Summary
The power to manipulate blood, whether for rituals, vampiric self-preservation, or directly as a tool or control of destruction, has a dark, undeniable appeal. Painting the walls and floor with red has been a common gameplay mechanic in video games, and many titles have featured magic users and otherworldly entities able to masterthe art of blood magic.
Many games, especially roleplaying games, have granted players these sanguine abilities, allowing them access to the forbidden world of ritual sacrifice and gore-filled nightmares. Each title has its own take on the red art, from vampirism to crafting unholy spells fueled by plasmatic life force.
After three days of carrying the Sanguinare Vampiris disease following an encounter with a vampire in the wild,Skyrimplayers may find their character wincing at the arrival of the sun and desiring to quench a thirst that mead or freshwater cannot satiate. Depending on their level of bloodthirst, vampires can magically drain the blood of their foes, reanimate the dead, and cloak themselves in shadow.
If players choose to side with the Volkihar clan during the main quest in “Dawnguard,” they will gain the greater blood magic abilities of a Vampire Lord, one ofThe Elder Scrolls’most iconic supernatural transformations. While transformed, they float above the earth and gain access to an area-of-effect spell that sucks the blood out of any life form, returning it to the Vampire Lord. They also have the god-like power to manipulate the blood inside a living being’s veins, allowing them to raise and toss aside their enemies like playthings.
Given the sheer variety of outfits, weapon skins, and cosmetic options available inGuild Wars 2, players can easily handicraft themselves just about any archetype imaginable. However, the necromancer’s abilities, notably their dagger weapons skills, “well” utility skills, and summonable Blood Fiend minion, make them ideal for fans of vampiric action and roleplaying.
The Blood Magic trait line further embellishes their blood-drinking powers by allowing them to passively freeze the open wounds of allies who are bleeding out, suck the life force out of multiple enemies at a faster rate, or lend allies the necromantic power to siphon health.A useful gizmo inGuild Wars 2to aid necromancers in their roleplay is the Bloodstone Ascender, which allows its user to levitate off the ground and glide from high places with blood effects.
It may be unsurprising to hear thatVampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, an RPG about occult vampirism in the modern age would contain a little sanguine sorcery, especially if the player chooses a Tremere sire. The Tremere clan prizes the thaumaturgy discipline, a brand of blood magic that can be used to absorb the sweet red stuff or damage foes.
The Tremere can use their target’s blood to interfere with the workings of the body. At a snap, they can cause their enemies to become violently ill, or, at later levels, they can turn their enemies' blood up to boiling temperatures, causing them to explode, and damaging anyone nearby.
Wielding magic in theDragon Ageseries (includingDragon Age OriginsandDragon Age 2)is hazardous to the health, and not only because of the attitude of the masses against mages, especially the blood mage variety. This bigotry is somewhat justified, given their association with the Blight, demons, dream-peeping, and full-body possession.
Infreely forging a pact with a demon, blood mages can sacrifice their own health points to gain more powerful magic. This comes with the downside of stunting their own incoming healing, but thankfully, if blood mages ever feel too run down, they can always steal the life force of their fellow party members to put the color back in their cheeks.
Terrain and environmental effects are a big part of combat inDivinity: Original Sin 2, as magic users and certain items can cover the battlefield with water, ice, fire, or poison. Those who practice necromantic magic can use blood splatters to heal themselves.
This naturally pairs well with the hydrosophist’s “Raining Blood” and “Blood Storm” spells. Blood surfaces can be used to create blood-elemental summons, imbue mosquitos with an insatiable thirst for fresh blood, and summon accursed souls to grasp at victims.
Wizards of the necromantic magic inclination inPathfinder: Wrath of the Righteouscan choose cruomancer the specialized subclass to supercharge their deathly potency. While cruomancy wizards can use their magic for the purposes of any moral alignment, the secret sauce to theirspecial necromancy recipesis their innate dhampir blood.
Dhampirs are one of the twelve playable races inWrath of the Righteous, a horrific hybrid between humans and vampires. Cruomancers do not use the blood of their victims, but exclusively their own corrupted undead blood, to power rituals.
Leaning into both vampire and sacrificial cultist tropes,Guild Wars' necromancer holds grotesque power over both the living and the dead. With their touch or gaze, necromancers use blood magic to damage enemies and shore up their own health. Besides using corpses as raw material for their minions, they can squeeze the blood out of them to heal themselves and their allies.
Many blood magic spells require necromancers to sacrifice health, a dangerous tradeoff in the hands of a novice, but ample reason for a necromancer to withdraw from the plentiful blood banks around them on the battlefield. Thanks to possibilities afforded to them byGuild Wars’class combination mechanics(or secondary profession system), necromancers can shore up their parasitic builds with the skills of any other profession, including holy warriors, assassins, or rangers.
