Homebrew:Crimson Dynasty: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 19:36, 26 July 2025

(OOC: This is an implementation of the Crimson Dynasty subclass from The Crooked Moon)

Base Class: Sorcerer

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.

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 suggestions of where your power comes from.

Crimson Origins
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.

Variant: Bloodless Crimson Dynasty Sorcerers
If you're playing a character from a species that lacks blood in the traditional sense, you can still take the Crimson Dynasty subclass. The essence of crimson sorcery is lifeforce, or animating energy that approximates life.

Blood Well

1st-level Crimson Dynasty feature

You hold a reserve of vital energy called your Blood Well, which you can use to empower your magic and fuel other powers from this subclass. When you deal damage or restore hit points to a creature, you can expend your Blood Well to add 1d8 to the total for one target.

You regain your expended Blood Well when you finish a long rest or when a creature takes 10 or more necrotic damage from you at one time.

Crimson Spells

1st-level Crimson Dynasty feature

You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the Crimson Spells table. Each of these spells counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you know.

Whenever you gain a sorcerer level, you can replace one spell you gained from this feature with another spell of the same level. The new spell must be a necromancy or a transmutation spell from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell list.

Crimson Spells
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

Pool of Blood

6th-level Crimson Dynasty feature

As a bonus action, you can 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 hit points or if you choose to end it (no action required).

While you are a pool of blood, you use your game statistics with the following changes.

Your walking speed becomes 10 feet.
You gain climbing and swimming speeds equal to your walking speed, and you can climb difficult surfaces, including along ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
You have immunity to the prone condition.
You have advantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws.
You can pass through small holes, narrow openings, and even mere cracks.
You can enter and occupy the space of another creature.
You can't drop, use, or otherwise interact with anything you were carrying or holding.
You can't talk, manipulate objects, attack, or cast spells.

Scarlet Vigor

6th-level Crimson Dynasty feature

You have resistance to necrotic damage. In addition, when you finish a short rest, you can expend your Blood Well to reduce your level of exhaustion, if any, by 1.

Vital Siphoning

14th-level Crimson Dynasty feature

You can feed on your own life essence to fuel your magic. As a bonus action, you can expend a Hit Die and choose one of the following benefits.

Blood Boil.: You regain the use of your Blood Well.
Crimson Pulse.: Expend your Blood Well to make the next Metamagic option you use this turn cost no sorcery points.

Sanguine Beast

18th-level Crimson Dynasty feature

Your hunger for vital essence is unquenchable. As an action, you can unleash tendrils of blood that lash any creatures of your choice within 30 feet of you. A target must make a Constitution saving throw, taking 5d8 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. If your Blood Well is already expended when you use this action, the targets have disadvantage on the saving throw. If at least one creature takes damage from Sanguine Feast, you regain a number of hit points equal to the damage roll.

Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest, unless you spend 5 sorcery points to use it again.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[file:rakshasa.jpg|right|thumb|500px]]
+[[file:crimson dynasty.jpg|right|thumb|500px]]
-{{ooc note|This is an implementation of the {{PAGENAME}} subclass from [[Tasha's Crucible of Everything Else]] volume 2}}
+{{ooc note|This is an implementation of the {{PAGENAME}} subclass from [[The Crooked Moon]]}}
 __NOTOC__
 {{base class|sorcerer|blockquotestyle=width:calc(100% - 510px - 1.4em)}}
-Your innate magic comes from the meddling of a devious rakshasa, a manipulative and tiger-like fiend that uses illusions and enchantments to torment its prey. One of the devilish creatures might have claimed you as a prize after scheming against your family, then imbued you with power for its own nefarious ends; maybe somewhere in your ancestry, a rakshasa took on the guise of a family member long enough to taint your line; or perhaps one of your ancestors slew a rakshasa and was cursed to bear children that resemble the infernal monster. However they came to be, the rakshasa's powers of misdirection and manipulation course through your veins.
+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.
-The rakshasa bloodline can physically manifest itself in different ways. At your option, you can pick from or roll on the Rakshasa Sorcerer Quirks table to create a quirk for your character.
+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.
+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 suggestions of where your power comes from.
 {| class="wikitable"
-|+ Rakshasa Bloodline Quirks
+|+ Crimson Origins
-! d6 !! Quirks
+! 1d6 !! Origin
 |-
-| 1 || Your hands are backwards, with palms where the backs of your hands would normally be.
+| 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 have tiger-like stripes that stretch across your skin or hair.
+| 2 || You studied blood rites at a monastery that infused your own blood with power.
 |-
-| 3 || You have gleaming, cat-like eyes that reflect light in the dark.
+| 3 || You survived a vampire's bite, though it left you forever changed and awakened your sorcery.
 |-
-| 4 || You have a habit of growling when angered and purring when content.
+| 4 || Your family suffers under a generational curse that has reared its head with you, driving you to drain vital energy.
 |-
-| 5 || When someone states an obvious fact, you feel compelled to convince them otherwise.
+| 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 || Your ears, hair, nose, or some other facial feature has a different look every day.
+| 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.
 |}
-== Deceitful Prowler ==
+<blockquote><h3>Variant: Bloodless {{PAGENAME}} Sorcerers</h3>
+If you're playing a character from a species that lacks blood in the traditional sense, you can still take the Crimson Dynasty subclass. The essence of crimson sorcery is lifeforce, or animating energy that approximates life.</blockquote>
+== Blood Well ==
 ''1st-level {{PAGENAME}} feature''
-You can speak, read, and write Infernal, and you gain proficiency in the {{Deception}} and {{Insight}} skills. If you already have proficiency in either of these skills, you can add twice your proficiency bonus to any check made using that skill.
+You hold a reserve of vital energy called your Blood Well, which you can use to empower your magic and fuel other powers from this subclass. When you deal damage or restore hit points to a creature, you can expend your Blood Well to add 1d8 to the total for one target.
-== Impervious Disguise ==
+You regain your expended Blood Well when you finish a long rest or when a creature takes 10 or more necrotic damage from you at one time.
+== Crimson Spells ==
 ''1st-level {{PAGENAME}} feature''
-You know the ''[[spell:disguise-self|disguise self]]'' spell, but it doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you can know.
+You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the Crimson Spells table. Each of these spells counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you know.
-Starting at 3rd level, you can cast the spell without expending a spell slot by spending 1 sorcery point.
+Whenever you gain a sorcerer level, you can replace one spell you gained from this feature with another spell of the same level. The new spell must be a necromancy or a transmutation spell from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell list.
-== Spell Immunity ==
+{| class="wikitable"
+|+ Crimson Spells
+! Sorcerer Level !! Spells
+|-
+| 1st || ''[[homebrew:blood bolt|blood bolt]]'', ''[[spell:cure-wounds|cure wounds]]'', ''[[spell:inflict-wounds|inflict wounds]]''
+|-
+| 3rd || ''[[spell:aid|aid]]'', ''[[homebrew:blood sacrifice|blood sacrifice]]''
+|-
+| 5th || ''[[homebrew:crimson harvest|crimson harvest]]'', ''[[spell:vampiric-touch|vampiric touch]]''
+|-
+| 7th || ''[[spell:death-ward|death ward]]'', ''[[homebrew:sacrificial siphon|sacrificial siphon]]''
+|-
+| 9th || ''[[homebrew:field of reaping|field of reaping]]'', ''[[spell:mass-cure-wounds|mass cure wounds]]''
+|}
+== Pool of Blood ==
+''6th-level {{PAGENAME}} feature''
+As a bonus action, you can 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 hit points or if you choose to end it (no action required).
+While you are a pool of blood, you use your game statistics with the following changes.
+* Your walking speed becomes 10 feet.
+* You gain climbing and swimming speeds equal to your walking speed, and you can climb difficult surfaces, including along ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
+* You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
+* You have immunity to the prone condition.
+* You have advantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws.
+* You can pass through small holes, narrow openings, and even mere cracks.
+* You can enter and occupy the space of another creature.
+* You can't drop, use, or otherwise interact with anything you were carrying or holding.
+* You can't talk, manipulate objects, attack, or cast spells.
+== Scarlet Vigor ==
 ''6th-level {{PAGENAME}} feature''
-You manifest part of the limited magic immunity that a rakshasa possesses. Whenever you are subject to a spell and you can see or hear the caster, you learn the spell's level. You can then immediately use your reaction to spend a number of sorcery points equal to the spell's level (or 1 point for a cantrip) and become immune to that casting of the spell. The highest level of a spell you can become immune to using this feature equals your sorcerer level divided by 3, rounded down.
+You have resistance to necrotic damage. In addition, when you finish a short rest, you can expend your Blood Well to reduce your level of exhaustion, if any, by 1.
-== Dream Delver ==
+== Vital Siphoning ==
 ''14th-level {{PAGENAME}} feature''
-You can infest the dreams of others to influence their actions when they awaken. You learn the ''[[spell:dream|dream]]'' spell. It is a sorcerer spell for you but doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you know.
+You can feed on your own life essence to fuel your magic. As a bonus action, you can expend a Hit Die and choose one of the following benefits.
-If you select yourself as the messenger, you can spend 2 sorcery points once before the spell ends to cast the ''[[spell:suggestion|suggestion]]'' spell on the target. The target is considered within sight and range when you cast the ''[[spell:suggestion|suggestion]]'' spell in this way, regardless of its actual distance from you.
+;''Blood Boil.''
+:You regain the use of your Blood Well.
+;''Crimson Pulse.''
+:Expend your Blood Well to make the next Metamagic option you use this turn cost no sorcery points.
-== Fiendish Defense ==
+== Sanguine Beast ==
 ''18th-level {{PAGENAME}} feature''
-You gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons that aren't silvered.
+Your hunger for vital essence is unquenchable. As an action, you can unleash tendrils of blood that lash any creatures of your choice within 30 feet of you. A target must make a Constitution saving throw, taking 5d8 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. If your Blood Well is already expended when you use this action, the targets have disadvantage on the saving throw. If at least one creature takes damage from Sanguine Feast, you regain a number of hit points equal to the damage roll.
+Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest, unless you spend 5 sorcery points to use it again.
 [[category:homebrew sorcerer subclasses]]