Strife:Bloodforged Gore Guide

'May their entrails stoke our hunger and sharpen our teeth! Bless our hungry hearts and thirsting blades! We are the hunters for the Huntsman! We are Forged of blood and nirncrux! We are The Reach!"-War Cry of Bloodforged Reachfolk'

Foreword
Bloodforged as described in the PDF are grotesque warriors of The Reach utilising strange blood magic to contort themselves and enemies alike, the pinnacle of which is transforming into the monstrous Beast of Blood. As written in the PDF this is described as a gory Lurcher yet it's important to make note that whilst Lurchers would be a common transformation this is not the only form a Beast of Blood can or should take. A Beast of Blood could take the form of anything within the parameters allowed by a GM, be it a Twisted Spriggan whose branches are tightly wound tendons and muscles dripping wet with pulsing veins or a Gaping Dire Wolf whose face splits open vertically to reveal lashing tendrils ready to engorge on flesh. This guide hopes to outline some examples of how the Beast of Blood could be utilised in an aesthetic manner, gameplay changes can also be made to the abilities of the Beast of Blood itself to better match your own unique take on the monster but this will just cover the abilities as seen in the PDF. Also in this section will be some descriptions of how I myself envision the innate spells known by the Bloodforged in their humanoid form.

Bloodstone Lurcher
The base PDF Beast of Blood is the Bloodstone Lurcher which is a powerful and imposing figure made of blackened flesh that looks and feels like volcanic rock, in it's centre a writhing mass of blood vessels and sinew continuously stir in an almost convulsing state. The limbs of the Bloodstone Lurcher are powerful trunk like bludgeoning weapons with hollow shards of bone like protrusions jutting forth allowing to cause powerful gashes and suck the essential fluids from any wounds in it's prey. Somewhat stunted back legs have unnaturally swollen muscles that burst in a shower of blood as the Lurcher pounces, slamming down with an unexpected ferocity as it showers those below in a crimson mask from the unexpected display.

Twisted Spriggan
The gnarled branch like limbs of a normal Spriggan are remade by twisted arteries, tendons and sinews to produce wet and dripping appendages to grapple and engorge upon prey with. Meeting at the centre of these gruesome limbs is a torso of a hardened obsidian like flesh with an obtruding jaw that pushes forward with serrated teeth of the same blackened flesh on a muscular piston of great strength. Where the head of the Twisted Spriggan should be there is a girthy tentacle like appendage with barbed hollow hooks to latch onto and drain their prey of any life whilst contracting to squeeze what is left out of their now mutilated corpse. As the Twisted Spriggan feeds it violently contracts its limbs to produce pools of claret and a high pitched trilling sound that pierces through all that hear it.

Gaping Wolf
Where should sit the head of a Dire Wolf instead lies the horrific maw of a Gaping Wolf, with its face split open vertically to show a cluster of frantically lashing viscera sucking tendrils with bladed tips to bore entry holes into its prey. Front legs that end abruptly to turn into hard blackened flesh from which scythe like claws emerge at strange angles, unblinking and bloodshot eyes sprouting from its chest with a thick clear carapace shell over the top of them. Disturbingly thin hind legs stretch with open sinew and bone to an immense length providing a bipedal gait of great speed as it's back bursts open in gouts of viscera to show its true immense maw of razor sharp spines that make up the four rows of teeth which draw flesh back to feed the Gaping Wolf.

Blood Puppet
As with all of these I envision this spell beginning as a gout of blood pouring out from the gauntlets of the Bloodforged as a knotted web of arteries unravels outward to latch onto the flesh of the target creature using small barbed hooks. From there crimson pulses of sanguine magical energy travel from the Bloodforged into the target before the target convulses violently as their joints twist in unnatural ways and they look shallow with sunken eye sockets. As the spell ends a pulse travels from the target towards the Bloodforged across the artery web as their eyes roll back in grim ecstasy, rejoicing in the revitalisation gained from this spell. As the spell ends the veins slither back and disappear beneath the clothes/armour of the Bloodforged with a sickening slithering sound.

Bile Harvester
Similarly to all spells I imagine this starts with the artery web being ejected from the wrist of the Bloodforged but in this instance the blood vessels slowly crawl and worm their way into the target corpse through all orifices before latching on with their barbed hooks. With unexpected speed the red pulsing begins and as the vitality of the Bloodforged is regained the corpse slowly begins to become more hollow until it is completely drained and left a dried husk devoid of any life. As the spell ends the veins slither back and disappear beneath the clothes/armour of the Bloodforged with a sickening slithering sound.

Invasive Veins
Just as with the other spells I envision it beginning with the web of arteries bursting out from the Bloodforged but instead of latching on in a feral and malicious way, the barbed hook of the arteries slowly prick a single opening in the target with almost surgical precision, be the entryway in the neck, wrist or arm. Rather than the red pulses of transferring blood magic emerging in the artery web a pallid green colour is pulled from the target as the Bloodforged winces until the colour once again returns to a deep crimson and the veins quickly withdraw looking notably necrotic from the purging and slither back beneath the clothes/armour of the Bloodforged.

Final Notes
All of these descriptions are intended to be fun for everyone involved, with this specific race much of the design and appeal comes from the disturbing yet fascinating magic and details but that isn't for everyone. If people you play with aren't comfortable with using detailed descriptions then keep it to yourself but never let that stop you from enjoying this race, detailed gory descriptions or not its meant to be fun. Also, these ideas are simply my own interpretations of how Bloodforged abilities look and that is not to say in the slightest it is the only way it can or should be, everything customisable should be varied and unique. Be a badass Beast of Blood however you enjoy it, homebrew or not be creative and let your dark imagination run wild.