Lycanthrope as Barbarian path (Peachy!)

[Macv12]

Posted this elsewhere a while back, to exactly ONE response \m/
So I'm still looking for feedback and hoping this time will be better.

Basically,I wanted something close to the totem barbarian, but without all the hippie stuff. I first drafted it for a Castlevania-inspired one-off, trying to capture the feel of Cornell. Didn't really get to use it, though. I wanted it to be friendly to different flavors of lycanthrope, rabid or sophisticated. Or to some other flavor of "shapeshifter" that isn't a rabid were-beast, like a Yuan-Ti or something.

One design note: the "Monster" line of benefits was originally "werewolf," the sort of "classic" scary lycanthrope that can tear apart a lonely country village. "Behemoth" was bear, big and pushy. "Stalker" is tiger, or my interpretation of it; I wanted a "stealthy assassin" flair, to the extent that a barbarian can achieve that. "Predator" is shark, my pet favorite.

Path of the Beast Rager​

Starting at third level, when raging, you undergo a physical transformation into a hybrid of your humanoid and monstrous selves. If you can already assume hybrid or werebeast forms, you enter either one upon activating raging, and cannot revert until the rage ends. Otherwise, your appearance becomes that of a hybrid; the extent of the change varies, but is obvious.

Effects that force shapeshifters to revert to their base form do not end your Rage. However, they do nullify the benefits of the Lycan Warrior, Beast Rage Focus, Apex Beast, and Hunger of the Beast features until the effect ends.

-- Lycan Warrior (level 3) --​

You gain a Beast Strike, which may represent claws, a powerful bite, etc. A Beast Strike is not a weapon, but can be used in place of one when you make a melee weapon attack. Doing so requires you to manifest your beast form, revealing your nature.

You are always proficient with your Beast Strike. Add Strength to the attack and damage rolls, and use a d10 as the damage die. When you gain this feature, choose whether the Beast Strike does bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, poison, or acid damage; the attack is considered magical for the purposes of overcoming resistances. You may also give it the Finesse property, changing the damage die to a d6.
[sblock="Comments"]Poison and Acid were added to facilitate snakes, Yuan-Ti, etc. Ignoring magic resistance was added to not make these optimal choices versus B/P/S damage.[/sblock]

-- Beast Rage Focus (level 3) --​

You gain a bonus while in Beast Rage, chosen from the list below. This is independent of which form of lycanthropy you have.

• Monster: you can use Rampage as an action. After you do and until the end of your turn, you can make an unarmed strike against any creature within reach, but only once per creature.
• Behemoth: when you take damage, you can use a reaction to grant yourself temporary HP equal to the damage taken. On your turn, you can use a bonus action to lose any temporary HP you have and recover an equal amount of HP.
• Stalker: if you move at least 15ft in a straight line before hitting a creature no more than one size larger than you with a melee attack, the target must make a Strength save against (8 + your STR + your prof) or be knocked prone. If you were hidden from the creature before moving, a failed save also allows you to shove it up to 15ft and move with it, before knocking it prone. This doesn't consume your movement for the turn.
• Predator: when you hit with a Beast Strike, you can also grab the target with a free hand. While this creature remains grabbed, you cannot target anything else with your Beast Strike. Beast Strike attacks against creatures you are grabbing can't miss.

[sblock="Comments"]Tiger has the charge+prone thing of course. I hate this as written, but it's thematically what I want. Doesn't use a bonus action, so you can rage and charge from hiding, or use Charger, without rage wearing off instantly.

Predator obviously has a big problem with grapple-immune enemies. No ideas as of yet.[/sblock]

-- Wild Instincts (level 6) --​

Choose a feature from the list below. Your choice need not match your choice of Beast Rage Focus. If you are already proficient with a skill provided by this feature, you can choose another skill from the barbarian list.

• Monster: you gain proficiency in Intimidation, and you can't be frightened. During Beast Rage, you also have advantage on Intimidation checks. Making an Intimidation check prevents rage from ending early, even if you don't attack or take damage.
• Behemoth: Coming Soon: something New 'n' Tasty!
• Stalker: you gain proficiency in Stealth, and Darkvision with a radius of 60 feet if you don't have it. You also gain a climb or swim speed equal to your speed. Using an action to Hide, or being hidden from a hostile creature you can perceive at the end of your turn, prevents rage from ending early, even if you don't attack or take damage.
• Predator: your sense of smell makes you aware of the location of living creatures below full HP within 60ft. You can identify creatures by their blood as accurately as you can by their face. Additionally, choose a habitat: forest (including jungles or heavy plant growth), wastes (including deserts, snow fields, or mountains), underground (including caverns or sewers), water (including oceans or streams), or urban (including towns or ruins). You ignore difficult terrain caused by features of your habitat, and have advantage on checks to perceive creatures hiding in them.

[sblock="Comments"]Tiger is able to hide while raging for hit-and-run. The charge+shove combine with climb speed to encourage careful positioning + reaching odd places for good angles. A bit less "lizard-brain"than the standard barbarian.

“Habitats”are simplified from the usual list of terrains because giving two“habitats” for one creature is bad thematics, and I wanted to ensure they remain relevant.[/sblock]

-- Unnatural Predator (level 10) --​

Natural beasts can sense your corruption, and may be terrified or enthralled by it. Whenever a beast comes within 30ft of you, it must make a WIS save against DC (8 + CHA + prof). On a failed save, choose whether it is charmed or frightened by you for 1 minute. A creature that succeeds on this save is immune to your aura for 24 hours.

Wherever you go, beasts are wary of you, and will hesitate to approach or attack you. Domesticated beasts may be agitated or fascinated by you, depending on how you project your aura.

[sblock="Alternate feature: Hunger of the Beast"]-- Hunger of the Beast (level 10) --
(Similar to Skyrim's highly satisfying feature; too monstrous for many campaigns)

During Beast Rage, you can feed on a corpse to recover your strength. The corpse one size smaller than you or larger, and have been dead for less than a day. As an action, you devour the corpse's heart,allowing you to spend up to half your total Hit Dice to heal as if you had taken a short rest. If you have no Hit Dice remaining, you gain temporary HP equal to twice your level. Feeding only sharpens the hunger of your beast form, and your Rage doesn't end this turn.

Additionally,you gain the same nourishment from raw flesh that you gain from other sources of food.[/sblock]

​-- Apex Beast (level 14) --​

Your beast blood is empowered further, granting additional bonuses during Beast Rage. Choose a feature from the list below.

• Monster: you gain temporary HP equal to your Constitution modifier at the beginning of each of your turns. +1 per hostile creature within 5ft. Additionally, you gain temporary HP equal to your Constitution modifier each time you hit an enemy with a melee attack. [Remembering that tHP doesn't stack!]
• Behemoth: when you enter Rage, you may choose to unleash your true primal fury, gaining the benefits listed below until your Rage ends. However, controlling this power is taxing: you gain a level of exhaustion after the rage ends.
  • Your size becomes Large. Magical clothing and armor you wear grows to fit your new size; non-magical armor and shields are useless while transformed.
  • You can wield Two-handed and Versatile melee weapons in one hand as if you were using two, and treat all other melee weapons as Light.
  • Double your rage bonus to damage.
  • When you move, you can enter the spaces of creatures smaller than you. The creature moves to an adjacent space that isn't directly hazardous; if it can't do so, you can't enter its space. The creature doesn't provoke OA for this movement. You must expend an extra foot of movement for each foot you push any creature in this way. For example, if you mov 5ft and push two creatures,, you must expend 10ft extra movement, for a total of 15ft.
• Stalker: during the first round of combat, or any of your turns when you made no attacks during your previous turn, you do an extra 1d8 damage with all melee attacks.
• Predator: the presence of blood drives you into a frenzy. You know if creatures you can smell have less than half their total HP. As long as you sense such a creature, you score a critical hit against it on a roll of 19 or 20, and can make a melee weapon attack as a bonus action, but have disadvantage on attacks against creatures with more than half HP.

 

[77IM]

I like it, although I find it too wordy in places. Streamline!

I'm also not sure if you need 4 sub-paths (behemoth, monster, etc.) right off the bat. I think you could focus your efforts on 3 sub-paths and make them simpler and better balanced.

Like, I am looking at all the good stuff that Stalker gets at 6th level and wondering if it's a bit much. And unless I'm reading Behemoth level 3 wrong, this makes you effectively immortal if you are taking only 1 attack per round. I prefer to stick with simpler and better-vetted mechanics. For example I'd replace all of the Behemoth level 3 benefits with "resistance to all damage while raging" just like Bear Totem. (Some people feel that having one mechanic represent two things is boring and that every new concept needs a new game mechanic, but I feel the opposite way -- I don't want to learn a new mechanic if an existing one can represent the flavor just as well.)

Unnatural Predator is another ability that seems unbalanced: it's useless in most encounters, but TOO good in beast-heavy encounters.

I think the level 14 abilities are pretty good, although Behemoth is too complicated for me to think about -- I mean, if you want a dude to grow to Large size, that's a good way to write up rules for it, but that's not really what I expect from a were-barbarian.

All that said, this is a fantastic idea and I think you've done a great job of writing up the rules for it.