Revlid
2016-07-08, 04:46 AM
Path of the Blood-Drunk (Barbarian)
What civilization is not haunted by tales of mad cannibal cults and blood-drinking demons? What sane person does not shudder at the thought of gore run red and rampant? Ah, but the barbarian is not sane, and has waded through too much blood to deny its intoxicating appeal. When it runs along their blade, sprays into the air thick and stinking sweet… it’s enough to make a man sick.
The blood-drunk barbarian has fully embraced this revelation, delving into foul butcher’s magics and gluttonous bestial instincts to become a monstrous thing. These thirsty vampires must be careful to quench their slaughter-fueled addiction only in front of trusted allies or terrified enemies; society seldom looks kindly on a cannibal.
Barbarians who walk this path have undergone a ritualistic tooth-sharpening that leaves their mouth bristling with lupine fangs or shark-like daggers. This gives them a bite attack dealing 1d4 piercing damage, which they become proficient with upon entering this path. A special version of this attack, the bloody bite, allows them to slurp gore from the wounds of their enemies; this horrifyingly intimate violence means its damage die cannot be changed.
Sweet Red Nectar
When you enter this Path at 3rd level, you gain the ability to draw sustenance from sweet blood. You may use a bonus action to ready your slavering maw for a bloody rapture. Note the result of each of your bloody bite damage rolls until the start of your next turn, at which point you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to the total. This feature is unaffected by modifiers to damage. If you made no bloody bite damage rolls that round, you can still gain 1 temporary hit point from the cooling dregs around you. To do so you must be within reach of a fresh corpse, or have inflicted damage with a slashing or piercing melee weapon in that round.
You also develop the ability to brew potions of healing from potent blood and certain infusions. This process halves the normal gp cost, but requires at least ten pints worth of blood drawn from a living or recently-killed creature with a CR no less than the potion’s healing modifier (e.g. a potion of greater healing would require a beast of CR4 or higher). Anyone can drink these potions, but creatures other than blood-drunk barbarians suffer one level of exhaustion a minute after doing so. Other kinds of potion can be brewed in this way at the DM’s discretion, if more exotic blood is available.
Cannibal’s Lust
Beginning at 6th level, your bloody bite deals critical hits on a roll of 19-20 while you are raging. In addition, you automatically succeed on any Wisdom (Perception) check to notice blood or injury, but while you are aware of blood in the vicinity you suffer disadvantage on checks to perceive anything other than its source.
Visceral Lunge
Starting at 10th level, when you are attacked by a creature within reach of your bite, you can use your reaction to make a bloody bite against that creature. Alternatively, you can perform a Disarm attempt using your bloody bite.
Bleeding Heart Eater
At 14th level, you gain the ability to truly steal the power of your foes, ripping their strength straight from their heart. Once per short rest, while raging, you may cast the Shapechange spell with the material component of another creature’s heart (or analogous organ). This version of the spell can only transform you into the creature whose heart you just ate, and replaces its normal duration with “while raging”. It can transform you into an average example of that creature, or the specific creature to whom the heart belonged.
What civilization is not haunted by tales of mad cannibal cults and blood-drinking demons? What sane person does not shudder at the thought of gore run red and rampant? Ah, but the barbarian is not sane, and has waded through too much blood to deny its intoxicating appeal. When it runs along their blade, sprays into the air thick and stinking sweet… it’s enough to make a man sick.
The blood-drunk barbarian has fully embraced this revelation, delving into foul butcher’s magics and gluttonous bestial instincts to become a monstrous thing. These thirsty vampires must be careful to quench their slaughter-fueled addiction only in front of trusted allies or terrified enemies; society seldom looks kindly on a cannibal.
Barbarians who walk this path have undergone a ritualistic tooth-sharpening that leaves their mouth bristling with lupine fangs or shark-like daggers. This gives them a bite attack dealing 1d4 piercing damage, which they become proficient with upon entering this path. A special version of this attack, the bloody bite, allows them to slurp gore from the wounds of their enemies; this horrifyingly intimate violence means its damage die cannot be changed.
Sweet Red Nectar
When you enter this Path at 3rd level, you gain the ability to draw sustenance from sweet blood. You may use a bonus action to ready your slavering maw for a bloody rapture. Note the result of each of your bloody bite damage rolls until the start of your next turn, at which point you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to the total. This feature is unaffected by modifiers to damage. If you made no bloody bite damage rolls that round, you can still gain 1 temporary hit point from the cooling dregs around you. To do so you must be within reach of a fresh corpse, or have inflicted damage with a slashing or piercing melee weapon in that round.
You also develop the ability to brew potions of healing from potent blood and certain infusions. This process halves the normal gp cost, but requires at least ten pints worth of blood drawn from a living or recently-killed creature with a CR no less than the potion’s healing modifier (e.g. a potion of greater healing would require a beast of CR4 or higher). Anyone can drink these potions, but creatures other than blood-drunk barbarians suffer one level of exhaustion a minute after doing so. Other kinds of potion can be brewed in this way at the DM’s discretion, if more exotic blood is available.
Cannibal’s Lust
Beginning at 6th level, your bloody bite deals critical hits on a roll of 19-20 while you are raging. In addition, you automatically succeed on any Wisdom (Perception) check to notice blood or injury, but while you are aware of blood in the vicinity you suffer disadvantage on checks to perceive anything other than its source.
Visceral Lunge
Starting at 10th level, when you are attacked by a creature within reach of your bite, you can use your reaction to make a bloody bite against that creature. Alternatively, you can perform a Disarm attempt using your bloody bite.
Bleeding Heart Eater
At 14th level, you gain the ability to truly steal the power of your foes, ripping their strength straight from their heart. Once per short rest, while raging, you may cast the Shapechange spell with the material component of another creature’s heart (or analogous organ). This version of the spell can only transform you into the creature whose heart you just ate, and replaces its normal duration with “while raging”. It can transform you into an average example of that creature, or the specific creature to whom the heart belonged.