Blood Warlock (3.5e Prestige Class)

Summary::A blood-themed spellcaster. Minimum Level::5 Class Ability::Alternate Magic Class Ability Progression::Full

Blood Warlock
"Blood is a juice of rarest quality."

Blood: the very essence of life. It permeates the living, infusing their body with motion, vigour and growth; all the very definitions of what it means to be alive. Blood is of such power that some creatures, ranging from the humble mosquito to the grandest vampire, subsist on it exclusively, seeing it as the purest form of living being upon which to draw sustenance. And, just as life holds great magic, there are those who seek the power inherent in the blood, both their own and that of others, to amplify their magical abilities and to gain new power. These individuals are called blood warlocks (or blood witches for those that are female).

The path of the blood warlock involves quite gruesome practices, for to refine the powers of the blood, one must have blood to practice with. While some blood warlocks insist on only using their own blood, this is a significant limitation on their power, and thus, the temptation to use the blood of others, both willingly and unwillingly given, often becomes too great. Many blood warlocks self-mutilate to get closer access to the blood inside them, and quite a few favour implements that cut as part of their magical practices. When blood warlocks gather, things often become very messy, dying the surroundings a dark shade of red from all the blood spilt for their practices and experiments. This gives blood warlocks associations with the dark and the evil, particularly necromancy and vampirism, but a blood warlock is an altogether different creature; they don't seek blood for sustenance and don't kill and injure for its own sake. Instead, they seek the power of blood as the essence of all life, and if that means that this blood must be spilled, so be it. However, there is certainly no shortage of blood warlocks happy to associate with necromancers and vampires if it helps them understand the powers inherent in blood.

Becoming a Blood Warlock
Almost any spellcaster, arcane or divine, can become a blood warlock without too much trouble. Although a little knowledge of anatomy is required to understand some of the subtleties of blood magic, anyone who wants to learn it and has some knowledge of magic pretty much can. Blood warlocks come from all backgrounds and creeds -- no-one is denied the chance to learn.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the blood warlock.

At each level, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level (and spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained a level in that class. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained.


 * ToP: Blood warlocks continue their basic magical training while learning the more specialized craft of the blood. In addition to the normal spellcasting advancement gained from this class, if the class you chose for this class feature had any of the following skills, you gain them as blood warlock class skills as well: Arcana, Geomancy, Thaumaturgy.

 : The first technique learned by every blood warlock is the ability to enhance their abilities using blood. This allows them to apply metamagic feats spontaneously to their spells (or spell-like abilities, as long as they mimic a spell with a level) without modifying their casting time or level, or requiring them to be prepared ahead of time. To apply a metamagic feat you know to a spell or spell-like ability you can use, instead of the normal process, the blood warlock must cut themselves, dealing an amount of Constitution damage to themselves equal to the unmodified level increase caused by the metamagic feat, as well as losing hit points equal to the spell's level after the applied modification. If this would raise the spell or spell-like ability's effective level to above half your character level (rounding up), both the Constitution damage and the hit point damage become Constitution burn and hit point burn respectively.

If a spell-like ability mimics a spell with a variety of levels, use the highest level it is printed with. For example, a spell-like ability mimicking control winds would have an effective spell level of 6th for the purpose of this ability. No reduction of effective spell level for metamagic feats applies to this ability. If you are immune to Constitution damage or burn, it becomes Charisma damage or burn instead. If you lack blood or a similar vital fluid in your body, this ability does nothing.

Example 1: A wizard 5/blood warlock 1 wants to apply Maximize Spell to fireball. This would normally require a 6th level spell slot and preparation, but thanks to Blood Power, they instead take 3 Constitution burn (because Maximize Spell modifies a spell by 3 levels, and they can't normally cast spells of 6th level) and 6 hit point burn (because the final spell level for a maximized fireball would be 6th, and can't normally cast spells of 6th level), and cast their prepared fireball as a maximized fireball.

Example 2: A sorcerer 6/blood warlock 6 wants to do the same trick as the wizard in example 1. Normally, this would require a full-round action and a 6th level spell slot, but thanks to Blood Power, they instead take 3 Constitution damage and 6 hit point damage, and cast the spell as a standard action only using a 3rd-level spell slot.

 : A 2nd level blood warlock is so in command of their own blood that they can will it to clot and stop flowing on demand. However, this requires them to concentrate and be in a relatively-calm environment. Whenever a blood warlock is in surroundings that would allow them to 'take 10' on any skill check, they gain fast healing 5. When their character level reaches 10th, this becomes fast healing 10; at 15th character level, it becomes 15, and at 20th character level, 20.

 : When using their Blood Rite ability, a blood warlock of 3rd level or higher can choose to use the blood of a helpless or willing individual instead of their own. If they do, then that individual takes the Constitution and hit point damage (or burn) based on their own spellcasting ability (as if they were the blood warlock). If that individual cannot cast spells (or use spell-like abilities that mimic spells) at all, they will always take Constitution and hit point burn.

The blood warlock must be within 30ft of the individual (if they are injured), or must cut them (requiring them to be within the blood warlock's reach). If the individual is immune to Constitution damage or burn, they take Charisma damage or burn instead. If the individual doesn't have blood (or a similar vital fluid), they cannot be chosen for this ability.

Playing a Blood Warlock
Combat: Blood warlocks typically play roles in combat similar to their original spellcasting class. However, a blood warlock can often out-perform individuals of their original class of an equal level, but at a cost in blood (either their own or someone else's).

Advancement: Blood warlocks typically should complete this class. Afterwards, they should take another prestige class with full casting, or just jump back into their original casting class -- after all, they're spellcasters, and their class features stay level-appropriate anyway. Because, you know, spells.

Resources: Blood warlocks typically work alone -- a mixture of their highly-different training and methods, as well as general public dislike of the nature of their abilities and their source, means that any gathering of blood warlocks, however altruistically-minded, tends to attract mobs and witch hunters far too quickly. However, a blood warlock can typically expect another blood warlock to help them, provided it doesn't endanger them much.