Barbarian Path: Path of the Punisher (PEACH)

[RakiReborn]

This idea for a Barbarian has been floating in my mind for a while, but i had no clue how to make it work as i wanted. Thanks to a post from JamesIntrocaso (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?474292-The-Orc-Punisher-NPC), the final touch to make it work came to me. It is meant as a replacement of the Beserker Path for a campain i will DM in the future, so some abilities will be alike. Without futher ado:

Punish (lvl3):
At level 3 you have learned to use your pain to punish those that harmed you or your allies in your rage. Each time you are hit, you gain one Punisher Point, to a maximum of half your Barbarian level (rounded up). These points last until you finish a short or long rest. While raging, you can use these points for the following options:
- As a bonus action on your turn, you may expend one Punisher Point to make one weapon attack against one enemy that attacked you or an ally of yours.
- When you make a weapon attack, you may expend one Punisher Point to gain advantage on the weapon attack against one enemy that attacked you or an ally of yours.

Fearfull Striker (lvl6):
At level 6 you become even scarier when you rage. Whenever you make a critical hit while raging, the target hit must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier) or be frightened of you until the start of your next turn.

Immediately Punished (lvl10)
Also at level 10, you get so angry with getting hit, that you can’t wait to punish the one that harmed you. When you are hit with an attack by a creature within your melee weapon range, you may expend one Punisher Point to use your reaction to make one weapon attack against that creature

Punishing Fury (lvl14):
At level 14, enemies that have to be punished, will be punished. And as quick as possible. Whenever you are raging, you may spend 5 Punishing Points to take another action and possible bonus action in your turn. As this is quite fatiguing, at the end of your turn you must succeed a Constitution saving throw (DC15 + the number of attacks you made in your turn) or gain one level of exhaustion.

EDIT (7-1-2016): I added a link to the post from JamesIntrocaso that gave me the inspiration for the final piece
EDIT (18-1-2016): Changed the mechanics in the Punish feature to only work on those that attacked you or your allies. Also changed some fluff to make it consistent with the mechanic

[SpawnOfMorbo]

Advantage via "Punished Point" isn't really needed.

You want to get hit to get points so using reckless attack not only gives you advantage without expending points but also makes it easier to gain more points.

Punished Points should Probabaly cap, make the cap equal to your rage bonus damage or 2x rage bonus damage.

Level 6 feature isn't very reliable, even with advantage. Perhaps let it use Punished Points?

Immediate Punish looks good, might want to up the number of points it takes to use it though.

Exhaustion is a terrible mechanic, you should stay away from it. Though the DC 15 con save will be easy to hit. 3 (or 6) con + 6 prof = +9 to +12... So it's kinda trivial for the most part. With spells (ally) they have have advantage on con saves...

[RakiReborn]

Advantage via "Punished Point" isn't really needed.

You want to get hit to get points so using reckless attack not only gives you advantage without expending points but also makes it easier to gain more points.
I made that option, so you have options. Sometimes it is better not to get all attacks to your face, and sometimes it is. If your points are (almost) at max, you might just want to use some to get advantage without getting advantage towards you.


Punished Points should Probabaly cap, make the cap equal to your rage bonus damage or 2x rage bonus damage.
It already has a cap: half your barbarian level (rounded up).


Level 6 feature isn't very reliable, even with advantage. Perhaps let it use Punished Points?
When playing this path, you will attack with advantage quite a lot, whether it be with reckless attack or with the Punisher Points. The probability for getting a nat20 with advantage is 9,8%. Counting 3 attacks (point for BA attack) will be a probability of 1-(0.902^2)=0,266, so about 26,6% chance (almost 20% with two attacks with adv). This is quite a lot for a passive ability like this i think.


Immediate Punish looks good, might want to up the number of points it takes to use it though.
I made it one, since the Beserker Path gains it at lvl14 without any costs. If it really is too strong, i will change it to 2, but i really dont think it is necissary. If i am wrong, please convince me ;)


Exhaustion is a terrible mechanic, you should stay away from it. Though the DC 15 con save will be easy to hit. 3 (or 6) con + 6 prof = +9 to +12... So it's kinda trivial for the most part. With spells (ally) they have have advantage on con saves...
This ability is the high-risk, high-reward part of the path i wanted in it. Exhaustion is indeed a massive debuff, but the ability itself is a massive buff: it is essentially the Action Surge mechanic. About the DC: the DC changes by how much you use it. It changes between about 17-21 (2 attacks - 6 attacks). The more you swing, the more the chance to get a massive debuff is. At lvl20 with a CON20 you have a bonus of +11, so the risk is there, but not extremely present. One of the reasons i kept the exhaustion thingy, was because this is made as a replacement for the Beserker Path, and that one has it too. I like it myself, but i thank you for your feedback :)

[RakiReborn]

Any more feedback on this sub-class?
Do people like it? Would anyone actually play this instead of the berserker sub-class? (as it was intended as a replacement of it...)

[M Placeholder]

I think this is pretty neat. Perhaps you could spin off a protection themed version of this, where you gain points when your allies are hit.

[PoeticDwarf]

Pretty cool, maybe punisher points only work on someone who damaged you before? Fits fluff and doesn't make it weak

I like it

[RakiReborn]

Pretty cool, maybe punisher points only work on someone who damaged you before? Fits fluff and doesn't make it weak

I like it

Glad you like it! ^^
It does fit the fluff, but i think it would be just a little bit underpowered if you can only use it on the ones that damaged you. It takes away a lot of tactical attacking. What do you think of being able to punish those that harm you and your allies? It takes only minor refluffing at the 3rd level ability, so it is easily handled.

[PoeticDwarf]

Glad you like it! ^^
It does fit the fluff, but i think it would be just a little bit underpowered if you can only use it on the ones that damaged you. It takes away a lot of tactical attacking. What do you think of being able to punish those that harm you and your allies? It takes only minor refluffing at the 3rd level ability, so it is easily handled.

That would be working too, it still works perfectly

[RakiReborn]

That would be working too, it still worjs perfectly

Edited it in the OP. Thank you for the suggestion!