All in Subclasses

Blood Magic Subclass (Sorcerer)

All four blood magic subclasses for the casters have some variant of their main blood magic ability, however, regardless of their focus. For wizards and sorcerers, that ability is called Hematurgy. Like the blood mages of Dragon Age, these blood mages can spill their own blood to fuel their magic even when their normal spell reserves have run dry, recklessly harming themselves in the process. This subclass for the sorcerer actually gets bonus hit dice to spend on that feature, and extra healing to make up for the damage, as a way of tying the sorcerer’s default “magic is in your bloodline” theme to the specific “blood magic” theme.

The Oath of Grief (Paladin)

The Oath of Grief paladin subclass was originally designed for a specific god within my homebrew setting, a god of solace, madness, and pessimism (with a gravity theme), but it works just as well for other dark gods or paladin orders. These guys may seem like edgelords, but they really do believe that to ignore their tenets is to cling to false hope and only hurt more for it.

The College of Journeys (Bard)

This bard subclass began with a vision of teleporting bards, and evolved from there until the aspect of travel became the main aesthetic. What's more bardic than serenading your friends to march (or sneak) through the forest more effectively? Bards of this college believe that the best stories are found upon the open road, and thus they specialize in travel-based magic, even in planar travel, and especially in teleportation.

The Woods Warden (Barbarian)

This barbarian subclass transforms the normal barbarian into a warrior of the forest, whose rage represents a primal infusion of arboreal power. Each time you rage, you can choose between three different options for battlefield control, meaning that not only is the subclass geared toward defense over offense more than the average barbarian, it provides dynamic and flexible gameplay that players shouldn't tire of as easily as other barbarians.