20.
-Level 17 now grants the ability Unbreakable: The sanguine knight is so used to pain and battle hardened that he can shrug off some of the most staggering blows. At level 17, he becomes immune to the stunned and paralyzed conditions.

Immortal:
-Undying is 1/ long rest
-Removed True Strength ability
-Diehard allows you to add your proficiency bonus to death saving throws.

Sanguine blade
-Bloodlust is renamed Adrenaline Surge[/i] and only activates if you are at or below 1/2 health (and even then, only for 1 minute/ short rest).
-Extra fighting style removed.

[u]Blood lord
-Re-focused to control and debuffs. All damaging abilities removed.
-Blood bolts replaced with Manipulative blood.
-Blood puppet moved to level 10 ability slot.
-Consume corpse[/i] renamed and refluffed to [b]Infused corpse. Consume, Nightmare engine and Putrefy are the only three options, and they are chosen from at the time of infusing.
-Agony removed from the list of Pain augments. No replacement.
-Blood Mastery is removed and instead replaced by Nightmare child. Nightmare child's attributes:

Nightmare child: Reaching the pinnacle of his fell craft, the blood lord is a horror to even look at. At level 20 he generates a black aura that infects those around him, boiling their blood with their most primal fears, sapping their will to fight, and driving them away. Whenever a hostile creature moves within 30' of the blood lord, they must make a charisma saving throw or be inflicted with the frightened condition and spend their actions running away from the blood lord for one minute. A creature may only be frightened once every 24 hours by this ability. Creatures immune to the frightened status are immune to this effect. The blood lord himself becomes immune to all fear effects, and he gains advantage on saving throws against charm effects.

[Amnoriath]

When you get it, it's 3 points of in-combat only fast healing. This is to offset the 7-9 damage you will be taking either from attacks against you or attacks against allies. The champion fighter (which is a terrible subclass that should not be compared to genuinely) heals outside of combat up to 1/2 hp, and the oath of the ancients gives you rather a lot more in casting buffing goodness. Neither of those classes are taking nearly the magnitude of damage as the sanguine knight will be. (CR 2 creatures alone deal 11 damage on a normal hit, while CR 6 (where the sanguine knight will be healing 7 hp/ round) there are creatures bursting for 40, and more average creatures hitting for 16-24 twice/ round.) Taking half the damage for allies from most, if not all, hits is, in fact, a massive amount of damage to be taking.


Um, true strength is only to yourself, is only +8 at level 17 if you take unbroken heart (likely, but with only 3 possible choices and 6 options, not necessarily the top pick) lasts for 1 minute/ long rest, and only applies to melee attacks. Swapping it to "use your constitution bonus instead of your strength bonus." Might work better (it maxes out at +3 damage instead), and would allow it to function off of short rests instead.

And do we have the same player's handbook? Because I'm looking at Agonizing Blast on page 110 and Lifedrinker on page 111, which both add your charisma modifier as damage on a hit.

No, mundane cover still foils true sight. Monster Manual page 9:

((For ease of use, the parts of the sight that don't apply to what the sanguine knight can do are struck through, as the sanguine knight's truesight specifically only applies to living creatures))


Flipping over to the first CR 16 creature in the book (the Planetar), it hits twice/ round for 43 damage. The very next creature (CR 21) is the Solar, who hits for 49 damage 2/ round, can searing burst as a legendary action (28 damage) and has a slaying longbow (32 damage, must make a DC 15 con save if under 100 HP or immediately die). The next creature on our list is the Behir, who is a CR 11 creature that deals 66 damage with its breath weapon. The beholder (CR 13) can petrify as a dex save, or hit with a disintegration ray or death ray (45 and 55 damage respectively). Death knight (CR 17) deals 70 damage with its hellfire orb, 28 before smiting with its attack (it makes 3, and can add 27x2 or 22x3 from it). Demilich (CR 18) can give you disadvantage and reduces max HP each hit. Balors just laugh on crits (9d8+8+9d8 damage). Bearded devils (CR 3) can easily swarm and bleed the immortal out (there would be around 20 of them for a CR 17 challenge. Good luck.) Dragon turtle (CR 17) breath weapon, 52 damage. Any young or older dragon's breath weapon, 42+. I've gotten through the D's, and there are creatures that easily force a DC 21+ saving throw on the sanguine knight without crits. The terrasque is not nearly the damage king you seem to be thinking, and there are many, many ways to kill without targeting HP (lich's power word kill, for example).

Now is it hard for a swarm to take the immortal down? Yes. Is it impossible? No, math and bad rolling still favor the swarm (especially bearded devils, which can ramp up the pain rather quickly). Everyone rolls a 1 eventually, after all. Maybe setting Undying to 1/long rest would be for the best, but you do vastly underestimate the raw power of a good chunk of the monster manual, methinks.


I literally just used the fighter's subclass formula. I've honestly been thinking of switching the level 17 subclass abilities to level 20 and just giving the SK immunity to stunned and the first two levels of exhaustion at level 17, which would be a bit better...


The sanguine blade has this once (remember, I removed bloody step entirely) and it is at level 3... Let's look at other classes that do this: Paladins (in fact, they get 3 abilities; two channel divinities and their bonus always-memorized spells list), all wizards (at level 1, no less), eldrich knights (spell casting and weapon bond), battle masters (superiority dice and maneuvers), Totem barbarian (spirit seeker and totem spirit), bards (proficiencies + extras), clerics (all domains give proficiencies+spells+special channel divinities that don't even follow the subclass progression), druid, rogue, warlock.

I think that's literally everything but the ranger, bard and champion fighter... One of which is a full caster, the other two are not all too useful. So the sanguine blade is more than alright having its two nice things at level 3... The immortal, however, I might just remove True Strength from, because of the overlap and the way it jars with the class fluff.


So what you are saying is, limit it to only when you are at 1/2 or less HP? I'm hearing limit it to 1/2 or less HP...


Actually, before the edit I wanted to make a subset of the "blood knight" that might as well being a living vampire, using blood manipulation effects and fighting from there. Now that would actually be a solid base class to expand upon, but instead, I decided to re-focus the blood lord, making it into a blood bender instead. Where the other subclasses are a protector and a slayer respectively, the blood lord is a tyrant, evil with a capital E, and the abilities are thematic to that. Throwing blood as a weapon is the easiest thing to do, so that is the first ability. Not being able to do it every round out of hand forces the blood lord to stay in melee or rely on mundane equipment. Reconstituting and manipulating flesh is actually harder than just eating it, so I'ma swap around blood puppet and consume corpse. But the puppet fits the tyrant aspect of it, as does pain. Kill someone and make them serve you, or force someone to be your slave by racking them with pain? Check. Consume corpse is a holdout of the vampire aspect of the class, and very well might be changed because of that... But I think there is something that should be looked at here.

Each subclass for most of the PHB plays like... Well, the base class. Each paladin does a different thing, but they all play like a paladin and smite. Each cleric clerics, each sorcerer sorcerers, and each bard bards. However, each of them varies wildly in how they do this. For bards, you have a full support, and bards do support, but it is also a caster that can do more with skills and magic. The valor bard also supports, like all bards, and also mixes melee and damage into what it does. Both of them are still bards and feel like bards, despite having completely different focuses and playstyles. If we look at the totem barbarian, each of them looks and feels like a totem barbarian, despite even the subclass having different playstyles (Bear is a tank, the eagle is a mobile weapon dancer, and the wolf is a silent pack leader).

And then you have the fighter, ranger and rogue, who's subclasses play similarly only in name or one, maybe two similar ways (rouge gonna sneak, fighter gonna smack things with a stick, ranger gonna suck shoot). You could make one or two of their subclasses into base classes or just a part of the base class (*cough, champion, cough*) and they wouldn't play any differently.

The sanguine knight takes a little from column A and B. It is a heavily armored/ armed blood knight that tanks for and protects its allies. The immortal does this by being nearly unkillable, and granting protection to allies passively through its blood bond. The sanguine blade viciously retaliates, and passively makes his allies more powerful, allowing them to kill threats faster. And then you have the blood lord, who mechanically tanks for allies by debuffing enemies and adding a more easily targetable creature to inflict damage upon. All of them absorb damage in place of their allies, all of them recover health in some way, and all of them are melee-focused tanks. As well, all of them are blood-themed and use their blood bonds in their own unique ways (Immortal is defensive, sanguine blade is offensive, blood lord is manipulative).

Setting it like that, the oddball ability out is blood bolts... Which honestly, could be replaced with something forcing a creature into an unwilling blood bond, or maybe just dabbling in enhancing the members that have been bonded already. I can actually come up with something here...

Manipulate bond: Starting at level 3, the blood lord may attempt to force a temporary blood bond on an unwilling creature. As an action, he may force an adjacent living creature without a blood bond to make a wisdom saving throw. If they fail, they are treated as if they were bonded to the blood lord and they are friendly towards the blood lord and any of his bonded allies. Finally, the blood lord has advantage on all deception and persuasion skills when interacting with this creature. This blood bond and its effect last for up to one hour, and at the end of this hour the creature immediately becomes hostile to the blood lord and all of his blood bonded allies. Manipulative bond may be used once per short rest. Creatures immune to charm effects are immune to this ability.

Similarly, consume corpse will likely become infuse corpse, and consume will just be one of a (smaller pool of) options (likely, just consume, nightmare engine and putrefy.)


As I said, editing. I am doing it as I go. As blood bolt is going away anyway, I'm not sure how relevant this might be... But while getting a magic weapon might be easy, I know no way to make an ability that deals weapon damage deal magical weapon damage unless the ability eventually grants it.


And once again, the edits are real. None of these objections are still true, so judging it now, on its current incarnation, do you think it is broken? And durable gives resistance, not immunity... So it's taking 50% damage from energy attacks and normal weapon attacks, and 100% damage from magic weapons (which, as you noted, are easy to obtain).


Cure wounds, regeneration, lay on hands and heal are all also healing that you don't have to spend hit die on, and you actually do have to spend short rest to get it (charges recharge on a short rest). The reason it was given was to alleviate some of the healing pressure on clerics, which is why (even though it's being rewritten/ renamed) it's going to stick around as an option.


Um... Once resisted, the creature is freed from pain permanently, and you only get one use of pain per day. It also requires your concentration to activate, and to maintain while activated, so... You actually can't chain it with your other concentration abilities.


I could have sworn it was 30'... typo. And the wing attack takes your bonus action (which would alternately be spent directing your blood puppet).

However, I'm replacing this entire ability with the an ability I call Nightmare child... Which should be fun for the whole family!

So then, change log from this post:

General
-Final subclass abilities are now obtained at level 20.
-Level 17 now grants the ability Unbreakable: The sanguine knight is so used to pain and battle hardened that he can shrug off some of the most staggering blows. At level 17, he becomes immune to the stunned and paralyzed conditions.

Immortal:
-Undying is 1/ long rest
-Removed True Strength ability
-Diehard allows you to add your proficiency bonus to death saving throws.

Sanguine blade
-Bloodlust is renamed Adrenaline Surge[/i] and only activates if you are at or below 1/2 health (and even then, only for 1 minute/ short rest).
-Extra fighting style removed.

[u]Blood lord
-Re-focused to control and debuffs. All damaging abilities removed.
-Blood bolts replaced with Manipulative blood.
-Blood puppet moved to level 10 ability slot.
-Consume corpse[/i] renamed and refluffed to [b]Infused corpse. Consume, Nightmare engine and Putrefy are the only three options, and they are chosen from at the time of infusing.
-Agony removed from the list of Pain augments. No replacement.
-Blood Mastery is removed and instead replaced by Nightmare child. Nightmare child's attributes:

Nightmare child: Reaching the pinnacle of his fell craft, the blood lord is a horror to even look at. At level 20 he generates a black aura that infects those around him, boiling their blood with their most primal fears, sapping their will to fight, and driving them away. Whenever a hostile creature moves within 30' of the blood lord, they must make a charisma saving throw or be inflicted with the frightened condition and spend their actions running away from the blood lord for one minute. A creature may only be frightened once every 24 hours by this ability. Creatures immune to the frightened status are immune to this effect. The blood lord himself becomes immune to all fear effects, and he gains advantage on saving throws against charm effects.
1. In which at that point you only have one and I assume just like pretty much any ability it is a choice. So saying that it needs a far better regeneration this early on is like saying I need the wedding cake 3 months before the actual day. At level 3, the most you will be swarmed with are goblins or a few orcs. You might take on a couple of large creatures.
2. The Sanguine blade though had a consitution bonus buff damage, but you changed that. Also, Life-Drinker requires the Pact Weapon and here is the text for it. "When you hit a creature with your pact weapon, the
creature takes extra necrotic damage equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1)." Agonizing Blast " When you cast eldritch blast, add your Charisma modifier to the damage it deals on a hit."
3. Half of them are either action based effects or even require recharge. You should look at whether or not those instant kills are based off of maximum hp.
4. Yours details physical concealment.

[Amnoriath]

The type A's as you describe them though didn't take the liberty to almost define an entire set of active abilities on a chasis that its main purpose is to be as a resilient and lucky as possible. Your chasis in and of itself is not defined well in its respect. A Barbarian can be one without a the Primal Path but they do take it in a couple different directions in which are very welcome. I guess the real question is how essential are many of those things to the vision of the class and should they replace with possibly more active things rather than buffs and luck?

[Gnomes2169]

1. In which at that point you only have one and I assume just like pretty much any ability it is a choice. So saying that it needs a far better regeneration this early on is like saying I need the wedding cake 3 months before the actual day. At level 3, the most you will be swarmed with are goblins or a few orcs. You might take on a couple of large creatures.
At level 2, you will have 25 HP on average. This is as much as a barbarian, who has damage resistance instead of a damage sponge ability, and 3hp/ round takes 8 rounds of no one on your team taking hits at all to heal fully (but your team has to hit someone). At this level, 8 goblins or 4 orcs/ hobgoblins are an average encounter, or 2 acolytes, who have bless, guiding bolt and cure wounds/ other spellcasting to ensure they deal at least a little bit of damage (typically, with such high hp for a CR 1, it will be around 5-6 each, and they will likely go after the melee line in their face).

It stays 3 at level 3 (when you have 35 hp and damage bumps to ~12-15/ round round over all characters), becomes 4 at level 4 (unless you skip boosting con to get a feat, which is definitely an option. In which case, it stays 3). Stays 3/4 at level 5... You know what, a table for demonstrations might be helpful!

Note, maximum immortal HP is based on the immortal taking Unbroken Heart as quickly as possible, and rounds to heal is calculated by how long it will take to recover from the DPR.
LevelMax HP (average, no subclass)Max immortal HPCrimson revelry healingAverage DPR based on CRRounds to heal
11515--4-6--
2252538-112-3
335[td]383 (4)12-154-5
445/ 4949/ 533/4 (4/5)16-195-7/ 4-5 (4-5/ 4)
555/ 6060/ 653/4 (4/5)21-257-9/6-8 (6-8/ 5)
665/ 7171/ 776/7 (7/8)25-295/4-5 (4-5/4)
Etc, etc. There are some relatively massive outliers, such as breath weapons, spells or save or/ and suck effects, but for the most part a creature or swarm of creatures' physical DPR won't break the formula (which caps out at around 89-100 dpr by level 20. Higher CR's do more or rely on save/ sucks or instant kills) The rate at which you heal and the rate which damage grows never actually swings in your favor, even with natural healer helping boost you along.

Though, admittedly, at level 2 when you only have the 1 blood bond it might not be the most necessary. You will want some kind of increased healing, however, as you can predict who the most likely target will be and will likely be taking some damage for them, and it's not like the enemies will avoid a party member because they have a blood bond (there isn't any obvious sign, after all). Once you get a second blood bond, you will need some kind of reliable healing rather soon to keep from needing a short rest/ burning all of the clerics spells on healing just you, so the latest I feel crimson revelry can be delayed to is level 6.

Fortunately, this means that I can swap the healing abilities in question. Natural healer is a less potent ability over all, and should be enough to handle the damage level 2-5 (making the cleric's life a little easier), while crimson revelry is moved to level 6 because that's pretty much the last level you can get it without making your blood bonds into literally suicide.

As a note, typically targets to bond (listed in priority) would be: 1. Fellow frontliner, 2. Squishiest squishy, 3. Rogue, 4. Healer, 5. Druid/ barbarian. Frontlines (including you) will be the most targeted, squishy wizards/ warlocks/ sorcs need the protecting second most, because of their low hp (they do not get spot 1 because they don't get in melee, typically). Rogues/ bards are tricky, long ranged fighters with decent HP, they don't need your bond until later game, typically (if they focus on melee, however, they become priority 1). Druids don't need more hp. They really, really don't. And typically, you only have a 4 person party, so bonds after the first 3 are typically for NPC's/ DM PC's.


2. The Sanguine blade though had a consitution bonus buff damage, but you changed that. Also, Life-Drinker requires the Pact Weapon and here is the text for it. "When you hit a creature with your pact weapon, the
creature takes extra necrotic damage equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1)." Agonizing Blast " When you cast eldritch blast, add your Charisma modifier to the damage it deals on a hit."
So it was that the constitution modifier was being added, not charisma? Because those two abilities do a lot of extra damage on their own, even though they add charisma to damage (up to +5 per hit, which makes agonizing blast a +20 damage ability if all four shots hit).


3. Half of them are either action based effects or even require recharge. You should look at whether or not those instant kills are based off of maximum hp.
Every attack will be action based, except for a dual wielder's bonus attack action or quickened spells/ legendary action. The most powerful ones will be on a recharge or limited charge system, while attacks will be every single round. Any attacks that can kill instantly will target current HP, not maximum, or will just ignore HP entirely.

Also remember, undying is 1/ long rest now, so while the immortal is still hard to kill, he will go down eventually.


4. Yours details physical concealment.
Then I suppose I'll have to fix that. It's just supposed to be Truesight... And this is why I should stop making things at/ after midnight. -_-


The type A's as you describe them though didn't take the liberty to almost define an entire set of active abilities on a chasis that its main purpose is to be as a resilient and lucky as possible. Your chasis in and of itself is not defined well in its respect. A Barbarian can be one without a the Primal Path but they do take it in a couple different directions in which are very welcome. I guess the real question is how essential are many of those things to the vision of the class and should they replace with possibly more active things rather than buffs and luck?

This... Is a good point. The barbarian is a barbarian because of rage, the paladin is a paladin because of smite, lay on hands and his auras, and the fighter fights. The sanguine knight is supposed to be focused on his blood bonds, remarkable ability to recover and just general survivability. I'm not exactly sure where that got away from me. I think I'll go through the general class features again, likely replace a few with some blood-bond flavored actives...

[Gnomes2169]

Alright, bonded abilities added to the base class. Starting at level 1, we have:

-Level 1: Bonded communication: The blood bond is a living network that the sanguine knight and his allies can use for more than just combat. Starting at level 1 the sanguine knight and blood bonded allies within 100' of him may communicate with one another telepathically. This communication tends to be primitive, the transmission of images, scents, sounds and communication instead of literal verbal communication. The sanguine knight's connection to his bonded allies grants him advantage on is intuition checks to determine the emotional state of his allies, and to determine if they are lying to him. ((New))

-Level 11: Bonded transposition: At level 11, the sanguine knight may use their connection through the blood bond to physically swap places with one of their bonded allies. As a reaction to an ally being hit by an attack in melee range within 100', the sanguine knight may immediately switch positions with them, becoming the new target of the attack and moving his ally out of harm's way. This movement does not provoke an opportunity attack if it moves the bonded ally out of the enemy's reach. The intercepted attack roll is remade, and if it hits then damage is dealt as normal. Bonded transposition may be used once per short rest. ((... can't remember what this replaced))

-Level 14: Bonded concentration: Beginning at level 14, the sanguine knight is able to assume control of an ally's ongoing concentration effect through the blood bond. As an action, the sanguine knight may become the new controller of a spell or ability with a duration that includes concentration in its descriptor. he then controls the spell, making concentration saving throws when applicable, and if the spell has a range of self, gaining the benefits it confers. If the spell may be re-targeted, then the sanguine knight may do so as per the spell's entry, otherwise the targets of the spell remain the same. Regardless of the spell's normal duration, a concentration spell transferred in this way has its remaining duration lowered or raised to 1 minute, at which point it immediately ends. Bonded concentration may be used once per short rest. ((Replaced vital sight))

-Level 17: Bonded resurgence: At level 17 the sanguine knight's mastery of the blood bond makes it so that his allies have a rather hard time dying. The first time a blood bonded ally would be dropped to less than 0 hit points per long rest but not killed outright, the sanguine knight may use his reaction to make it so that the ally is at 1 hit point instead. Bonded resurgence may be used once per long rest. ((Replaced Unbreakable))

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?

[Gnomes2169]

Alright, that should make the fluff text a little more readable/ bearable, so done! While I am considering adding a sentinel-like subclass, that would come much, much later, as I do have pther projects to work on. So, any further thoughts, questions, flaws, ideals or bonds?

[bloodshed343]

I have a question unrelated to the content of this thread.

How do I get the red dnd 5e/next tag on my homebrew.

[Gnomes2169]

I have a question unrelated to the content of this thread.

How do I get the red dnd 5e/next tag on my homebrew.

Well, you have to be on a computer. There will be a drop down tab above the thread title, just select that, choose the apropriate tag, and go ham!

[Giant2005]

I have a question regarding the Immortal's level 3 ability "Diehard".
What do you intend to happen mechanically when the Knight makes his 3 successful death saves and becomes stable?
Does he fight on with the same penalties, fight on without the penalties or does he not fight on at all and slip into unconsciousness for 1D4 hours the same as any other stable character at 0 HP?

[Gnomes2169]

Hmmm... I was thinking that the immortal would not fall unconscious at any point (without a magical cause), but specifying that he fights at disadvantage until he is healed for at least 1 hit point is probably a good way to balance that out. I entirely forgot about that whole "Well he's stable... now what?" bit of the ability, and I'll add it in after work today.

Edit: Huh... rereading it, I actually suggest that already. While you have 0 HP, you have disadvantage on your attacks and checks, regardless of if you are stable or not.

[Gnomes2169]

Change log, supplemental:

General

Bonded Resurgence is now 1/ long OR SHORT rest

Immortal

Diehard language cleaned up a bit. Functions the same, but with a bit less redundancy.
Bonded Resilience ability now just provides its bonus to all saving throws for the sake of simplicity (much like the paladin's aura). This still only applies to allies who are bonded to the immortal.
Undying ability is slightly nerfed. The base save DC for resisting a death saving throw caused by an enemy's attack is now 25, and is thus capable of being failed.

Sanguine blade

Adrenaline Surge ability changed so that it grants a bonus action attack on any round in which the sanguine blade has been damaged. At level 10 this attack has advantage.
Cruor Blade ability changed so that it inflicts 1d4 bleeding damage instead of adding reach. Bleeding stacks, but can be stopped like all bleeding effects through a DC 15 heal check or a healing spell.
Bonded assault ability never increases in damage, only range.
Sweeping blade may only be used 1/ round.

Blood lord

Manipulative bond ability simplified to the charmed condition. Grants advantage on insight checks against the subject.
Added ability revel, granting the blood lord mobility when they damage a creature in melee.
Infest Corpse ability no longer requires concentration to maintain.
Blood Puppet ability has the largest changes, with all the changeable abilities removed. Blood puppets may not attune magic items. Finally, language changed slightly to make things more clear/ follow normal game language.

Feats

Bonded in Blood is now the only feat, and requires the blood bond ability.


Things in the works:

New subclass called the Protector, which focuses more on awareness, fighting styles and opportunity attacks.
A new feat... if I get inspiration to make one.
Possible barbarian subclass, the Path of Bloody Wrath.


This is all.

[Giant2005]

What inspired the Diehard change?
The change creates some messy issues such as the character now being better off failing his death saves rather than making them which is quite the challenge really considering his other abilities weigh the odds in favour of passing those saves.
It also raises the question as to what happens if the unconscious Immortal is hit while unconscious and no longer stable? Does that bring him back into the fight once again?

I don't suppose you could place a spoiler at the bottom of the post for the old version could you? It would make it a lot easier for us that are playing the class in its original form.

[Gnomes2169]

What inspired the Diehard change?
The change creates some messy issues such as the character now being better off failing his death saves rather than making them which is quite the challenge really considering his other abilities weigh the odds in favour of passing those saves.
It also raises the question as to what happens if the unconscious Immortal is hit while unconscious and no longer stable? Does that bring him back into the fight once again?

I don't suppose you could place a spoiler at the bottom of the post for the old version could you? It would make it a lot easier for us that are playing the class in its original form.

What inspired the Diehard change was it being 5 in the morning and trying to fix the language a bit. ^^; The ability is fixed, more simple and a in its original form now (While at 0 hit points the immortal is not unconscious, and may continue to act.) Sorry about that... and how is the sanguine knight (particularly the immortal) working in play so far?

[Giant2005]

What inspired the Diehard change was it being 5 in the morning and trying to fix the language a bit. ^^; The ability is fixed, more simple and a in its original form now (While at 0 hit points the immortal is not unconscious, and may continue to act.) Sorry about that... and how is the sanguine knight (particularly the immortal) working in play so far?

It is really good but only after you get to level 6 and at that point it might be a little too good. Until you get to level 6 you are basically a Fighter without any of the toys and noticably the weakest guy on the team but when you get to level 6 the opposite is true.
My character is level 9 now and has taken the Bonded in Blood feat 3 times (Variant Human) and the team doesn't really take damage anymore - we fought a super charged big bad recently and ended the fight with more health than we started it with.
Basically, until level 6 he couldn't do his job at all but once he got there he could do his job a little too well although both aspects could have more to do with how I built the character than anything - I have dedicated everything specifically to doing that one job well.

[Gnomes2169]

It is really good but only after you get to level 6 and at that point it might be a little too good. Until you get to level 6 you are basically a Fighter without any of the toys and noticably the weakest guy on the team but when you get to level 6 the opposite is true.
My character is level 9 now and has taken the Bonded in Blood feat 3 times (Variant Human) and the team doesn't really take damage anymore - we fought a super charged big bad recently and ended the fight with more health than we started it with.
Basically, until level 6 he couldn't do his job at all but once he got there he could do his job a little too well although both aspects could have more to do with how I built the character than anything - I have dedicated everything specifically to doing that one job well.

Well, as far as the subclasses go, the immortal is really the most passive one by far. Its main feature at level 3 is "Takes a lot to kill, and can keep stabbing while it does so." The blood lord would be more interesting as far as active abilities go, and the sanguine blade (after that last rewrite) has a lot of nice toys to play around with and keep the play style interesting at lower levels. Unless you used your blood bond liberally, or found yourself getting knocked to 0 commonly, the immortal doesn't have much that it brings to the table at level 3, so a fighter will feel like it has more impact. As an immortal, if you go with the Intelligence or Constitution body enhancements, you can either be tougher than anyone else or have that accuracy bonus against certain foes that no one else can access... but that's about all of the psuedo-active stuff that subclass gets. For characters who didn't take the feat, level 6 is just the point where they can more freely use the two blood bonds they have, with less worry about literally bleeding themselves dry after protecting their buddies from a single AoE. They don't really make their allies completely immortal.

As for the immortal party thing... I think that's just more the feat itself and me adding the note that it stacks (also, you having taken it 3 times so that you can bond your entire party and heal them of 1d6+11 (average 14.5) damage each round when you proc crimson revelry might have something to do with it). If it's honestly too much and makes encounters too easy, then I might be changing the feat so that you can only take it once, since the poor monsters have to be able to win at some time. You might want to talk to your DM about the feat stacking as well, as it seems like that would be your biggest problem right now. If it just gave you 1 extra bond and healed allies by 1d6+1 (average of 4.5) damage each time you were healed instead, your character might be a bit less one-dimensional in feel.

Also, I have the Sentinel subclass up now! I think that's a better name then "protector," honestly, and I'm wondering what you think about it. Too much/ not enough/ just right/ three bears will maul my face off for making this joke?

[Giant2005]

Well, as far as the subclasses go, the immortal is really the most passive one by far. Its main feature at level 3 is "Takes a lot to kill, and can keep stabbing while it does so." The blood lord would be more interesting as far as active abilities go, and the sanguine blade (after that last rewrite) has a lot of nice toys to play around with and keep the play style interesting at lower levels. Unless you used your blood bond liberally, or found yourself getting knocked to 0 commonly, the immortal doesn't have much that it brings to the table at level 3, so a fighter will feel like it has more impact. As an immortal, if you go with the Intelligence or Constitution body enhancements, you can either be tougher than anyone else or have that accuracy bonus against certain foes that no one else can access... but that's about all of the psuedo-active stuff that subclass gets. For characters who didn't take the feat, level 6 is just the point where they can more freely use the two blood bonds they have, with less worry about literally bleeding themselves dry after protecting their buddies from a single AoE. They don't really make their allies completely immortal.

As for the immortal party thing... I think that's just more the feat itself and me adding the note that it stacks (also, you having taken it 3 times so that you can bond your entire party and heal them of 1d6+11 (average 14.5) damage each round when you proc crimson revelry might have something to do with it). If it's honestly too much and makes encounters too easy, then I might be changing the feat so that you can only take it once, since the poor monsters have to be able to win at some time. You might want to talk to your DM about the feat stacking as well, as it seems like that would be your biggest problem right now. If it just gave you 1 extra bond and healed allies by 1d6+1 (average of 4.5) damage each time you were healed instead, your character might be a bit less one-dimensional in feel.

Also, I have the Sentinel subclass up now! I think that's a better name then "protector," honestly, and I'm wondering what you think about it. Too much/ not enough/ just right/ three bears will maul my face off for making this joke?

Just to clarify, none of what I said was a complaint - they were just general observations and I am absolutely loving the class.
I do agree on my character's OP'ness having more to do with stacking that feat 3 times and it probably should be fixed to prevent people like me from breaking it. Although, breaking the game like that was never my intention - my intention was being able to bond with all of my allies which imo is an important aspect which is required for virtually all of the class abilities and I'd be hesitant about nerfing that aspect of the feat. The problem is that with the stacking HP gone and the stacking Blood Bonds staying, it doesn't really offer enough to justify taking the feat a second time. Maybe you could offer some other benefit for taking it a second time instead of extra health regen?


As for the Sentinel, it looks pretty good but it really kicks in a little too late. Until they get to level 15, their abilities can only be used once per turn due to the Reaction limits. Considering the active abilities both use the Reaction, one supercedes the other on any given turn which leaves the subclass at half strength every round. That level 15 ability is pretty key to making the class function and imo should be moved earlier in the progression.
Also, it would be nice if you stupid-proofed Bonded Avoidance. Bonded Avoidance renders the Protection Fighting Style completely obsolete. With that in mind, I think you should remove the Protection Fighting Style as an option or have Bonded Avoidance offer some kind of compensation or reimburse the ability.

[Gnomes2169]

Just to clarify, none of what I said was a complaint - they were just general observations and I am absolutely loving the class.
I do agree on my character's OP'ness having more to do with stacking that feat 3 times and it probably should be fixed to prevent people like me from breaking it. Although, breaking the game like that was never my intention - my intention was being able to bond with all of my allies which imo is an important aspect which is required for virtually all of the class abilities and I'd be hesitant about nerfing that aspect of the feat. The problem is that with the stacking HP gone and the stacking Blood Bonds staying, it doesn't really offer enough to justify taking the feat a second time. Maybe you could offer some other benefit for taking it a second time instead of extra health regen?

Hmmm... maybe I should make the second instance of the feat heal you by an additional 1d6+1 healing, and limit a character to 2 instances of Bonded by Blood? The feat itself isn't meant to be a necessary pickup, just to make it so you can bond a larger party (say you have a party of 5 or 6), and then to give an extra small benefit to supplement the rest of the +1 that the feat is taking up. Otherwise, in a featless game or a game where you are focusing on other aspects of the character, you will have to be very careful with your choice of who and what you bond. Often a front line other than yourself is a good first choice, and then a second choice would be your squishiest member once you reach level 5.


As for the Sentinel, it looks pretty good but it really kicks in a little too late. Until they get to level 15, their abilities can only be used once per turn due to the Reaction limits. Considering the active abilities both use the Reaction, one supercedes the other on any given turn which leaves the subclass at half strength every round. That level 15 ability is pretty key to making the class function and imo should be moved earlier in the progression.
Also, it would be nice if you stupid-proofed Bonded Avoidance. Bonded Avoidance renders the Protection Fighting Style completely obsolete. With that in mind, I think you should remove the Protection Fighting Style as an option or have Bonded Avoidance offer some kind of compensation or reimburse the ability.

Hmmm... originally I had the level 15 ability function like the monster ability reactive, which gives a monster a reaction every turn. I suppose the less powerful version I made would fit better at level 10, so I should flip-flop it to there. As for bonded avoidance... yeah, some idiot-proofing might be necessary there. Perhaps the Protection fighting style can be used 1/ turn without consuming your reaction?

[Gnomes2169]

Posting here to note that an updated, rebalanced and refluffed version of the class is now in post #4. For those still using the 1.6.fish version, the original post still contains the base class... but if you are done (or just like the new version better and wouldn't mind seeing the old one go away), then I would very much like to just move the updated version to the first post and have that be the stand-alone finished product.

Note, the largest differences are in the subclasses and the body enhancements, both of which have been rather greatly restructured... though Sentinel wasn't really in any need of a rework. Everything else (especially Sanguine Blade) needed a few more ribbons/ refluffing and retooling, so it has been properly given.

[Sariel Vailo]

I love this class and use it for my vampire and you're custom background just perfect.i use it in an war torn or apocalyptic magic setting