Blood domain

The Blood domain is a divine domain for clerics that uses a rare form of magic known as hemocraft to manipulate the blood and vitality of themselves and others. Blood domain clerics are known as blood clerics, many of whom are associated with the Claret Orders. The Blood domain was created by Matthew Mercer.

Description
The Blood domain is based on the understanding of the life force in the mortal shell, the balance of life and death, and sacrifice. Almost any neutral or evil deity can claim some influence over the secrets of blood magic; good gods tend to shun it except in extenuating circumstances. Known deities that have the blood domain in their portfolio include Asmodeus, The Raven Queen, Torog, and Zehir.

History

 * See also: Claret Orders

Blood clerics originate in the continent of Wildemount. During the Marrow War, the high cleric of the Julous Dominion secretly made a pact with a devil of the Nine Hells to gain the power to repel the Dwendalian Empire. However, the bargain came at the cost of the Marrow Valley becoming overrun with devils and undead.

Seeking to protect his people, a priest named Trence Orman prayed to the Raven Queen for help, and she granted him the secrets of hemocraft magic. Using this power, Trence and his followers formed the Claret Orders and banished the devils and undead from the realm. Unfortunately, with the Marrow Valley now clear, the Dwendalian Empire was then able to advance and conquer the Julous Dominion.

The newly instated Dwendalian lords blamed the Claret Orders for inviting the fiends into the Marrow Valley. Once they were no longer welcome, the Orders went into hiding, though they never stopped protecting the lands from monstrous threats from the shadows.

Small sects of Claret Orders began wandering Tal'Dorei in the years before 812 PD; in that realm the head of the Claret Orders is a dwarven blood cleric named Teresa Dulamar.

The Tombtakers, including a tabaxi blood cleric named Cree Deeproots, split from the Claret Orders in Wildemount to follow a different path. After the Tombtakers were scattered in 833 PD, Cree joined the Gentleman's Troupe, the local affiliate of the Myriad in Zadash, helping them to track down those who betrayed the organization. In Thunsheer 836 PD, Cree resurrected the leader of the Tombtakers, Lucien, setting in motion the final chapters of Campaign Two.

Powers and Abilities
This section is based on pp. 101–102 of the Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting. Blood clerics gain proficiency with martial weapons.

Blood Domain Spells
 * 1st level: sleep, ray of sickness
 * 3rd level: ray of enfeeblement, crown of madness
 * 5th level: haste, slow
 * 7th level: blight, stoneskin
 * 9th level: dominate person, hold monster

Bloodletting Focus Whenever blood clerics deal damage to creatures with blood with any spell of 1st level or higher (including the weapon attacks of spiritual weapon ), they deal extra necrotic damage by drawing blood from the wounds.

Channel Divinity: Blood Puppet As an action, blood clerics can force a Large or smaller creature (at 8th level, Huge or smaller) to make a Constitution saving throw or move half their movement speed and make a single weapon attack against a creature of the cleric's choice. Dead or unconscious creatures automatically fail their saving throw.

Channel Divinity: Crimson Bond As an action, blood clerics can focus on a sample (at least two ounces) of a creature's blood to learn that creature's approximate distance from the cleric and in which direction, and the creature's general state of health (based on percentage of hit points), as long as the creature is within 10 miles. The cleric can maintain concentration on this bond for up to one hour.

While the bond is maintained, the cleric can spend an action to force the target creature to make a Constitution saving throw. If they succeed, the cleric takes necrotic damage and the bond ends. If the creature fails, the cleric can see through the target's eyes or hear through the target's ears instead of the cleric's own for a number of rounds equal to the cleric's Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1 round), after which the bond ends.

Sanguine Recall At 8th level, blood clerics can, as an action once per long rest, recover spell slots (up to 5th level) with a combined level of half the cleric's class level (rounded up), taking damage based on the levels of spell slots recovered.

Vascular Corruption Aura At 17th level, as an action once per long rest, a blood cleric can emit an aura for 30 feet for one minute that causes enemy creatures with blood to bleed, suffering necrotic damage each turn they enter or start their turn in the aura. Enemies that would regain hit points while within the aura only regain half of the intended number, rounded up.

Notable Blood Clerics

 * Cree Deeproots: Member of the Tombtakers
 * Teresa Dulamar: Head of the Claret Orders in Tal'Dorei