Unearthed Arcana New Barbarian Primal Paths in November 7th Unearthed Arcana

The new paths are

• Path of the Ancestral Guardian
• Path of the Storm Herald
• Path of the Zealot

 

[Corpsetaker]

This. I'm just not loving the Barbarian. The Berserker path could easily be turned into a Fighter kit. The Totem, I guess, could be thrown to the Druid for something more combative w/o the shape-shifting. These new paths don't actually do anything for me.

Really, I'd rather see the Barbarian looted and divvied between the Fighter, Ranger, and a new Shaman class.

I'm seeing a lot of reaching with these new subs of the barbarian.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

I guess I see the shaman as someone who makes deals with spirits (and that is deals plural, not like the one time warlock gig), so he/she appeals to the honored ancestors for guidance on Tuesday, makes a deal with a primal spirit to have uncursed access to a site of primal power on Thursday, and convinces a nasty wrath to attack somebody he/she doesn't like on Saturday......

If it becomes spirit-focused, there is less need to overlap with the druid, because the nature part is just part of the gig (only where there are nature spirits involved).

Wisdom and charisma would be the good saves. Subclasses could be similar to the warlock's pact implements (but with more stuff since they are full subclasses): pet, gish, and maybe some kind of fetish instead of the book......

 

[Corpsetaker]

I guess I see the shaman as someone who makes deals with spirits (and that is deals plural, not like the one time warlock gig), so he/she appeals to the honored ancestors for guidance on Tuesday, makes a deal with a primal spirit to have uncursed access to a site of primal power on Thursday, and convinces a nasty wrath to attack somebody he/she doesn't like on Saturday......

If it becomes spirit-focused, there is less need to overlap with the druid, because the nature part is just part of the gig (only where there are nature spirits involved).

Wisdom and charisma would be the good saves. Subclasses could be similar to the warlock's pact implements (but with more stuff since they are full subclasses): pet, gish, and maybe some kind of fetish instead of the book......

But I see druids having an equal connection to the physical and spiritual aspects of nature. A Shaman class would be better suited as a Druid subclass.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

But I see druids having an equal connection to the physical and spiritual aspects of nature. A Shaman class would be better suited as a Druid subclass.

Maybe it is just me, but I have hard time imagining WotC giving the shaman goodies as a subclass. There are some minions that magic users can summon that attack there enemies and can't be attacked back, but there is always a catch, usually involving concentration, the minion being stuck to one spot, or the magic user being stuck in one spot. And there is always a limited duration. The shaman would get something like that with no catches. That is a little (actually a lot) much. I don't think anyone actually disagrees with that, because homebrew druid shamans tend to be full of "replace wildshaping with spirit companion." The problem with that is it isn't going to happen.

So you will actually end up with is the Beast Conclave druid or the arcane eye druid, either of which will make circle of the land druids feel better that people don't think they are wimpiest druids anymore.

 

[CapnZapp]

Why would a barbarian, full of melee-orientated class abilities, want to hang back and let his/her spirit companion fight for him/her like the 4e shaman would?

I am afraid we need to hold you back a grade in barbarian 101.

Are you asking me a serious question or just snarking?

See below

 

[CapnZapp]

But, no, sub-classes aren't going to change much or open up new ways to play, sub-classes just aren't that dramatically different. You'd need new classes with new mechanics to shake things up that much.

That is why my overall reaction is "enough with the barbarian subclasses already".

There are much more pressing subclass needs to attend to first. More battlemaster maneuvers (and tiered maneuvers!). Cleric domains to fully cover the entire 3E catalog. Pretty much every sorcerer subclass except the fire dragon descendant.

And yes, I want a Shaman, and yes, it needs to be something more than a barbarian subclass.

 

[CapnZapp]

Okay, I can see that. I was trying to figure out why he was asking for a shaman in a barbarian subclass. There are plenty of good places to put a shaman, but barbarian was a funny one.

Thank you.

Tony got it in one!

 

[Tony Vargas]

That is why my overall reaction is "enough with the barbarian subclasses already". There are much more pressing subclass needs to attend to first.

Y'know, somebody's probably been dying for them. Order is less important to me than quality.

More battlemaster maneuvers (and tiered maneuvers!). Pretty much every sorcerer subclass except the fire dragon descendant. And yes, I want a Shaman, and yes, it needs to be something more than a barbarian subclass.

Certainly. For Shaman, I've heard Artificer sub-class, which sounds weird, but might make sense mechanically.

Cleric domains to fully cover the entire 3E catalog.

With each domain constituting a sub-class that sounds like a lot. Cleric & Wizard are already way out ahead in terms of number of sub-classes.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

For Shaman, I've heard Artificer sub-class, which sounds weird, but might make sense mechanically.

Pssh. Binder subclass. The 3E Tome of Magic even had a sidebar about it.

Although I guess if the shaman is modeled on the 3E totemist, the other incarnum classes do kind of look like artificers.

 

[Greg K]

I guess I see the shaman as someone who makes deals with spirits (and that is deals plural, not like the one time warlock gig), so he/she appeals to the honored ancestors for guidance on Tuesday, makes a deal with a primal spirit to have uncursed access to a site of primal power on Thursday, and convinces a nasty wrath to attack somebody he/she doesn't like on Saturday.......

I want to see them bargain, cajole, persuade, intimidate spirits as necessary to get the spirits to intercede on behalf of the shaman's community or communities(in theory, shaman's are part-time religious specialists that serve one or more communities. However, they are often mistrusted as some shamans use the spirits for their own dark purposes such as sending disease spirits to infect enemies) . I also want shamans to turn spirits to act on the . And by spirits, I don't just mean non-corporeal undead By spirit, I also mean wizard familiars, shamanic totems/ancestors, spirit guides, spirits of the land, disease spirits, elementals, fey, genies and demons/devils/archons/angels/etc ( whom are not deities). They need to be able to heal, cure disease, and enter the spirit world.
To date, the two best shaman classes for D&D (in my opinion) are in the Shaman's Handbook by Steve Kenson for 3e and Witches by Nigel Findley for AD&D.