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Tavar
2010-02-11, 09:19 PM
I've always like the idea that the Blood Magus embodies, flavor wise, but at the same time the crunch just doesn't really seem to match, at least not the way I envision it. So I decided to redo the PrC, and see if I could do better.
Blood Magus
Requirements:
Skills: Concentration 8 ranks, Heal 4 ranks.
Feats:Great Fortitude, Endurance
Spell Casting: Able to cast 3rd level spells.

HD:d6

{table=head]Level | Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special | Spellcasting
1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Basic Blood Casting, Durable Casting, Spell Like Abilities| -
2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Enhanced Diehard, Blood Elixar| +1 level of existing Spellcasting Class
3rd | +1 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Advanced Blood Casting, Spell Like Abilities| +1 level of existing Spellcasting Class
4th | +2 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Bloody Runes | +1 level of existing Spellcasting Class
5th | +2 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Master Blood Crafting, Spell Like Abilities| - [/table]
Skills Points: 2+Int Modifier
Class Skills: Concentration, Craft, Heal, Knowledge Arcana, Knowledge Religion, Knowledge Nature, Profession, Spellcraft


Basic Blood Casting: Blood Maguses learn to utilize the power of their blood. They can use their blood in addition to or in place of a material component. If in place, treat this like eschew materials. If in addition to, he acts as though his caster level was 1 higher. In either case, using this ability deals 1 damage to the blood magus and this damage cannot be prevented by DR.

Durable Casting: Due to their violent and often debilitating casting methods, blood maguses train their concentration especially hard. They never lose spells due to using their class features, and may add their class level as an insight bonus to all concentration checks.

Enhanced Diehard: At second level, blood maguses understanding of life increases, and thus they are protected from it's end. Blood Maguses no longer are disabled when they reach 0 hp, nor are they dying from -1 to -9. When reduced to 0 hit points, they can act as if they weren’t disabled (that is, they ignore the normal restriction to only a single move or standard action per turn). They do not lose 1 hit point for performing a standard or otherwise strenuous action while at 0 hit points. When reduced to –1 to –9 hit points, they do not fall unconscious. They do not automatically lose 1 hit point each
round when at –1 to –9 hit points. When their current hit points drop to –10 or lower, they immediately die. This ability counts as the feat Diehard for abilities and prerequisites.

Brew Blood Elixir: Potions are made of expensive liquids, mixed together, then infused with the spellcasting power of their creator. And what liquid is more expensive than one's own blood? Blood Maguses can now brew potions using their own blood, thus negating the cost in gold. This also gives them the unique ability to store the potions in their body. They may have a number of potions stored equal to half their class level, and activating them is a move action that does not provoke. However, they cannot share these potions with others. In all other ways they are potions, and follow the costs as normal. For purposes of prerequisites, this counts as the feat Brew Potions. If the potion is brewed outside their body, doing so lowers their HP total by 2 per spell level. This penalty dissipates after 24 hours, or after a casting of Wish, miracle, or similar abilities.

Advanced Blood Casting: Blood Maguses gain greater insight into the power of blood. They may now use blood components in place of expensive material components or Foci. They receive damage equal to the material component's cost divided by 100 or damage equal to the Focus's cost divided by 1000, rounded up in both cases. Unlike normal damage, this damage cannot be healed or prevented for 5 rounds or the duration of the spell, whichever is greater.

Bloody Runes: Ink is simply colored liquid is it not? As with potions, blood maguses learn to use their own blood to craft scrolls. Again, using this allows one to craft scrolls without spending money on components. In all other ways they are scrolls, and follow the costs as normal. This ability counts as the feat Scribe Scroll for prerequisites. In addition, if the caster uses a spellbook, they may copy new spells into their spell book without paying the cost. In either case, doing so lowers the HP total of the caster by 4 per spell level copied or scribed, and this penalty dissipates after 24 hours or the casting of wish, miracle, or similar abilities.

Spell Like Abilities: At first level, the caster gains the ability to cast Deathwatch 1/day per spell level as a spell like ability. This does not influence their alignment.
At 5th level, they gain the ability to cast Blood Scrying (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7872379&postcount=10) as a spell like ability once per day, and the deathwatch ability changes to at will.

Master Blood Casting: Blood Maguses reach perfect understanding of blood. They may now use their own body's life force instead of using a higher level spell slot to cast metamagic. Doing this takes more time than normal, so the spell's casting time is increased to a full round action unless it took more time to cast normally (quicken spell cannot be used with Master Blood Component). By Sacrificing 1 point of Con Per effective spell level(Magic Missile is 1 ESL, Silent Magic missile is 2 ESL), they may add 1 +4 or less Metamagic that they know. They can only do this once per spell. This sacrifice cannot be prevented in any way, including such things as the Stronheart Vest. As long as the spell is in effect or for 10 rounds, whichever is longer, the ability damage cannot be undone through natural healing or any magic less potent than Wish/Miracle/Equivalent level abilities. In that case, each casting heals 1 point of damage. After that period, the damage can be healed normally.

Mongoose87
2010-02-11, 10:08 PM
A) It's Blood Magus. No "n".

B)You don't seem to have specified how much damage Basic Blood Component does.

Vaynor
2010-02-11, 10:12 PM
A) It's Blood Magus. No "n".

Even if it is Blood Magus, I couldn't tell you if he meant Blood Mangus or Blood Magnus. It's misspelled throughout (apparently even misspelled in the thread title, as I assume he meant Magnus, because that's a real word). Also, you don't capitalize the class name. Only capitalize it as normal if it begins a sentence.

Tavar
2010-02-11, 10:17 PM
Huh, I know I had the Basic Blood Component up there at one point. Must have been deleted when I changed the language; it's the same as the blood magus's ability from Complete Arcane, so it deals 1 damage.

Also, fixed the spelling error. Not sure why I spelled it that way.

JoshuaZ
2010-02-11, 10:23 PM
I've always like the idea that the Blood Mangus embodies, flavor wise, but at the same time the crunch just doesn't really seem to match, at least not the way I envision it. So I decided to redo the PrC, and see if I could do better.


Is this supposed to be a redo of the Blood Magus? Because that's what I get from this paragraph. I'll make the assumption that's what we're talking about and move on from there. You've repeatedly added an extra "n" and it isn't always in the same place (Magnus and Mangus both appear. The first was a Roman senator. The second sounds like a disease.) This issue appears throughout the text.





Basic Blood Component: Blood Magnuses learn to utilize the power of their blood. They can use their blood in addition to or in place of a material component. If in place, treat this like eschew materials. If in addition to, he acts as though his caster level was 1 higher. In either case, this damage cannot be prevented by DR.

What damage? I presume this is supposed to be similar to the class feature from the Blood Magus, but you don't mention a specific amount of damage, or what action is needed to get the blood.




Durable Casting: Due to their violent and often debilitating casting methods, blood magnuses train their concentration especially hard. They never loose spells due to using their class features, and may add their class level as an insight bonus to all concentration checks.

Ok. Minor typo. "Loose" should probably be "lose."




At second level, Blood Manguses understanding of life increases, and thus they are protected from it's end.

Yay. A spelling error that I make pretty often so I get to have the pleasure of correcting it rather than have it corrected when I do it. Wrong "it's".





Advanced Blood Component: Blood Magnuses gain greater insight into the power of blood. They may now use blood components in place of expensive material components. They receive damage equal to the material component's cost divided by 100, rounded up. Unlike normal damage, this damage cannot be healed or prevented for 5 rounds or the duration of the spell, whichever is greater.

Good. Handles balance issues and healing cheese well.




Offering: Blood Magnuses study all life forces, not just their own. Eventually, they can use their Blood Component's using another's life force. To do so, they must be adjacent to one of the subjects, and all subjects must be in physical contact. The subjects take the Hit point or ability damage normally, and it is spread evenly among all subjects if it is shared. If all subjects are willing, there are no other conditions. If the subjects are unwilling, however, they must be helpless.



Ability damage? Confused. Didn't see anywhere where ability damage was mentioned as part of this. Also, this could be potentially broken. For example, have lots of dominated servants to help. Or little undead servants.



[B]Master Blood Component:

Ah, so now we get the ability damage element.


Overall remarks:

There are a lot of levels which are just +1 to casting and nothing else other than a boost to concentration checks.

I'm also confused by the choice of what levels they lose spellcasting at. Generally, one tries to have first level be a spellcasting loss to prevent 1 level dips and similar tricks. This is also ok in this case because you get clear advantages at first level that might be worth losing a spellcasting level for. So make first level not advance spellcasting and then add back spellcasting at either 5 or 10.

Frankly, this doesn't seem to involve much more direct flavor than the original Blood Magus. There's a few abilities to pay for magic in blood, but not much else. It doesn't seem that different from the original. The requirements for this remake are also very generic.

It might not be a bad idea to brew up some ideas for what should go in the deadish levels. Abilities that might work would include possibly some sort of runes out of blood, or using blood to reduce cost of item creation or scribing scrolls or spells (like using your own blood to scribe instead of expensive ink?), or using bubbling pools of blood for scrying (maybe just pools of water where they drop a bit of their blood in and it turns into a scrying pool or thing to use to do something similar to a Sending spell). Use blood to animate dead as a supernatural ability where they need to drop some of the blood on the corpse in question?

Tavar
2010-02-11, 10:36 PM
Ability damage? Confused. Didn't see anywhere where ability damage was mentioned as part of this. Also, this could be potentially broken. For example, have lots of dominated servants to help. Or little undead servants.
True. The main problem is that I'm trying to come up with better ideas, and I couldn't think of many. Though later on in you post you gave some to me, so I think I'll be writing a few of those up.



Overall remarks:

There are a lot of levels which are just +1 to casting and nothing else other than a boost to concentration checks.
This is definitely a work in progress. Should have more abilities soon.

I'm also confused by the choice of what levels they lose spellcasting at. Generally, one tries to have first level be a spellcasting loss to prevent 1 level dips and similar tricks. This is also ok in this case because you get clear advantages at first level that might be worth losing a spellcasting level for. So make first level not advance spellcasting and then add back spellcasting at either 5 or 10.
Eh, 1 level dips aren't a trick, and the class doesn't gain anything of value til 5th level. I'm fine with a character taking 4 levels of the class then dropping out. They haven't gained much, but they've lost 2 feats due to the prerequisites. Right now, The class loses a Caster Level when they gain one of the powerful abilities of the class.


Frankly, this doesn't seem to involve much more direct flavor than the original Blood Magus. There's a few abilities to pay for magic in blood, but not much else. It doesn't seem that different from the original. The requirements for this remake are also very generic.
Working on it. Though for the requirements, well, I'm not really sure what else to have. The special requirement of the original class never sat well with me, and neither did the alignment(Non-LG? Really?) Besides that, I haven't really taken away anything, and I've actually added a bit.

It might not be a bad idea to brew up some ideas for what should go in the deadish levels. Abilities that might work would include possibly some sort of runes out of blood,
Good idea. I have a though about how to implement it as well.

or using blood to reduce cost of item creation or scribing scrolls or spells (like using your own blood to scribe instead of expensive ink?),
Same.

or using bubbling pools of blood for scrying (maybe just pools of water where they drop a bit of their blood in and it turns into a scrying pool or thing to use to do something similar to a Sending spell).
How about adding on to the Advanced Blood Component that it can substitute for an expensive Focus as well. In this case, you take 1 damage per 1000gp?

DracoDei
2010-02-11, 10:43 PM
You omitted what I consider to be the critical pre-requisite fluff-wise.

Tavar
2010-02-11, 10:52 PM
You omitted what I consider to be the critical pre-requisite fluff-wise.

That they die and then are raised? As I've said, I've never like that requirement. I was toying with changing it to be dropped to the negatives and rescued or killed and then raised, but really, my main problem is that I just don't like that aspect of the fluff. To me, it's more about gaining control over the very stuff of life, and using it. Kinda like psionics Body Fuel feat, or the Hellfire warlock, in that they have great power at a cost.

JoshuaZ
2010-02-11, 10:57 PM
How about adding on to the Advanced Blood Component that it can substitute for an expensive Focus as well. In this case, you take 1 damage per 1000gp?

Not quite as fluff. I was thinking something like supernatural abilities to scry a special way that doesn't require a spell. Something maybe like the following:

Blood Scrying(Su):
As you let the blood fall from the dagger into the pool of water, the blood expands and the water turns a deep red, but then clears to show a picture of your oblivious foe, riding to his doom.

A Blood Magus may use a drop of their blood to scry on an individual. This works just like the spell Scrying but with the save DC as 10 + your class level + your charisma modifier with effective caster level equal to twice your class level. This ability does not require the normal components or focus for the scry spell but does require a clear basin of water into which you must put a drop of your blood that has been freshly pricked. Taking this drop of blood is a standard action that deals 1 damage, bypassing any damage reduction. This damage may not be healed by any means until 1 hour after the scrying is complete. Also, if you have any object which contains blood of your target, they do not get any save. You may use this ability once a day at third level, twice a day at sixth level, and three times a day at ninth level.

Tavar
2010-02-11, 11:10 PM
I think that works better as a spell. Something like;
Blood Scrying
Divination (Scrying)
Level: Wiz 5, Dru 5, Clr 6
Components: V, S, M, F
Casting Time: 1 Hour
Range: See text
Duration: 10/Min Per Level
Saving Throw: Yes
Spell Resistance: No

This works just like the spell Scrying, except where noted.This ability does not require the normal components or focus for the scry spell but does require a clear basin of water into which you must put a drop of your blood that has been freshly pricked. Taking this drop of blood is a standard action that deals 1 damage, bypassing any damage reduction. This damage may not be healed by any means until 1 hour after the scrying is complete. Also, if you use a vial of the targets own blood as you cast this spell, they do not receive a saving throw.

Hyooz
2010-02-11, 11:21 PM
So many dead levels make baby Jesus cry.

ForzaFiori
2010-02-11, 11:48 PM
Brew Blood Elixir: Potions are made of expensive liquids, mixed together, then infused with the spellcasting power of their creator. And what liquid is more expensive than one's own blood? Blood Maguses can now brew potions using their own blood, thus negating the cost in gold. This also gives them the unique ability to store the potions in their body. They may have a number of potions stored equal to half their class level, and activating them is a move action that does not provoke. However, they cannot share these potions with others. In all other ways they are potions, and follow the costs as normal. For purposes of prerequisites, this counts as the feat Brew Potions.




Bloody Runes: Ink is simply colored liquid is it not? As with potions, blood maguses learn to use their own blood to craft scrolls. Again, using this allows one to craft scrolls without spending money. In all other ways they are potions, and follow the costs as normal. This ability counts as the feat Scribe Scroll for prerequisites.

Both of these abilities should probably come with damage to the Magus. The only exception would be if they create a potion in their body, which wouldn't require them drawing blood. However, filling a vial, or writing a scroll, with blood sounds kinda painful/debilitating.

Other than that, I like the class. Granted, dead levels aren't fun, but I like the basis, and I think that with some work it can be much better than the previous one.

Tavar
2010-02-12, 12:06 AM
Thanks. I am trying to fill out the dead levels(I'm thinking of adding Deathwatch as a spell like ability), or possibly cutting it down to a 5 level class. As for the Potions/scrolls, how about 4 damage each day you work on them, and this damage can only be negated by natural healing, a Heal spell, or a spell of the Restoration line followed by a cure spell.