Primal Path: Path of the Blood Drinker
During the darkest of times, tribal warriors have discovered that no better path to power exists than consuming the blood of a conquered foe. Some practice ancient rituals and solemnly consume their foe's heart, while others simply guzzle blood like ale in a crazed frenzy, but any of the blood rituals these barbarians undertake can transform some into demonic killers that steal life and power from the blood on their blade. Many Blood Drinkers find that the blood ritual not only granted them great power, but also altered their body in a minor way:
SIGNS OF BLOOD
| d6 | Alteration |
|---|---|
| l | You have small horns sprouting from your head. |
| 2 | Your teeth are all sharpened to eerie points. |
| 3 | You always smell like fresh blood. |
| 4 | Small, flimsy spines protrude from your back. |
| 5 | Your skin is deep red instead of its normal hue. |
| 6 | Thin patches of demonic fur or scales can be found on your shins, forearms, and neck. |
Some Blood Drinkers begin to manifest strange changes while they are raging as a result of the strength in the blood they've consumed You can choose up to one of the following, or one of your own, when you first enter this barbarian path. If your DM allows, you might change your selection after you drink deeply from the blood of a powerful and noteworthy foe.
RAGE MANIFESTATIONS
| d6 | Manifestation While Raging |
|---|---|
| l | Your skin is covered by demonic fur or scales, representing your rage's damage resistances. |
| 2 | Your eyes glow crimson. Even your veins and arteries glow bright red through your skin. |
| 3 | Blood pours from your eyes out of your mouth. When it touches the ground, it turns to mist. |
| 4 | Your heart begins to beat fiercely and loudly enough that it can be heard and felt for 30 feet. |
| 5 | With each breath, you exhale eerie red fumes that vanish quickly and harmlessly into the air. |
| 6 | Your body and weapons you wield are coated with fresh blood that can't be washed away. |
Blood-drinker barbarians are often (though not always) driven to madness by this path, and many are ostracized by their tribes. Not all Blood Drinkers are evil, despite the stories and/or nightmarish legends around them. Many are driven by deeper desires (revenge often being one of them), and use the path of blood as the quickest way to accomplish those desires. That said, not a lot of Blood Drinkers are good, either.
Not all Blood Drinkers are fur-wearing arctic warriors of the barren steppes, either--in fact, some scholars who study such things have argued that far more Blood Drinkers arise out of the slums of cities than the steppes or grasslands. All that is really required is unquenchable rage, and a thirst for blood.
Blood Fury
3rd-level Blood Drinker feature
If you make a melee weapon attack on your turn while you're raging, and you have no more than half of your hit points left, you add 1d8 + half your barbarian level to the attack's damage roll on a hit.
You can only deal bonus damage in this way once per turn.
Brutal Harvest
3rd-level Blood Drinker feature
You gain the ability to harvest the life from the blood of enemies you slay. When you kill a creature with blood that is not Tiny using a melee weapon attack while you are raging, you can choose to regain a number of hit points equal to your Constitution modifier + your barbarian level (minimum 1 hit point). This feature cannot bring your current hit point total above half your maximum hit points.
You can only use this feature up to a number of times equal to the number of rage uses you have each day as a barbarian. You regain all uses of this feature when you finish a long rest.
The Blood Hunt
6th-level Blood Drinker feature
You learn how to taste a soul through the smell of blood When a creature that has blood within 15 feet of you takes damage, you can pick up the finer details of the smell, and you learn things about the creature. You instantly learn its hit points, maximum hit points, and Constitution score. If its maximum hit points have been reduced, you learn that too. You can also choose to remember the scent. If you do, for the next 30 days, you gain advantage on Wisdom (Insight) and (Perception) checks to discern something about the creature or to track that creature, and on Charisma (Intimidation) or (Persuasion) checks against that creature. You know if the creature is within 10 miles of you, and if it is within 1 mile of you, you know how far away it is as well.
You can only remember a number of blood scents equal to twice your Wisdom modifier (minimum one). You can forget a scent at any time.
Demonic Aspect
10th-level Blood Drinker feature
Your body takes on a demonic change as your blood power grows stronger with each consumption. Choose one of the following benefits to gain permanently:
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Claws. You grow huge knife-like talons on your fingers and toes. These claws are retractable. You can use a bonus action on your turn to hide or reveal them. While they are revealed you gain a base climbing speed of 30 feet that you must have at least one free hand to use, and your unarmed strikes are a special melee weapon that you are proficient with which deals slashing damage equal to 1d10 + your Strength modifier.
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Fangs. Your teeth lengthen into huge ghoulish fangs that struggle to fit into your closed mouth. You can survive on meals made of rotting meat, blood or old bones and suffer no ill effects, including diseases or poisons. You have advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) ability checks made against creatures that have seen your teeth, and your bite is a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. You have proficiency with this bite, and it deals piercing damage equal to ldlO + your Strength modifier.
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Wings. You grow a pair of gigantic, leathery, bat-like wings from your back. You have a base flying speed of 30 feet.
Gore Strike
14th-level Blood Drinker feature
The fell power in your blood grows stronger. Whenever you finish a long rest, you regain a number of extra expended hit dice equal to your proficiency bonus.
In addition, when you hit with a melee weapon attack while you're raging, you can expend a hit die without regaining hit points. You take ld12 necrotic damage that cannot be reduced by resistance or immunity, and then you roll the hit die. The attack deals bonus damage to one target equal to the amount rolled on the hit die + twice your Constitution modifier (minimum +2).
Whenever you roll this bonus damage more than once for an attack, you roll ld12 for each additional roll of the bonus damage, taking damage each time. For example, whenever you use this feature to affect a critical hit, the bonus damage is rolled twice, and so you would take 2d12 damage instead of only ld12 You still only expend one hit die, no matter how many times you roll it.