Blood Hunter: OSR Class
“We are born of the blood, made men by the blood, undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open… Fear the old blood.”
— Master Willem, Bloodborne
I have a great deal of contempt for what Matt Mercier and Critical Role have done to the TTRPG play culture, the reasons nearly endless and worthy of an article in it’s own right.
However, I need to give the devil his due, mechanically and thematically the Blood Hunter is a good class shackled to a lackluster version of D&D.
I enjoyed Blood Hunter quite a bit back when I did GM and play 5th edition and the idea of spending HP as a resource to activate and use abilities is really compelling game design.
That’s one major reason I consider it a good idea to convert it as an OSR class, because HP is even more important and valuable in an OSR context, making this class very interesting.
So I’ve gone about converting the core class and it’s important thematic features over into Basic Fantasy.
Blood Hunter⌗
Blood Hunters are a specialized form of Fighter, dedicated to fighting monsters such as Vampires, Werewolves, Ghouls, Witches, and Demons.
Blood Hunters often come from lineages of monster hunters who passed down lost arts of Hemomancy. This Families acting much like the Helsings or Belmonts, long lived spiteful families that take up the duty of fighting things which go bump in the night.
On the Blood Hunters side is the power of Blood Curses special curses they inflict or use to fight, and their Blood Rite, empowering their weapons to do more damage!
| Level | Exp. Points | Hit Dice | Hemo Die | Blood Curses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 1d8 | 1d4 | 1 |
| 2 | 2,500 | 2d8 | 1d4 | 1 |
| 3 | 5,000 | 3d8 | 1d4 | 1 |
| 4 | 10,000 | 4d8 | 1d4 | 1 |
| 5 | 20,000 | 5d8 | 1d6 | 2 |
| 6 | 40,000 | 6d8 | 1d6 | 2 |
| 7 | 80,000 | 7d8 | 1d6 | 2 |
| 8 | 150,000 | 8d8 | 1d6 | 2 |
| 9 | 300,000 | 9d8 | 1d6 | 2 |
| 10 | 450,000 | 9d8+2 | 1d6 | 2 |
| 11 | 600,000 | 9d8+4 | 1d8 | 3 |
| 12 | 750,000 | 9d8+6 | 1d8 | 3 |
| 13 | 900,000 | 9d8+8 | 1d8 | 3 |
| 14 | 1,050,000 | 9d8+10 | 1d8 | 3 |
| 15 | 1,200,000 | 9d8+12 | 1d8 | 3 |
| 16 | 1,350,000 | 9d8+14 | 1d8 | 3 |
| 17 | 1,500,000 | 9d8+16 | 1d10 | 4 |
| 18 | 1,650,000 | 9d8+18 | 1d10 | 4 |
| 19 | 1,800,000 | 9d8+20 | 1d10 | 4 |
| 20 | 1,950,000 | 9d8+22 | 1d10 | 5 |
Saving Throws⌗
| Level | poison | Wands | Petrify | Dragons Breath | Spells |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 17 |
| 2-3 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 4-5 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 6-7 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 15 |
| 8-9 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 10-11 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 12-13 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 13 |
| 14-15 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 16-17 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 18-19 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 11 |
| 29 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
Hemo Die⌗
The Hemo Die represents the amount of HP The Blood Hunter can spend to activate their abilities such as Blood Rite and Blood Curses
The Hemo Die starts at d4 and goes up to d10, anytime you activate any of your powers you roll the Hemo Die and subtract from HP.
Blood Rite⌗
At 2nd level, a Blood Hunter may activate their Blood rite, pooling from their life and blood to produce an elemental effect on their weapon, doing an extra die’s worth of damage equal to the Hemo Die.
to activate this power they must deal damage equal to their Hemo Die to themselves, the blood rite remains active until you sheath or drop the weapon.
There are three elements to choose from, once you pick one that is your blood rite element
- Fire
- Frost
- Lightening
Blood Curses⌗
Blood Curses are specialized magic curses you can perform mid battle. You can do any one Curse you know once per day.
Blood Curses assume the target in question or character has blood, if the creature has no blood the powers do not work against them.
Certain Curses require you have a certain size Hemo Die to activate them.
Blood Curse of Agony: The Blood Hunter may target a creature within 60 of them. upon activation the creature must Save against Spell or take 4d6 damage, half that if they save.
Requires d6 Hemo die
Blood Curse of Adrenaline: Upon activation of this curse, the Blood Hunter gains the benefits of the Haste spell
Requires d6 Hemo Die
Blood Curse of The Blind: The Blood Hunter can target a creature within 60 feet of them, the creature must make Save Vs spell or become blinded as all the capillaries in their eyes burst filling them with blood.
Requires 1d6 hemo die
Blood Curse of Binding: The Blood Hunter target a creature within line of sight, that creature must make a Save Vs. Petrify or be unable to move from their spot. Each turn they may make another attempt at the save.
Blood Curse of The Swift: upon activation of this curse gain an extra 20 feet of movement for 10 minutes.
Blood Curse of The Marked: upon activation of this Curse, the next creature they strike and draw blood from, they have an automatic general awareness of that creatures location and how far away they are from them. each day this effect is activate they must roll again on the Hemo Die.
Blood Curse of The Untouched: Use of this Blood Curse nullifies any poison or disease in the Blood Hunters body.
Blood Curse of The Dispell: Any casting done within 30 feet of The Blood Hunter or directly at them, they can activate this curse to attempt a dispelling of it. roll a d20 + int vs the spells level + 10.
Requires d8 Hemo Die
Blood Curse of Exorcism: Upon activation, any creature within line of sight that is supernaturally charmed, afraid, or controlled is freed some said effect.
Requires d6 Hemo Die.
Blood Curse of True Form: Upon activation the Blood Hunter may force a shapeshifter or polymorphed creature to revert back to it’s base or true form for 10 minutes. he creature Saves vs Spell.
Requires d8 Hemo Die.
Blood Curse of The Blood Missile: Upon activation The Blood Hunter fires a version of Magic Missile fired from their own opened veins! it works exactly as Magic Missile but cannot be dispelled as it is a physical chunk of frozen sharp blood!