Skip to content
CharGen Icon
Create
The Blood-Tithe Altar - AI-generated fantasy Hazard

The Blood-Tithe Altar

The Blood-Tithe Altar is a dormant cult ward that converts trespassers' vitality into a brief surge of necromantic power. It does not immediately attack everyone in the chamber. Instead, it rewards reckless movement with escalating pulses of pain, giving observant adventurers several chances to recognize and dismantle the ritual.

Back to Generator
Create your own Hazard
Hazard EntryMagicalLevel6Simple

The Blood-Tithe Altar

6LevelUncommonRarityRuinsEnvironment
MagicalNecroticRitualSight-BasedArea Effect
Level6
|
HP30
|
AC15
|
TypeMagical
|
ComplexitySimple
|
RarityUncommon

Defenses

AC15
HardDamage threshold 10 against nonmagical weapon attacks
HP30
BT 12
Fort+Constitution saving throw DC 15
Ref+Dexterity saving throw DC 15 to avoid the altar's pulse by diving behind cover, though cover does not grant advantage unless the DM determines it is substantial.
Will+Wisdom saving throw DC 15 to resist the altar's supernatural compulsion to approach it. On a failed save, the creature must use its reaction, if available, to move up to 10 feet toward the altar by the safest available route.
Immune
Poison damage, Psychic damage, Charmed, Frightened, Prone, Stunned
Resist
Bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks, Necrotic damage
Weak
Radiant damage, Holy water, A successful counter-rite, Extinguishing the black candles before removing the red glass shards
MagicalNecroticRitualSight-BasedArea Effect

Detection

PerDC 13 Wisdom (Perception) to notice the altar's red glow and unnatural candle smoke. DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) to identify the floor channels and determine that the five bowls are linked to the ward.
StlDC 12 to notice the dormant magical aura before entering the ritual chamber. The altar is not hidden, but its trigger boundary is disguised among the cracked floor tiles.
InitThe altar acts immediately when triggered. It has no initiative count afterward.

“A cracked stone altar stands in the center of a ruined shrine. Five iron bowls surround it, each filled with black candle wax and a thumb-sized shard of red glass. Faint crimson light pulses beneath the altar's surface whenever a creature approaches.”

Standard Engagement

Trigger

A creature crosses the ritual boundary, touches the altar, removes a red glass shard before extinguishing its candle, or damages the altar.

Routine

The hazard has no routine. It releases one Blood-Tithe Pulse when triggered, then becomes dormant until it resets.

Reset

The altar resets after 24 hours if at least one candle and one red glass shard remain. If all candles are extinguished or all shards are removed, it does not reset.

Blood-Tithe Pulse

When the altar is triggered, each creature within 20 feet of it must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 4d8 necrotic damage and cannot regain hit points until the end of its next turn. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and suffers no healing restriction. A creature reduced to 0 hit points by this damage falls unconscious but is stable.

Ritual Boundary

The altar is triggered when a creature crosses the ring of floor channels surrounding it, touches the altar, removes a red glass shard before extinguishing its candle, or deals damage to the altar. A creature that succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check while observing the floor can see the ring and avoid crossing it.

Consecrated Gloom

If the altar triggers while at least four candles remain lit, crimson light fills the chamber until the end of the next round. During that time, creatures within 20 feet of the altar cannot benefit from invisibility, and undead creatures in the area have advantage on saving throws against being turned.

False Offering

A creature that willingly sheds at least 1 hit point of blood into an empty bowl before triggering the altar can delay the pulse until the end of its next turn. This is not considered a safe offering by the original cult, but it gives the party a brief opportunity to escape or begin the counter-rite.

Description

The Blood-Tithe Altar is a dormant cult ward that converts trespassers' vitality into a brief surge of necromantic power. It does not immediately attack everyone in the chamber. Instead, it rewards reckless movement with escalating pulses of pain, giving observant adventurers several chances to recognize and dismantle the ritual.

Discovery

The altar can be noticed as unusual with a DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check. A DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check reveals hairline channels carved into the floor that lead from the surrounding tiles to the altar. A character who examines the bowls notices that the wax contains dried blood and tiny fragments of bone.

Archival Lore

“The cultists who built the shrine feared that their god would abandon them when their empire collapsed. They bound a fragment of their collective life force into the altar, ordering it to punish anyone who entered without offering blood. Centuries later, the ritual is weak, but the altar still recognizes living creatures as unfinished sacrifices.”

Environment
Ruins
Theme
Cult Ritual
Creator
The Ashen Cantor, a forgotten priest who believed every ruined sanctuary should continue demanding offerings after death
Purpose
To drain the vitality of intruders and consecrate their deaths as offerings to a forgotten cult deity.
Game System
D&D 5E
Art Style
Dark fantasy ruin concept art, ritualistic geometry, cracked limestone, red spectral light, soot-stained candles, oppressive atmosphere, detailed tabletop RPG illustration
Visual sheet

Turn The Blood-Tithe Altar into a sheet

A high-res, share-ready sheet you can post or print.

Gallery

No gallery images yet.