Class Feature Friday: Hag Bloodline (Bloodrager Bloodline)
(art by Mika Koskensalmi on Artstation)
They say that the marks of the old magics, especially curses, linger on those they touch, and few places is this more noticeable than the genetic legacy that hags leave behind.
Since hags have to rely on nearby humanoids reproduce, creating changelings which may or may not be lured into the torturous transformation into a proper hag, one would think that the taint of their dark magic would fade after a generation or two once the last hag in a region dies, leaving behind changelings who may be a bit odd, but unable to create more hags without the ritual of transformation.
However, even with no hags around, their mark can linger. While some of these bloodragers may be changelings themselves, many are descendants of changelings who never underwent the transformation, while others may be marked by their magic by harrowing encounters with such beings.
In any case, the results are warriors that have an uncanny connection to curse magic coupled with a savagery retrained only by the barest veneer of civilization. Like a hag, their fury can seem vindictive and cruel,
Those who possess this bloodline might have heterochromia with an unusual color if they didn’t already have it from being a changeling, or they might have slightly off proportions, or some odd feature that resembles the physical quirks of a hag, such as the loose skin of a blood hag, a greenish pallor from a green hag, and so on.
Like all bloodrager bloodlines, these warriors have a natural knack for certain techniques. Things like fighting against unseen foes, having surprisingly tough constitutions. Some, however, are most useful for changelings of the bloodline, granting them a minor boon of their heritage, or making their claws stronger and sharper.
Their bloodline spells naturally also draw upon hag mainstays, sapping life with a touch, afflicting permanent blindness, deafness, or curses, and even charming other creatures to aid them.
Tapping into the old magic, these bloodragers can give their foes the evil eye, sapping their ability to focus on attack or defense for a short while.
Hag blood has its benefits, making them immune to disease and poison when it surges forth with their rage.
Eventually, their rage taps into their hag heritage further, altering them further. In this state, they become even stronger and possess enhanced senses, but their viciousness becomes heightened, making them reckless and unstable. However, they eventually learn to also guard their bodies just as their minds are hard to get a handle on when raging.
As their connection to the old magics grows, they can bestow curses with a touch, and even join a coven.
At the true zenith of their power, their rage also protects them from magical curses and negative energy. Furthermore, they can bestow curses through their weapon when dealing especially grievous blows.
Interested in playing a changeling bloodrager with a thematic bloodline, or just want to drop curses and other debuffs on foes? This bloodline may appeal to you. Becoming immune to poison, disease, and the like when raging, as well as eventually applying the will save bonus to all saves is very nice. But don’t forget the evil eye! It is quite a useful debuff to use as an opener before rushing in. I would advise a build focused on buffs and debuffs, with some blasting to round it out. The former to weaken strong opponents, with the blasting to take care of groups of weaker foes.
While not all hag-blooded bloodragers are changelings, the ones that are might struggle with the nature of the bloodline. After all, changelings by their very nature have the potential to become hags. Whether one believes that such a transformation is a corruption of who they are or a natural but optional transition, one could interpret this bloodline as their hag blood struggling for dominance. Some may even come to believe if they over-use their powers that they might spontaneously transform completely into a hag during one of their rages, and find themselves unable to turn back. Whether that has any credence is up the GM, but it likely will give them lots of anxiety to think about.
Every day at sunset, a woman strides to the shore of the volcanic Vakuka Island and sings a lay to the sea which brings up many fish and denizens to the surface. They say that this is in homage to the progenitor of the island’s population, an ash hag that turned from cruelty to peace, mothering changelings and their descendants with humans and ifrit alike.
Cursed with wereleopard lycanthropy by the foul rituals of a hag, Akisha rid herself of the curse by tearing out the throat of the hag with her own teeth. However, though she was free of the moon’s curse, she found she had contracted another affliction, one that turned the warrior’s rage into supernatural vindictiveness.
Running away from home, Lisha follows a longing she has long felt calling her away, but the reason for her fleeing is different entirely, half-remembered memories of turning into what the villagers called a “witch-beast” torment her dreams, coupled with the assault of the man who’s depravity awakened this dark power within her.
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