Cardinal (5e Class)/Sin of the Forbidden

The Sin of the Forbidden represents forbidden knowledge, ancient taboos committed to empower your blood magic. To you, there is no boundary you would not cross to increase your power.

Sacrificial Arcana

Beginning at 1st level, you may Minor Rend when you make an Arcana check, and add the Rend Bonus to the result of the check. If you can already Rend to this type of roll (Such as from the Birth of the Ephemeral or Mantle of Sin features), you also gain advantage on that type of roll when you Rend.

Forbidden Rituals

At 1st level, you gain a Ritual Book, containing forbidden knowledge. Upon study of your ritual book, it reveals knowledge of two 1st-level spells with the Ritual tag; Each time you gain a level in a class, you can add 1 spell with the Ritual tag to your ritual book for free. These rituals can be from any class list, but must be of a level you have access to, as determined by your Hemocraft level and the table below:

Ritual Level	Minimum Hemocraft Level
1st	1st
2nd	5th
3rd	9th
4th	13th
5th	17th

You can cast spells inscribed in your Ritual Book as rituals; You cannot cast them except as rituals, unless you know them by other means.

If you come across a spell in written form, such as a magical spell scroll or a wizard's spellbook, you might be able to add it to your ritual book; The spell must have the ritual tag. The process of copying the spell into your ritual book takes 2 hours per level of the spell, and costs 50 gp per spell level. The cost represents the material components you expend as you experiment with the spell to master it, as well as the fine inks you need to record it.

Spellcasting

As a dabbler in forbidden arts, you learn to cast a handful of spells.

Table: Forbidden Spellcasting

Level	Cantrips Known	Spells Known	Maximum Spell Level	Sacrifice Points	Sacrifice Limit
3rd	2	3	1st	3	1
4th	2	4	1st	3	1
5th	2	4	1st	3	2
6th	2	4	1st	4	2
7th	2	5	2nd	5	2
8th	2	6	2nd	6	2
9th	2	6	2nd	6	3
10th	3	7	2nd	7	3
11th	3	8	2nd	8	3
12th	3	8	2nd	9	3
13th	3	9	3rd	10	4
14th	3	10	3rd	11	4
15th	3	10	3rd	12	4
16th	3	11	3rd	13	4
17th	3	11	3rd	14	5
18th	3	11	3rd	15	5
19th	3	12	4th	16	5
20th	3	13	4th	16	5

Forbidden Affinity

The spells you learn to cast via the Sin of the Forbidden are selected from a variety of spell lists - Each Cardinal has a different affinity that slightly varies the spells they can learn. At 3rd level, select 2 of the following classes: Artificer, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard; Once this selection is made, you must choose one of the selected classes as your Primary Source.

Then, select 2 of the following schools of magic: Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy, Transmutation. Once selected, these selections cannot be changed.

Whenever you learn a Restricted Spell, it must be from the spell list belonging to one of the classes you selected for this feature; It must also belong to one of the two schools of magic you selected for this feature. Whenever you replace a Restricted Spell, the spell you replace it with must also be a Restricted Spell, obeying the same restrictions you selected.

Cantrips

At 3rd level, you learn 2 cantrips of your choice; One of these cantrips must fit your Restricted Spell parameters, and the other must be a cantrip from any school of magic, chosen from your Primary Source spell list. You learn another Restricted cantrip of your choice at 10th level.

Each time you gain the Crimson Versatility feature, instead of the feature's other benefits, you can choose to replace one Forbidden Cantrip you know with another cantrip of your choice that fits the same parameters as the cantrip you're replacing.

Well of Sacrifice

When you gain this feature, your number of Sacrifice Points improves, as you better learn to convert your life force into raw magical energy.

Beginning at 3rd level, you possess the number of Sacrifice Points that is shown for your level in the "Sacrifice Points" column of the Forbidden Spellcasting table, rather than the value shown for your level in the "Sacrifice Points" column of the Cardinal class table. You can never have more Sacrifice Points than shown on the table for your level, unless another feature grants you more. You regain all expended Sacrifice Points when you finish a long rest.

Instead of casting your spells of 1st level and higher using spell slots, you use Sacrifice Points.

For example, if you know the 1st-level spell Charm Person and have 5 Sacrifice Points available, you can cast Charm Person as a 1st-level spell by expending 2 of those Sacrifice Points, or as a 2nd-level spell by expending 3 Sacrifice Points.

Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher

You know three 1st-level spells of your choice. One of these spells can be any 1st-level spell, chosen from your Primary Source spell list; the other two are Restricted Spells, which must fit the parameters you chose within your Forbidden Affinity feature.

The Spells Known column of the Forbidden Spellcasting table shows when you learn more spells of 1st level or higher. Each of these spells must be Restricted Spell, and thus conform to the corresponding parameters; These spells must be of a level equal to or lower than your "Maximum Spell Level" for your level, as shown in the column of the same name on the Forbidden Spellcasting table. For instance, when you reach 7th level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level.

The spells you learn at 8th, 14th, and 20th level can come from any school of magic, and are selected from your Primary Source spell list.

Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of the spells you know with another spell of your choice; The new spell must be of a level equal to or lower than your "Maximum Spell Level", and it must fit your chosen Restricted Spell parameters, unless you're replacing the spell you gained at 3rd, 8th, 14th, or 20th level - These spells may be replaced with a spell from any school of magic, chosen from your Primary Source spell list.

Spellcasting Ability

Your Hemocraft relies on a combination or physical endurance, pain tolerance, and sheer strength of life force; Thus, Constitution is the ability you use for your Cardinal Hemocraft. You use your Constitution whenever an ability refer to your Hemocraft ability. In addition, you use your Constitution modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a Hemocraft ability you use, and when making an attack roll with one.

Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier

Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier

Blood Focus

When you cast spells that require a material component, you can choose to lose 1 hit point in order to ignore that component, unless it has a monetary value greater than 1 gp. If the material costs 1gp or more, you can choose to loose hit points equal to one roll of your Hemocraft Die for every 25gp of the component's cost, to a minimum of one roll of your Hemocraft Die for a material component that costs 25gp or less.

Sanguine Ward

Beginning at 3rd level, whenever you make a saving throw against a spell that belongs to one of the spell schools you selected for your Restricted Spell feature, you may Minor Rend to the saving throw.

Crimson Metamagic

At 7th level, you learn one Metamagic Option from among those available to Sorcerers. You learn an additional Metamagic Option when you reach 11th level in this class, and again when you reach 15th level. Each time you gain the Crimson Versatility feature, instead of the feature's other benefits, you can choose to replace one Metamagic Option you know with another Metamagic Option of your choice.

Instead of expending Sorcery Points to utilize your Crimson Metamagic, you must expend an equal number of Sacrifice Points, suffering the resulting consequences in order to bend your magic to your will. You can use only one Metamagic Option on a spell when you cast it, unless otherwise noted.

Crimson Blade Magic

Beginning at 7th level, whenever you take the Attack action, in place of the Sign, Benediction or Malison that you can ordinarily replace an attack with, you can replace that attack with a Cantrip with a casting time of 1 Action. You cannot replace more than one attack per round.

No Cost Too Great

At 11th level, as an action, you can choose to activate this feature. In doing so, you must Minor Rend; You regain a number of Sacrifice points equal to the Rend Bonus of that Minor Rend.

Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until you finish a Long Rest.

Sacrificial Lamb

Beginning at 11th level, each time you harvest a creature's essence using Corpse Magic, you gain one Leech Point. You can possess a number of Leech Points at one time up to one-half of your Hemocraft level, rounded down (Min 5), and any unspent Leech Points are lost when you finish a Long Rest.

Primeval Technique

At 15th level, you learn an ancient technique that allows you to further alter your blood sorcery. When you activate a Sign, Benediction or Malison, you can apply Metamagic effects to it, as if it were a spell.

Everdeep Well

Beginning at 18th level, your blood magic evolves far beyond what most will ever see. When you lose hit points due to expending one or more Sacrifice Points, for each Sacrifice Point spent, you can roll the corresponding Hemocraft die twice, and choose which number of hit points to sacrifice.

Additionally, you regain one expended Sacrifice Point when:

• You roll initiative;

• You land a critical hit against a creature within your Corpse Magic range;

• A creature rolls a natural 1 on its saving throw against one of your Signs.