Class Feature Friday: Naga Bloodrager Bloodline (Bloodrager Bloodline)
The abberant serpents known as nagas have always been beings of magic, so it only makes sense that occasionally that mystical nature rubs off on other species. Blood of the Beast gives us both a bloodrager and a sorcerer bloodline, but today we’ll just be looking at the bloodrager version.
Having been created from and by their naga masters, the nagaji race are particularly able to manifest these bloodlines, though occasionally it does crop up in other species, whether it be on account of magical experimentation on the child, parents, or ancestors by nagas, or some more intimate connection.
The bloodrager version of the bloodline might typically tap into a more feral aspect of their origins, having more decidedly snake-like features, and may very well inherit some odd behaviors as well, such as seeking out warmth, acting laconic whenever not raging, projecting a frill whenever angered, et cetera.
Agility, awareness and power are the mainstays of the various techniques learned by these ragers.
They also gain an array of arcane spells commonly associated with nagas as a whole, unleashing rays that drain vigor, becoming invisible, unleashing lightning bolts, and even infusing their touch with poison.
Emulating the nagas in combat capacity, they start by growing retractable fangs of deadly power, which eventually carry a magical charge of their own.
From there, many also learn how to mimic some of the motions of serpents in the water, moving with supernatural speed.
As they grow in power, their bloodrage grants them hardened scales for protection, and increased their natural resilience to poison, becoming completely immune eventually.
Particularly powerful practitioners of this bloodline can infuse their fangs with venom, attacking the very vitality of their foes.
Some can even transform into a naga-like form when entering their rage, combining spells with the traits of a type of naga each time they do so.
The most powerful, however, become truly abberant of mind, ignoring all charming and mind-reading magic, while becoming resilient to other mental magics. Furthermore, their eyes develop the ability to see the invisible, and they can sense thoughts on their own as well.
Interested in a flavorful bloodline that provides options for attack, defense, and so on? This bloodline certainly has all of that. I personally recommend a build focused on softening foes up with debuffs before wading in, unleashing their fangs to further harm and debuff foes and then finishing them off.
One can imagine that when bloodraging, these warriors act much like a cornered serpent, coiled and defensive, ready to lash out in a heartbeat, but not necessarily ready to charge into battle, though I suppose others might emulate certain species that chase threats to better drive them off.
When he was last seen, the scholar Epersar was leaving on a journey to naga lands to investigate their curious biology, which defies classification as “magical beast.” Now, cloaked figures with hissing voices and scaly skin are insistently requesting access to his private study and notes, and they likely won’t take no for an answer for long.
On the world of Kukazaar, reptoids are the final perfected form of the alien nagas seeking to blend humanoid genes with their own to create a perfect infiltrator race, while nagaji are the discarded early prototypes of these experiments. For the nagaji’s part, they are not content to be thrown aside, and many have allied with the natives to fight back, channeling the essence of their progenitors into strange magics.
Nerida is in a state of distress, having manifested a halo of divine energy, but also serpentine scales, during an argument with her lover. Not long after, an astral deva manifests in her home, explaining that she is marked by the Serpent in the Garden, a crossblooded mix of celestial and naga bloodlines, being a balance between divinity but also temptation.
