#advanced class guide

(art by Kevin Wu on Artstation)

 Overview

 We have all known anger at some point or another, an emotion of fury that wells up inside until it can no longer be contained, leading to violent words or actions.

For this week’s subject, these raw emotions are not just the feelings of the one experiencer, but manifest outwardly the way they feel inside. Great gouts of flame, heartless malice in ice, the roar of a mighty predator, the unending seething hate of the wronged dead, and so on.

It brings me great pleasure to present this week’s class review, the bloodrager!

Like all hybrid classes, the bloodrager is a fusion of two classes, in this case an unusual combination of barbarian and sorcerer!

Indeed, normally barbarians are considered a poor choice to multiclass with spellcasting classes since the primary gimmick of the barbarian: their battle-fury, normally prevents one from using magic or other abilities more complex that “feed your foe their own warhammer”. However, this class pulls it off, not only granting them minor spellcasting abilities, but replacing the rage powers that barbarians normally get with a suite of other magical abilities based on their chosen bloodline.

But what exactly is a bloodrager? In short, they are one with a measure of sorcerous power that focus on developing it alongside a brutal fighting style that makes use of raw emotion and fury.

Exactly how that works varies by individual. Some bloodragers might have the sorcerous power but chose to focus on combat ability ahead of developing their magic. Others may be a rare mutation of their bloodline that emphasizes combat prowess and fury, while others may be more traditional barbarian warriors that were bestowed magical power by either a blessing or a curse.

Due to the inherited nature of their powers, the source of which varies as much as it does for their sorcerous cousins, these mystical warriors have plenty of reason to not have even been born into the classical “barbarian” or “primitive” culture, and might show up anywhere.

Of course, much like sorcerers the inherited nature of their power might also give them trouble growing up. After all, spontaneously manifested magic in your youth is one thing. Doing so while also having bouts of rage? That’s another story entirely. However, much like sorcerers, they may not experience their initial awakening in the same way. Indeed, just like how some sorcerers may be ostracized or accepted, bloodragers may experience similar moments in their lives, the latter especially in warrior cultures or those with strong militaries, who might see their potential, though even then they may be held at arm’s length

In the end, the story of a bloodrager is very much about having a lot of emotions ranging from rage or hate to a violent joy in battle, vengeful grief, and so on. Moreover, their stories are that of coming to grips with those emotions, accepting them, and directing them towards positive ends in protecting those they care about and/or smiting their enemies.

(art by Alejandro M. G. on Artstation)

Conclusions

And that’s the brawler! It’s a class all about fighting up close and thinking on your feet, and that’s pretty inspiring, all things considered. After all, it’s one thing to say that you faced the creatures of darkness and won, another thing entirely to say you beat them up with their bare hands.

Indeed, the ability to be a viable combat character without as many fancy magic weapons as other classes thematically shows defiance against such supernatural threats that one normally assumes are beyond the power of mortal men to deal with, and the fact that the brawler does it without any ki or other mystical power of spirit just shows how they’ve perfected themselves.

That focus on bettering themselves also ties into other tropes associated with the class, such as the desire to be the best fighter both within and without a tournament sort of environment. In this way, you might argue that there’s an element of modern athlete in the brawler as well.

So, with all we’ve seen over this week, can we say that the brawler is successful as a hybrid class? I’d say so. It combines it’s two parent classes in a way that is both thematically appropriate and mechanically interesting, while also granting abilities that give it an identity of its own and even spawned copycat archetypes.

I kinda doubt that the brawler will get revived in 2nd edition anytime soon, but it was fun and fascinating to see it come to fruition, and I have no doubt it will spawn a little more inspiration in the inheriting edition at some point.

(art by Giuseppe De Iure on Artstation)

Overview

The ability of the monk class to be able to stand up to demons, dragons, and the like with nothing more than their bare hands is a powerful indicator of the power that mortals truly possess when guided by discipline. However, maybe the trappings of spirituality are not for you. Maybe you wanna be a super-powerful martial artist without ki or a particularly monastic lifestyle. There’s certainly plenty of fictional characters out there who fit that criteria across many different types of media.

And it is that question that brings us to the hybrid class we are checking out today, a fusion of fighter and monk, I present the brawler!

While they don’t usually have time for the spiritual side of training one’s body and mind, there can be no denying that these martial artists are quite capable even without bouts of supernatural strength, speed, and the occasional teleport. In fact, in settings where monks really just don’t fit in for any reason, brawler can be quite the useful substitute for that niche in your games.

At the very least, lt lets unarmed combatant characters from a region where such disciplines have no foothold to be something other than an incongruous monk or some sort of unarmed fighter build.

But brawlers are not just “monks without ki” or anything so boring. Instead, the brawler implements unarmed and close-quarter weapon combat in a way that makes sense for them, as well as introduces a new ability that truly makes the brawler unique.

This new ability, martial improvisation, lets brawlers improvise battle tactics on the fly, essentially granting them the ability to temporarily gain combat feats based on the situation. Perhaps you need a technique which is right for the situation, or maybe you want access to a feat derived from one you already have, letting you improve or diversify an already present technique. It’s such a fun and useful ability that a few archetypes from other classes straight-up steal it to be the gimmick of the archetype.

In this way, the brawler is almost sort of like a caster whose only spell is fist, but they have the ability to gain a thousand ways to modify that, becoming an expert grappler when a foe needs to sit still, or a heavy hitter when they need to die as fast as possible.

The brawler also has different themes and aesthetics compared to your average monk as well. While some may wear the light gi or flowing robes of certain styles of martial arts without the association of spirituality, others might be barroom brawlers, pit fighters, gladiators, or even genteel boxers and wrestlers.

Such figures, bereft of the spiritual aspect of the monk, may seek to become the very best fighter in the world, or they may just be a person using their skill set to get by in the rough world in which they live. Meanwhile, others might view the living flesh as a work of art to be refined and perfected for it’s own sake. Whatever their motivations, their skill is nothing to be sneezed at.

(art by LTF86 on DeviantArt)

 Bloodlines and Mutations

 Like it’s parent class, the bloodrager has a selection of bloodlines to pick from, informing the abilities and combat style they prefer, as well as informing some of their personal lore. After all, like sorcerers, the bloodline of a bloodrager suggests some connection to the source of that power, be it a distant (or not-so distant) intermingling of blood, being born under an auspicious sign, being exposed to strange energies during the neonatal or childhood periods of their lives, and so on. Whether some factor such as strong emotions or personal choice caused them to develop as a bloodrager instead of a sorcerer, their power is undeniable as they grow into it.

Of course, what vexes me the most is that relatively speaking, bloodrager is one of those hybrid classes that did not receive a lot of updates compared to others, so while their core set is nice, and we get an array of reflections of other sorcerer bloodlines and even a handful of new ones, the total list is woefully small, and lacks many counterparts to the multitude of sorcerer bloodlines.

I’m grateful for what we got, and I understand that the focus of the writers it to explore new territory, not necessarily flesh out already-established concepts, but it is frustrating to me, anyway.

 With that being said, let’s get into some broad categories of these bloodlines.

Naturally, there’s the core set, which has such staples as draconic, demonic, infernal, and the other classic ones, but also less monstrous options like celestial and destined, or more primal ones like elemental or fey.

A few tap into the natural world, such as aquatic for those with the blood of the sea, or verdant for those tied to nature and plant life.

Some of the new ones tap into new sinister forcers, such as the Black Blood of Orv, the vindictive power of Hags, or even the shadowy powers of Kytons or the Shadow bloodline.

An interesting area that bloodragers tap into that sorcerers only partially followed them were “monstrous” bloodlines based on many classic monsters, ranging from more humanoids ones like Medusas and Salamanders, to more bestial creatures such as Nagas, Phoenixes, and Sphinxes, tapping into both their magical power and physical might.

There are also a few that are tied to more mortal heritages that nevertheless have mystical power associated with them, such as the Arcane bloodline. Others include the Martyred, who descend from someone who gave their life to a cause, or the Vestige bloodline, representing those coming from a long line of warriors whose legacy has imbued them with power.

 Beyond bloodlines, there are also a handful of bloodline mutations that replace certain abilities. These are the same as those seen in Sorcerers, but I’ll list them again for posterity. With the power of a Blood Havoc, these bloodragers increase the baseline harm their damaging spells do. With Blood Intensity, they can surge with power to increase the potential damage. Finally, with Blood Piercing their magic is better equipped to pierce the resistances of foes.

(art by YasenStoilov on DeviantArt)

 Conclusions

 We’ve gone through a whole week of tackling the bloodrager, and I hope you can see why it’s one of my favorites of the ten hybrid classes.

We’ve all felt angry now and again, sometimes for good reasons, sometimes for not so good reasons. There is a certain catharsis to be had in just letting out your fury in a safe way, such as what the barbarian and bloodrager classes offer.

However, in a lot of fiction these days, many characters with powers tied to their emotions, have moments where just the reaction of being angry has real consequences on the character’s environment, with or without the character’s active choices. Generating so much excess heat that soft metals nearby melt, for example, or transforming into a very angry bear. More than a few of us no doubt have silently wished for our fury to have such extraordinary consequences, perhaps out of a desire for our anger to exist beyond ourselves, or out of a desire for the universe to feel the consequences of the frustrations that it thrusts upon us.

Indeed, that is what the bloodrager class can offer in terms of theming, whether you characterize them as being anger-fueled badasses, someone in possession of a “superpowered evil side” or someone struggling to accept the fury in their heart.

Indeed, a lot of bloodrager stories are likely about struggling to accept oneself, or to be accepted by others, since being able to call down lightning when you get pissed off tends to make others give you a wide berth. If they do find acceptance, they might instead be a story about being an counterpoint to someone who is still struggling with themselves.

Mechanically, the bloodrager can be a lot of fun too, since their various bloodline magics and spells can give you a bit more leeway than you come to expect from the barbarian, either doubling down on the aggressive nature of the two classes with offensive buffs and blasting, or load up on defensive buffs and long-range attacks to become an uncanny defensive tank that also hits like a Mack truck. Most likely you’ll do a bit of both, though. Limited spell slots and spells known means that diversity and reliability are key.

I doubt that bloodrager will make a return in 2e given how the system is set up, with the ability to just blend mage classes with barbarian since only spells with verbal components have the concentrate keyword. Doubly so if barbarian ever gets a feat that creates an exception for spellcasting while raging. If it doesn’t, there might just be a chance.

(art by Chetan Ranjan on Artstation)

 Archetypes

 Surprisingly, despite being a derivative class that came out later, the bloodrager actually has more archetypes than the sorcerer, which I suppose has to do with the fact that the sorcerer has always been more focused on customization through bloodlines rather than archetypes. In any case, let’s take a look, shall we?

 One of the most common categories of bloodrager archetypes are those that modify their inherent magic, resulting in different expressions. The Ancestral Harbinger, for example, uses the connections to their heritage to summon mystical allies. Meanwhile, Crossblooded bloodragers have two bloodlines, representing a unique confluence of power from mixing heritages or a unique source that straddles the line between two. Blurring the lines between bloodrager and magus, the Enlightened Bloodrager studies their magic more deeply to unlock more mystical powers at the cost of their martial skill, while the Greenrager taps into primal nature magic. Hag-Riven tap into a changeling’s heritage with hags, while Id Ragers tap into a specific emotion. Metamagic Ragers have a knack for bending their spells through sheer force and will, while Prowlers at World’s End tap into the guidance of spirits. Meanwhile, Symbol Strikers master the art of utilizing runes.

While still ones that alter magic, of particular note are a pair of archetypes that focus on being the bane of spellcasters. Spelleaters do not directly interfere with casting, but their ability to slowly heal and even absorb their own magic to heal quickly makes it hard for them to be put down. Meanwhile, true to their name, the Untouchable Ragers forgo the ability to cast spells to gain a natural spell resistance, shrugging off spells like they weren’t there and relying on the other magical abilities of their bloodline.

Others utilize special fighting styles, such as the Blood Conduit, who channels touch spells through their bodies as they grapple foes, or the Bloody-Knuckled Rowdy, which specializes in unarmed combat. Bloodriders emulate certain mount-themed barbarian archetypes to channel their eldritch rage into their mounts, while Primalists emulate barbarians more directly by eschewing some of their mystical power for traditional rage powers. Polymorphing spells are fairly common on the bloodrager spell list, and Rageshapers specialize in utilizing such forms. Meanwhile, Steelbloods and Urban Bloodragers both call upon the trappings of civilization, the former by specializing in wearing heavy armor, and the latter by utilizing a weaker but more flexible bloodrage that is more acceptable and useful in civilization.

 While still a short list, we can see that the bloodrager has a lot of decent options for recontextualizing the class. Admittedly, these options don’t deviate too much from “aggressive melee powerhouse with spells” too much, but if you’re looking for flavorful options, there’s plenty to pick from, especially when you remember that you still also need to pick a bloodline too.

(art by Leineweberart on DeviantArt)

 Utility and Builds

 The bloodrager promises many powerful combat abilities, and now let’s take a look and see what it has to offer.

Naturally, as you might expect, the bloodrager gains the same full attack bonus and proficiencies as a barbarian, with the added caveat of letting them wear up to medium armor without risking arcane spell failure.

Their most recognizable power is their bloodline, which offers them bloodline spells, feats, and abilities, the latter of which usually only become available while bloodraging, though some are available all the time, or become so at higher levels. Such abilities typically include ways to enhance their attacks, gain various resistances, enhance themselves with spell effects when entering bloodrager, mobility options and so on, including a capstone representing them becoming even more in touch with the source of their power. Further enhancing the comparison with sorcerer bloodlines, their bonus spells add extra spells known to their repertoire once they have one, and they periodically gain bonus feats from the aforementioned list. It should be noted that by default, the bloodline of a bloodrager must match their sorcerous bloodline if they choose to cross-class.

The bloodrager can also enter the bloodrage state for a certain amount of rounds per day, and functions exactly like a barbarian’s rage, right down to the same bonuses, penalties, and limitations, and in fact counts as rage for the purposes of feats. However, it is a distinct ability for reasons we will see below with other bloodranger abilities.

Bloodragers even get the enhanced speed seen with barbarians as well, putting their athleticism to work.

Similarly, they also gain the enhanced reflexes and ability to sense hidden danger that barbarians do. Naturally, this improves later on.

These defenses go a step beyond, however, with their natural resistances to friendly magic. While it is still inadvisable for the bloodrager to stand in the area of their allies spells, they don’t fear it as much as others, more regularly resisting them.

Eventually, bloodragers learn to cast spells, and with it comes some unique abilities, most prominently, the ability to cast bloodrager spells while bloodraging, their instinctive magic suiting their rage state nicely.

They also ignore inconsequential material components like most sorcerers as well.

As for their spellcasting itself, bloodragers are minor spellcasters similar to paladins and rangers, having reduced caster level, spells only going up to 4th level, and no cantrips. Unlike paladins and rangers, however, bloodragers are spontaneous casters, having limited spells known.

These spells draw from a very combat-heavy spell list, focusing exclusively on buffing themselves, their armor and weapons; debuffing and controlling foes; direct damage; and a side helping of utility spells that mostly serve to give them more options in combat. Truly the bloodrager has lots of options for a fight, but not much else.

Again like a barbarian, their flesh eventually hardens and nerves deaden, making them more resistant to the effects of injury.

Eventually, bloodragers improve their eldritch rage as a barbarian does, but they also gain another boon from it, able to instantly cast a lesser spell on themselves as they enter the state, guaranteeing that they will not fight without some form of magical enhancement. However, the cost of this swift magic is that it only lasts as long as their raging does.

Bloodragers also become indomitable in their minds, becoming very hard to subvert with magic.

Near the zenith of their power they become tireless in their raging, suffering no ill effects afterwards.

Finally, the most power of them improve their bloodrage one final time, bolstering the effects and letting them cast any spell on themselves as part of entering their rage.

 Of course, Chronicle of Legends gave us an alternate capstone for bloodragers, in this case, the bloodragers instead can apply two spells to themselves at once when entering their rage-state.

There are also other potential capstones, such as Deep Magics to increase their arsenal of spells, Perfect Body, Flawless Mind to reach superhuman heights of physical or mental power, The Boss to represent them becoming leader of a tribe or perhaps putting their charisma to work as generals or mercenary leaders., With This Sword to represent them bestowing a weapon, armor, or other item with artifact-level power, or Won’t Stay Dead, for a legendary warrior whose uncanny survivability is as legendary as their fury in battle.

 Now, obviously like the barbarian, the bloodrager as a class is well-suited to running in and hitting hard, making them very useful for getting to key targets quickly and disrupting them, preventing spellcasting or advanced tactics and beating them into the ground as fast as possible. However, the fact that the bloodrager has a bloodline and spells changes things up quite a bit, since these bloodragers can choose spells and bloodlines with the intent of buffing up before rushing in, saving spell slots on other casters in the party (and lest we forget, the ability to subvert the action economy by casting as part of entering rage!), or they might choose to pick spells and ability suites based on dealing damage to groups of enemies, or unleashing a debuff or battlefield control spell as an opener before rushing in. Hell, you can choose to load up on defensive spells and make the bloodrager supremely tanky not just in hp, but in AC as well. Most likely you’ll want to mix a little bit of everything unless you have a clear build in mind. Remember though, bloodragers are minor casters, meaning that their caster level will always be 3 behind other types of casters. While this doesn’t affect saves overmuch, just remember that at the end of the day, casting is a complement for your might, not a replacement for it.

In the end, the bloodrager is very customizable just as the barbarian is, though the replacement of bloodlines and spells for rage powers does mean that they are a bit more locked into power suites than a barbarian is. Even still, in the right hands this class can really shine, and is definitely in my top choices when it comes to hybrid classes.

 We’re finally back to first edition domains again, and this time we’re looking at the first of the alignment domains!

As one might imagine, the four alignment domains are some of the most common domains out there, each deity and demideity that isn’t true neutral has at least one of them. However, since every deity has their own philosophy, what exactly these domains and their associated blessings mean varies from religion to religion.

On a philosophy note, chaos is all about doing what you want when you want, not shackled by the laws, personal code, or other trappings of civilization getting in the way. Of course, what chaotic beings want varies by the other part of their alignment. Chaotic good wants themselves and others to flourish, using order when it is a useful tool to do so, but discarding it when it gets in the way. Chaotic neutral is a bit more selfish, willing to do all sorts of things to remain free and able to experience the world as they see fit. Finally, chaotic evil is sadism incarnate seeking fully selfish goals and more than willing, and even taking pleasure in causing suffering to achieve those goals.

None of this implies that those who are chaotic are incapable of planning, only that they dislike structure that would limit their flexibility.

Of course, chaos is more than just a philosophy, but it also covers cosmic forces as we interpret them. The tendency for new and wondrous things to arise without a guiding hand, as well as the nature of entropy to break down even the most solid things, be they living things, civilization, or simple matter. Chaotic beings learn to accept that these changes are inevitable and worth celebrating, some simply accepting what is to come or shaping them according to their desires, while others reveling in new developments and bidding them a fond farewell as they leave.

To choose an alignment domain is to draw power from something inherently subjective, wielding the powers associated with the concept. Clerics and inquisitors that choose such a domain believe in their faith’s interpretation so greatly that they wield it against their detractors in a very literal way.

The same also goes for warpriests, but in a much more literal and violent way. Such warpriests may lead armies that lash out at established civilizations that impose what they believe to be too much order or control over the world around them, or crusade against tyrants as heroes of freedom.

Again, the exact reasons vary from faith to faith, and person to person, so the exact why they choose this power and how they wield it is diverse and unique to all practitioners.

 For clerics and inquisitors, the power of chaos allows them to inflict unfavorable propability upon their foes, making them momentarily less likely to succeed.

Later on, they can briefly empower a weapon with the power of chaos, making it a deadly tool against lawful foes.

Clerics also gain access to various domain spells, namely those that protect against law or provide other forms of chaotic protection, chaotic blessings for their weaponry, powerful invocations of chaotic energy through blasts and cosmic words, the ability to bring objects to life, and even summoning the servants of chaos to fight for them.

While the touch is a useful if risky maneuver, the second ability and spells of this domain truly gear it towards both defense and combat, harming and debuffing foes, or providing various self-buffs. Naturally, this makes it a good pick when facing organized foes that might be lawful, but might not see as much use against more wild foes. Inquisitors, however, will find it quite useful for the extra damage and debuff they can utilize.

Meanwhile, the warpriest blessing allows them to imbue their weapons with a lesser form of chaotic blessing to harm lawful foes.

Later on, the greater blessing allows them to call upon chaotic outsiders or anarchic creatures to aid them in battle, granting them a variety of special allies.

For warpriests, the chaotic damage enhancement will be situation depending on the foes you face, but summoning, even limited summoning, will always prove useful. I would recommend taking expanded summoning feats to add more chaotic options to your summoning lists, specifically proteans, to further develop this, and probably use your other blessing choice to get something a bit more general purpose unless you have something specific in mind already.

 Freedom means different things to different people, so these holy figures are as varied as there are chaotic deities that make use of the domain in the first place. All value autonomy and the desire to preserve at least their own freedom, if not that of others.

  The faith of the Song of the River maintains many shrines along the Heart River, which is sacred to the goddess. These simple riverbank shrines are maintained by Felami, a naiad priestess who travels up and down the river, maintaining them and tending to the communities that depend upon the river for their livelihoods, as well as travellers seeking freedom and new wonders.

 The icy tundra of the far north are considered a death sentence to many local cultures, with only devotees of the Ice Walker daring to travel far away from settlements to keep different villages connected. Some priests even train as warriors to hunt the icy predators like the insectile ursikka to help make the journeys safer.