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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 7981851" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/Caxk7NB.jpg?1" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />A Note on Revisions: Someone asked me if I planned to review the old and new versions of the Blood Hunter side by side. I suppose this is an answer for all the classes I’ve reviewed and plan to review (which have all been updated to varying degrees), but unless the changes are drastic or otherwise notable I only plan to review the latest versions as of these postings.There’s a fair chance that many of you know about Matthew Mercer. If not, he’s a very successful livestreamer of Critical Role, a YouTube/Twitch channel which plays Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop games from time to time. CR has helped bring in new fans to D&D to the point that “Critters” are a noticeable subculture in and of themselves. Mercer’s own homebrew campaign of Wildemount was popular enough that Wizards of the Coast published it as an official setting. But Mercer’s been designing products here and there for far longer. <a href="https://geekandsundry.com/vin-diesel-brings-matthew-mercers-new-class-to-life-the-witch-hunter-class-for-dd/" target="_blank">Back in 2015 he collaborated with Vin Diesel to make a new character class, the Witch Hunter, based off of one of Vin’s movies.</a> Initially free and not playtested, the Witch Hunter would turn into the Blood Hunter as a Pay What You Want Product on the Dungeon Master’s Guild in 2016. It was revised again in 2018 and most recently in 2020, the latter of which was released as a new product in and of itself.I will admit that I never saw the Last Witch Hunter, but when reading the fluff text of the Blood Hunter they sound closest to a copyright-friendly Witcher: Blood Hunters study a long-lost magical tradition known as Hemocraft to physically enhance their own bodies and manipulate the elements at the temporary cost of their own blood and health. Blood Hunters use this magic to defend civilization from monsters of all stripes, organizing into societies to share their knowledge and resources.As a class the Blood Hunter is a brainy martial: d10 hit die, proficient in Dexterity and Intelligence saving throws, alchemist’s supplies, and all weapons and armor save for heavy armor. They can choose three skills from a mix of physical and knowledge types. At 1st level a Blood Hunter has advantage on Survival checks in tracking fey, fiends, and undead and Intelligence ability and skill checks to know things about them. Additionally, they learn a Blood Maledict, a unique means of using their own life force to fuel a debilitating offensive curse, and can learn more as they gain levels. They also get the typical Fighting Style at 2nd level and Extra Attack at 5th level that most martial classes have.One thing I should note before continuing. Two of the Blood Hunter’s class features, notably the Blood Maledicts’ amplified effects and Crimson Rites, require them to cut their own flesh, drawing power from wounds in the form of 1d4 to 1d10 damage* per use. This is a very heavy expenditure at lower levels in comparison to higher ones, as even a 1d4 can be deadly at 1st or 2nd level. The major Hemocraft centric class features include Crimson Rites, where you can enchant a wielded or natural weapon with 1d4 bonus damage of a specific energy type until the next short or long rest, and you can learn more energy types as the Blood Hunter increases in level. They also gain the ability to brand a target at 6th level which allows them to never lose track of their target as well as damaging them when they attack back. Said Brand at 13th level prevents the target from taking the Dash action, teleporting, or otherwise leaving their current plane of existence.*die grows as the Blood Hunter levels up.The other class features are more sedentary and blood-less. At 9th level they can use History to recall information about an object or building they touch with advantage pertaining to grim and evil things; at 10th level they increase their speed by 5 feet and add their Intelligence bonus to physical saving throws; at 14th level they gain advantage on saves vs being charmed or frightened; at 20th level they can reroll their Hemocraft Die and take the lower result while also regaining one use of Blood Maledict whenever they get a critical hit with a Crimson Rite-empowered weapon.Blood Maledicts: A Blood Hunter can learn up to 5 Blood Curses over the course of a 20 level career, and there are 11 in this book. As four of those can only be taken by a specific Order subclass and gained automatically as a result of the process, the Blood Hunter is not exactly overwhelmed with options. Every Curse can only be used a limited amount of times per short rest based on class level, but can also be Amplified to be more powerful than usual albeit at the cost of losing hit points equal to the result of the Hemocraft Die.Summarizing the Curses, most of them impose various kinds of debuffs and in some cases damage (usually necrotic or psychic) and are all “Blood Curse of X” in title. They are also restrictive in that they can only work against targets that have blood in their system whether it’s their own or another’s. Most of them are quite useful in a variety of situations. [Blood Curse of] Binding reduces a target’s speed to 0 feet and prevents use of reactions until the next turn or for 1 minute if Amplified (new save every round). Exposure is triggered by reaction, causing the target to lose resistance or immunity if applied against a damaging effect targeting them.* One Blood Curse I particularly like is the Fallen Puppet, where as a reaction the Blood Hunter causes a target who just fell unconscious or died within 30 feet to make a single attack against a target within attack range (and half movement if Amplified). Another nice one is The Eyeless, where an attacking creature subtracts the number rolled on the Hemocraft Die** from their attack roll (or all attack rolls made that turn if Amplified). Muddled Mind imposes disadvantage on the next Constitution save a target makes with a concentration spell, being a good anti-magic option.*is still rolled if used normally, but makes higher-level Blood Hunters capable of imposing larger penalties.**the attack can be done by an ally rather than the Blood Hunter themselves, making for a nice team player.Two of the more situational ones include Anxious, which makes a target easier to Intimidate and forces disadvantage on the resisting roll when Amplified, while Bloated Agony imposes disadvantage on Strength and Dexterity checks and deals damage every time the target performs an attack more than once per round (longer duration when Amplified). The Order-specific curses are invariably high level for prerequisites, ranging from 15th to 18th, and are automatically gained as part of being in that Order at the appropriate level. Blood Curse of the Exorcist (Ghost Slayer) instantly dispels any charm, frightened, or possessed condition on a target with no chance to resist and deals bonus psychic damage to the bestower of said condition if Amplified. Blood Curse of Corrosion (Mutant) imposes the poisoned condition on a target as a bonus action and a failed Constitution save, and 4d6 poison damage every turn they remain poisoned if Amplified. Blood Curse of the Howl unleashes a roar that stuns and frightens targets in a 30 foot radius or 60 feet if Amplified, albeit you cannot be selective of targets which limits its utility due to friendly fire. Finally, Blood Curse of the Soul Eater as a reaction grants advantage on attacks until the end of the Blood Hunter’s next turn whenever a (non-construct non-undead) creature drops within 30 feet of them and restores a warlock spell slot if Amplified.Blood Hunter Orders are societies dedicated to the study and fighting of a related set of creatures, and serve as the Blood Hunter’s subclass. We have 4 to choose from. Order of the Ghostslayer specializes in undead of all kinds and grants a new Crimson Rite which has various anti-undead measures (radiant damage, resistance to necrotic damage, etc), a bonus Blood Malediction of the Blood Hunter’s choice as well as the ability to use curses against bloodless targets, the ability to turn Ethereal for a limited number of rounds at 7th level, adding bonus Hemocraft die worth of damage when attacking undead and/or branded creature (which cannot become ethereal while the brand’s active), and at 18th level can avoid dropping to 0 hit points by ending an active Crimson Rite and dropping to 1 hit point instead.Overall, a rather good option. I feel that the bonus damage and Blood Malediction are a bit unimaginative, but being able to expand said Maledictions to affect any kind of target as well as limited Etherealness are very good features.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/pUtqG25.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Order of the Profane Soul instructs its initiates to make pacts with entities in the ways warlocks do so as to better fight fiends, mages, and other entities which take more than muscle and steel to take down. The subclass grants warlock spellcasting albeit at slower progression, which is really good. They can also use held weapons activated as a Crimson Rite as a spell focus, and depending on their chosen Warlock patron can impose various debuffs and beneficial side effects: Archfey prevents a target from becoming invisible or taking advantage of cover due to a magical light, Great Old One imposes the frightened condition, Celestial can heal a creature within 60 feet equal to Hemocraft die + Intelligence modifier, etc. At 7th level they can make a weapon attack as a bonus action whenever they cast a cantrip. Also at 7th and 15th level they gain a 1/long rest use of a specific spell depending upon their patron, and tend to have direct combat uses such as buffs, debuffs, and damaging effects although there’s a few utility and healing spells included. 11th level imposes disadvantage for a branded creature on saves vs the Blood Hunter’s warlock spells. May seem like this class’ features end early, but the further options are the 15th level spell I mentioned, and the Curse of the Souleater bonus Malediction at 18th level.Another strong option, particularly due to the opening up of warlock spells. As you can choose the Hexblade as a patron, you can totally play that angsty gish you always wanted but with a d10 Hit Die!Order of the Mutant focuses on self-improvement over the base alchemical modifications all Blood Hunters undergo. Said orders’ abilities revolve around learning formulas for mutagens which grant short-term boosts of various kinds albeit at a cost to something else. They can only be used by the Blood Hunter and nobody else, and the number of mutagens which can affect them at once ranges from 1 to 3 depending on their level. They start with 4 formulas and learn more as they level up. There are 20 mutagens total, and include a rather diverse mixture. Quite a few of them grant advantage* on various d20 rolls, resistance to damage, etc but disadvantage/vulnerability on a related subject as the body min-maxes to compensate. Some of the more notable mutagens include granting true flight for 1 hour but disadvantage on STR/DEX ability checks; “fast healing” of a few hit points per round as long as you’re between 1 hit point up to 50% of your total but reduces speed by 10 feet; and a bonus use of Blood Maledict but disadvantage on death saving throws.*or a +3 to +5 bonus in the case of an ability scoreThe other Order features include immunity to poison condition and damage at 3rd level, the ability to ignore the negative effects of a mutagen for 1 minute 1/long rest at 7th level, force branded targets to be unable to use polymorph or illusion magic to conceal their true form at 11th level, and at 18th level can flush a mutagen from their system as a bonus action and immediately gain the benefits of another one in its place a number of times per long rest equal to their Intelligence modifier.This order has some potential, although will likely be taken by players who seek to optimize their Blood Hunters for a specific kind of role or build. The side effects of the mutagens may make the Order unappealing in comparison to the others who don’t have that kind of cost. The brand’s unique feature is more situational, too given the relatively limited amount of shapeshifting monsters.Order of the Lycan was originally a supplement, but as of the latest version is now part of the base product. Blood Hunters of this Order study lycanthropes, including injecting their bodies with an altered form of the disease to enhance their combat prowess. This is perhaps the most straightforward of the three options in that it’s a PC-friendly way of being a werewolf. At 3rd level the Blood Hunter gains advantage on vision and scent-based Perception checks, and can transform into a hybrid form 1/short rest up to one hour but can be ended as a bonus action. This alternate form grants resistance vs nonmagical non-silver weapons, +1 to +3 bonus to melee damage rolls, and better unarmed damage. But they suffer from Bloodlust, which is the potential to attack their own allies on a failed Wisdom save if they’re under 50% hit points and no enemies are nearby! Even worse, this save is automatically failed if the Blood Hunter ever suffers from an effect that would make them lose focus on a concentration spell or ability.At 7th level they add 10 feet to their base speed and add +1 to +3 on unarmed attack rolls, and said attacks are treated as magical when undergoing a Crimson Rite. At 11th level they gain more uses of their wereform, and can regenerate hit points every round when between 1 hit point and under 50% of their total. At 15th level they gain advantage on attacks vs branded creatures and on Wisdom saving throws to avoid friendly firing allies. At 18th level they can transform an unlimited amount of times and can last indefinitely in said form in addition to gaining Blood Curse of the Howl.This is my least favorite Order. The others had a nice mixture of combat and utility features, but the Order of the Lycan is geared almost entirely to combat save for their Perception advantage. Furthermore, the chance of attacking one’s own allies forces the rest of the players to build their characters a certain way to avoid accidental team-killing. It is very reminiscent of the Frenzied Berserker from 3rd Edition. For those unfamiliar with said system, the Berserker was similar in that it had Frenzy, a super-barbarian rage equivalent, but had the chance of attacking their own allies. As the Frenzy can be triggered by a wide variety of things involuntarily, it was common for gaming groups to have a PC spellcaster act as a handler where they’d plop an enchantment spell to put them out of the frenzy. Conversely, an enemy spellcaster could do the very same thing to trigger it, so it was always a double-edged sword.Existing Class Comparisons: When it comes to monster hunter themes, a comparison with the Ranger is inevitable. Additionally, one particular Order also makes one think of the Warlock. Beyond these two classes, comparisons get murkier.First off, the basic Player’s Handbook Ranger sucks donkey dongs; it’s widely acknowledged as the weakest class in 5th Edition, and a huge portion of the fanbase prefers to play with the <a href="https://media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/downloads/UA_RevisedRanger.pdf" target="_blank">Revised version in Unearthed Arcana</a> which is what we’ll use as a measuring stick. First off, the Blood Hunter is more likely than the Ranger to know things in general: having the various “knowledge” skills along with Intelligence as one of their primary ability scores, combined with advantage on said rolls for monsters and phenomena, does quite a bit to help. The Blood Hunter doesn’t get bonus languages, a static damage bonus vs favored enemies, or automatically does things good in the wilderness, but their ability to call upon various alternative energy types and compass-like Brand means that when it comes to hunting monsters they are unparalleled.One mark against the Blood Hunter is that they typically deal with foes of a more supernatural nature, while the Ranger has a wider variety of favored enemy choices and can communicate with mundane animals. Rangers are also better at stealth by default, barring access to the Blood Hunter’s warlock spells: hello invisibility!Another point in the Ranger’s favor is that they have spellcasting capability by default, and the spells they do get vary in utility and can include a few ‘team player’ options both in and out of combat. The Blood Hunter is rather lacking in features which can directly aid their fellow party members barring some Blood Maledictions, as most of their abilities involve enhancing their own prowess or reducing that of their foes.When it comes to the Warlock, a Blood Hunter belonging to the Order of the Profane Soul has less of everything in the magical department: they can only get a 4th level slot maximum, and even then at 19th level (1st at 3rd, +1 every 6 levels) and are at a static 2 spell slots for almost the entirety of their class. They can learn up to 3 cantrips and 11 normal spells as opposed to the warlock’s 4 and 15 so they’re a bit under par in the amount of spells that they know. The Blood Hunter’s inability to learn Eldritch Invocations robs them of some more useful at-will features of the base warlock, and their Eldritch Blasts are going to be less powerful should they learn said cantrip.But how do they compare to the Hexblade Patron, aka the Bladelock? Well, the Blood Hunter already has all of their major weapon/armor proficiencies, but with a higher hit dice to boot. Both classes have a good number of counterattack and debuffing abilities to use, drawing from respective short rest-refreshing sources. But the Blood Hunter has various abilities which draw independently of each other, while most of the Warlock’s arsenal of magic draws upon the same spell slots. Their Crimson Rites and Blood Maledictions are more versatile than the Hexblade’s Curse which is the subclass’ primary debuffer, which is a big point against the Bladelock. Another point is that the Blood Hunter can attack and cast a cantrip in the same round. But a point in the Bladelock’s favor is that they can summon specters to fight alongside them in combat, a feature which the Blood Hunter does not have an equivalent.Final Thoughts: The Blood Hunter is a pretty fine class, although it’s biggest weakness is that its various effects come at a cost. Even if said abilities are powerful, many players are loath to pick options with a negative effect unless they find some means of minimizing or countering it. I feel that Matt Mercer wanted to get across the double-edged nature of Witchers, but in 5th Edition mechanics the closest equivalent we have to this is the Berserker Barbarian who suffers a level of Exhaustion after every Rage. And guess how popular that subclass is among gamers?If I were to adopt the Blood Hunter to my games, I think that I would lower the damage of Hemocraft to a 1d2 or maybe a 1d3 at 1st and 2nd level, and likely redesign the Order of the Lycan to have broader out of combat use while also getting rid of that stupid friendly fire Bloodlust.Join us next time as we gotta catch ‘em all with the Caretaker Warlock!</blockquote>

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