#bloodrager

[zetrystan]

The Vlad Royal Family 👑 Now, with müm and föther!

Vladimir left his family a little while ago to go on a royal journey, as did his two bröthers. Now he needs to prove himself as a ältrüistïc prïnce. And hopefully find the way back to his kingdom...

[corruptimles]

Icon commission for knightofh3arts on Twt 🌲🩸

[ardentinwoe]

Rathna

[desertdruidcrafts]

And the last update for generic humanoids means that I've redrawn, colored, and posted over 600 tabletop NPCs in a little over a year. It's kinda wild watching my style and skill improve over the years. Where I go from here, who knows?!

(Hopefully by the time this posts in the queue 3 months later, I have some idea lol)

[dailycharacteroption]

Class Feature Friday: Medusa Bloodline (Bloodrager Bloodline)

(art by wagner19 on DeviantArt)

We’re in the home stretch with bloodrager bloodlines, and all three of them are based on very specific monster types, rather than broad categories like “demon” or “undead”. We’ve seen this a few times before with the likes of the salamander and naga, but I do find it funny that things worked out this way.

Today’s subject in particular is the medusa bloodline, tying the warrior’s magic and fury to the medusa, Euryale, and oft-forgotten stheno (seriously, it’s so blatantly obvious that sthenoi were going to be a playable ancestry version of the gorgons but they got dropped and forgotten about, left with only monster stats. Eh, maybe they’ll get some focus if they ever do a Iblydos lore book.)

In any case, gorgons (not the iron-clad moo cow kind) are pretty neat, and it only makes sense to give players a way to emulate their abilities, and bloodrager is a good fit due to the chip on their shoulder they tend to have against the civilized world in most versions.

But how does one acquire this bloodline. Obviously some are the result of medusae, euryalae, and sthenoi mixing with other ancestries (and this not resulting in just more gorgons, depending on your setting’s explanation of their propagation), or it might show up as a result of a character’s ancestor having been petrified at some point and revived, only to have carried some of their magic/ancestral curse with them.

Such bloodragers might possess scales on their bodies, serpent eyes,  or hair that seems to move on it’s own or even proper snakes or serpentine tendrils instead. Naturally, these features probably get more prominent when they unleash their fury.

This bloodline is interesting because it is one of the few that doesn’t have a sorcerer equivalent (“Yet”, the homebrewers say), and as we’ll soon see, it does a decent job at replicating the classic medusa abilities in a balanced fashion.

The techniques that this bloodline offers are heightened awareness and reactions reflecting how hard it is to ambush a medesa, increased vitality and toughness, fearsome skill with their weapon, and mastery of unarmed combat.

Meanwhile, their spells reflect the fearful and transfixing power of the monster plus some resistance to elemental energy and gaining tough, stony skin.

When they enter their rage, however, we begin to see their most signature ability, allowing them to focus the ire of their gaze upon a foe to stiffen their body, slowing their movement.

More passively, they become themselves resistant to gaze attacks and poison, as well as gaining more sensitive perception which may or may not take the form of a bunch of extra little eyes keeping watch.

As they refine their powers, their gaze becomes potent enough to not just hamper the movement speed of their target, but outright stagger them, leaving them very limited in what they can do.

Parallelling the many fangs of their hair, these bloodragers can also grow bony fang-like claws that not only cut and tear, but inject their own poison into foes.

Curiously, their bodies also take on a more stony appearance as they gain mastery, making them resistant to acid as well as diseasen poison and other frailties of the flesh. Additionally, they become impossible to flank, which again might be preternatural awareness or they might grow snake hair while raging.

Finally, the most powerful of these bloodragers find their gaze becoming potent enough to actually properly petrify their enemies, finally truly emulating the source of their power.

This bloodline is an interesting exercise in that it focus at least halfway on one ability and improving it. The gaze itself is not a true gaze attack, but it still can be fun to use as an opener as you either approach or let a foe approach you. The fact that constitution is the ability that determines how long foes stay debuffed by the gaze (aside from being permanently petrified at max level) leads to a tanky build that punishes foes with spells and the gaze as they approach before they even get in range to deal damage is very viable here, as is slowing down foes that try to flee.

While there are some pretty cosmopolitan places in a lot of fantasy fiction and certainly within the confines of the Lost Omens setting, a lot of places are less understanding. Plenty of sorcerers and bloodragers go through this in some form or another, but in the case of those of the medusa bloodline, the monstrous thing that their magic is tied to is much more familiar and local than distant fiends or unfathomable creatures from the deep or whatnot. This can invoke a fear response or even violence in those that assume that the bloodrager is some variant of the petrifying monsters or is in league with them. Much like playing a tiefling or some traditionally “monstrous” species, you are free to incorporate this or ignore it to the comfort level and interest of all involved.

Jumping to conclusions when a resident is found petrified, the town is prepared to exact mob justice on a young woman with medusa blood in her family, convinced that she is responsible. However, she furiously refuses to confess, and she speaks the truth. The real culprit is an elvish wizard that has come to town, who petrified the poor victim for annoying him.

Those who visit the Inn of Blazing Wheels in the City of Molten Fire can hear many a tale from the fire veela bard Liskerra, though their current favorite is that of a medusa that fell in love with a mortal and chose to be with him, siring an entire bloodline of humans with a bit of her curse in them. After the telling, Liskerra will tell listeners that this is no fiction, that these people still reside on the island nation of Mycoea, and guard many of the treasures of their people, including one the party needs access to. But how did the fiery spirit know to inform the party of this?

War has ravaged the border of Noraa and Kovost, the two nations waxing and waning in their aggression. Soldiers returning home report hallucinations of witnessing horrors on either side, such as a troop of specialist berserkers whose gaze stiffens the body like stone and leaves their victims unable to escape their wrath.

[thanaticas]

aberrant bloodline 👁️

[chaoschenoo]

Half-orc bloodrager of the Abyssal lineage. Chaotic Evil and here to hunt the most dangerous game, that being the BBEG. I was thinking of ways to make chaotic evil characters that would work with a group.

[thegirltate]

D&D session doodles Session 145 and 146: the 8-hour undead kraken fight