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

 

[Parmandur]

What of the barbarian says they have to be outdoorsy? With the right background and skill choices, they're just a super tough warrior who channels their fury


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The Skill list leans outdoorsy, but you can select Athletics and Perception, and with the Acolyte Background there is zero outdoorsy flavor or crunch.



I like these; intrigued at what sort of product these may appear in, and what else we may see. Hopefully like 10 Sorcerer subclasses...

 

[Tony Vargas]

Other than the Sleep and Magic Missile spells does anything else in 5e cause auto damage?

Everything that gives a save for half.

What of the barbarian says they have to be outdoorsy?

That the sub-classes are called "Primal Paths?" So not much.

 

[thalmin]

Love the flavor of all three but I think the mechanics are only 1/3 or 1/2 baked (though with some cool ideas). Definitely need some work here.

Not sure how I feel about the introduction of auto damage zones as they basically circumvent bounded accuracy and break the action economy, but since it's tied to rage maybe it's not that big of a problem. Other than the Sleep and Magic Missile spells does anything else in 5e cause auto damage?

Thats why it's playtest material, so we can finish baking it.

 

[pdegan2814]

Warrior of the Gods - This one seems odd. It is an ability that others take advantage of, not actually you. I mean you would get healed no matter what, and a cleric only needs the holy symbol anyway right? If it is for Resurrection type spells, then it seems kind of out of place for a 3rd level ability. Seems like this really wouldn't come into play much unless your entire group was without their spell components or you needed to be resurrected and your group didn't have the money to pay for it???

The consumed material components get pretty pricey as you scale up from Revivify through True Resurrection. This ability makes it easier to use the highest-level resurrection magic available to the party at no cost, minimizing the lingering effects(coming back at 1 HP, no curing of previous diseases, penalties to rolls for the next few days, etc) as much as the Cleric/Druid/etc's abilities will allow. Considering the Zealot also gets Divine Fury at 3rd level, Warrior Of The Gods is probably meant more for flavor than mechanics, but it can still come in handy.

 

[Shiroiken]

Normally don't comment, but these look very interesting.

Path of the Ancestral Guardians
Love the theme, and the fact that the abilities reflect that theme. I would suggest Consult the Spirits allow for a re-roll, rather than Advantage, as it would show the impact of the Ancestor's advice (and make it better for a 10th level ability). Might lower the overall number of uses per day, however.

Path of the Storm Herald
Another good theme, giving a very Primal Magic feel. I could suggest Grassland as another terrain type, based on the power of the Tornado (Thunder Damage). Storm of Fury seems like a good concept, but I don't like the partial overlap; either make all the abilities unique or the same. The aura damage also seems somewhat arbitrary to me, and would make more sense to make it a die roll (start at 1d4/6, then improve at higher levels). Raging Storm doesn't specifically say while Raging, so I'm not sure if that's intentional or not, and Desert and Tundra seem... odd... if always on (especially outside combat).

Path of the Zealot
Not actually a fan of the theme, but I don't hate it. Divine Fury deals more damage than Storm of Fury (Storm Herald), but isn't choosy about hitting allies, which seems VERY inconsistent with a path based around groups/cults. Warrior of the Gods is an interesting rider ability, but can be annoying for some DMs. I really like Zealous Focus, because while it's strong, it has a drawback. Zealous Presence is also really good, but I might have limited it to allies within 60' that can hear you (since it's a primal cry). I'm a bit saddened by Rage Beyond Death, because I would rather have seen a Feat or something available to other classes & concepts, but it's a great ability.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I'm thinking characters may be more relevant that classes. A player wanting a raging barbarian PC needn't play a magical character, he has to play a magical class, but he has one (count 'em, 1) sub-class he can use.

Because I play Devil's Advocate for fun and being technically correct is the best form of correctness....

Technically they have two non-magic sub-classes.

Beserker from PHB and Battlerager from SCAG.




As for these new paths. I like them, but despite how much I want to love the Ancestral Guardian... I'm uncertain if I like it mechanically. Love it thematically, it's how I tend to think of Totem barbarians, but... maybe I've got too much of a concept in my head for me to appreciate the mechanics. It definetly takes a more support and sticky stance, giving your resistance to an ally, making it harder to hit others and move away from you,


Maybe it is the heavy reliance on reactions. This barbarian has three different types of reactions, one to keep enemies close, one to shield an ally, and one to hurt an enemy that hurt an ally, in addition to AOOs

Storm herald is awesome, visually cool, and those 14th level abilities will keep enemies right where you want them, speed to 0, chance to prone, difficult terrain,

Not sure about desert and tundra being (2+lv)/4.... oh wait... is it (2+lv) divide total by 4 or is it 2+ (lv/4). The first equation is crap, you spend most of your time dealing 1 or 2 points and maxes at 5. The second is better with the early being 3 and 4, and maxing at 7 points. Not great, would still prefer a slightly higher number, but it's good.

It has to be the second, because the zealot gives 1d6+(lv/2), which even with the second storm equation is superior damage, for less range. Zealous focus is very interesting, chose to succeed a save, but lose rage until you take a short rest, and the rest of it is all good.

One of the best things, lore wise, about the Marked for Battle. True Ressurection brings back somehow 200 years dead, costs a 9th level slot, but no money. If you deity has a company of high level zealots they like being brought back for important battles every century or so.... It just has such a cool amount of lore to play with and helps parties who might run low on funds occasionally.

 

[OB1]

Thats why it's playtest material, so we can finish baking it.

LOL, yeah I guess I was really stating the obvious. I meant that these felt very unpolished even for UA material, but that's not a bad thing just an observation. It does mean we get to do more of the cooking!

 

[Tony Vargas]

Technically they have two non-magic sub-classes.

Beserker from PHB and Battlerager from SCAG.

Well-counted.

despite how much I want to love the Ancestral Guardian... I'm uncertain if I like it mechanically.
.. It definetly takes a more support and sticky stance, giving your resistance to an ally, making it harder to hit others and move away from you,
Maybe it is the heavy reliance on reactions. This barbarian has three different types of reactions, one to keep enemies close, one to shield an ally, and one to hurt an enemy that hurt an ally, in addition to AOOs

That's a problem for some fighter builds that try to fake the 'aggro' thing, too...

...but it does sound interesting.

 

[Demetrios1453]

They don't have to be. But unless you're going to make everyone take the Acolyte background (or whatever) first, you've got the relatively common result of a zealous warrior for the gods who wouldn't know a temple to Tempus from a hole in the ground (but who, thanks to Survival or Nature, definitely knows a lot about holes in the ground). The baseline barbarian mechanics - unarmored defense, fast movement, "feral instinct," armor proficiencies, skill proficiencies - all point to a creature of the natural world. It's not telling the story of a crusading holy warrior, it's telling the story of a wild man of the savage frontier. These two things aren't incompatible, but they also don't necessarily go together. Just 'cuz Rage is a useful mechanic for a kind of zealous holy warrior doesn't mean it belongs in the Barbarian - classes are stories, not isolated packages of mechanical fobs.

I've always assumed that the tribes barbarians would come from would have a martial god as their patron, and would have shrines to such in their settlements. Thus barbarians who come from such tribes would at least know who their tribal deity is, with this sort of barbarian believing something along the lines of "Tempus is the god of war, and he grants me some of his strength to fight". Surely that should be enough, really.

 

[OB1]

Everything that gives a save for half.

Boy do I feel silly

And really now I'll walk back my knee jerk reaction of concern to the concept of ongoing zone damage. It's a cool idea implemented with great flavor and inspires new ideas for characters. As it's a new 5e concept, it should still get extra scrutiny for how it interacts with existing rules, but I'm sure it will get worked out.