Sorcerer: Crimson Dynasty
Sorcerous Origin
Crimson Dynasty sorcerers harness the ancient magic of blood and life essence. They twist and guide the flow of this quintessential energy as a hunger grows deep within them. They manipulate their power to infuse the vitality of others, or they can rip it away and steal it for themselves.
Crimson Dynasty sorcery can be acquired in a variety of ways. Some with this power were born with it. Others were infused with it through a dark ritual or grim event. There are those who discover it through lost secrets.
Consult the Crimson Origins table for a possible origin of your power.
Level 1
There are a variety of ways you might have received the ability to harness your crimson sorcery to manipulate vitality and life essence. The crimson origins table offers suggestion of where your power comes from.
Variant: Bloodless Crimson Dynasty Sorcerers. If you're playing a character from a species that lacks blood in the traditional sense, you may still take the Crimson Dynasty subclass. The essenence of crimson sorcery is lifeforce, or animating energy that approximates life.
| 1d6 | Origin |
|---|---|
| 1 | One of your parents was a vampire. Though you aren't one yourself, you inherited their hunger, and it drives your magic. |
| 2 | You studied blood rites at a monastery, that infused your own blood with power. |
| 3 | You survived a vampire's bite, though it left you forever changed, and awakened your sorcery. |
| 4 | Your family suffers under a generational curse that has reared its head with you, driving you to drain vital energy. |
| 5 | You studied the secrets of life and death, perhaps to save yourself, or a loved one. In so doing, you unlocked the crimson power in your blood. |
| 6 | You died, and a cunning entity offered you a second chance at life. You accepted, and awoke with crimson sorcery coursing through your veins. |
You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class. Each of these spells count as a sorcerer spell for you, but it does not count against the number of sorcerer spells you know. Whenever you gain a level in this class, you may replace a spell you gained from this feature with another spell of the same level; the new spell must be from the necromancy or transmutation schools, from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell lists.
| Sorcerer level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 1st | blood bolt, cure wounds, inflict wounds |
| 3rd | aid, blood sacrifice |
| 5th | crimson harvest, @vampiric touch |
| 7th | death ward, sacrificial siphon |
| 9th | field of reaping, @mass cure wounds |
You hold a reserve of vital energy called your blood well, which you may use to empower your magic, and fuel other powers from this subclass. Whenever you deal damage, or restore hitpoints to a creature, you may expend your blood well to add 1d8 to the total for a target. You regain your expended blood well after a long rest, or when a creature takes 10 or more necrotic damage from you at one time.
Level 6
As a bonus action, you may expend your blood well to magically dissolve into a pool of blood, along with everything you're wearing or carrying, for 1 hour. The transformation ends early if you drop to 0 hitpoints, or if you choose to end it as a free action. While you are a pool of blood, you use your game statistics, with the following changes:
Your walking speed becomes 10ft.
You gain a climbing and swimming speed equal to your walking speed, and you may climb difficult surfaces, including along ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
You gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
You gain advantage on STR, DEX and CON saving throws.
You may pass through small holes, narrow openings, and even mere cracks as wide as 1in. without squeezing.
You cannot drop, use, or otherwise interact with anything you were carrying or holding.
You cannot talk, manipulate objects, attack, or cast spells.
You gain resistance to necrotic damage. Whenever you finish a short rest, you may expend your blood well to reduce your exhaustion by 1.
Level 14
You may feed on your own life essence to fuel your magic. As a bonus action, you may expend a hit die and choose one of the following benefits:
Blood Boil. You regain the use of your blood well.
Crimson Pulse. You may expend your blood well to use one of your metamagic options without expending sorcery points.
Level 18
Your hunger for vital essence is unquenchable. As an action, you may unleash tendrils of blood that lash at any number of creatures of your choice within 30ft. of you. A target must succeed on a CON saving throw, taking 5d8 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. You regain hitpoints equal to the total necrotic damage done in this way. If your blood well is expended when you use this action, targets gain disadvantage on the saving throw. You may use this feature once per long rest. You may use 5 sorcery points to use this feature without expending a use.
Source: The Crooked Moon