Blood Mage, Sorcerer Variant

      The concept itself isn't at all new. I've read blood magic for 5e in other places, but they never really vibe with me right. Also, I've never really liked sorcerers that much in this edition, they weren't interesting to me and they don't really fit my vision of what my campaign setting should be. So, I'm switching it up a bit. This isn't for everyone. As usual, I'm sure I'm messing with some sacred balance that I'm gonna hear about... Oh well.

     Side note: My last blog post, people got REALLLY bent out of shape over the Last Gasp tables I use... Piece of advice, don't use them if you don't like them. They aren't a requirement for this system. I run a brutal, highly lethal campaign so they fit the theme pretty damn well for my Magic-Users. I also reward player ingenuity, so it has an ODND feel about it when I run my games.


Blood Mages (aka Sorcerers) Basic thing to know about blood magic is, you don't memorize spells, and they trade blood with the void for their magical powers. Blood magic is related to fey, therefore Elves, which one of the reasons they're ostracized in my setting. Determining their pool of magic and how to cast • Blood Mages have the same spell progression as Sorcerers. • To cast a spell, a Blood Mage must physically harm a living creature. This cannot be done with a spell. It must be a melee or ranged weapon. Choking the life out of something counts too. Don't fuck with constructs or undead, cause it won't work. 1st level spells cost 1 HP, 2nd costs 2 HP, and so on... Where you get the HP from is up to you, a cage full of canaries, the neighborhood cat, etc... fyi, small creatures are worth less than 1 HP. However, you can't squeeze blood from a turnip. Some things have less HP than you deal, so with some quick subtraction, the referee will tell you how many points you acquired.

Ex: If you want to cast a 6th level spell, and you just did 8 damage to them, but the mongoloid had 4 HP left, you only have enough for a 4th level spell. • If you don't have any spell points, or you go over the amount you can cast, you can either sacrifice 1d4 hp on the spot as a bonus action, or you can cast the bones. Having components will give you bonuses to that Bones roll. • Casting the same spell multiple times a day increases the amount its worth by 1 HP per cast. The void is greedy. • The limit to the pool of spell points you have available to you is equal to 2 x your charisma modifier + the spell level you can cast at. Minimum of 1 spell point.

Ex: A 3rd level Blood Mage with a charisma score of 14 can have 6 spell points. Note: you can dump your whole pool into one spell up to its max level. Want to cast magic missile at 3rd level instead of 1st? Dump in 2 more spell points.
• Spell points and the cumulative effects of casting the same spell over and over again reset every dawn. • Using your wild mage powers will cause you to roll a Conduit of the Cosmos roll. Regardless of if it says, it will always succeed. Depending on how well or poorly you roll, tells what happens. You can add in additional spell points and/or use components to give yourself bonuses to your roll.

• Sacrificing innocence people will refill your spell points completely. The void wants fresh souls who had potential in life.