so i'm having a little trouble thinking about the features for my campaign custom fighter path, the theme is also Oni blood pact as the "way of the blood" monk tradition. check out the link:
"http://community.wizards.com/forum/player-help/threads/4229846"
Different from the monk who already understand little of "magic" and unnatural effect i really want the fighter to use the oni powers more physically...
Ideas so far ->
lvl3 -
mask and flavour stuff (duh).
Interaction with a bonded weapon
Initiative bonus
lvl 7-
bonded weapon dmg count as magic
frightening check for the first enemy you hit after rolling initiative.
lvl 10 -
some type of mechanic where the fighter becomes stronger when it gets hit, flavour kind thing where you draw power from your blood and suffering ya know? oni type o' ****
lvl 15, 18
really lost here.
ANY HELP will be much apreciated, no idea so far is precious enough that could not be changed.
To understand a little more of the flavour of my "oni" scenary please read "way of the blood" description in the link.
A "blood pact weapon" sounds interesting.
How about:
"As a bonus action, you can draw your own blood, or touch the spilled blood of another creature, to conjure a Blood Pact weapon. It can be any simple melee weapon, chosen when you conjure it. If you choose to take 1d10 damage and lose 1 Hit Die, it can take the form of any martial melee weapon, instead.
Your blood pact weapon cannot leave your grasp. After 1 minute, or when you fall unconscious, the weapon is dismissed. You may also dismiss it early as a bonus action."
This weapon could be the class core. Some things the weapon could do, at varying levels:
- When you hit with an attack using the blood pact weapon, you gain temp HP equal to CON modifier. This adds on top of temp HP you already have. When you miss, you take damage equal to CON modifier. So the weapon lets you tank, but is risky.
- When you hit with it, get CON temp HP, stacks with other temp HP. If you choose, you can instead lose the same amount of HP, adding that amount (or 2x that amount?) as bonus damage on the attack. This lets you switch between "blood knight mode" and "tank mode," sort of.
- When you hit with it, you roll 1 HD, and instead of healing, you add the heal value to the attack's damage. (So 1d10+CON. Unless you multiclass for different HD.)
- While active, anything that restores HP has no effect on you. When you use Second Wind, you get temp HP, instead of healing.
One thing to think about: if you have a pact to an evil force, and you get a special weapon, and maybe some magical powers, that sounds a lot like a warlock. You might want to make it a warlock subclass instead of a fighter.
Why were you thinking if initiative bonuses, by the way? Did you have some special flavor in mind?
Here are some ideas for features.
Level 3
Mask, ritual, all of that, of course.
- Blood pact weapon: as above.
- Or, you gain the ability to spend HD for bonus damage on attacks, with any melee weapon. Attacks with this bonus count as magical.
Level 7
This should be a non-combat effect, like the Battlemaster and Champion have.
- You could give utility spells, like your monk subclass's Oni Magic. This would be pretty warlock-ish, though.
- Blood Vision: As an action, you can clearly see the blood of any creature within 100 feet, even through obstructions. This slowly fades, so you can continue to see for the next 30 seconds (or 1 minute per level, even). Once per short/long rest. Good for exploration or tracking, or when fighting invisible enemies. Or if you think the person you're talking to might actually be a robot (since they wouldn't have blood, duh).
- Dweller of Night: you can use an action to become a shadow. Basically invisible if you're in darkness. Stealthy but visible if in light. You can't attack, talk, or interact with anything, but your senses work as normal. You can be attacked, which returns you to normal. You can stay like this for 1 minute, once per short rest; or maybe, 10 minutes, once per day.
- Something related to a bonus to intimidation.
Level 10
- While below 50% HP, add your CON modifier to the damage of all melee weapon attacks.
- When a creature falls to 0 HP within 10ft of you, you can use a reaction to siphon its blood to you, either coating your weapon or shielding you. Choose to gain 1d12 temp HP, or do 1d12 bonus damage on your next attack that hits. 2d10 may be better, since it won't trigger many times each combat.
Level 15
- When you score a critical hit on a weapon attack, the gory mess terrifies nearby creatures. Enemies that can see or hear you are frightened of you until the end of their next turn. (No save because it doesn't last long.)
- Or, the above happens when you kill something, instead of crit.
- When you kill an enemy or score a critical hit, you recover HP equal to your level.
Level 18
- While below 50% HP, get 5+CON temp HP at the start of your turn. (Stolen from Champion, except temp HP.)
- While below 50% HP, you have resistance to damage. (For synergy, if you have a feature that gives temp HP often.)
- Tranquil Savagery: Until you kill an enemy in this combat, you have resistance to slashing/bludgeoning/piercing damage. After you kill an enemy and until combat ends, double your ability modifier bonus to damage on melee weapon attacks. The Oni's blood pact protects you, but when it senses death and blood, its influence drives you into a frenzy.
Sounds like you want Scary, Tough, Weapon Bonded, and High Initiative. Sounds also alot like the old 3.5 Prestige Class with the best name ever: Ghost Faced Killer. Kind of a 2 handed/surprise attack/samurai/ghost powers type of class. Going with what I know about that class, and the stuff you've posted about above, how about this...
Lvl 3 Features-
'Mask' Feature- Advantage on Intimidate checks, can use your Action to ignore invisiblity, cover, and concealment until start of your next turn.
Bonded Weapon Feature- Add your Proficiency Bonus to damage rolls against creatures that have not yet acted in combat, but only with bonded weapons. Can bond up to your CHA mod (min 1) number of weapons.
Initiative Feature- Add your Proficiency Bonus to your Initiative modifier.
Lvl 7 Features-
Bonded Weapon Feature- Bonded weapons count as magical for overcoming damage resist, you can't be disarmed of your bonded weapons against your will while your are conscious.
Frightening Check Feature- Probably better moved up a few levels, Lvl7 stuff is all flavorful 'ribbon' abilites for Fighters, for the most part.
Lvl 10 Feature-
'Blood Based' Damage Feature- You can choose whenever you attack to have all Creatures have Vunerability to all of your attacks (dealing double damage) until the start of your next turn. If you do so, you will also have Vunerability to all damage taken (taking double damage) until the start of your next turn. Like the Barbarian's Reckless Attack, but for damage instead of attack rolls.
Lvl 15 Feature-
Frightening Charge- On the first round of combat, you become Ethereal when you move, and enemies have Disadvantage on opportunity attacks against you. On the first round of combat, you can use a Bonus Action after hitting a creature with a melee weapon attack to cause all enemies within 30' of the creature hit to become Frightened if they fail a Wisdom Save against a DC equal to 8+ your STR or DEX modifier + your proficiency bonus.
Lvl 18 Feature-
'Blood Based' Toughness Feature- When you use your Lvl 10 Damage Feature, you heal 1d6 hit points with every successful melee weapon attack you make unti the start of your next turn.
Tried to make it flavor neutral, but interesting and in fitting with your concept. Also tried to keep it as simple as possible, so it's easy to follow, but with some 'oomph' as well. 
Lol, got ninja'd.
I like alot of those ideas, though! Maybe when I'm awake again, we can nail something down, because we had alot of similar ideas, I think. Great minds think alike? 
Great ideas so far guys, thx for the big help! : )
For now i liked this the most:
LvL 3 -
Mask stuff, detail later
Initiative bonus* check below
Bond weapon** check below
Bonded weapon can't be desarmed
Spend HD to gain bonus on attack with the bounded weapon (to keep the flavour).
LvL 7 -
Smell of blood, similar to your darkvision in terms of rules, but keeping the flavour. Now you can smell blood and stuff, shark kind thing you know? (monster manual inspired me)
Blood track, similar to your blood vision but with the flavour above
Thraumaturgy cantrip
Little bonus to intimidate checks whithout mask, advantage on intimidate checks with the mask on.
LvL 10 -
Dying creature shield of blood or blood bonus damage ****, sick idea bro! Maybe i could expand for critical strikes too? keep this idea in mind.
Any little bonus to combo with your better initiative
Any frightened check, didn't decide yet how i should make this. My idea was more of a sudden, reckless and brutal attack that caused fear on the enemy. that's why the original idea was the first enemy you hit.
LvL 15 -
I liked the idea of healling when killing enemies, but it would be recycled from the monk. i was thinking of a kind of "bite", like a vampiric thing, you can as a bonus action bite to deal X dmg and recover X HP... keep in mind.***
Smell of fear - bonus movement to charge against frighened enemies, when you kill or score a critical hit on a frightened creature you gain some bonus (didn't think of what yet).
Frenzy blood mechanic, any bonus for hitting below full hp creatures.
LvL 18 -
50% or below mechanic is nice. can be very strong since it's only 18 lvl. didn't decide wich yet.
Resistance maybe or temp hp maybe?
Tranquil savagery is a little bit off. maybe something with the "smell blood" or "frenzy blood" mechanic with similar bonus.
* The initiative bonus flavour will make sense with tracking blood and smell of blood. the oni influence in the fighter who understands little of magic will drive him violent when the dangerous come. As such, he will jump into battle like a animal instinct.
** i'll agree with you that blood summoned weapon is a little too warlockish, will keep a small ritual to "bond" with an favored weapon. similar to what eldrich fighters can do but with the blood flavour.
*** The deal with this class is: Different of what happens when a monk sealed the pact, the fighter was the first "servant" of the oni, they searched for less instructed warriors to revenge from the monk's monastery betrayal. As such the influence of the oni demonic magic will slowly change the body of the fighter, he'll adquire a taste for blood and raw meat and will feel the urge to fight and savage. Remember the vampire spawn? it's like one of them but with my flavour. less magic control and more violence capacity.
So this is what i like so far. focus on tweaking and suggesting based on this. Any modification on the order of the features per level is welcome, but focus on the stabilished mechanic and suggestions for the less decided ones (as the 50%< hp stuff)
THX again for the help brothers : ) will thank you both when the definitive post come.
FabulousRex wrote:
i'm not sure yet, barbarian is my least priority for this, so i prefer to do after fighter to have a more solid basis.
since the monk is more fightish and the fighter is more barbaric... maybe the barbarian will push to more demonic/beastial features. let's after we do this xD
This is the mask flavor stuff from the other thread. I'm sure, OP, if there are parts you want to change. But just so we know what we're looking at.
Level 3Blood Oath - The monk who discover the ancient art need to make the pact with an Oni. To do so the monk must spill his own blood as payment in a salt circle and meditate for 1 hour. The Oni then will be summoned to the circle and accept the pact, offering some of it's powers to the monk in trade of blood offerings.
As the deal is fixed, the oni will summon a Kabuki Mask as seal of the trade. The kabuki is a common theather tradition made in the first era to celebrate the alliance beetween man and oni, as such the oni's still use it as a symbol of pledge. The mask will resemble the apearence of the demon and will be attuned to the monk. You can as a free action summon the Mask to your face from any distance even if it's in another plane of existance, also, you can dismiss the mask to the Demon dimension as a free action. If the Mask suffer any damage spilling your own blood in it will fix it.
To use any of this tradition's unique features you must wear the mask.An Oni can communicate through its mask at any time. Monks who take the Blood Oath hear its quiet, sometimes unintelligible whispering every day, urging them toward violence to uphold their side of the bargain. The Oni may speak clearly, or appear in dreams, to give more urgent direction.
The monk can speak with the Oni by meditating with the mask. The Oni has its own interests, and will usually consider the monk expendable, but is always greedy for more blood tribute. If it sees the promise of carnage, it may offer information that will allow the monk to achieve it. The Oni cannot lie, but it is not all-knowing, its answers may be vague, as it may be unwilling to part with information if it doesn't see profit in it.
Oni Hunger - The oni is always hungry, as such, in return of the borrowed powers, the monk must make once per week a little ritual to spill the blood of an enemy in the kabuki mask. If you can't do it for any reason, the Oni hunger will feed from your living energy and you can't spend hit dices to heal until you manage to do the ritual.
It seems like we've agreed on some kind of "see in the dark" feature based on blood. How about this?
"Night Hunter's Sense: You are aware of the location of any living creature within 60ft of you, or of spilled blood in the same range, but not through obstructions that block the scent. You can recognize creatures by their scent, or the scent of blood they've left behind."
Things can't hide from you, you're rarely surprised, and you can track easily. I'm thinking level 7, because it does have non-combat use. Rangers can't ignore invisibility until level 18, but this feature could upgrade at a later level. You could add flavor about how the original pact-bearers used it to hunt down those who betrayed the Oni.
The bonus to initiative could come at level 7, as well. Champions add half proficiency to initiative, plus other non-proficient checks, and get more jump distance. Maybe half proficiency for this class too, to be fair. There are a lot of features to fit in.
For a "sudden, reckless and brutal attack," I would use Action Surge. When you use your Action Surge and hit with at least one attack as a result, all enemies within 30ft save against fear, like Fabulous Rex's feature. Add the initiative bonus, and maybe you can do this before anyone else moves. But it wouldn't be limited to the first turn. This could be for level 3 as the "meaty" feature, so you get the flavor online quickly.
So a bonded weapon can't be disarmed? Anything else? Maybe you can pull it to your hand from 60ft away. Or you always know the location of bonded weapons.
I do like the idea to spend hit dice to add damage with your bonded weapon. One die for 1d10+CON damage? But the value of hit dice depends on how many fights you have that day, actually. So maybe it's better to lose HP immediately instead of hit dice. Or both. Maybe you take damage equal to your level, then if you hit, deal twice as much damage to the target. This could be at level 10, since you have enough HP to afford the sacrifice by then.
So only two slots left. I like a reaction to steal blood, that could work at 15. But you both brought up charging and frightening (Frightening Charge and Smell of Fear). My worry is that too much fear-based stuff makes the class ineffective against fear-immune enemies. So that said, maybe something closer to this:
"Demon Frenzy: you have advantage on attacks against frightened enemies, and enemies below full HP. While you can sense such an enemy, you have disadvantage on attacks against enemies that aren't frightened or below full HP."
"Below full HP" is a huge range. I would prefer "less than half," but that's more for the DM to track.
Double damage is interesting, but I worry the damage could explode. A fighter already does amazing damage. Doubling it could make other party members' damage seem pointless.
That's my thoughts at the moment.
So we're thinking of a bonded weapon, initiative bonuses, fear powers, HP absorb, and blood manipulation. That's a wide spread for just a subclass. Probably, some of that needs to be dropped, or crammed together in one feature, with less synergy between features.
One possibility is to make a feat to go with this, as well as the custom background. Since this series of subclasses has blood as a theme, the feat could be a vampiric ability. Absorb health when you attack, steal blood as a reaction, stuff like that. So any of your subclasses can get that if they want it, and you free up design space in the subclasses.