That brings us to one of our last example characters for the Leader (at least for now), a hybrid druid / leader character that’s built around the druid’s ability to activate Leader powers even while in wild shape, by growling, grunting, roaring, or something else, leading both the Packleader’s PC allies and the beasts that they summon with their druid spells. The Packleader is a level 11 character, with 6 levels in Druid and 5 levels in Leader. With just an 11 in Charisma, the Wisdom-focused Packleader should have no issues meeting the ability score prerequisites for the prestige class. So how is the Packleader built?
This cleric domain is the other side of the same cynical and pessimistic coin as the Oath of Grief paladin subclass that’s also appearing alongside the Madness Domain in The Impermissicon. The class has two 1st-level features in addition to the bonus cantrip because one of them, Divine Hallucinations, isn’t always even a benefit, depending on the DM’s level of deviousness.
Today from Legends of Prestige and Prowess we have two new abjuration spells modeled after the basic 1st-level shield spell. Shield is one of the most powerful 1st-level spells available to sorcerers and wizards and perhaps one of the most powerful spells relative to its spell level in general. Even though these spells are already at a higher cost than the shield spell due to their higher slot level, they also only grant +4 to AC instead of +5 out of bounded accuracy concerns resulting from being able to grant the shield bonus much more easily to clerics, paladins, fighters, etc. who typically achieve higher ACs than a sorcerer or wizard does.
All four blood magic subclasses for the casters have some variant of their main blood magic ability, however, regardless of their focus. For wizards and sorcerers, that ability is called Hematurgy. Like the blood mages of Dragon Age, these blood mages can spill their own blood to fuel their magic even when their normal spell reserves have run dry, recklessly harming themselves in the process. This subclass for the sorcerer actually gets bonus hit dice to spend on that feature, and extra healing to make up for the damage, as a way of tying the sorcerer’s default “magic is in your bloodline” theme to the specific “blood magic” theme.
Today we have a bonus treat: an updated look at phantasmal plunge, which previously appeared in the preview of the Oath of Grief, along with another new spell that will show up with phantasmal plunge on the spell list of the Madness Domain subclass for clerics. And since that subclass will appear in The Impermissicon, so will these two spells! Both these spells also show off the increase in ratio of Intelligence and Charisma saving throw spells in D&D Unleashed.
