Class Feature Friday: Oni Bloodline (Sorcerer Bloodline)
 Oni. The fiends that arise when kami fall to envy of mortal lives and take on flesh-bound form to achieve the desires denied to them.
Plenty of fiends are driven by dark desires, in fact the majority are, but few exemplify how that desire leads to a fall from grace better than a being that by rights should be incapable of anything other than abstemious focus on their duty developing a desire to take the pleasures they previously denied for themselves.
With that focus on fulfilled desires, it only makes sense that regions where oni frequent would be teeming with oni-blooded half-fiends and tieflings, as well as the subject of today’s entry, the oni bloodline.
These sorcerers may have to battle with the same temptations as other fiend-blooded sorcerers, but their powers are very different, indicative of the most common oni type, the so-called “ogre mage”.
True to their heritage, these sorcerers often sport skin of dark red, blue, or other chromatic colorations, as well as horns, extended fangs that curl out of their mouths like tusks, fearsome faces, wild hair, and even perhaps a third eye in the middle of their foreheads.
 The spells associated with this bloodline include many that are associated with the ogre mage and other oni, such as rays and waves of vigor-sapping magic, invisibility, charms, dominations, blasts of extreme cold, dispelling, and even binding mortal souls.
Agility, browbeating, skill with a katana, and raw strength. All of these and more are common techniques they are blessed with as well.
Bending minds comes naturally to these sorcerers, so when they succeed in doing so, their bloodline arcana channels some of the leftover enchantment magic into them to briefly bolster their mundane social talents, making them seem more charming or intimidating.
Cruelty is a common theme of oni, so it only makes sense these sorcerers can channel pain with their touch.
Almost all oni are shapeshifters, so these mystics also acquire the ability to shapeshift magically. Some of the most powerful of which can maintain such a false form indefinitely.
Ogre mages in particular are infamous for their ability to turn into mist to avoid or escape enemies, and the bearers of this bloodline can do the same.
While not truly capable of healing at the accelerated rate that true oni are capable of, these sorcerers are capable of a surge of healing when they lose consciousness, getting them right back in the fight quickly, though fire or acid can shut it down, and it cannot save them from death if their wounds become too great.
The true masters of this bloodline become truly like an oni, able to shift into a large giant-like form like the majority of oni, and gaining natural resistance to magic and greater mastery over mind-bending magic.
This archetype is interesting, because not only does it support a balanced build, but one that balances control magic with buffing with the intention of becoming a melee powerhouse yourself. If you choose to go this route, you’ll likely buff yourself up, spec for a better than average strength, then debuff foes with enfeeblement and exhaustion before wading in on your own. Of course, you’ll also want to pack some damage and utility as well as needed. Alternatively, you could go more sinister and elusive, debuffing and controlling foes from a distance while using gaseous form and other spells to remain untouchable.
 This bloodline was very clearly created before oni had been expanded on into the full outsider type they are today, so unfortunately the ability selection is somewhat focused on the ogre mage. However, if you as an enterprising homebrewer wanted to create a wildblooded variant, perhaps a Yai wildblooded bloodline that replaced a bloodline ability with the ability to fire an elemental missile like all yai-type oni tend to be able to do, that might be help open up options.
  After becoming stranded on this world, the reptoids of the Mekkarat Expedition, now called the Hidden Serpents of Mek, have gone native in more ways than one, particularly after their pact with an oni lord led to many of their descendants developing sorcerous power.
 Far to the north, the oni daimyo of frost and ice rules over a court of corrupted yeti tribes, frostfallen dead, and others. However, his most favored subjects are his “royal family” of half-fiendish children, many of which bear a spark of sorcerous power.
 Though not actually an oni, magistrate Jin possesses a heritage tied to such beings. If that secret ever got out, however, the distinction would likely be lost on his peers and subjects. And so now he languishes under the blackmail of the Blue Shadow ninja clan.
