Cleric: Blood Domain

Overview & Creation

Divine Domain for Clerics Originally developed in Wildemount by the Claret Orders, the Blood domain centers around the understanding of the natural life force within one’s own physical body. The power of blood is the power of sacrifice, the balance of life and death, and the spirit’s anchor within the mortal shell. The Gods of Blood seek to tap into the connection between body and soul through divine means, exploit the hidden reserves of will within one’s own vitality, and even manipulate or corrupt the body of others through these secret rites of crimson. Almost any neutral or evil deity can claim some influence over the secrets of blood magic and this domain, while the gods who watch from more moral realms shun its use beyond extenuating circumstance. When casting divine spells as a Blood Domain cleric, consider ways to occasionally flavor your descriptions to tailor the magic’s effect on the opponent’s blood and vitality. Hold person might involve locking a target’s body into place from the blood stream out, preventing them from moving. Cure wounds may feature the controlling of blood like a needle and thread to close lacerations. Guardian of faith could be a floating, crimson spirit of dripping viscera who watches the vicinity with burning red eyes. Have fun with the themes!

Class Features

Bonus Proficiencies   At 1st Level, you gain proficiency with martial weapons.   Bloodletting Focus   From 1st level, your divine magics draw the blood from inflicted wounds, worsening the agony of your nearby foes. When you use a spell of 1st level or higher to damage to any creatures that have blood, those creatures suffer additional necrotic damage equal to 2 + the spell’s level.   Channel Divinity: Blood Puppet   Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to briefly control a creature’s actions against their will. As an action, you target a Large or smaller creature that has blood within 60 feet of you. That creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC or immediately move up to half of their movement in any direction of your choice and make a single weapon attack against a creature of your choice within range. Dead or unconscious creatures automatically fail their saving throw. At 8th level, you can target a Huge or smaller creature.   Channel Divinity: Crimson Bond   Starting at 6th level, you can use your Channel Divinity to focus on a sample of blood from a creature that is at least 2 ounces, and that has been spilt no longer than a week ago. As an action, you can focus on the blood of the creature to form a bond and gain information about their current circumstances. You know their approximate distance and direction from you, as well as their general state of health, as long as they are within 10 miles of you. You can maintain Concentration on this bond for up to 1 hour. During your bond, you can spend an action to attempt to connect with the bonded creature’s senses. The target makes a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC. If they succeed, the connection is resisted, ending the bond. You suffer 2d6 necrotic damage. Upon a failed saving throw, you can choose to either see through the eyes of or hear through their ears of the target for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1). During this time, you are blind or deaf (respectively) with regard to your own senses. Once this connection ends, the Crimson Bond is lost.   Health State Examples   100% Untouched   99%-50% Injured   49%-1% Heavily Wounded   0% Unconscious or Dying   – Dead   Sanguine Recall   At 8th level, you can sacrifice a portion of your own vitality to recover expended spell slots. As an action, you recover spell slots that have a combined level equal to or less than half of your cleric level (rounded up), and none of the slots can be 6th level or higher. You immediately suffer 1d6 damage per spell slot level recovered. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest. For example, if you’re a 4th-level Cleric, you can recover up to two levels of spell slots. You can recover either a 2nd-level spell slot or two 1st-level spell slots. You then suffer 2d6 damage.   Vascular Corruption Aura   At 17th level, you can emit a powerful aura as an action that extends 30 feet out from you that pulses necrotic energy through the veins of nearby foes, causing them to burst and bleed. For 1 minute, any enemy creatures with blood that begin their turn within the aura or enter it for the first time on their turn immediately suffer 2d6 necrotic damage. Any enemy creature with blood that would regain hit points while within the aura only regains half of the intended number of hit points (rounded up). Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Starting Equipment

see PHb

Spellcasting

Blood Domain Spells   1st sleep, ray of sickness 3rd ray of enfeeblement, crown of madness 5th haste, slow 7th blight, stoneskin 9th dominate person, hold monster