New Wizard School: Bloodbinding

This is another rough draft of a subclass for Under the Seas of Vodari, the upcoming aquatic campaign setting that expands on the Seas of Vodari setting. Thanks to, you know, the whole spellbook thing, coming up with exciting and thematically relevant wizard concepts poses certain challenges. This is what came from our conversations about it.

School of Bloodbinding

The Bloodbinder wizards take the blood of creatures, as well as ichor from celestials and fiends, to gain occult knowledge and strange powers. They capture and store the blood in crystal vials for study and use, and learn both the healer’s arts and control over the blood of their foes. In the aquatic cultures of Vodari, they most often serve as advisers to monarchs and other powerful people.

Most aquatic Bloodbinders, and wizards intending to join them, inscribe their spells on plates covered in gold or platinum leaf, which don’t corrode in saltwater.

School of Bloodbinding Features

Wizard Level - Feature

2nd - Anatomical Study, Blood Vial, Scarlet Aspirant

6th - Scarlet Insight

10th - Vessel of Life

14th - Scarlet Master

Anatomical Study

2nd-level School of Bloodbinding feature

You gain proficiency in the Medicine skill, and when you would roll Wisdom (Medicine), you can roll Intelligence (Medicine) instead. When you succeed on an Intelligence (Medicine) check to stabilize a dying creature, you can expend a spell slot of 1st level or higher. If you do, the target regains 1d4 hit points per level of the spell slot expended. If you expend a use from a healer’s kit at the same time, the target instead regains 1d6 hit points per level of the spell slot expended.

Blood Vial

2nd-level School of Bloodbinding feature

You create and enchant three crystal vials. When you deal damage to a creature within 30 feet of you that is not an undead or construct, you can immediately use a bonus action to deal an additional 1d8 damage and pull some of its blood or other vital essence into one of your vials, as long as that vial is open and contains only air or water.

You can also fill a vial from a willing creature as an action, dealing no damage but causing it to expend 1 hit die. You can fill a vial from a creature that has died within the past five minutes as an action.

You can fill each vial once, and you can’t fill it again until it is empty and you have finished a long rest. A filled vial remains usable until you empty it as an action, or with the Scarlet Aspirant feature.

You gain the ability to create and enchant an additional crystal vial when you reach certain levels in this class: 6th, 10th, and 14th level.

Scarlet Aspirant

2nd-level School of Bloodbinding feature

You can empty the blood from one of your vials to gain certain benefits, depending on the creature type that the blood came from.

Aberration. When you cast a spell that deals acid, force, poison, or psychic damage and the creature has resistance to that damage, you can empty this vial to make your spell ignore that creature’s resistance.

Beast. You can empty this vial as a bonus action to gain advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks for 10 minutes.

Celestial. When you cast a spell that targets one willing creature, you can empty this vial to grant the creature advantage on the saving throws of one ability for 1 minute.

Dragon. When you cast a spell, you can empty this vial to treat it as if cast with a spell slot one level higher.

Elemental. When you cast a spell that deals acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage and a creature has resistance to that damage, you can expend this vial to make your spell ignore that creature’s resistance.

Fey. As an action, you can empty this vial to give yourself or a creature you touch advantage on Charisma checks for 10 minutes.

Fiend. When you take bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage from a weapon that isn’t magical or silvered, you can empty this vial as a reaction to halve the damage that you take.

Giant. As an action, you can empty this vial to give yourself or a creature you touch advantage on Strength checks and saving throws for 10 minutes.

Humanoid. When an undead creature takes damage from a spell that you cast, you can expend this vial to add 1d8 to the damage it takes, as the blood makes them momentarily more like the living, and thus susceptible to your power.

Monstrosity. When you or a creature you can see within 30 feet makes an attack against a surprised creature, you can empty this vial to give them advantage on the attack. If the attack hits, the deal an additional 2d8 damage.

Ooze. When a construct or object takes damage from a spell that you cast, you can expend this vial to deal an additional 1d8 acid damage.

Plant. As an action, you can empty the vial to give yourself or a creature you touch 2d6 temporary hit points.

Scarlet Insight

6th-level School of Bloodbinding feature

When you hold a crystal vial of a creature’s blood, you can use a bonus action to learn its condition immunities, damage immunities, damage resistances, and damage vulnerabilities, including the effects of any spells or magic items.

Vessel of Life

10th-level School of Bloodbinding feature

You gain resistance to necrotic and poison damage, and you have advantage on saving throws against the poisoned condition. When you would take necrotic or poison damage, you can empty one of your crystal vials as a reaction to reduce the damage to 0 instead.

Scarlet Master

14th-level School of Bloodbinding feature

The blood of others is yours to command. As an action, creatures of your choice that you can see within 30 feet of you must roll a Constitution saving throw against your spellcasting save DC. On a failure, they take 7d6 piercing damage and can’t take reactions until the beginning of your next turn, as you magically extract their blood or other vital fluids. On a success, they take half damage and suffer no further effect. Undead are immune to this effect unless you empty a crystal vial containing humanoid blood as part of this action. Constructs are immune to this effect unless you empty a vial containing ooze essence as part of this action.

You can use your Blood Vial feature after using this feature, filling any number of your available crystal vials from the creatures that you damage.

Once you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest, unless you spend a 4th-level spell slot to use it again.

Design Notes

I'm going for a classic blood mage, here, on the idea that people who can study sharks up close, and who have water currents to work with, might have a keen appreciation for the power of blood. Obviously, Scarlet Aspirant got a bit complicated, but I like that what you get from that feature changes based on what you've fought lately.

Let me know what you think!