This is a modified and re-balanced version of the Bloatmage Prestige Class for the Pathfinder First Edition TTRPG. The flavor text and abilities of this class are listed below.
Hemotheurges - more commonly and derogatorily known as bloatmages - are practitioners of an ancient art whose origins are so ancient as to be largely lost to time, and adherents of a magical art founded upon the central belief that there is literal and potent truth to the old adage that "magic runs in the blood". By magically overriding their bodies’ fail-safes and producing more blood than they need, bloatmages are able to greatly increase their magical abilities, but at the cost of becoming grotesque, bloated masses of engorged flesh. Even more significant than any cosmetic changes, the stresses on a bloatmage’s body can prove dangerous to both them and those around them, for if the cephalic pressure on a bloatmage’s brain becomes too great, she flies into a murderous rage before falling unconscious and quickly bleeding out. Such obvious drawbacks keep most from walking the path of the bloated ascetics, but the bloatmages dismiss those detractors who lack the courage to follow in their footsteps, noting that in the pursuit of power and self-perfection, all other concerns are secondary.
Where exactly the ancient art of hemotheurgy began is hotly debated by modern scholars and arcane practitioners alike - ancient bas-reliefs on the walls of surviving Pagan Piles depict ancient hemotheurges gorging themselves on the blood siphoned from the bodies of the dead during the ancient rites that prepared the bodies and spirits of the dead for their journey into the next life, while other surviving oral legends so ancient as to date back tens of thousands of years across the continent tell tale of bloated vampires who preyed upon ancient Zheng-Kitarans in days of yore, siphoning their vital essence for use in countless profane rituals performed in profane citadels hidden far from the light. Though many still seek the truths of this ancient art's origins, the most likely truth is that the art had many origins - each with their own cultures and customs and histories - however, what cannot be debated is the exact circumstances by which the ancient and largely forgotten art of Hemotheurgy returned to prominence across Zheng-Kitar in the aftermath of the Advent of the Spirit Kings: Cao Lu.
While the Alabaster Dahmu is not currently believed to have been a practitioner of the art himself, surviving archeological digs and relics recovered at surviving sites of the Ssarin Empire have told modern scholars with certainty that the Snaketongued Tyrant certainly took inspiration from its mysteries for use in his own research and encouraged its use within his courts as a path to higher power and station. There, in the ancient courts of the Alabaster Dahmu where the fate of the entire continent hung on the words of a single man, the art of Hemotheurgy spread like wildfire within the ranks of the Tyrant's inner circle, then eventually out into the empire as a whole - largely as a way to delve deeper into the mysteries of the body and of biology itself(Both of which were very much the core "Zeitgeist" of the Ssarin Empire for most of its history), as an art based in unlocking the power of the physical form. These ancient Ssarin Hemotheurgists, though their practices largely focused on extracting blood from serpents and other serpentine creatures, are believed to have held great and terrible power as well as incredible authority within the courts of the old Ssarin Empire - and are largely responsible for the art's continuation into the modern day, where most all modern 'Bloatmages' draw their techniques and arts from. Nonetheless, the search for the true history of Hemotheurgy marches ever onwards - driven in part by the Bloatmages themselves, who eagerly hunt for the lost arts of their craft that lay waiting rediscovery in old Ssarin ruins, or in more ancient realms where the art developed before or after the time of Cao Lu.
Requirements
Feats: Bloatmage Initiate(See
Homebrew Feats for my reworked version of this feat)
Skills: Heal 3 ranks, Knowledge(Arcana) 5 Ranks
Spells: Able to cast 3rd-level arcane spells.
Class Skills
The Bloatmage's class skills are Fly (Dex), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (all skills taken individually) (Int), Spellcraft (Int), and Use Magic Device (Cha).
Skill Points at each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Hit Die: d6.
Class Features
| Level |
Base Attack Bonus |
Fort Save |
Ref Save |
Will Save |
Special |
Spells Per Day |
| 1st |
+0 |
+0 |
+0 |
+1 |
Blood Pool, Bloat(1d4), Hemophilia |
+1 level of existing arcane class |
| 2nd |
+1 |
+1 |
+1 |
+1 |
— |
+1 level of existing arcane class |
| 3rd |
+1 |
+1 |
+1 |
+2 |
Corpulence |
+1 level of existing arcane class |
| 4th |
+2 |
+1 |
+1 |
+2 |
Bloat(1d8) |
+1 level of existing arcane class |
| 5th |
+2 |
+2 |
+2 |
+3 |
Swollen and Supercharged, Bloat Roll -2 |
+1 level of existing arcane class |
| 6th |
+3 |
+2 |
+2 |
+3 |
— |
+1 level of existing arcane class |
| 7th |
+3 |
+2 |
+2 |
+4 |
Corpulence |
+1 level of existing arcane class |
| 8th |
+4 |
+3 |
+3 |
+4 |
Bloat(1d12) |
+1 level of existing arcane class |
| 9th |
+4 |
+3 |
+3 |
+5 |
— |
+1 level of existing arcane class |
| 10th |
+5 |
+3 |
+3 |
+5 |
Absorb Bloodline, Bloat Roll -3 |
+1 level of existing arcane class |
Weapon and Armor Proficiency
Bloatmages gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Spells per Day/Spells Known
When a new bloatmage level is gained, the character gains new spells as if she had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class she belonged to before adding the prestige class. She does not, however, gain other benefits a character of that class would have gained, except for additional spells per day, spells known (if she is a spontaneous spellcaster), and an increased effective level of spellcasting. If the character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming a bloatmage, she must decide which class she adds the new level to for the purpose of determining spells per day.
Blood Pool
At 1st level, a bloatmage gains a pool of blood points, representing an overload of her system with excess blood to extend her arcane abilities beyond their normal level. A bloatmage’s normal pool of blood points is equal to her bloatmage level. Blood points can be spent at the time of casting to cast a spell without using that spell’s spell slot. The spell slot remains unused (for spontaneous casters), or the spell is recalled as if it had not been cast (for spellcasters who prepare spells). Retaining a spell or spell slot in this manner costs a number of blood points equal to the spell’s level, and these points must be spent at the time of casting. Blood points do not give spellcasters access to spells they don’t already know or have prepared.
In addition, the bloatmage may push herself via her bloat ability in order to gain a number of extra blood points, but such exertion is a dangerous gamble. If the bloatmage’s current number of blood points is greater than her class level but less than or equal to twice her class level, she gains the sickened condition. If her exertions push her beyond twice her normal blood point level, she immediately flies into a homicidal rage, striking out randomly with her most damaging attacks and abilities at friends and foes alike for 1d6 rounds or until her blood pool is reduced to 0 (whichever comes first). At the end of the rage, her blood points drop to 0, her hit points drop to –1, and she begins dying.
Each day, when the bloatmage rests to regain spells, she regains blood points up to her class level but not beyond (so if her bloatmage level is 5 but she currently has 8 points, she remains at 8 until she spends the extra points).
Some bloatmages conduct constant rituals involving leeches or exsanguination in an attempt to regulate their systems. These rituals, which must be undertaken daily during spell preparation, give the bloatmage the option of subtracting 1 point from any bloating rolls (see below) after the results are known, but at the price of a non-cumulative –2 penalty to Constitution. This penalty cannot be removed, save by the bloatmage abandoning the rituals for a day (also during spell preparation), which removes it immediately. At 5th and 10th Level, a Bloatmage can take an additional -2 penalty to Constitution to subtract an additional point from a bloating roll(To a maximum of -6 to Constitution to subtract 3 points from a bloating roll at level 10).
Bloat
A bloatmage can exert herself as a free action to instantly gain extra blood points, but doing so puts her at risk of a dangerous collapse. At 1st level, the bloatmage can bloat once per round to regain 1d4 points in her blood pool. At 4th level, the die roll becomes 1d8, and at 8th level the die roll because 1d12. Whenever a bloatmage reaches a total number of points in her blood pool such that she flies into a homicidal rage(See above), she cannot bloat any further until the following day.
Note from Designer: Some GM's may be concerned with Bloatmages abusing their Bloodpoints and their infinite-use Bloat ability to gain effectively infinite spells out of combat. If you seek to balance this ability, limiting prospective Bloatmages to unlimited uses while in combat only will likely strike a good balance - thus perhaps limiting them to limited uses while out of combat. This could also be easily explained flavor-wise as the Bloatmage's body only being receptive to such bloat under high adrenaline and stress.
Hemophilia
Bloatmages are particularly susceptible to bleed effects, and the DC of any Heal check made to stop a bleed effect is 5 higher than normal. Bloatmages can never be immune to bleed damage or bleed effects. In addition, anytime a bleeding wound is inflicted on a bloatmage, she loses 1 blood point. This loss of blood points is cumulative for multiple bleed attacks, but not each time she takes damage from the same attack.
Corpulence
At 3rd level, a bloatmage becomes so massive that her rolls of fatty, blood-laden flesh grants her DR 1/- for each point in her Blood Pool. This DR stacks with the DR given by Adamantine Armor, but nothing else. At 7th level, she increases this DR by 1 each time she would gain a +1 to her bloat rolls for the day by bloating into her sickened threshold(And resetting at the same conditions, see 'Swollen and Supercharged' below) - however, at this stage, the sheer mass of her body reduces her speed by 10 feet. This movement speed penalty stacks with the penalty from the Bloatmage Initiate feat. This reduction in speed can never reduce the bloatmage’s speed below 5 feet, nor does it affect magical flying effects.
Swollen and Supercharged
At 5th level, each time a bloatmage's bloat roll would put them at a total number of blood points such that they would be sickened, they gain a stacking +1 to all bloat rolls made for that day(1d8+1, 1d8+2, etc) - resetting when they fly into a homicidal rage or at dawn each day(Whichever comes first).
Absorb Bloodline
At 10th level, a bloatmage can temporarily access all of the bloodline powers of a given sorcerer bloodline as if she were a sorcerer of a level equaling her total arcane spellcaster level (including bloatmage levels) by consuming blood tied to that bloodline. By drinking 1 pint of fresh blood (which inflicts 1 point of Constitution damage) from a sorcerer with the given bloodline or from a creature affiliated with that bloodline, the bloatmage gains the ability to use the bloodline powers (but not bonus spells, proficiencies, and so on) as appropriate to her total character level for 1 hour. This ability is usable once per day and drinking the blood normally requires a full minute, but bloatmages with the Brew Potion feat can distill the blood into a potion-sized draught that can be stored and consumed as a standard action.
Any bloodlines absorbed are in addition to the original bloodline of a bloatmage with sorcerer levels. Though the bloatmage gains no physical nourishment from drinking blood, this practice is likely responsible for many of the stories linking bloatmages and vampires.
In addition to sorcerers of the given bloodline, the following list presents a few examples of creatures whose blood is considered affiliated to a bloodline. There may be others who work equally well, at the GM’s discretion.
- Aberrant: any aberration.
- Abyssal: any chaotic evil outsider.
- Arcane: any arcane caster, or any creature with an arcane spell or spell-like ability of at least 3rd-level.
- Celestial: any good outsider.
- Destined: any creature able to cast divination spells.
- Draconic: any dragon or creature with the dragon type.
- Elemental: any creature with an elemental or energy subtype (air, cold, earth, fire, water), provided it has flesh and blood (such as a salamander, but not a fire elemental).
- Fey: any fey or gnome.
- Infernal: any lawful evil outsider.
- Undead: any undead creature with flesh and blood (such as vampires or ghouls, but not skeletons).
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