The Blood Shaman (Vampiric Hedgewitch)

 This build is the updated Spheres version of my iconic spiritualist from Legendary Spiritualists…

This post already appeared for patrons only on my Patreon page. If you wish to see stuff in advance and have access to other rewards, please consider donating!

The Blood Shaman (Vampiric Hedgewitch)

Dhampir hedgewitch 1

CN Medium humanoid (dhampir)

Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +5

Defense

AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +2 Dex)

hp 8 (1d8)

Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +4. +2 racial vs. disease and mind-affecting effects. 

Defensive Abilities resist level drain; Weaknesses light sensitivity

Offense

Speed 30 ft.

Melee spear +2 (1d8+3, x3) or bite +2 (1d3+2)

Ranged spear +2 (1d8+2, x3)

Special Attacks curse 3/day (1d6, DC 13), sneak attack +1d6

Magic

Caster Level 1; MSB +1; MSD 12; Concentration +4

Tradition Nomad Shaman (Drawbacks: Magical Signs, Verbal Casting; Bodily Enhancement and Restricted Enhancement (tribe members) (Enhancement), Limited Nature x2 (Nature); Boon: Draw Magic); CAM Cha

Spell Points 5

Blood Sphere - DC 13; Duration Concentration; Range Close (25 ft); Talents none; Drawbacks none

- Control Blood (bleed, coagulate)

Death Sphere - DC 13; Duration 1 round/level or 1 minute/level; Range Medium (110 ft); Talents none; Drawbacks none

- Ghost Strike (extenuating strike)

- Reanimate

Statistics

Str 14, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 16

Base Atk +0; CMB +2 (+4 on grapple maneuvers to pin an opponent); CMD +13

Traits Doom Cultist, Final Embrace

Feats Blood Thirst

Skills Craft (alchemy) +4, Disguise +6, Heal +6, Intimidate +7, Sleight of Hand +6, Stealth +6

SQ fangs, manipulative, paths (black magic, charlatanism), path benefits (oracle curse [vampirism], versatile performance [oratory]), path powers (curse, guile pool [3 points])

Gear alchemical blood (40 gp), cauldron (1 gp), leather armor (10 gp), shaman’s kit (15 gp), spear (2 gp), thieves’ tools (30 gp), 7 gp.

Special Abilities

Blood Sphere You can manipulate blood and its properties.

Blood: Blood Control As a standard action, you may establish a link to the blood of a target within close range. Unwilling targets are permitted a Fortitude save, and the effect is subject to spell resistance. Targets with less than half their maximum hit points take a -4 penalty on this save. This link lasts for as long as you concentrate, though you may spend a spell point for it to last 1 round per caster level without concentration.
Targets that gain immunity to bleed damage from their creature type, subtype, or a template are immune to blood control. Creatures that gain immunity to bleed damage from other sources are susceptible to blood control, but still benefit from their immunity against bleed damage.
If a second creature attempts to establish blood control on a creature that is already controlled, it must succeed at a magic skill check. A creature may always attempt to end the blood control on itself by attempting a new Fortitude save as a mental-only standard action that may be taken even when normally unable to take standard actions, such as when dazed or nauseated.
You may apply one (quicken) or (still) ability as part of casting blood control. Once blood control has been established, you may spend a standard action (unless otherwise noted) to apply additional (quicken) or (still) abilities. Spending at least a standard action to do so counts as concentrating on the ongoing blood control for that instance of blood control (if able to concentrate on an effect as a move action, applying additional (quicken) or (still) abilities as a move action, such as via the Quicken metamagic feat, would also count as concentrating for that round).
A creature may not be affected by both a (quicken) and a (still) ability at the same time. If a caster attempts to use a (quicken) talent on a creature currently under the effects of a (still) talent or vise versa, the previous effect ends. Some creatures that are normally immune to bleed damage but that frequently feed on blood may be susceptible the blood control. Any creature that has used the blood drain universal monster ability in the previous hour or any creature composed largely of blood (such as a blood golem) may be affected by blood control. Other appropriate creatures may also be affected, at the GM’s discretion.
When you gain the Blood sphere, you learn the following abilities:

Blood: Bleed (quicken) You may cause the target of your blood control to take bleed damage equal to your caster level for the duration of your blood control. This damage can be stopped prior to the end of your blood control by the Coagulate ability, a DC 15 Heal check, or any amount of magical healing or fast healing/regeneration.

Blood: Coagulate (still) You may end any bleed damage affecting the target of your blood control. For the duration of the blood control, the target reduces any bleed damage taken by 1 + 1 per 3 caster levels and any creature using an effect that would inflict bleed damage must succeed at a magic skill check or have the bleed damage negated. Creatures imposing bleed damage via non-magical abilities (such as an attack that deals bleed damage) may substitute their base attack bonus for their magic skill bonus on this check.

Death Sphere You may command the powers of unlife.

Death: Ghost Strike As a standard action, you may make a ghost strike, summoning negative energy as a melee touch attack or a ranged touch attack within medium range. A ghost strike is considered a negative energy death effect, and as such has no effect on undead, constructs, and other creatures immune to such things (although some talents provide exceptions). Ghost strike effects do not stack with themselves, and are subject to spell resistance.
You gain the following ghost strike when you gain the Death sphere:

Death: Exhausting Strike (Ghost Strike) The subject of your ghost strike becomes fatigued for 1 round per caster level (Fortitude negates). You may spend a spell point to increases this effect to making the target exhausted for 1 minute per caster level (Fortitude negates). On a successful save, the target is still fatigued for 1 round. Unlike regular fatigue and exhaustion, these conditions end as soon as the duration expires.

Death: Reanimate As a standard action, you may touch an intact dead body and spend a spell point to reanimate it as a zombie or skeleton (depending on the composition of the body in question) for 1 minute per caster level. This creature gains the zombie or skeleton template and obeys your commands, although only basic commands such as “go”, “stay”, “follow me”, “attack”, or “guard” are understandable. While specifics can be given (“guard this area against humans but let goblins pass”), undead are unintelligent and easily fooled.
A reanimated body cannot speak and has no knowledge or ability to think and so cannot answer questions or reveal anything it knew in life. When the duration expires, the body collapses until reanimated again. It does not regain hit points between reanimations. If reduced to 0 hit points, the body collapses and is destroyed; it cannot be reanimated again.
You may have a total number of reanimated creatures active at any one time whose combined Hit Dice does not exceed twice your caster level. If you attempt to reanimate a creature that would push your total beyond this limit, you must choose which creatures cease to be reanimated or are released from your control. You cannot reanimate a creature with more Hit Dice than twice your caster level. Temporary increases to caster level (such as from implements or the thaumaturge’s forbidden lore class feature) do not increase the statistics, maximums, or number of undead the caster controls.

Draw Magic You gain a +1 competence bonus to your caster level whenever at least 3 creatures under the effects of your sphere abilities are within 30 feet of you. This competence bonus increases to +2 if there are at least 6 such creatures within 30 feet.

Magical Signs Your magic is accompanied by tell-tale signs; for example, your body glows brightly, the sound of tortured souls shriek as you cast, a deep chill affects all nearby creatures, etc. Using magic automatically breaks stealth, and whenever you use magic all creatures within 60 feet who are observing you are considered to have automatically succeeded at a Spellcraft check to know which sphere effect, talents, and casting tradition you used.
You may not select this drawback if you possess the Witchmarked drawback.

Paths The hedgewitch draws power from her paths, blending magic and hidden knowledge to powerful effect. A hedgewitch chooses two paths at 1st level, gaining their class skills, path benefits, path powers, and their path masteries at 20th level. In addition, each path grants access to a number of secrets the hedgewitch may choose whenever she gains a secret.

Path: Black Magic The black magician has delved into magic theories and practices some believe are better left untouched.
Class Skills: Disguise (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (planes).
Path Benefit: The black magician chooses an oracle curse. She gains this curse and its associated benefits, using her hedgewitch level as her effective oracle level. If she already possesses an oracle’s curse (or gains one later), this instead allows her hedgewitch levels to stack with the levels of the class that grants access to the oracle’s curse.
If your curse provides you with spells known (for example, Haunted), you instead gain a bonus spell point at the levels you would normally gain those spells.
Vampirism: You crave the taste of fresh, warm blood. You take damage from positive energy and heal from negative energy as if you were undead. At 5th level, you gain channel resistance +4. At 10th level, you add vampiric touch to your list of 3rd-level oracle spells known and undead anatomy to your list of 5th-level oracle spells known. At 15th level, you gain damage reduction 5/magic.

Path Power: As a standard action, the black magician may curse a target within 30 feet. She may bestow a number of curses in a day equal to 3 + ½ her hedgewitch level. Targets may attempt a Will save (DC 10 + ½ her hedgewitch level + her casting ability modifier) to negate the curse. As a curse, only effects such as the Break Enchantment talent or spells like remove curse can remove a curse before its duration ends, and treat the black magician’s class level as her caster level for the purpose of removing one of her curses. The black magician may always dismiss her own curses as a free action.
At 1st level, she may give a target a -2 penalty to attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and saving throws for a number of rounds equal to her casting ability modifier. This improves to -4 at 9th level. This does not stack with itself.
At 5th level, she may cause the target to roll twice whenever it makes an attack roll, skill check, ability check, or saving throw and take the lower result for a number of rounds equal to her casting ability modifier.
At 9th level, she may give a target 6 points of ability drain to one ability score of her choice. This does not stack with itself.
At 13th level, she can permanently blind or deafen the target.
At 17th level, she can permanently confuse the target.

Path: Charlatanism The charlatan learned to use showmanship to enhance her magic and magic to enhance her showmanship, until few can tell where one ends and the other begins.
Class Skills: Disable Device (Dex), Disguise (Cha), Sleight of Hand (Dex).
Path Benefit: The charlatan gains versatile performance, as the bard ability. She chooses one type of Perform skill. She can use her bonus in that skill in place of her bonus in its associated skills. When substituting in this way, she may use her total Perform skill bonus, including class skill bonus, in place of its associated skill’s bonus, whether or not she has ranks in that skill or if it is a class skill.
The types of Perform and their associated skills are: Act (Bluff, Disguise), Comedy (Bluff, Intimidate), Dance (Acrobatics, Fly), Keyboard Instruments (Diplomacy, Intimidate), Oratory (Diplomacy, Sense Motive), Percussion (Handle Animal, Intimidate), Sing (Bluff, Sense Motive), String (Bluff, Diplomacy), and Wind (Diplomacy, Handle Animal).
Path Power: The charlatan gains a guile pool, containing a number of guile points equal to 3 + ½ her hedgewitch level. This pool replenishes after roughly 8 hours of rest; these hours do not need to be consecutive. If she gains a guile pool from another source, these levels combine when determining the number of guile points possessed, although she may add either 3 or that class’s listed ability score modifier to the guile pool, not both.
The charlatan may spend a guile point as part of any skill check to grant herself a +2 bonus to that skill check. At 10th level, this bonus increases to +4.
When successfully making an attack against a creature within 30 feet that is flat-footed or denied its Dexterity bonus to AC, she may spend a guile point to deal sneak attack damage to that creature, as a rogue of equal level (1d6 at 1st level, 2d6 at 3rd level, etc.) This stacks with any rogue levels she possesses, or any sneak attack dice gained from other sources. This sneak attack may be affected by rogue talents.

Verbal Casting You must speak in a loud, clear voice to cast spells. Using magic alerts all nearby hearing creatures to your presence and location, effectively breaking stealth. You cannot cast in an area of magical silence, or in any other situation where you are unable to speak clearly.

Build

The Blood Shaman is built with a 20-point buy and 105 gp starting wealth. Favored Class Bonus is +⅕th of a Blood or Death sphere talent. If using a lower or higher point buy, try however to keep all attributes balanced. Charisma is your casting statistic, affects the save DCs of all your magic and martial talents and your spell pool; in addition, it fuels the abilities you gain from your hedgewitch paths, and is useful for channeling energy and intimidate enemies. Wisdom bolsters your Will saves; Strength is your combat statistic, Dexterity increases your Armor Class and Ref saves and complements the rogue talents and guile you gain from the Charlatanism tradition; and Constitution gives you more hit points and increases your Fort save. Lastly, Intelligence gives you a lot of useful skill points to spend in various Knowledge skills, as well as in Heal and Intimidate.

How To Play a Blood Shaman

Bittered from your unholy birth, you pursued a solitary life, surrounded by the undead you reanimated, before finding a tribe of outcasts you could keep care of. You now are in search for redemption, but also of revenge against the vampire who sired you and of a way to become fully human. You learned to craft alchemical blood to free yourself from the curse of your vampiric thirst.

Future Abilities

Magic Talents Absorb Blood, Alchemical Creation*, Bleeding Wounds*, Creation Sphere (Material Focus [blood]), Divination Sphere, Drain, Exsanguinating Strike, Fear*, Ghost Sight, Greater Reanimate, Hemorrhage, Improved Bleed, Manipulate Alchemy*, Mind Sphere (Empath, Hypnotic Gaze), Health, Manipulate Undeath, Mass Reanimate*, Powerful Charm*, See Hazard, Self Control*, Summon Spirit, Vampiric Strike

Secrets Amateur Hedgewitch (Covenant), Channel Feat x2 (Command Undead, Versatile Channeler), Extra Healing, Familiar, Greater Hexcrafter (Witch’s Brew), Hexcrafter (Cauldron), Trapfinding, Trickery x2 (dampen presence, eerie disappearance)

Feats Brew Potion*, Crimson Theurgy, Hypocondriac’s Terror, Improved Spell Combat, Greater Grapple, Improved Familiar, Improved Grapple, Improved Unarmed Strike, Reservoir, Vampire’s Guile

Skills Knowledge, Heal, Intimidate, and Craft (alchemy) are the best skills for a blood shaman. Stealth and Disguise well complement his roguish abilities.

Channel negative energy with Priestly Initiate. Your familiar is a Prankster raven that later becomes a nosoi with Improved Familiar: give it the Transformation feat instead of Alertness so it can assume the guise of a quasit.

Dhampir Sphere Classes Favored  Bonuses

Armiger: Gain +⅙ of a granted talent for 1 customized weapon. This must be a piercing weapon or a natural attack..

Armorist: Gain + ⅙th of an arsenal trick.

Blacksmith: Weapons you craft yourself deal +¼ points of negative energy damage while you wield them.

Commander: Gain +½ bonus to Intimidate checks made to influence an opponent’s attitude.

Conscript: Add a +2 bonus on rolls to stabilize when dying.

Elementalist: All destructive blasts deal an additional +¼ negative energy damage. This extra negative energy damage has no effect on undead, or other targets normally healed by negative energy.

Eliciter: Gain a +¼ bonus to your effective class level when determining the effects of all abilities associated with the aversion, enmity, fear, grief, or rage emotion.

Fey Adept: Add +¼ to the fey adept’s shadow pool.

Hedgewitch: Gain ⅕ of a Blood or Death sphere talent.

Incanter: Gain ⅕ of a Blood or Death sphere talent.

Mageknight: Increase the mageknight’s effective level by +⅕ when determining the potency of mystic combat abilities.

Prodigy: Gain ⅕ of a Blood or Death sphere magic talent.

Sage: Add +½ to combat maneuvers checks to initiate or maintain a grapple, or to the Ref save DC of an opponent when using the infuser package ability.

Scholar: Gain +⅛ of a material imposition.

Sentinel: Gain +⅓ channel resistance.

Shifter: Add +1 minute to duration when taking the form of an undead.

Soul Weaver: Add +½ to the damage dealt with channel energy.

Striker: Gain +¼ to your CMB to grapple.

Symbiat: Add 1 to the total number of rounds the symbiat may use psionics in a day.

Technician: Increase the benefit of your danger sense class feature by +⅓.

Thaumaturge: Increase the DC of the Channel Punishment invocation by ⅓.

Troubadour: Add ⅙ of an extra quirk to the troubadour’s monster or villain personas. If either persona is dismissed, the other one gains the extra quirk.