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

 

[Valetudo]

I was kinda hoping for a rage mage subclass that used charisma. I think these three are ok, they have some interesting flavor. But do they stack up to the OGs powerwise?The ancestral seems ok, the stormherald kinda looks like it was ripped off of dragonage. The zealot might have been better off as a pally subclass, a pally that minors as a barby.

 

[SkidAce]

Might use that storm barbarian for my rage/fire barbarian class I was going to make. A little renamng and reflavoring and done. The are possess by a spirit of fire and rage that sometimes overcomes them.

"Rage....RAAAAAAGGE..burn it to the ground....BURN IT ALL DOWN!

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[Kobold Avenger]

One of the versions of the Sohei class was some odd mixture of Paladin and Barbarian with a little bit of Monk thrown in. While I think the Zealot Barbarian wouldn't fill in for that old class, I could see the old Sohei being a Paladin subclass with something rage like.

 

[AverageCitizen]

These are all really good, I have almost no complaints (which is rare).

Some minor quibbles:

Path of the Ancestral Guardian
Consult the Spirits - Neat ability, but the limitation of three times per long rest seems oddly arbitrary. Why not number of times per long rest equal to Proficiency Bonus or something like that. Also while a cool ability, seems a bit weak, maybe need something more at 10 level....

Path of the Storm Herald
Storm of Fury - Kind of want some more than just Desert, Sea, and Tundra, but after racking my brain I can only come up with Volcano (which would probably work very similar to Desert anyway. Hmmm, maybe at 14th level opponents fall prone instead of get stuck....

Path of the Zealot
At first I thought this would step on Paladin toes, but they did a really nice job of keeping them separate.

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???


....and that's really it. One of the most solid UA that I've seen. Some of this stuff I'm ready to incorporate into my game NOW.

It goes with the Rage Beyond Death feature. Staying up after 0 HP has always been a problem because it usually means you die. This primal path is basically designed to cheese the resurrection rules. He can die in every encounter and still fight till they are over, and then he can get resurrected for free. It is designed to be abused. I personally think it has tons of story potential. There was a character in Game of Thrones like this.

 

[Queer Venger]

This is AWESOME!!!

 

[AverageCitizen]

The zealot is really cool, but I'd expect some different skill proficiencies than what it has. "Hi, I am powered by the divine lord Tempus to strike with a divine fury! But what is a Tempus? Um...I dunno. I know how to track deer, though!"

...

edit: to amend the Zealot issue, I'd almost rather have the zealot be an option for the paladin or cleric - give up spellcasting/smite/whatever, and get a rage instead. It's a better fit on that chassis than on the Barbarian's "outdoorsy" base. Plus, then you could have it be Wis/Cha based and not have to rely on Str/Con. I love the idea of a Cha-based raging paladin, honestly.

That's what backgrounds are for. Acolyte background and Barbarian class lets you pick Insight, Intimidation, Perception, and Religion. If you want a brute you can switch any for Athletics. I'm not seeing the problem.

 

[Ganymede81]

My main concern was that WotC didn't beat me to the punch regarding my planed Barbarian Path. Luckily, mine hasn't been covered by the choices here so I'm all set to continue procrastinating.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Luckily, mine hasn't been covered by the choices here so I'm all set to continue procrastinating.

Speaking as one, you are well along the path toward becoming a true professional.

 

[Ganymede81]

Speaking as one, you are well along the path toward becoming a true professional.

Anything worth doing is worth doing well.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

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?

Wall of Fire.