Assorted Barbarian Primal Paths

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# Assorted Barbarian Primal Paths
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> ##### **Homebrew Material**
>
> This document presents homebrew materials by [Weirdo Whoever](https://weirdowhoever.blogspot.com). These game mechanics are in draft form, usable in your campaign but not refined by design iterations or full game development.
>
> If you have any comments or suggestions concerning the materials, please contact Weirdo Whoever ([weirdowhoever@gmail.com](mailto:weirdowhoever@gmail.com)).

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At 3rd level, a barbarian chooses the Primal Path feature. Here are new options for the feature: Path of the Predator, Path of the Savage Knight, and Path of the Scourge.

### Path of the Predator
The wilderness is a cruel, unforgiving world, with the only rule that matters is the survival of the fittest. Path of the Predator is the barbarian's struggle to and survive in the great nature that cares less of its denizens. With the hunting skills honed by primal instinct, the barbarians who walks the Path of the Predator can prove themselves as a pinnacle of the food chain.

#### Natural Predator
When you choose this path at 3rd level, you are skilled at navigating the wilderness. You gain the following benefits when traveling for an hour or more:

- Difficult terrain does not slow your group's travel.
- Your group cannot become lost except by magical means.
- Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling (such as foraging, navigating, or tracking), you remain alert to danger.
- When you forage, you find twice as much food as you normally would.

#### Primal Hunter
Also starting at 3rd level, when you make a ranged weapon attack while raging, you can use Strength instead of Dexterity for attack and damage rolls for the attack, even if the weapon does not have the *thrown* property.

When you make a ranged weapon attack using Strength with a *thrown* melee weapon, the normal range of the weapon increases by a number of feet equal to 5 times your Strength modifier (minimum of 5 feet), and the long range of the weapon increases by a number of feet equal to 10 times your Strength modifier (minimum of 10 feet).

When you hit a creature with a ranged weapon attack using Strength while raging, you gain a bonus to the damage rolls, as shown in the Rage Damage column of the Barbarian table for your level.

Immediately after you make a ranged weapon attack using Strength while raging, you take necrotic damage equal to what is shown in the Rage Damage column of the Barbarian table for your level. This damage ignores your resistance or immunity.

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#### Predator's Senses
When you reach 6th level, your rage heightens your senses. While raging, you gain a bonus to your passive Wisdom (Perception) equal to what is shown in the Rage Damage column of the Barbarian table for your level.

Additionally, whenever you track other creatures while raging, you gain a bonus to your Wisdom (Survival) checks equal to what is shown in the Rage Damage column of the Barbarian table for your level, and you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.

#### Predator's Volley
Starting at 10th level, while you are raging, you can use an action to make a ranged attack using Strength against any number of creatures within 15 feet of you. You must have ammunition for each target as normal, and you make a separate roll for each target.

#### Predator's Ambush
At 14th level, while you are raging and hidden, creatures that attempt to detect you have disadvantage on their Wisdom (Perception) checks.

Additionally, while you are raging and hidden, any hit you score with the ranged weapon attack using Strength against a creature that is unaware of you is a critical hit.

You do not gain the benefits of this feature if you have disadvantage on the Dexterity (Stealth) check.

### Path of the Savage Knight
Not all barbarians are crude, uncultured brutes. Path of the Savage Knight is the path reserved for those who walks the thin line of civilized attitudes and ferocious nature. By channeling the ferocious instinct into a more disciplined maneuvers, a barbarian who walks the Path of the Savage Knight becomes a mighty juggernaut that can take on the greatest champion and the deadliest predator alike.

#### Ironclad Ferocity
Starting at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in heavy armor.

While you are raging and wearing heavy armor, you gain the following benefits:
- You gain advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws.
- When you make a melee weapon attack using Strength, you gain a bonus to the damage roll. The bonus equals half of what is shown in the Rage Damage column of the Barbarian table for your level, rounded down.

When you reach 5th level and gain the Fast Movement feature, your speed increases by 10 feet even while you are wearing heavy armor, but only while you are raging.

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If you enter the rage while wearing heavy armor, immediately after your rage ends, you suffer a cumulative -1 penalty to all ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws, to a maximum of -5. Every time you finish a long rest, the penalty is reduced by 1 until it disappears.

#### Primal Maneuver
Also starting at 3rd level, when you enter the rage, you gain two special dice called superiority dice. Your superiority dice are d6s, or d8s if you entered the rage while wearing heavy armor. A superiority die is expended when you use it. You lose any unused superiority dice when your rage ends.

You can expend superiority dice to gain a number of different benefits. When such benefit requires your target to make a saving throw to resist its effect, the saving throw DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier.

***Precision Strike.*** When you make a melee weapon attack using Strength, you can expend one superiority die to add it to the attack roll. You can use this ability before or after making the attack roll, but before any of the effects of the attack are applied.

***Riposte.*** When a creature misses you with a melee attack, you can expend one superiority die as a reaction to make a melee weapon attack against the creature. If you hit, you add the superiority die to the attack's damage roll.

#### Noble Savage
At 6th level, you can add half your proficiency bonus (rounded down) to any Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma check you make that does not already include your proficiency bonus.

Additionally, You can expend superiority dice to gain the following benefit, but only while you are wearing heavy armor:

***Ironclad Will.*** When you make an Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma saving throw, you can expend one superiority die to add it to the d20 roll. You can use this ability before or after making the saving throw, but before the DM discern whether you succeeded or failed the save.

#### Untamed Chivalry
When you reach 10th level, your superiority dice turns into d10s if you entered the rage while wearing heavy armor.

Additionally, You can expend superiority dice to gain the following benefits:

***Interrupting Attack.*** When a creature you can see within 5 feet of you attacks a target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can expend one superiority die to make one melee weapon attack against the attacker. If the attack hits, you add the superiority to the attack's damage roll, and the attacker has disadvantage on the attack roll.

***Overwhelming Attack.*** When you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one superiority die to overwhelm the target with brute strength. You add the superiority die to the attack's damage roll, and if the target is Large or smaller, it must succeed on a Strength saving throw or becomes knocked prone or pushed up to 15 feet away from you (your choice).

#### Ironclad Momentum
At 14th level, you gain three superiority dice, instead of two, when you enter the rage.

Additionally, when you roll initiative while wearing heavy armor, you can immediately enter the rage, expend one superiority die, and add the die roll to your initiative roll.

### Path of the Scourge
Amongst the multiverse are powerful, supernatural entities that are despised as heathen deities. The Path of the Scourge is their vengeance against those who have looked down upon what they could not even cope with. A barbarian who walks the Path of the Scourge acts as the harbinger of these "heathen" entities, crushing down the enemies and oppressors with the gift their patron has bestowed upon them.

In many cases, the outsider and their patron share a common enemy: A civilization which has expanded beyond it could handle with. More than one empire has fallen at the hand of what they thought was a mere savage, who has sworn their vengeance in the name of the pagan god.

#### Herald of the Scourge
Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you learn the *thaumaturgy* cantrip. Charisma is the spellcasting ability for this cantrip.

Additionaly, choose one Otherworldly Patron from the warlock class.

#### Pact Magic
At 3rd level, you gain the ability to cast spells.

**Spell Slots.** The Path of the Scourge Pact Magic table shows how many spell slots you have. The table also shows what the levels are those slots is; all of your spell slots are the same level. To cast one of your warlock spells of 1st level and higher, you must expend a spell slot. You regain all expended spell slot when you finish a short rest or long rest.

**Spells Known of 1st-Level and Higher.** You know two 1st-level spells of your choice from the warlock spell list. If the Otherworldly Patron you chose with your Herald of the Scourge feature provides an expanded spell list, the spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.

The Spells Known column of the Path of the Scourge Pact Magic table shows when you learn more warlock spells of your choice of 1st level and higher. A spell you choose must be of a level no higher that what's shown in the table's Slot Level column for your level.

Additionally, whenever you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the warlock spell you know and replace it with another spell from the warlock spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

**Spellcasting Ability.** Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your warlock spells, so you use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a warlock spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

**Spell save DC** = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier

**Spell attack modifier** = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma
modifier
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##### Table: Path of the Scourge Pact Magic

| Barbarian<br>Level | Spells<br>Known | Spell<br>Slots | Slot<br>Level |
|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|
| 3rd  | 2 | 1 | 1st |
| 4th  | 3 | 2 | 1st |
| 5th  | 3 | 2 | 1st |
| 6th  | 3 | 2 | 1st |
| 7th  | 4 | 2 | 2nd |
| 8th  | 4 | 2 | 2nd |
| 9th  | 4 | 2 | 2nd |
| 10th  | 5 | 2 | 2nd |
| 11th  | 5 | 2 | 2nd |

| Barbarian<br>Level | Spells<br>Known | Spell<br>Slots | Slot<br>Level |
|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|
| 12th  | 5 | 2 | 2nd |
| 13th  | 6 | 2 | 3rd |
| 14th  | 6 | 2 | 3rd |
| 15th  | 6 | 2 | 3rd |
| 16th  | 7 | 2 | 3rd |
| 17th  | 7 | 2 | 3rd |
| 18th  | 7 | 2 | 3rd |
| 19th  | 8 | 2 | 4th |
| 20th  | 8 | 2 | 4th |

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#### Admonishing Strike
Also starting at 3rd level, you can channel the power of your heathen entity to empower your melee weapon attack. When you hit a creature with a melee attack using Strength while raging, you can expend a spell slot to apply one of the following effects:
- The target must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC or becomes knocked prone or pushed up to 15 feet away from you (your choice).
- The target must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC or becomes stunned until the start of its next turn.
- The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or becomes frightened of you for 1 minute.

#### Messenger of the Scourge
When you reach 6th level, you learn the *find familiar* spell and can cast it as a ritual. The spell does not count against your number of spells known.

When you cast the spell, you can choose one of the normal forms for your familiar or one of the following special forms: imp, pseudodragon, quasit, or sprite.

You can communicate telepathically with your familiar and perceive through your familiar's senses as long as you are on the same plane of existence. Additionally, while perceiving through your familiar's senses, you can also speak through your familiar in your own voice, even if your familiar is normally incapable of speech.

#### Heathen Resilience
Beginning at 10th level, when you take damage while raging, you can use your reaction and expend a spell slot to gain temporary hit points equal to your barbarian level + your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1), which takes as much of the triggering damage as possible. You lose all temporary hit points you gained this way at the start of your next turn or when your rage ends.

#### Relentless Scourge
Starting at 14th level, when you start your turn while raging and have no spell slots remaining from your Pact Magic feature, you can regain one spell slot from your Pact Magic feature.

Once you use this feature, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.

## Credits
All contents are created by [Weirdo Whoever](https://weirdowhoever.blogspot.com) unless noted otherwise. Special thanks to [D&D Wiki](https://www.dandwiki.com), [NaturalCrit Homebrewery tool](https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com), and [GM Binder](https://www.gmbinder.com) for providing the templates for my imaginations.

Path of the Predator is based on [Path of the Survivor](https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Path_of_the_Survivor_(5e_Subclass)) I did a while ago in D&D Wiki. Instead of tanking specialty, I added some ranged weapon attack using Strength, in exchange of slowly killing yourself. The feature is based on many "berserker" characters in videogames, specifically Troll Warlord in *Dota 2* and Zul'Jin in *Heroes of the Storm*.

Path of the Savage Knight has gone through many reworks and remakes. The first version is still available in D&D Wiki, in the name of [Path of the Crimson Knight](https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Path_of_the_Crimson_Knight_(5e_Subclass)). The class is practically my attempt to simulate *Fate/Zero* Berserker in D&D.

Path of the Scourge is still available in [D&D Wiki](https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Path_of_the_Scourge_(5e_Subclass)), but I did some rework on some features.