Blood Hunter

Playing a Blood Hunter in Tanaria: Pros & Cons

Pros (Why Play a Blood Hunter?)

1. Unique Blood Magic (Hemocraft)
   • Blood Hunters sacrifice hit points to empower attacks, activate curses, and enhance their abilities.
   • They use Blood Curses to weaken enemies, stop regeneration, or even control foes.
   • Their magic is fueled by their own vitality, making them feel distinct from traditional spellcasters.
 
2. Strong Combat Capabilities
   • Blood Hunters are martial fighters with access to extra attacks, weapon proficiencies, and damage boosts.
   • They excel in one-on-one duels, using Hemocraft to enhance their combat potential.
   • They can fight as melee bruisers or ranged hunters, depending on their chosen subclass.
 
3. Powerful Subclasses (Orders)
   • The Order of the Ghostslayer specializes in fighting the undead, enhancing their Crimson Rite with radiant energy.
   • The Order of the Lycan allows Blood Hunters to embrace werewolf-like transformations for enhanced physical abilities.
   • The Order of the Profane Soul merges Hemocraft with warlock-like magic, gaining spellcasting and eldritch powers.
   • The Order of the Mutant modifies their own body with alchemical mutations, gaining unique passive and active abilities.
 
4. Tracking & Hunting Abilities
   • Blood Hunters are skilled at tracking supernatural creatures and resisting dark influences.
   • They can sense the presence of fiends, undead, and aberrations, making them excellent monster hunters.
   • Their Crimson Rite allows them to deal extra damage based on the creature they are fighting.
 
5. High Roleplay Potential
   • Their magic is dark and costly, creating great opportunities for tragic and brooding characters.
   • Their relentless pursuit of evil often clashes with moral dilemmas, forcing them to make difficult choices.
   • They have built-in reasons to seek revenge, uncover hidden knowledge, or protect the world from darkness.

Cons (Challenges of Playing a Blood Hunter)

1. Self-Damage Can Be Deadly
   • Blood Hunters sacrifice their own hit points to activate abilities, meaning they can weaken themselves before the battle even begins.
   • Using Hemocraft recklessly can kill them faster than their enemies.
   • They need careful resource management to avoid weakening themselves too much.
 
2. Mediocre Survivability
   • They have no built-in healing (unless they take the right mutations or multiclass).
   • They are not as tanky as fighters or barbarians despite being melee combatants.
   • Without proper defensive strategies, they burn through their hit points too quickly.
 
3. High Complexity & Resource Management
   • Tracking Hemocraft Dice, Blood Curses, and Crimson Rites adds more mechanics to manage.
   • They need to balance dealing damage with self-preservation, which can be challenging for new players.
   • Choosing the right Blood Curses and knowing when to amplify them requires strategic thinking.
 
4. Subclasses Have Big Trade-Offs
   • Order of the Lycan has powerful transformations but risks losing control in battle.
   • Order of the Mutant requires pre-planning mutations, making it less adaptable on the fly.
   • Order of the Profane Soul gains magic but loses out on some physical durability.
 
5. Not Officially Supported in Some Campaigns
   • Blood Hunter is a homebrew class (created by Critical Role’s Matt Mercer), meaning some DMs may not allow it.
   • It may require adjustments to fit the balance of a specific game world.

• Play a Blood Hunter if:
  • You love dark, brooding characters with tragic backstories.
  • You enjoy high-risk, high-reward gameplay that requires careful resource management.
  • You want to play a specialist monster hunter with supernatural abilities.
  • You like combining martial combat with dark magic.

• Avoid Blood Hunter if:
  • You don’t want to track multiple mechanics like Hemocraft Dice and Blood Curses.
  • You prefer a more straightforward melee fighter with fewer drawbacks.
  • You dislike sacrificing health to use abilities.
  • Your DM doesn’t allow homebrew classes in their campaign.