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

 

[Chaosmancer]

Ever since I read the Desert Storm path, I've been imagining a dervish warrior who brings the desert wherever he walks.

While toying around with a lv 20 build for such a character I thought up something, but then re-read the Ragin Storm Desert ability and now... I'm not sure how it works.


So, for the concept I was building I gave them a shield and Shieldmaster, because I like that on a barbarian, and I came to a thought. Use the bonus action to knock an enemy prone, then if they fail your save, they are stuck drowning prone in quicksand while you wail on them.

Unfortuantely it does not read, at the start of their turn an enemy makes a strength save, but instead it says they make the save if they "attempt to move more than 5 feet per turn on the ground while in your aura".

Standing from prone takes half your movement, but would it count for moving more than 5 feet? And I guess this does prevent enemies from closing with you, because your aura is 10 ft, so to get next to you they would have to try and move more than 5 ft, which is nice.

Best part is, the save is based of Con, a stat a barbarian is generally more than happy to max, and their 20th capstone means you could end up with a save DC of 22, which is not going to be easy to pass even for very strong creatures.

So, more powerful than I thought in one case, but would my prone-lock idea actually work per the rules?

 

[Mouseferatu]

Standing from prone takes half your movement, but would it count for moving more than 5 feet?

Nope. It costs movement, but it's not movement proper. Just as it's not affected by rough terrain or the like.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Another issue with the Zealot: it does damage to EVERY creature within 5 feet, including allies. That's bound to step on some toes, and it encourages groan-inducing solo play. "Everyone stand back while I deal with these monsters!"

I wonder if this was just a typo or an error and should have said enemy, the way the storm powers only damage enemies.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

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).

I can't say I see any problem with this. Historically religious zealots have often only had a rudimentary understanding of their faith, and that also applies to modern examples like Boko Haram and Islamic State fighters. If you want to play a zealot who actually knows his theology then simply pick the acolyte background, or customize any other background you like to have Religion proficiency. No need to force the skill on every zealot.

 

[Demetrios1453]

I can't say I see any problem with this. Historically religious zealots have often only had a rudimentary understanding of their faith, and that also applies to modern examples like Boko Haram and Islamic State fighters. If you want to play a zealot who actually knows his theology then simply pick the acolyte background, or customize any other background you like to have Religion proficiency. No need to force the skill on every zealot.

I imagine that your average Norseman, swinging his axe yelling "For Thor!", and thinking his god was blessing him with martial power, was likely not the type to engage in deep theological debates.

I'm actually surprised at some of the reactions here. I read the description for the Path of the Zealot and immediately thought, "Primitive tribesman who calls upon his or her tribal war god when going into battle", not "Trained acolyte who, having been raised in the shelter of a civilized temple, suddenly manifests primal rages". The former fits just fine within the standard barbarian archetype, the second... less so...

 

[Mouseferatu]

I'm actually surprised at some of the reactions here.

There is a tendency among some players--an unfortunate and unnecessarily narrow one, IMO, but that's me--to treat the flavor text and archetypal view of the classes as inviolable writ, rather than as a general starting point. For such players, anything that falls outside of those lines is viewed with suspicion at best.

(Note that I am not suggesting that everyone who isn't fond of these subclasses falls into that category. Only that those who fall into that category are likely to have the aforementioned problems with the subclasses.)

 

[Marandahir]

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.

Order of Operations (7th-Grade math) dictates that, as written, it has to be the second. You multiply/divide before you add/subtract.

 

[gyor]

Wall of Fire.

Also Scourage Aasimar's has one once a day too.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Order of Operations (7th-Grade math) dictates that, as written, it has to be the second. You multiply/divide before you add/subtract.

5th grade at most...
and still I did it wrong the first time I read that power... embarrassing.
I do however think it is overly compicated. Why not just use proficiency bonus... it is just 1 point apart at most. Maybe add some stat like wisdom or charisma.

 

[Marandahir]

They're probably teaching it earlier these days. Or else I'm remembering the wrong year when we learned it.

In any case, despite the order of operations, they could probably word that better. So that's feedback to give when they survey us on this.