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Carniphage

It can be hard to tell which is stronger, their hunger for combat or for meat.

Enemies close in on the bloodied, axe-wielding warrior. She looks behind herself at her allies; the healer is bandaging a swordswoman's wounds, and the mage is catching her breath between tossing orbs of flame. With a roar, the warrior brandishes her axe to throw back her foes. Her allies will not be hurt further, no matter how many blades scratch her skin.

Generally eschewing ranged weapons, these warriors fare best when wading into the thick of combat. They rely on their high durability to keep themselves up, and their powerful strikes as a threat to keep attention focused on them instead of their companions. Though predators by nature, they lack the cowardice of beasts, fearing no injury to themselves as they tear apart their prey.

An Endless Hunger

(detailing the source of their power; gluttony)

Traveling on Your Stomach

(detailing the role of the carniphage in society, outside of the field of battle, where they are cooks, hunters, and dancers.)

Health Die: d12
Spell Die: d4 (charisma)

Proficiencies:

Starting Equipment:

• Choose two: 1 bronze battleax, 1 stone spear, 2 brass daggers
• Choose one: 3 iron throwing axes, 5 bronze throwing knives, 1 hunting bow and 20 stone arrows
• Choose one: delver's kit, hunter's kit, warrior's kit
• Cook's Utensils, 5 pounds of meat, 50ft of twine, woolen purse containing 5 silver laurels

Alternatively, you may start with 50 silver laurels to spend as you wish.

Focus Points: (etc; gain bonus equal to charisma modifier at each level to FP pool)

Rituals: You gain access to rituals, as shown below.

Weapon Mastery: Your training with weapons allows you to use the mastery properties of three weapon groups of your choice. Whenever you finish a Long Rest, you can practice weapon drills and change one of those weapon group choices. At 7th and again at 13th levels, you may select an additional weapon group of which you may use the mastery properties.

Carnage: On your turn, you may enter a state of carnage as a free action, while in carnage, you gain the following benefits, as well as benefits based on your chosen carnage style (see below). You may end carnage as a free action on the start of your turn, otherwise you maintain it until then.

• You have accuracy +1 on strength ability checks and strength and constitution saving throws.
• Your melee attacks deal +2 damage. If you are attacking with a heavy weapon, this damage increases by +2.
• When attacking, you may choose to decrease your AC by -4 until the start of your next turn to gain a +2 bonus to your attack and damage rolls for the same duration.
• At the start of each of your turns while in carnage, you gain temporary hit points equal to your constitution modifier (minimum 2), which last until the start of your next turn.
• You may not use concentration abilities while your Carnage is active (though you may still cast blood arts that do not use concentration).

You may maintain carnage for up to 6 rounds, plus an additional number of rounds equal to your proficiency bonus. You recover all expended rounds of carnage after completing a short rest. If you do not have any rounds of carnage remaining, you may still enter or remain in carnage by spending 1 focus point at the start of each of your turns.

Sudden Carnage: At 5th level, you may enter Carnage as part of rolling initiative, or as a reaction upon taking damage (the temporary hit points granted by carnage may be applied to the triggering damage).

Awakened Carnage: At 11th level, your carnage improves. Select two of the following options. During a Long Rest, you may focus and meditate to change out one option you have selected previously to select a different option.

• Brutal Awakening – The damage bonus when you choose to lower your AC while attacking increases by +2 (with the bonus from using a heavy weapon and the penalty from using a light weapon doubling).
• Enduring Awakening – You increase the number of rounds you may spend in carnage by half your level (rounded up).
• Focused Awakening – You may use concentration while in carnage, and gain accuracy +1 on concentration checks while in carnage.
• Guarded Awakening – You gain a +1 shield bonus to AC while in carnage.
• Healing Awakening – Whenever you end your turn while in carnage, you heal hit point damage equal to your proficiency bonus. This healing is doubled if you are below half your maximum hit points.
• Invigorating Awakening – Once per round, when the temporary hit points you receive from carnage are reduced to 0, you immediately gain 2 temporary hit points.
• Resilient Awakening – The temporary hit points you gain each round increase by +3.

Perfect Carnage: At 17th level, your carnage improves further. You may have up to four of the options from awakened carnage instead of two.

Carnage Style: (Select one. You may exchange carnage styles during a week's rest. At 8th level, you gain an additional carnage style, and again at 15th level.)

• Athletic Carnage – You gain a +1 bonus on all acrobatics, athletics, and grapple checks. At 11th level, this bonus increases to +2. While in carnage you double the distance you may jump, and you gain a climb and swim speed equal to your base speed.
• Brawling Carnage – Your unarmed strikes deal lethal damage and may use a d6 for their damage, increasing to a d8 at 11th level, and to a d10 at 17th level. While in carnage, you may use any weapon mastery you know with your unarmed strikes, though only one mastery at a time.
• Crimson-Clad Carnage – Your FP pool increases by +1 for each level you possess. While in carnage, you gain 1 temporary FP at the start of each round.
• Dual-Blade Carnage – You may apply your full ability score bonus to off-hand attacks while dual-wielding. While in carnage, you gain a +1 shield bonus to AC while dual-wielding. This shield bonus increases by +1 at 8th level, and again at 15th level.
• Guarded Carnage – You can block damage with your shield as a reaction, reducing the damage you would take by 1d4 + your strength bonus + your proficiency bonus. This reduction increases by +1d4 at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th levels. While in carnage, creatures you strike suffer difficulty +1 to attack any creature other than you until the start of your next turn.
• Reaving Carnage – When attacking with a two-handed weapon, you deal additional damage equal to your proficiency bonus. While in carnage, your attacks with a two-handed weapon deal splash damage equal to your attacking ability score modifier with that weapon, and you gain accuracy +1 when making an extra attack due to the cleave property.
• Swift Carnage – Your speed increases by +5ft; at 11th level, this bonus increases to +10ft, and at 17th it increases to +15ft. This bonus to speed is doubled while in carnage.

Carnage Powers

Carnage powers have a maximum FP limit equal to your proficiency bonus, unless noted as a (blood art), in which case they function as arts in all cases; the limits on HP burn taken is the same as FP limits.
Whenever you gain a level, you may swap a carnage power for another of the same level.
Blood Arts that have a default cost in hit point burn may have that cost instead be paid by an equal amount of focus points (or in combination if desired), but blood arts that have a default cost in focus points may not have temporary hit point burn be used in their place.

Special Rule: [Consume]. Some carnage powers allow you to eat an enemy (or ally) whole. While consumed in this manner, a creature is restrained, cannot draw line of sight to anywhere outside of your stomach, and takes acid and bludgeoning damage based on your number of [consume] powers; a creature restrained via consume that makes an attack must use either a light slashing weapon or an unarmed strikes, and casting a spell requires a concentration check (the DC is equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your constitution modifier).

Your stomach can typically hold a creature of your size or smaller, though some powers may increase this capacity, and it has an armor class of 8 + your constitution modifier (minimum +1), as well as hit points separate from your own equal to 2 times your proficiency bonus and resistance to all damage. If your stomach is pierced, any creatures within may escape, and you may not use any consume abilities until it is healed (automatically on a short rest, or by diverting healing you receive into it), though you otherwise suffer no damage.

A creature that dies in this extradimensional stomach is immediately digested, and you are treated as having eaten a very filling meal.

2nd level

• Armor of Blood (blood art): You may spend a standard action to take 2 points of HP burn to coat yourself in protective blood. You gain two aegis points for 1 hour, and for that duration, you may spend an aegis point as a reaction when you take damage from an attack to reduce the damage by 5 and, if they are within 10 feet of you, deal 5 points of piercing damage to your attacker. You may take additional HP burn on this ability, and for each additional point of HP burn taken, you gain +1 aegis point and the piercing damage dealt increases by +5.
• Art of Death: You learn one black or red necromancy art. It is treated as a blood art for you. You may select this carnage power up to three times.
• Gorethorn (blood art): While in carnage, whenever a creature of your choice makes an attack within 15 feet of you, you may spend 1 focus point as a free action to deal 1d8 points of necrotic damage plus your proficiency bonus to them. This damage occurs after the attack (if any) is determined to be successful or not and any damage and effects are dealt from it have been applied, though if you are knocked unconscious or killed this art still activates. A creature cannot be targeted by gorethorn more than once per round. You may spend additional focus points on this power, increasing the necrotic damage dealt by +1d8 for every additional FP spent. If you are reduced to 0 HP but not killed by an attack that you trigger gorethorn on, the damage from gorethorn is maximized, and if you are killed, you also double the necrotic damage. If you have the sudden carnage ability, you may use gorethorn as part of entering carnage as a reaction.
• No Escape: While in carnage, whenever a creature within your reach makes a step or attempts to move out of or through your threatened area, you may spend your reaction to force that creature to make a dexterity (acrobatics) check against your strength save DC. If it fails, its speed becomes 0', it suffers difficulty +2 on all attack rolls and dexterity checks until the end of its next turn.
• Powerful Throw: All melee weapons you wield gain the thrown (20'/60') property if it does not already have it. You may spend FP when throwing a weapon, increasing the range by +10'/30' and the damage by +2 per FP spent. Regardless if you spend FP or not, your thrown weapons return to you at the end of your turn, dropping to your feet if you do not have any free hands to wield them.
• Vicious Strike: When you roll damage for a successful melee attack, you may choose to roll an extra number of d6s, up to a maximum of your proficiency bonus and taking 2 temporary HP burn per die rolled, dealing the result as additional damage to the target. This extra damage is the same type as the weapon used, and increases to d8s if you or your target is below half maximum hit points.
• Voracious Maw: [consume] You gain a bite natural weapon, which is an unarmed strike that deals 1d6 piercing damage and has the grab property. If you already have a bite natural weapon, then you may apply any of its traits to this ability. On a successful attack with this bite, you may spend FP, dealing +1d6 additional damage per FP spent, and healing yourself hit points equal to twice the amount of FP spent.
  If you have a creature grappled with your voracious maw at the start of your turn, you may make an opposed grapple check as a standard action, consuming it on a success.
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  5th level: At 5th level, you add the following carnage powers to the list of powers you may learn.

• Breath of Blood (blood art): As a standard action, you may take 1 point of temporary HP burn and release a plume of blood-like mist from your mouth, filling a 20 foot cone before you. Creatures within the area suffer 1d10 acid damage and are poisoned until the end of your next turn, taking half damage and negating the poisoned condition with a successful constitution saving throw against your constitution save DC. You apply your constitution modifier to the damage dealt, and you may take additional HP burn to increase the acid damage by +1d10 per point of HP burn taken.
• Endless Hunger (blood art) [consume] As a Full Action, you may spend 4 FP to let out a roar of hunger and inhale a creature of your choice within 10 feet of you that is within the size limit for your stomach. The target may attempt a strength saving throw against your constitution save DC to avoid being inhaled. If the target fails its saving throw, it is consumed. Add the half of the FP you spend on this carnage power to your total number of consume powers known to determine the acid and bludgeoning damage dealt to consumed creatures. For every 2 additional FP spent when using this art, you may target one additional creature, so long as you do not exceed the limit of your stomach.
• Flurry of Fury: As a standard action, you may spend 2 FP to attack all creatures of your choice within reach of your weapon. You may increase this to a Full Action to instead increase your reach for this ability by +10ft, becoming immobilized until the start of your next turn. All chosen creatures must succeed on a dexterity saving throw against your save DC based on the weapon's attack ability modifier or take damage equal to 3d6 plus your weapon's attack ability modifier. You may spend additional FP on this power, dealing +2d6 damage per additional FP spent.
• Hellcat Ambush (blood art): As a move action, you may take 3 points of temporary HP burn to become invisible until the end of your next turn, you attack, or you use an art, whichever occurs first. You may sustain this ability as a move action each round for a number of rounds equal to your level (without paying additional cost). When you cast or sustain hellcat ambush, you may step.
• Shrug Off: If you are affected by a temporary negative condition, you may spend one hit die at the start of your turn to end it immediately. While in carnage, whenever you roll a saving throw, you may spend a hit die to gain a bonus to a saving throw equal to the roll of that die, even after learning the result of the roll, potentially turning a failure into a success.
• Violent Expulsion: [consume] If you have a creature (or sufficiently sized object) currently within your stomach, you may launch it as a standard action, treating it as a ranged weapon with a maximum range of 30ft. On a hit, the target suffers 3d6 bludgeoning damage, while the projectile takes 3d6 damage as if from falling. You may spend FP on this ability, increasing the range by +10ft and the damage by +1d6 per FP spent.
• Weapon of Blood (blood art): As a move action, you may take temporary HP burn equal to your level to create a weapon, or weapons, from your own blood. You may choose to create two light weapons that deal 1d8 damage each, a one-handed weapon that deals 1d10 damage, or a two-handed weapon that deals 2d8 damage, and may apply any weapon mastery you wish to these weapons when created. These weapons last for 1 minute. You may use your constitution modifier as your weapon attack modifier for these weapons, and they gain an enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls equal to your Circle rank with arts. This enhancement bonus to damage is doubled if you are at or below half your maximum hit points.
  You may not spend FP in place of the HP burn cost of this blood art.
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still reworking

9th level: At 9th level, you add the following carnage powers to the list of powers you may learn.

• Spell Shield (blood art) When targeted by a spell attack or you make a saving throw against a spell or magical effect, you may spend a reaction to gain a bonus to your armor class against that attack, or to your saving throw equal to your proficiency bonus. You may use this ability after the roll is made, potentially turning a failure into a success. If this ability causes a spell attack to miss or allows you to succeed on a save against a spell or magical effect, you gain your choice of temporary hit points equal to twice your level or temporary focus points equal to your level, and you must complete a short rest before you may use this ability again.
• etc
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  13th level: At 13th level, you add the following carnage powers to the list of powers you may learn.

• Bloody Mist: (blood art) (transform into a gaseous form that deals damage in an area and heals you)
• etc
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  18th level: At 18th level, you add the following carnage powers to the list of powers you may learn.

• etc
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Warpaths

Path of the Blademaster (fluff)
Blademaster's Agility: You gain proficiency in Acrobatics and Athletics checks, or expertise if you are already proficient in that skill. You may also use the dash or disengage action as a swift action. Blademaster's Prowess: You gain a pool of prowess dice that you may spend on prowess? abilities equal to 2 + your proficiency bonus. These dice are d6s, and you regain all expended dice after completing a short rest. You also learn 4 prowess abilities of your choice, and may retrain one prowess ability you know during a week's rest.

6th level improvement

Improved Prowess: The size of your prowess die increases to d8, and you learn an additional prowess ability.
Powerful Strikes:

9th level improvement

Blademaster's Insight: You gain a +1 bonus to AC when using your unarmored AC, and a +2 bonus to your intelligence and wisdom saving throws. Greater Prowess: You learn an additional prowess ability, and may learn Master tier prowess abilities.

14th level improvement

Blademaster's [???]: ???
Perfected Prowess: The size of your prowess die increases to d10, and you learn an additional prowess ability. In addition, whenever you roll initiative and you have no prowess dice available, you regain two prowess dice immediately.

20th level improvement

???:
Natural Body: Your ability score maximum is increased by +6, and you may increase any two of your ability scores of choice by +2 each, or one ability score of choice by +4. You may change the ability score increase from this ability after completing a week's rest.

Path of the Hunter(fluff)
Hunter's Training: You gain proficiency in two of the following skills. Athletics, Handle Animal, Nature, Stealth, Survival. If you were already proficient in that skill, you instead gain expertise.
Slayer: As a swift action, or as part of entering Carnage, you may select a creature you can see within 60 feet of you. For as long as you concentrate or remain in Carnage, up to one minute, all of your attacks against that creature deal an additional +1d6 damage. You may use this ability a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and regain all expended uses after you complete a long rest.
Hunting Pursuit: As a reaction, whenever a creature you have marked with slayer moves away from you, you may stride up to your speed so long as you end your movement closer to your target. If they are within your reach at the end of your movement, you may make a strike against them as part of this reaction.

6th level improvement

Ravenous Pursuit: Whenever a hostile creature that you can perceive ends its turn within 30 feet of you, you may spend your reaction to move up to your speed toward that creature. If a creature is currently targeted by your slayer ability, this range increases to 120 feet.

Hunter's Training II: You gain one additional proficiency, or expertise, in a skill granted by hunter's training.
Indefatigable: You may ignore a number of levels of exhaustion equal to half your proficiency bonus. At the start of each of your turns that slayer is active, or the turn after you use ravenous pursuit, you gain temporary hit points equal to your level. In addition, the bonus damage from Slayer and Ravenous Pursuit increase to +1d8.

14th level improvement

Felling Blow: When you successfully strike a creature targeted by your slayer ability, you may spend focus points to deal an additional +2 force damage per focus point spent. You may spend a maximum number of focus points on this attack equal to your level. The bonus damage from felling blow is multiplied on a critical hit.

20th level improvement

???:
Natural Body: Your ability score maximum is increased by +6, and you may increase any two of your ability scores of choice by +2 each, or one ability score of choice by +4. You may change the ability score increase from this ability after completing a week's rest.

Path of the Red Blossom(fluff)
Blood Blessing: As a swift action, or as part of entering Carnage, you may spend FP to grant yourself and allied creatures within 15 feet of you 1 blood point per 2 FP spent. These blood points may be spent as a free action in response to taking damage to reduce that damage by an amount equal to your charisma modifier, or to deal +1d6 bonus necrotic damage on a successful weapon attack. This ability is a blood art and its FP limit scales as such.

6th level improvement

Sanguine Theft: As a standard action, you may spend 3 focus points and target a creature you can see within 30 feet of you. On a successful spell attack, that creature takes 3d12 points of necrotic damage, this damage is maximized if it has fewer than half of its maximum number of hit points, and you heal yourself for half the damage dealt, or the full amount if you have fewer than half your maximum number of hit points. The target may attempt a constitution saving throw to reduce the necrotic damage it takes by half. This ability is a Blood Art, and you may spend additional focus points on it as such, increasing the damage dealt by +1d12 for each additional focus point spent.

9th level improvement

Rise Again: As a Full Action, you may spend 6 FP to resuscitate a creature within 60ft that has died within 1 minute. The target creature is returned to life with 5 levels of exhaustion, 1 hit point, 0 FP, and 0 hit die available. You may reduce the levels of exhaustion by expending your own hit dice at a 1:1 ratio, restoring 1d8 + your charisma modifier additional hit points to the creature for each hit die spent in this way. This does not prevent a grievous wound, but it can otherwise restore fatal injuries. This ability is a blood art, and additional FP may be spent on it as such. For every additional FP spent, the target creature heals an additional +1d8 hit points, and their exhaustion is 1 level lower.
Scarlet Inkwell: As a free action once per turn, you may spend a health die to gain temporary focus points equal to the result. Alternatively, you may spend a focus die as a standard action to restore hit point burn equal to the result. Hit dice spent in this way may not be recovered until you complete a night's rest.

14th level improvement

Rosso Finale: Whenever you hit a creature with a melee attack, you may "bet" hit dice, up to your proficiency bonus, expending them. Roll these dice, adding your constitution modifier to each one, and compare them to the remaining hit points of your target after your attack deals damage. If this result would reduce the target to 0 HP (without considering any reactive abilities), then you add that result to the damage you deal. If the target would not be reduced to 0 HP from the result, you instead roll a number of d4s equal to the number of spent hit dice, adding that result to the damage you dealt.
Greater Blood Blessing: The range of your blood blessing increases to 30 feet, and your effective charisma modifier for it improves by +2. The bonus to damage rolls when spending a blood point also improves to +2d6.

20th level improvement

???: ???
Natural Body: Your ability score maximum is increased by +6, and you may increase any two of your ability scores of choice by +2 each, or one ability score of choice by +4. You may change the ability score increase from this ability after completing a week's rest.

Rituals

You begin play with knowledge of 3 rituals of choice. Whenever your proficiency bonus increases, you learn one additional ritual of your choice. The DC (if any) of a ritual does not reset until you spend a week's rest.
Arousing Blood _{self, biomancy}

Brutal Joviality _{other, necromancy}

Charisma (Persuasion) or Charisma (Intimidation) or Charisma (Performance) DC12

Feast of the One-Eyed Saint _{other, necromancy}

Wisdom (Medicine) DC12 (beast)/DC16 (folk), and Wisdom (Chef's Utensils) DC14

Hunter's Boon _{self, invocation}

Purify Meat and Water _{party, invocation}

Stone Soup _{party, invocation}

Charisma (Survival) or Charisma (Chef's Utensils) DC14

Triage _{party, biomancy}

Charisma (Medicine) DC8

War Dance _{party, invocation}

Charisma (Performance) DC13