Warlock Subclass: Bloodline

 Arcane magic runs through your blood, powerful sorcerers stand in your wake. However, for you, it has remained inert, powerless. Leaving you to make a choice none of your ancestors before you had to, you’ve made a pact to unlock that potential. Perhaps that was a familial ritual, a pact with a creature of arcana or an ancient sorcerer. Whatever it was that occurred, magic now flows freely through your veins.

 

Because of the many sorcerer origins, bloodline warlocks can get unusual markings from such a pact. Usually a twisted form of their sorcerer ancestors, as they took magic they weren’t supposed to have access to.

Here are some ideas you could use:

1d6	Pact Mark
1	Your scars heal over with dragon scales, and your eyes become draconic when you cast spells.
2	The veins in your body feel as if they’re producing static at all times, and streak with wild glowing colours.
3	Your hair seems to fade into shadow or sea mist, it flows from cuts and scrapes as well.
4	Cogs and gears grow from your joints like excess bone. Out of the corner of your eye you see them move.
5	Your flesh seems to vibrate and convulse under the slightest touch, and your limbs are unusually flexible.
6	When you cast, your skin almost becomes translucent, your hair becomes like clear fibre.

 

Sorcerous Power

Unlike other warlocks, you don’t get access to an expanded spell list at 1st level instead you are able to tap into the all encompassing power of your ancestors. 

When your Pact Magic feature lets you learn a warlock cantrip or a warlock spell of 1st level or higher, you can choose the new spell from the sorcerer spell list or the warlock spell list. If you pick a spell from the sorcerers spell list, this spell must be of the Evocation school of magic. You must otherwise obey all the restrictions for selecting the spell, and it becomes a warlock spell for you.

 

 

Magical Manipulation

Starting at 1st level, your ties to powerful arcana allow you to twist your magic to better suit your needs. Your spell slots gained through your Pact Magic feature become spell points.

 

Each spell has a point cost based on its level. The Spell Point Cost table summarizes the cost in spell points of slots from 1st to 5th level. Cantrips don't require slots and therefore don't require spell points.

 

Instead of gaining a number of spell slots to cast your spells from your Pact Magic feature, you gain a pool of spell points instead. You expend a number of spell points to create a spell slot of a given level, and then use that slot to cast a spell.

Spell Level	Point Cost
1	2
2	3
3	5
4	6
5	7

You can't reduce your spell points total to less than 0, and you regain all spent spell points when you finish a short rest as you would with your Pact Magic spell slots.

 

However, your magic is not fully yours, and not fully under your power. Wanting to be cast with reckless abandon. Whenever you use your spell points to cast under your spell level maximum you must channel your life force to keep it at bay. You take 1d8 Necrotic damage per spell level below.

 

For instance a warlock with a maximum spell level of 4 wanting to cast a 1st level spell would take 3d8 Necrotic damage.

 

This healing can’t be reduced by any means, and doesn’t target any temporary hit points acquired.

 

The table below explains how many spell points you would have at any given level:  

 

Warlock Level	Spell Points
1	2
2	4
33	6
4	6
5	10
6	10
7	12
8	12
9	14
10	14
11	21
12	21
13	21
14	21
15	21
16	21
17	28
18	28
19	28
20	28

 

Bloodline Alteration

Your magical bloodline, dormant though it once was, now empowers your lifeforce and allows you to alter your spells in other ways. At 1st level, you regain all expended hit die after completing a long rest, instead of half.

 

In addition, you can expend your hit die after casting a spell to alter your magic through one of 3 ways:  

 

Arcane Amplification. When you expend a hit die, reroll a number of damage die equal to your proficiency bonus. You must take the second result.

 

Elemental Infusion. When you expend a hit die, change the damage type dealt to either Fire, Cold, Thunder, Lightning, Acid or Poison.

 

Spell Shaping. When you expend a hit die, shape your spell to avoid a number of creatures, of your choice, up to your proficiency bonus.

 

Leyline Lifeforce

You can pull from the dormant arcana that resides in your blood. Starting at 6th level, as a bonus action you can transform your hit die into spell points. One hit die equalling one spell point.

 

You can transform an amount, up to your proficiency bonus. When you do this you take 1d8 Necrotic damage for each hit die used. This damage can’t be mitigated in any way.

 

Potent Caster

When you reach 10th level and deal damage with a spell of level 1 or higher, you may add Force damage equal to your Charisma modifier to the damage dealt.

 

 

Ancestral Knowledge

The bloodline you came from allows you to access magic most warlocks wouldn’t. When you reach 14th level you may choose one 6th and one 7th level spell to learn from the Sorcerers spell list and add to your mystic arcanum.

 

At 15th level you also learn one 8th level spell, and at 17th one 9th level spell.

 

Bloodline Arcanum

Pulling from your magical lineage has become easier through practise. At 14th level, whenever you use your mystic arcanum you can use one bloodline alteration without expending a hit die.