Sanguis (5e Class)
| “ | Pssh... Nothing personal... kid... | ” |
| —A nonbeliever | ||
The Sanguis
A lone human is surrounded by rogues. They taunt him relentlessly, believing him to be a fool. Despite being outnumbered, the human smiles and begins to radiate dark energy. In the next moment, he discharges this power, destroying the surrounding area and leaving only dust and red mist.
In the dead of night, a drow cleans his blade, having soaked it in the blood of a nearby orc tribe. As he proceeds, an orc survivor attempts to take revenge and assassinate him. However, the dark elf notices and runs his sword through his own stomach, penetrating himself completely and stabbing the orc. As the orc perishes, the drow expresses disappointment at the fact that he must clean his blade yet again.
Amidst a bloody battle, a tiefling rampages, eviscerating all of his opponents with one mere slash per adversary. In mere moments, the battlefield is silent, littered with corpses. An enemy soldier observes this and attempts to run, but the tiefling suddenly appears behind him. The soldier, paralyzed with fear, falls to the ground as the tiefling pierces his heart with a barbed sword.
Cold-Hearted Killers
Wielding the dark arts and gaining power from carnage, a sanguis is a merciless destroyer that shows no mercy to their opponents. They thrive in combat, growing more powerful as they take lives and sustain damage. Their heartless aura is sufficient to strike fear into the most battle-hardened of warriors, for they know this well: to stand against a sanguis is to accept a violent end.
Creating a Sanguis
When creating a sanguis, consider why your character has pursued this dark, violent path. Were they scarred by the brutal loss of their family, leaving them to seek power by any means? Perhaps they were cursed to die young, causing them to take revenge against the world for taking their life away? Are they simply a cruel individual that thrives on destruction? The path of the sanguis is one of endless violence and corruption, so think about why your character would seek to embrace such.
- Quick Build
You can make a sanguis quickly by following these suggestions. First, Strength or Dexterity should be your highest ability score, followed by Dexterity or Strength. Second, choose the haunted one background.
Class Features
As a Sanguis you gain the following class features.
- Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d10 per Sanguis level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + Constitution modifier per Sanguis level after 1st
- Proficiencies
Armor: Light and medium armor
Weapons: All weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Strength, Dexterity
Skills: Choose any two
- Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- (a) A martial weapon or (b) Two simple weapons
- (a) Studded leather armor or (b) Leather armor, a longbow, and 20 arrows
- (a) Two javelins or (b) A light crossbow and 20 bolts
- (a) A dungeoneer's pack or (b) An explorer's pack
- If you are using starting wealth, you have 5d4 × 10 in funds.
| Level | Proficiency Bonus | Dark Might | Features | Soul Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +2 | - | Inescapable, Bloodthirst | 9 |
| 2nd | +2 | ×2 | Blink, Dark Might, Netherarts | 9 |
| 3rd | +2 | ×2 | Harming Style | 9 |
| 4th | +2 | ×2 | Ability Score Improvement | 9 |
| 5th | +3 | ×3 | Slaughter | 12 |
| 6th | +3 | ×3 | Bleeding Death | 12 |
| 7th | +3 | ×3 | Harming Style feature | 12 |
| 8th | +3 | ×3 | Ability Score Improvement | 12 |
| 9th | +4 | ×4 | Reign of Terror | 12 |
| 10th | +4 | ×4 | Harming Style feature | 12 |
| 11th | +4 | ×4 | Slaughter (×2), Inescapable Improvement | 15 |
| 12th | +4 | ×4 | Ability Score Improvement | 15 |
| 13th | +5 | ×5 | Murderous Blade | 15 |
| 14th | +5 | ×5 | Silence | 15 |
| 15th | +5 | ×5 | Harming Style feature | 18 |
| 16th | +5 | ×5 | Ability Score Improvement | 18 |
| 17th | +6 | ×6 | Slaughter (×3) | 18 |
| 18th | +6 | ×6 | Harming Style feature | 18 |
| 19th | +6 | ×6 | Ability Score Improvement | 18 |
| 20th | +6 | ×5 | Death Incarnate | 18 |
Bloodthirst
You crave violence, growing exhilarated at the sight of injury. You are aware of the remaining number of hit points of any creatures within 120 feet.
Additionally, whenever you reduce a creature to 0 hit points, you gain temporary hit points equal to the damage dealt by the finishing blow. These temporary hit points disappear after 1 minute out of combat.
Inescapable
Your wrath cannot be avoided; your rage shall befall any who oppose you. Beginning at 1st level, as a bonus action, you can teleport to an unoccupied space within a number of feet equal to your movement speed. This unoccupied space must be within 5 feet of a hostile creature you are able to see.
Blink
When you reach the 2nd level, you can use your bonus action to quickly shift positions by teleporting, for 1 minute. When a creature within 10 feet moves, uses a feature, or takes an action, bonus action, or reaction, you can teleport to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of it as a reaction. If the action is an attack or an effect that forces you to make a saving throw, you impose disadvantage to the attack or advantage to your save.
The distance you can teleport using this feature increases to 15 feet at 5th level, 20 feet at 9th level, 25 feet at 13th level, 30 feet at 17th level and 60 feet at 20th level.
You can use this feature twice, and regain your features after completing a short or a long rest.
Dark Might
The darkness is your tool; your hands wield forbidden power and cursed strength. While below half of your hit point maximum, once per turn when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, your attack is a critical. Beginning at 5th level, you can roll one additional weapon damage die when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with a melee attack. This increases to two additional dice at 9th level and three additional dice at 13th level and four additional dice at 17th level.
Netherarts
At 2nd level, whenever you kill a creature that is not undead or a construct, you trap their soul. You can carry a number of souls with you based on your sanguis level, as displayed under the Soul Capacity column of the Sanguis table. These souls can be utilized for a plethora of effects, and you start by knowing three of them. You learn two additional netherarts at 7th, 11th, and 15th levels.
A list of netherarts is available at the end of the class page. Some of your netherarts require a saving throw. The DC for those is equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier (choose one).
Harming Style
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Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 4, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 2.
Slaughter
Starting at 5th level, you can attack creatures as soon as you approach them. Whenever you teleport to a place within 5 feet of a hostile creature, you can make a melee weapon attack against that creature, using your reaction. At 11th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, when you use your Slaughter feature.
Bleeding Death
At 6th level, when you hit a creature with a melee attack while blink is active, you can force that creature to make a Constitution saving throw against your Netherarts save DC, as a reaction. If the creature fails this save, it takes necrotic damage equal to 1d10 + your Dexterity or Strength modifier (choose one) at the start of each of its turns.
The bleeding stops if the creature succeeds on a Wisdom (Medicine) check against the save DC, regains at least 1 hit point. The bleeding also ends when blink ends or if you use a reaction.
Dark Might Improvement
At 6th level, whenever you use Slaughter to attack a creature that is under half its maximum hit points, the attack is made at advantage.
Bloodthirst Improvement
At 14th level, the range of your bloodthirst increases to 1 mile. In addition, you know the general health status of wounded creatures, knowing its current amount of hit points, any conditions it is currently suffering and its emotional state.
Netherarts
Harming Styles
At 3rd level, you add your proficiency bonus to your initiative rolls. In addition, when you roll initiative, you can teleport to a place you can see within your Blink range. You also can activate blink, if you have uses of it.
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Multiclassing
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Proficiencies. When you multiclass into the <!-class name-> class, you gain the following proficiencies:
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