D&D: Bloodied Is Back In 5.5E – But It Doesn’t Do Much… Yet
One of the most enduring ideas from 4th Edition is back in 5.5E D&D. But Bloodied doesn’t do a ton. Not yet, anyway.
As the core rulebooks for the new edition of D&D slowly roll out, a shape of the finished game emerges. In the 5.5E Player’s Handbook, we saw the groundwork laid out in the rules glossary. There are plenty of things that don’t quite have much use yet. Like the Bloodied condition.
In D&D 4E, Bloodied was an important part of the game. It meant that a creature had half of its hit points or fewer remaining. For a lot of monsters, this triggered some sort of change. Often it enabled a more powerful attack. Ironically enough, this was one of the things that made 4E feel more like a video game/MMO. But it was also one of the things that players seemed to love most.
Yeah, go figure. But, Bloodied is back in 5.5E. It just doesn’t do much. Not right now.
Here’s What Bloodied Does For You In 5.5E D&D
First of all, here’s what the condition is. It’s pretty straightforward, but it never hurts to be on the same page. And in this case, it’s page 362 of the 5.5E Player’s Handbook.
“A creature is Bloodied while it has half its Hit Points or fewer remaining.”
Exactly the same as it was in 4th Edition. It warms the heart. So many of 4E’s ideas remain in 5th Edition and beyond, which just goes to show how influential the game was. Without it, you’d have no bounded accuracy. Bonus Actions, even, stem from 4E.
But we’re not here to talk about how 4E is secretly the most innovative D&D has ever been. We’re here to talk about being Bloodied, which doesn’t inherently do anything on its own, but it does affect three different things. So far.
First up, the Life Domain subclass for Clerics. When you use your Preserve Life Channel Divinity feature as a Life Cleric, you only affect Bloodied creatures. You get to pick Bloodied creatures within 30 feet of you and can heal five times your Cleric level in hit points, divided up between valid targets as you decide. This ability can’t un-Bloody someone, though, so it’s of better use when you’re really in dire straits.
Second, Champion Fighters interact with the Bloodied condition. But they don’t do it until Level 18, which is forever away. But, if you make it that far, your Fighter will regain five hit points (plus Constitution modifier) at the start of each of your turns while you are Bloodied and have at least one hit point.
Finally, Boars. While Bloodied, they have advantage on attack rolls. This is likely the kind of thing you’re going to see more of in the 5.5E Monster Manual. Weirdly enough, none of the previews we’ve seen of the Monster Manual so far have shown any Bloodied abilities.
Perhaps that’ll be more of a thing. We’ll have to wait and see if there’s more meat to this condition, or if it’ll just be a sort of tacked on rule, flapping almost uselessly in the breeze, kinda like Alignment.
Happy adventuring!
