Bloodlines (introduced in Unearthed Arcana) are one of those things that is really cool in concept but poorly designed and explained. The shifting level adjustment and virtual bloodline levels that sometimes increase other class features and sometimes don’t and other oddities are often poorly understood and poorly implemented as well as being ripe for abuse with certain types of builds. What could have been a really great system basically became one of those things that was either completely ignored or abused in ways it wasn’t intended.
I have redesigned the system to function in a new way that, I believe, solves the problems inherent in the original system while also making bloodlines more accessible and more interesting.
The Ancestral Bloodlines
I haven’t changed the existing bloodlines or added any new ones. They still exist as originally created. Each has a Minor version and most also have Intermediate. A few also have Major versions. None of this has changed. The Source, Strength, and Traits are as originally designed.
What has changed in how bloodlines are gained. Previously, a character simply declared they had a bloodline and gained its benefits, though they had to take a pseudo-level that functioned partially like a level adjustment and partially like a real level/Hit Die at specified intervals or suffer an XP penalty. I have changed this to now grant bloodlines via Heritage Feats, which must be taken to gain a bloodline.
Heritage Feats
Heritage Feats are a special type of feat that can (typically) only be taken at 1st level. These feats represent a character’s unique heritage, special training, or unusual upbringing. They could also represent blessings or curses from the gods or other such occurrences. The feats which matter to this discussion are Draconic Bloodline, Elemental Bloodline, Fey Bloodline, Genie Bloodline, Giant Bloodline, Monstrous Bloodline, and Planar Bloodline.
Each of these feats grants a character access to a single minor bloodline as well as a minor ability, such as +2 to a particular skill or a bonus to saves against a limited type of effect. The feat does not grant any benefits of the bloodline. It simply allows the character access to that bloodline. A character must spend experience points to advance their Bloodline Level (see below) before they gain any benefit from their bloodline.
Two other feats bear mentioning: Intermediate Bloodline and Major Bloodline. These feats grant a character access to the Intermediate and Major version of their bloodline, respectively. They also grant 1 Bloodline Level (see below) for free.
There are other types of heritage feats which don’t grant or interact with bloodlines, but they aren’t important to this discussion.
Bloodline Levels
In the original system, a character gained up to 3 Bloodline Levels which were unusual and followed unique and poorly defined rules. These functioned as a level adjustment (mostly) but also granted other benefits. They were intended to reduce a character’s power levels commensurate to the benefits granted by a bloodline; however, they were too penalizing in many cases while also overwhelmingly increasing power levels in certain other cases, the opposite of their intention.
Under this new system, Bloodline Level (or BL) is tracked separately from Character Level or Hit Dice. They have no effect on ECL or any other metric that uses Hit Dice or level as a basis. A character may choose to spend experience points to advance their BL at any time that they have enough experience points to do so and the GM agrees that the character is in a situation that they could normally level up as appropriate to the current game. Advancing a bloodline requires a 1 hour ritual, so a character needs a bit of downtime to gain BL.
A character is never required to advance their Bloodline Level and suffers no penalties for choosing not to do so. They simply do not gain any additional abilities from their bloodline.
Maximum Bloodline Level
Maximum Bloodline Level varies by the Strength of the bloodline: 5 for Minor, 10 for Intermediate, and 20 for Major.
A character’s BL is capped by Hit Dice and the Strength of their bloodline. A minor bloodline can only advance by 1 BL for every 4 Hit Dice. That means a character needs 8 or more total Hit Dice to gain their second Bloodline Level. An intermediate bloodline can advance every 2 Hit Dice, and a major bloodline can advance at every Hit Die.
Bloodline Level Cost
Gaining a Bloodline Level costs XP equal to the new BL. So, gaining your 1st level will cost you 100 experience, your 2nd costs an additional 200, and your 20th BL costs an additional 2,000 XP. To gain all 20 bloodline levels typically requires a total of 21,000 XP over the course of a character’s career (actually a bit less, due to the free levels from the Intermediate Bloodline and Major Bloodline feats).
Having a stronger bloodline can unlock stronger abilities more quickly, but it also costs the character more experience, which can cause their level to fall behind the rest of the party. Unlocking stronger bloodlines also requires investing a character’s limited feat slots. This creates a situation where a player has the chance to make some interesting decisions when progressing their character’s build while maintaining a better balance point with the rest of the party.
Other Thoughts
Bloodlines can be a great roleplaying tool. Perhaps a paladin was born cursed with a demonic bloodline, and he seeks to redeem himself while finding that he also embraces the dark powers of his ancestry when they’re convenient. Consider a halfling fighter with a Frost Giant ancestor, granting him greater strength and power than one might expect.
I find that bloodlines also make interesting alternative quest rewards. I recently had a character in a game I ran with a white dragon bloodline. He ended up performing some quests for a white dragon and was granted a tincture made from that dragon’s blood. When consumed, it increased his bloodline from minor to intermediate without him needing to spend a feat.
I also occasionally sprinkle in magic items that enhance a bloodline or only work properly for creatures with a specific bloodline or type of bloodline. For example, I once had the stereotypical labyrinth, complete with minotaur, which had numerous secret doors and hidden corridors. These secret doors were magically locked and reinforced, but one player’s character who had a minotaur bloodline was recognized as being a minotaur, allowing her to open the secret passages for her party, easily bypassing the most dangerous traps.
I find that bloodlines are a very interesting dynamic that lends itself well to unusual and interesting situations that sorely needed better implementation than it originally received.