The Power Within: Blood MagicTable of Contents
1. Introduction 1. IntroductionMary traced the razor-sharp knife lightly down her arm. The slight pain was nothing compared to the rush of power she felt suddenly pulsing in her veins. Smiling slightly, she drew the power together, forming a small ball of light cupped in her hand. "Good," her master encouraged. "You're getting it." Aratto called for the snow-white bull to be brought forth. The virile energies of the animal would be transferred, via his spells, to the surrounding lands, ensuring a fertile growing season. Arcane symbols of evil glowed redly from the walls, dimly illuminating the cellar of the mansion. Smoke from a brazier filled the air with a haze and dulled the eyes of the three girls, kings' daughters all, that were confined there. A great spell of darkness would be wrought here tonight, one that would bring about the fall of the Three Kingdoms - and the deaths of the three princesses. Somewhere, you've probably read or seen the scene: wicked sorcerer with upraised blade, helpless victim chained to stone altar, faceless minions chanting in the background, and the hero rushing to the rescue at the last minute. Blood has many rich and old connotations with life, energy, power and magic. Blood magics can be dark - those that sacrifice people certainly are! - but they can be benign as well. Rules are given here for GMs who would like to have a distinct class of blood mages in their campaign. Blood magic is perhaps best-suited to cackling NPCs in a horror-tinged game, but the rules given here make it possible to run a heroic character with the ability to tap the power of blood. He'll never be as powerful as those that take energies from others, though... and that might be a continual temptation. These rules are meant to be used with AD&D 2nd edition. In that case, use all of the usual trappings of the mage class: hit dice, Thac0, saving throws, proficiencies and experience progression are all as standard mages. Unless the GM wants to allow it, there are no specialist blood mages. (An alternative is making all blood mages specialists, either in blood magic or in a school of magic which they use blood rituals to cast). Note well that a mage will most probably only be able to cast a fixed number of spells per day via this system. That number will never change. What will change is the level of spell he can cast. If a mage has five Life Points (see 4. Life Points, below), and is using Third Blood rituals (which cost him 1 Life Point each, regardless of level), he can cast 5 spells per day. That's it. But they can be five first level spells or five fourth level spells. That's at the discretion of the mage.
2. Rising in LevelBlood mages classify themselves according to what sorts of rituals they know. A First Blood mage uses his own blood, Second Blood uses the blood of animals, and Third Blood mages sacrifice other sentient beings. First, Second, and Third Blood are related to levels but not tied to them. At 1st level, all blood mages are First Blood. It's easiest to tap into one's own energies, since one can feel them. At 2nd level, the mage has the option of learning Second Blood rituals. But he doesn't have to! A mage can continue to cast only First Blood spells if that's what he wants to do. He can elect to learn a Second Blood ritual at any time, as long as he can find an instructor. At 4th level, the mage can learn Third Blood rituals, but only if he's already learned at least one Second Blood ritual. He can't go straight from First to Third Blood. Again, the mage doesn't have to take this next step. He can stick with the First and/or Second Blood rituals he already knows and learn new ones. If he elects not to, he can pick up Third Blood rituals at any later time, provided he has the prerequisites (First and Second Blood).
3. Learning Blood MagicBlood mages learn their rituals like a mage learns spells, with a few alterations. Their Intelligence score still limits the level of spell they can learn to cast, and their percent chance of learning it. But they get double the number of spells per level known for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level spells. This is because of how rituals work. First, Second, and Third Blood rituals are all different - as different as other spells. Say a First Blood, 1st level mage learns Charm Person. That's one 1st level spell slot taken. Later, the mage decides that he wants to learn Charm Person as a Second Blood ritual. That takes another 1st level spell slot! And it'll take a third if he also wants to learn the Third Blood version of the spell. Typically, only Third Blood rituals can cast spells of 4th level and higher, so blood mages get the normal amount of spell slots for these. Blood magic can be learned from a higher-level mage, from a book detailing its ceremonies, or from one of Karlonna's servitors (see Section 8, Karlonna, below).
4. Life PointsBlood magic works by draining life energy out of a person or animal and using it for magic. Life energy isn't dependent on level - a 10th level fighter isn't any more "alive" than a rowdy villiager. Figure Life Points for humans and demihumans as follows:
Base LP: 5 Life Points may never drop below 1 due to decreases from low ability scores. If a race has ability score that can exceed 18, give +4 for each score of 19 or above. But if a creature increases its scores above its racial maximum, apply -1 for each score so modified! The creature is no longer an exemplary member of its race; it's a magically modified freak. These are the LP a mage can drain from himself or another without killing them. If the mage is willing to die (or to kill), double the LP available. If, for some reason (like injury), LP are not at full, double current LP. Figure Life Points for animals as follows (Note sizes are not AD&D S, M, L classifications):
Small animal (cat, chicken): 1 LP These are the LP gained by sacrificing the animal. A large animal can be non-lethally bled for 1 LP. Bleeding small and medium animals is ineffective. 4.1 How Hit Points Affect Life Points Hit Points and Life Points are proportional to each other. If a person loses half his Hit Points, he loses half his Life Points. Round fractional Life Points lost down. Ex: If a fighter with 100 HP and 10 LP loses 3 HP to a dagger attack, he'd lose 0.03 LP. Rounding down, he loses 0 LP. It's only a scratch, after all. 4.2 How Life Points Affect Hit Points It works both ways. If the 10th level fighter above allows his blood mage ally to drain 9 LP from him, he's lost 90% of his LP. He also loses 90% of his HP - that's 90 HP, leaving him with just 10 from his original 100 left. Again, round any fractional Hit Points lost down. 4.3 Life Points: Optional Rules At the GM's option, certain qualities might increase or decrease a person or creature's Life Points. An all-black cat, a nobleman's son, or a virgin milkmaid might have "better" blood than more common examples of their species. Bonuses should range from +1 to +3 and are cumulative (a nobleman's virgin son might be a better sacrifice than a nobleman's nonvirgin son, for instance).
5. Casting a Blood Magic SpellAll spells require Life Points equal to their level squared. Casting time is as shown for equivalent spells in the Player's Handbook (or other source), with one additional round added for each cut made. So a First Blood spell (cut yourself and cast) takes one round for the caster to cut himself, and then the spell's usual casting time in the next round before the spell takes effect. A Second Blood mage sacrificing two chickens will need a round for each chicken plus the spell's casting time on the third round. And the mage's concetration can be interrupted at any point in those three rounds! Blood magic is generally slow and ceremonial. Note on terminology: Techinically, a ritual is the casting method and the spell is the Player's Handbook description of what happens. But since a unique ritual is required for each spell, the terms can be used nearly interchangeably. 5.1 First Blood Spells In many ways, First Blood spells are the simplest. The caster cuts himself with his blooddagger to release the appropriate number of Life Points to cast the spell. He also loses a proportional number of Hit Points. It may be useful for a player to write down Life Point to Hit Point correspondences on his character sheet, as well as Life Point totals for various amounts of Hit Points. Example: Barakus, a 3rd level First Blood mage, has 5 Life Points and 8 Hit Points. He can only cast 1st level (1 LP each) and 2nd level (4 LP each) spells. 1 LP is 1/5 of his total LP, so that does him 1/5 of his total HP in damage. 8 HP/5 = 1.6 HP in damage, rounded down to 1 HP. The 4 LP needed for the 2nd level spells are 4/5 of his total, so they cost him 4/5 of his Hit Points as well. 8 HP * 4/5 = 6.4 HP in damage, rounded down to 6 HP in damage. Ouch! Note: Due to the rounding it is possible to end up with 0 LP and still have HP left! GMs may deal with this in any way that is fair and consistent that they like: no penalty except no further spellcasting, penalities between -1 and -4 to all other rolls, instant unconsciousness, etc. Note that a person with 0 LP is useless for a Third Blood sacrifice. A First Blood mage can cast spells until he falls unconscious or it kills him. The mage will fall unconscious if a spell leaves him at exactly 0 HP. At any time, the blood mage may tap into twce his normal number of currently available Life Points if he's willing to die in the process. Casting into the "Unconscious and Bleeding" state isn't recommended, as Life Points don't really take it into account. GMs who want to allow this for heroic, but not too-heroic, sacrifices might allow the -10 HP (or -Con, or whatever house rule is in effect) unconscious range to store 1 or 2 additional LP. If only 1 extra LP is available, the mage is left at -5 HP. If two LP are available, tapping the first leaves the mage at -3 HP and using both leaves him at -7 HP. Example: Barakus has been wounded for 4 HP. That's 1/2 of his total, and he also loses 1/2 of his LP: 5 * 1/2 = 2.5, rounded down to 2. That leaves him with 3 LP left. If he casts a 2nd level spell now, he'll need one more LP than he's got. His GM rules that there's a total of 2 LP he can "mine." If he casts, he'll drop unconscious to the floor at -3 HP and has effectively 0 LP. 5.2 Second Blood Spells First Blood spells hurt! Most serious blood mages are happy to leave them behind for Second Blood rituals. These involve the sacrifice of animals. "Animals" are regular, natural animals. Magical creatures and other monsters can't be used for Second Blood rituals (although there is a rumored "Fourth Blood" level that uses them). Like with First Blood rituals, the blooddagger must be used to spill the animal's blood. More than one animal can be sacrificed at at time, to a maximum of three. (That's as fast as the mage can do the ritual, get it right, and hold the energies in a pool). So unless optional Life Point rules are used, a Second Blood mage will never cast spells higher than 3rd level. (Or unless the GM rules that truly huge natual animals - elephants, whales, dinosaurs - contain as many as 6 LP. That would enable casting 4th level spells via this method). The level of spell the Second Blood mage can cast is still limited by his level in his class. A 3rd level Second Blood mage cannot cast 3rd level spells, just because it's possible to get enough energy together for it! Casting a Second Blood spell still requires 1 LP from the caster, but it's 1 LP regardless of spell level. This LP doesn't count towards the total needed for the spell; it's the cost the caster pays to "get in tune" with the blood energies. It may be paid before or after the animal sacrifice has been made, as the mage wishes, but it must be done immediately before or after - the energies can't be released and then held until the mage spends his 1 LP! 5.3 Third Blood Spells It is possible to cast Third Blood rituals without killing the blood donors, so Third Blood mages do not have to be evil in alignment. Most, however, are. Killing doubles the number of Life Points available, allowing much more powerful spellcasting. As with Second Blood magic, only a maximum of three sacrifices may be used. Even using just average people, that allows the casting of 5th level spells! If even grander spells are required, up to three Third Blood mages may pool their talents. (Getting three such mages to work together might involve quite an adventure!) Each of the three may sacrifice three victims (using blooddaggers, of course) and pool the energy for a common spell. (Using the 5 LP/person average, this garners 90 LP - enough to cast even 9th level spells). All three mages must know the spell, and all three must coordinate their casting exactly. Each mage involved must roll Spellcraft -5 for the combined ritual to work as planned. (The GM may modify the -5 penalty, lessening it if the mages have extensively worked together and practiced, or increasing it if the job is hurried). If the spell fails, the GM decides what happens. If only one mages misses his roll by a small amount, perhaps the spell simply doesn't work. If all three fail, or one fails spectacularly, the GM is encouraged to be creative with spell backlash effects. The energy is lost in any case. As with Second Blood spells, the spell level the mage can cast is limited by his class level. He also has to pay the 1 LP energy cost to initiate a spell. However, a Third Blood mage can store up to 10 extra LP worth of energy for up to a day before paying the 1 LP to release the spell. These LP can only be used to cast the one ritual the mage was performing when he decided to "save" the energy for later. The LP may also be combined with the mage's innate LP for a nasty surprise - either later, or at the time of the sacrifice. (Only energy from the blood of fellow sentients can be so combined; a Second Blood mage may not add his own LP to the LP drained from a cow). A blood mage may only have one such spell "on hold" at a time, regardless of how many LP it costs. Example: Innova is an 8th level Third Blood mage with 8 LP. She's been cornered by the Inquisition and needs to take care of them, fast. Their captain is advancing with his men quickly, since they've studied their quarry and know she can't work any great magics against them without a sacrifice. But earlier today, Innova sacrificed a victim for her Third Blood ritual for Evard's Black Tentacles. She drew all 10 LP available from her victim, killing him. She adds 7 LP of her own for a total of 17 - the 16 she needs to cast the 4th level spell plus the 1 LP activation cost. The captain and his men are quickly being crushed to death, and the vile mage staggers off, weakened but still alive. 5.4 Fourth Blood Spells There's a persistent rumor in certain circles that magical beings and even monsters can be sacrificed for even greater spellcasting. The mysterious "Fourth Blood" rituals supposedly call on the essence of unicorns, nymphs, trolls, dragons (!), and other such beasts. Speculating even further afield, some wonder what would happen if the blood of a demon or devil could be gotten... The existence of Fourth Blood rituals is left to the GM. If they exist, it's easiest to simply say the magical creatures have a greater than average number of Life Points. A unicorn is only the size of a horse, but perhaps it contains 20 LP or more! Alternately, Fourth Blood rituals might be the only way to create powerful enchanted items via blood magic (see Section 6, Magic Items, below).
6. Magic ItemsThe most basic enchanted item the blood mage needs is the blooddagger. The mage typically creates it himself using the Create Blooddagger spell - the first spell learned by all blood mages and the only one not requiring a blooddagger to cast. Blooddaggers are highly personalized and usually exotic; they must be made out of non-tarnishing materials. Gold, obsidian, ivory, and bone are common materials for the blade. A mage may never have more than two blooddaggers at a time, and must always use one of his own. The blooddagger of another mage isn't useful to him at all. Greatly prized by blood mages but feared by most forces of good are the rumored bloodstones. These enchanted stones, often set in rings, other jewelry, or the hilt of a blooddagger, can absorb and hold Life Points gained from Second or Third Blood sacrifices. If they exist in a campaign, most will hold no more than 10 LP and must be charged with a special Replenish Bloodstone ritual. Legendary stones might hold much more. The mage must still pay the 1 LP activation cost (both for Replenish Bloodstone and for activating the stone), but any spell the mage knows of the ritual type used to charge the stone may be cast, and unused LP are not wasted. (That is, if the mage knows Replenish Bloodstone as a Second Blood ritual, he may use the charged bloodstone to cast any Second Blood ritual spells he knows). Life Points from a bloodstone may not be combined with a mage's own LP. Bloodstones allow blood mages to cast spells on the fly, quickly and without rituals. This makes them much more dangerous opponents. A spell for recharging bloodstones is given in Section 9; how or if bloodstones can be created is left to the individual GM. It may be possible to create other "generic" items with blood magic. Most items so made, however, have a bloody quirk to them. A ring of protection +1 might need to be bathed in the blood of the person it protects weekly or even daily, absorbing 1 LP in the process to fuel its enchantment. An enchanted weapon might need to be similarly "fed." If the item is not blooded on schedule, it loses its properties permanently or temporarily, at the discretion of the GM. If properties are only lost temporarily, a specific ritual or sacrifice might be needed to "jump start" the item. Additionally, the GM may rule that only rare "Fourth Blood" magics can enchant items other than blooddaggers. Dragon's blood (very hard to obtain!) might be needed for a wand of fireballs, nymph blood for a love potion, and so on.
7. HealingA blood mage's power is proportional to how quickly he can recover from LP losses. It generally behooves him, then, to make friends with a cleric who can cast healing spells. Many good and even neutral dieties, however, look upon blood magic with a jaundiced eye. This may depend somewhat on how the GM chooses to use it: the gods of a nation where Second Blood sacrifices are used daily for divinations and other benign magics might not feel as strongly as the deities of a land where most blood mages are homicidal Third Blood sorcerers. If the majority of blood mages in a land are evil, healing spells cast by opposing gods might not work to cure blood mages of self-inflicted HP loss. Clerics of dieties friendly or indifferent to blood magic won't have trouble casting their healing on the mage, however - if they feel like it. Example: Barakus, even though he is a blood mage, is good at heart and restricts himself to First Blood rituals. If he takes damage in combat, his cleric companion willingly heals him. But if Barakus cuts himself to cast a spell and then seeks healing for that, the cleric sadly has to deny him. Her god has forbidden her to use her healing arts on those who intentionally hurt themselves, and blood mages in particular. This is an optional rule GMs may use to reign in PCs who are abusing the blood magic rules. A PC shouldn't be allowed to traipse about with a legion of dedicated healers unless there's a very good in-game reason for it!
8. Karlonna, Mother of Blood MagicKarlonna is a demigoddess who invented blood magic. If you want to insert blood magic into an existing campaign and explain why it wasn't there before, she's an easy plot device to use. She's only just invented it! Karlonna is chaotic and evil, dwelling in a small pocket of the Abyss. She is hiding from several of the other Powers living on that plane until she's grown a bit herself. She generally appears as a young woman with violet eyes and long dark hair, clad in flowing red blood. Karlonna was once a powerful mortal assassin and mage, and somehow managed to enter the Abyss and acheive immortality. (Rumors are that she somehow swapped minds with a succubus or other lesser tannar'ri, dooming the demon to the remainder of her short mortal lifespan). She's spent time researching, trying to combine her two favorite hobbies: death and magic. She discovered it in blood magic. Karlonna is served almost exclusively by alu-fiends. (Some say they're her daughters, born to the succubus body she wears). She sends them to the Prime Material Plane to tempt humans to embrace her style of magic. Karlonna herself is reluctant to leave the Abyss to materialize on the Prime Material. She knows that her essence is actually from that plane, and worries that death there might be permanent and final for her. As long as she has sufficient servitors, she won't take that risk. Not all blood mages necessarily know about Karlonna, and not all those that do actually worship her. (As one mage was quoted, "I might kill people, but I don't sacrifice their souls to demons!") Karlonna is a little desperate for worship, actually, and a character willing to serve her stoutly might be the recipient of all sorts of "incentives." She has no clerics at the moment, and only a handful of specialty priests (blood mages). Her portfolio only includes blood magic, although she'd love to assassinate the god of assassins and take that as well. 8.1 The Daughters of Blood The Daughters of Blood, as Karlonna's servitors are sometimes called, do her will on the Prime Material Plane. They are often dispatched as "apprentices" to assist mages doing novel or dark research, to try and guide their investigations down a path that leads to blood magic. Karlonna is also fairly free with sending her Daughters to mages who request their aid. Such a request must be accompanied with a deadly Third Blood sacrifice. The soul of any being sacrificed in such a manner will end up with Karlonna in the Abyss. When the soul is received, the Daughter is dispatched. The summoning mage may task the fiend with the traditional single request. If the request is one that is aligned with Karlonna's aims and goals, the alu-fiend will fulfil it as best she can. If the request is disinteresting or opposed, she will try to pervert her instructions to the best of her ability. Inevitably, some blood mage who cares more for their own appetites than the lives and souls of his fellows will order the demon share his bed. Perhaps surprisingly, the Daughters perform this task willingly. What sort of creature would be born from the union of a Daughter and a blood mage? What plans might Karlonna have for these tieflings? We leave the answers up to the GM.
9. Blood Magic SpellsRituals Available refers to which "levels" of blood magic can cast a particular spell (First, Second, or Third Blood). Recall that blood mages must learn different rituals for the same spell effect separately.
Create Blooddagger (Enchantment/Blood Magic) This spell enchants one knife or dagger to serve as a blood mage's ritual implement. The blade of the knife or dagger must be made out of a non-tarnishing substance - iron, steel, and silver will cause the spell to fail. Common blade materials are gold, obsidian, ivory, and bone. The mage holds the weapon for a full hour, saying certain chants over it. At the end of the hour, the caster ritually cuts himself with the weapon to bond it to him. (This does one Hit Point of damage and does not drain Life Points). A blood mage may never have more than two blooddaggers attuned to him at a time. If he attunes a third, the enchantment on the older of the two existing blooddaggers is broken. A successful Dispel Magic against a blooddagger will render it inoperable for a number of rounds equal to how much the dispelling mage made his dispel check by. The material components for this spell are an ornate knife or dagger with a non-tarnishing blade worth no less than 50 gp, and a small amount of the caster's blood. The weapon does not vanish at the end of the spell and may be used in blood magic rituals.
Replenish Bloodstone (Enchantment/Blood Magic) If bloodstones exist, this spell allows a mage to fill them with Life Points. After the spell is cast (animals or people are bled for 9 LP and the caster pays the 1 LP casting cost), the caster has 3 rounds to sacrifice Life Points of either animals or sentients (depending on whether or not the Second or Third Blood ritual is used). One animal or sentient can be sacrificed per round. Life Points are transferred to the bloodstone, where they remain until used by the caster or another blood mage who acquires the stone. Note that unless the Optional Life Point rules are used, this means the most Life Points the Second Blood ritual can transfer is 9, and the most the Third Blood ritual can transfer is 30 (assuming average victims). If the GM wishes to introduce bloodstones of incredible power, it's suggested that there are also higher versions of this spell, available for Third Blood ritual only. The 4th level spell gives 4 rounds for sacrifices, the 5th level five rounds, and so on. If group casting is used, all mages casting must touch the bloodstone to be replenished. The material component for the spell is fresh blood.
Summon Daughter of Blood (Summoning/Blood Magic) This spell calls one of Karlonna's alu-fiend servitors to the mage. The fiend will appear within the spell's range, as specified by the caster. Unless the mage takes the usual precautions, she will be free to move about. The fiend will listen to one request made by the caster. If the request is consistent with her mistress's goals, she will attempt to fulfil it to the best of her abilities, until she either completes the task or (caster's level) months have gone by. At that point, she will return to the Abyss. If the request is not consistent with Karlonna's ethos, the alu-fiend will still serve the mage for the appointed time, but will do her utmost to pervert the intent of his request. At least one victim must be killed in the process of casting for this spell to work. Multiple mages may collaborate to cast it, and not all of the victims must perish, but at least one soul must be turned over to Karlonna. If two or more mages collaborate, only one request will be granted. The fiend will take the first request spoken in her presence as the collective request of the group. The material component is fresh blood. Back to Game World Index |