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The Gothic Horrors Trilogy

“In the quiet between heartbeats, the darkness calls your name.”

In crumbling cathedrals and moonlit ruins, the line between virtue and vice blurs into red mist. The holy may thirst, the dead may rage, and the gifted may hunger for more than mortal life.
These three subclasses embrace the elegance of monstrosity — not as evil, but as inevitability. With us closing on Halloween, or All Hallows Eve I wanted to keep the energy alive with some more options that fit. I previously did a few subclasses that was for you spider lovers. Check them out here.
The Paladin, the Barbarian, and the Sorcerer who dare drink from the chalice of damnation.

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⚔️ Paladin: Oath of the Crimson Veil

“I do not deny my hunger — I command it.”

Paladins who swear the Oath of the Crimson Veil walk the razor’s edge between salvation and sin. They drink the blood of monsters not to join them, but to understand them — to wield their power against greater evils.
Their oath binds them to temper bloodlust with mercy, and strength with restraint. Every drop of blood spilled is a prayer, every battle a test of will.

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Tenets of the Crimson Veil

• Control the Hunger. Power without restraint is ruin. You are master of the thirst, never its servant.

• Drink of the Enemy. The essence of the wicked is your weapon. Take their strength, but not their soul.

• Shed Blood for the Innocent. Let your crimson oath protect the weak, even if it damns you to darkness.

• Redeem the Monstrous. You are proof that even the cursed can serve the light.

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Oath Spells

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Channel Divinity

Crimson Feast.
As a bonus action, you may draw upon the blood of a creature you’ve wounded this turn. Regain hit points equal to your Charisma modifier + your paladin level.

Veil of the Predator.
As an action, you exude a holy yet horrifying aura. For 1 minute, you gain advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) checks, and enemies within 10 feet must make a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened until the end of their next turn.

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Aura of Thirst (7th Level)

The scent of battle feeds your hunger and your allies’ drive.
You and friendly creatures within 10 feet regain hit points equal to your Charisma modifier when you reduce a creature to 0 HP.

At 18th level, the range increases to 30 feet.

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Bloodlight Smite (15th Level)

Your divine smites take on a sanguine hue. When you smite a creature, you can choose to take necrotic damage equal to your proficiency bonus to deal that much additional radiant or necrotic damage to your target.

You may also expend 5 HP to empower your next attack with life drain — restoring HP equal to half the extra damage dealt.

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Avatar of the Crimson Veil (20th Level)

As an action, you embrace your perfected hunger for 1 minute:

• You gain resistance to necrotic and radiant damage.

• Your melee attacks heal you for half the damage dealt.

• You sprout ghostly crimson wings (or a vampiric aura), gaining a 30 ft. flying speed.

• When you kill a creature, your allies within 30 ft gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier.

When the veil fades, you suffer one level of exhaustion — the price of satiation.

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☠️ Barbarian: Path of the Graveborn

“Death spat me out. Now I make it choke on its mistake.”

Some barbarians die and are brought back wrong — half here, half beyond. These Graveborn warriors burn with necrotic fury, their rage a tearing of the veil between life and death.
They are both revenant and reaver, feeling neither pain nor fear, only the cold ecstasy of battle remembered through the grave.

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Graveborn Features

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Revenant’s Rage (3rd Level)

When you rage, you blur between life and death. Your eyes dim, your veins blacken, and your strikes carry grave energy.
While raging:

• You are resistant to necrotic and psychic damage.

• The first time you hit a creature each turn, it takes extra necrotic damage equal to your Constitution modifier.

• You may stabilize yourself instantly when reduced to 0 HP once per rage (you remain unconscious but stable).

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Deathless Fortitude (3rd Level)

You no longer need to eat, drink, or breathe. You can survive without air for up to 1 hour and automatically succeed on saving throws against being frightened.

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Chill of the Grave (6th Level)

Your presence chills the soul.
Enemies that start their turn within 10 feet of you while you’re raging must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or have disadvantage on their next attack roll until the start of their next turn.

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Ethereal Stride (10th Level)

Once per long rest, when you enter a rage, you can partially phase into the Ethereal Plane. For 1 minute, you can move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain (taking 1d10 force damage if you end your turn inside one).

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Beyond Pain (14th Level)

Death recognizes its own. While raging, you cannot be reduced below 1 hit point until the end of your next turn after dropping to 0 for the first time that rage.
When this occurs, you emit a ghostly wail — each enemy within 30 feet must make a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened until the end of their next turn.

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🩸 Sorcerer: Bloodline of the Nosferatu

“My blood remembers the night it first drank the moon.”

Some sorcerers are born of cursed unions, ancient vampiric rituals, or the bite of something that refused to die. Their magic manifests as hunger — for life, beauty, power, or all three.
Nosferatu bloodlines are as alluring as they are terrifying. Their spells drip with temptation and control, and their eyes gleam with the eternal hunger of the dark.

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Bloodline Features

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Vampiric Legacy (1st Level)

Your blood empowers your magic.

• You gain Charm Person and Inflict Wounds as sorcerer spells known.

• When you deal damage with a spell, you can heal yourself for an amount equal to your Charisma modifier (once per turn).

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Crimson Charm (1st Level)

You gain proficiency in Persuasion and Intimidation.
As a bonus action, you can exude an aura of allure or terror for 1 minute. Choose one:

• Charm: Creatures of your choice within 10 ft have disadvantage on attack rolls against you until they take damage.

• Fear: Creatures of your choice within 10 ft must succeed on a Wisdom save or be frightened until the end of their next turn.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum once), regaining all uses after a long rest.

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Sanguine Resilience (6th Level)

Your body drinks in vitality.
You gain resistance to necrotic damage and can add your Charisma modifier to saving throws against being charmed or frightened.
Whenever you kill a creature with a spell, your next spell cast within 1 minute deals additional damage equal to your proficiency bonus.

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Wings of the Night (14th Level)

You can summon spectral bat-like wings as a bonus action, granting you a 30 ft flying speed for 10 minutes.
While these wings are active, you have advantage on Stealth checks made in dim light or darkness, and creatures that rely on sight have disadvantage on opportunity attacks against you.

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Lord of the Blood Moon (18th Level)

Your transformation is complete — the night obeys your command.
As an action, you may enter your true vampiric form for 1 minute:

• You gain regeneration (regain 10 HP at the start of each turn unless you took radiant damage).

• When you deal spell damage, the target bleeds, taking additional necrotic damage equal to your Charisma modifier at the start of its next turn.

• When a creature you can see within 60 ft drops to 0 HP, you may use your reaction to regain sorcery points equal to your Charisma modifier.

When the transformation ends, you suffer one level of exhaustion.

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🕯️ Closing: “The Beauty in the Blood”

The Gothic Horrors remind us that fear is not always evil — sometimes it’s simply the price of strength. The Crimson Paladin drinks from the chalice of faith, the Graveborn rages against death itself, and the Nosferatu Sorcerer finds elegance in hunger.
Each walks the edge between redemption and ruin.

In a world of monsters, they prove one truth remains eternal:
Light is brightest when it bleeds.

Thanks for reading. Until Next Time, Stay Nerdy!!