Homebrew - Path of the Gloambound

[Ganymede]

Let me know what you think of this homebrew Barbarian Path. It is essentially a barbarian that gets his or her powers by fusing with a death spirit. It gives the barbarian ghostly powers and plays on themes of fear of death and the famous line, "rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Is it broken? Is it balanced? Is it fun? Let me have it!


Path of the Gloambound

Gloams are ghosts that have lost their moorings to the physical world and have slipped into the Shadowfell. There, they gradually transform into hideous incarnations of their own death: one savaged by wolves might appear as a skinless floating torso with a bull skull for a head, and one assassinated in cold blood might appear as a shriveled cadaver with knife blades protruding from its eyes and mouth. While they lose most of the memories of their former life, they develop a sentience and self-awareness not seen in ordinary ghosts. Gloams generally remain trapped in the Shadowfell, but sometimes the rage of the wild men and women of the physical world will draw one back; they are especially attracted to those that have had brushes with death which mirror their own demise.

Barbarians that walk the path of the Gloambound are those whose brushes with death have attracted the attention of a Gloam. The bond formed with your Gloam might represent a willing bargain or it might have been forced upon you. Whether that bond was made willingly or reluctantly, you are able to draw supernatural power from it. Your Gloam has its own warped personality and might act as a doting relative, a barb-tongued rival, or a goal obsessed zealot. Your rage in combat draws upon the sorrow, fear, or fury felt by your Gloam at the moment of death, and every wound in battle and swing of an axe offers your Gloam a brief taste of the life it once had.

If you like, you may select or randomly determine a personality trait for your Gloam from the table below.

d6 Trait
1 I’ll use this opportunity to experience everything about life I missed the first time.
2 Vigilance is key; I will not die again.
3 I will not rest until my goal is complete, and neither will my Gloambound.
4 Mortals are so… interesting.
5 My Gloambound reminds me of someone, maybe a lover, maybe an enemy.
6 I really, REALLY love apples.



Visions of Another Life

At 3rd level when you adopt this path, faded memories of your Gloam’s former life fill your mind. That knowledge grants you proficiency in two skills from the following list: Animal Handling, Arcana, Deception, History, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Persuasion, Performance, Religion, and Survival.

Harrowing Strike

At 3rd level, when you adopt this path, you may cause your Gloam to momentarily materialize in order to menace your foes. While raging, you can use a bonus action immediately after hitting a creature with a melee weapon attack to inflict an additional 1d8 psychic damage with that attack.

This extra damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 6th level (2d8) and 14th level (3d8).

Tales of Dead Men

At 6th Level, you may cast the Speak with Dead spell, but only as a ritual. Your Gloam provides the animating spirit that allows the corpse to speak.

Pierce the Veil

At 10th level, you may perceive and interact with the spirit world via your Gloam. You can see 60 feet into the Ethereal Plane while on an Inner Plane, and your melee weapon attacks can affect creatures in the Ethereal Plane, even if you are on an Inner Plane.

Additionally, your Gloam's baleful energies allow you to harden your own spirit into a weapon, causing your attacks to cleave both body and soul. You can choose to have your melee weapon attacks inflict force damage instead of the bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage it would normally inflict.


Ghostly Apotheosis

At 14th level, your bond with your Gloam grows to the point where you can slip the bonds of the physical world. While raging, you can move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. If you end your turn inside an object or a creature, you take 1d10 force damage and are immediately shunted back to the previous location before you entered that object or creature.

[Vaz]

Harrowing Strike allows you to hit a creature once and then teleport away dealing damage every bonus action you have afterwadds the way it worded

But i love the theme. Moving while ethereal feels good albeit less useable, essentially requiring the Mobile Feat. Maybe make the Bonus Damage from Rage Bonus be considered Psychic so that it can't be halted by BPS resist/immunity.

[Ganymede]

I tweaked the language to make it more clear that Harrowing Strike only works on the initial attack, like a smite.

Regarding the power level of Ghostly Apotheosis, I tried to model it on similar level 14 Barbarian features. Specifically, I figured that being able to go incorporeal in short bursts was roughly just as useful as being able to fly in short bursts, like an Eagle Totem Barbarian can.

[Ganymede]

Does anyone else have any notable feedback?

I know people love to comment when they can demolish a homebrew's brokenness, so that is heartening, I guess.

[Mortis_Elrod]

This is pretty good. and the flavor is awesome (great death note references too). Seems balanced enough for most people i like the ghos rage and this looks like a cool way to play early danny phantom.

[WhiteWolf]

I love the flavour of this path, Barbarian is my favourite class and I've homebrewed a few things for it myself. This is an interesting concept, really well flavoured and quite well balanced for a homebrew.

First, a quick thing, the 10th and 14th level features seem quite niche. Perhaps tweak them a little so that they're not so situational by adding a more general benefit. Some of my ideas are listed below but I think anything that just makes them useful more often would be great.

Pierce the Veil, maybe add in that you change your weapons damage type to Psychic or Force, or that your weapon attacks can ignore damage resistance/treat immunity as resistance.

Ghostly Apotheosis, perhaps you could also add that opportunity attacks have disadvantage against you whilst raging because of your incorporeal nature.

^These are just minor things, however, the main thing that sticks out to me is the Harrowing Strike at 3rd level. 1d8 Psychic damage as a bonus action seems a bit underpowered compared to the bonus actions that barbarians of different paths can take, especially at higher levels as Harrowing Strike doesn't scale at all.

I've tried to demonstrate below the different bonus action options available whilst raging at different levels for different paths. As you can see, there are most likely going to be a few different options for spending your bonus action as a Barbarian, no matter what Path you choose.
Wherever you see [w] it means the damage dice of whatever weapon the character is using, most likely a greatsword, greataxe, halberd/glaive or onehanded weapon used with a shield.

At 3rd level, the different paths offer;
Path of the Totem Warrior, Eagle - bonus action dash
Path of the Bezerker - Frenzy bonus action attack (1[w]+Str+2 Rage Dmg)
Path of the Battlerager - bonus action attack (1d4+Str+2 Rage Dmg)
Path of the Gloambound - Harrowing Strike (1d8)
-Here Harrowing Strike doesn't really seem weak, especially considering the exhaustion of Frenzy-

At 4th level, assuming feats are allowed;
*Any Path, Polearm Master - bonus action attack (1d4+Str+2 Rage Dmg)
*Any Path, Greatweapon Master - POSSIBLE bonus action attack (1[w]+Str+2 Rage Dmg)
*Any Path, Dual Wielder - bonus action attack (1[w]+2 Rage Dmg)
*Any Path, Shield Master - POSSIBLE shove attack
*Any Path, Tavern Brawler - POSSIBLE bonus action grapple
-As you can see here, Harrowing Strike is already falling behind in damage and more bonus action options are opening up-

At 14th level, also includes all options listed previously;
Path of the Totem Warrior, Wolf - Totemic Attunement bonus action (auto-prone)
Path of the Totem Warrior, Elk - Totemic Attunement bonus action (prone vs save + 1d12+STR)
Path of the Totem Warrior, Tiger - POSSIBLE bonus action attack (1[w]+Str+3 Rage Dmg)
-By this level, with all the options for your bonus action, I just don't see Harrowing Strike being used at all for that 1d8 damage-

So I think you could maybe work on a way for Harrowing Strike to scale as you level up, so that is still a good option for that bonus action. I like the idea of it and I just want to make sure that it gets used rather than being ignored in favour of a bonus action that can cause more damage or impose a useful condition.

Please remember that all of the above is my personal opinion and that I am by no means licenced or qualified to give homebrewing advice via the internet, in person or by any other media.

I hope this has helped a bit, and keep up the good work :)

[Ganymede]

Pierce the Veil, maybe add in that you change your weapons damage type to Psychic or Force, or that your weapon attacks can ignore damage resistance/treat immunity as resistance.

I like this, and was going to do something similar but didn't want to clutter up the first draft too badly.

Looking over the Monster Manual, I think I can achieve a nearly identical effect by letting the barbarian's melee weapon attacks count as magical. Aside from some corner cases (swarms, treants, etc.), this is basically the same thing as inflicting force damage or ignoring resistance.

It certainly doesn't sound as grand as "inflict force damage," especially considering they'll likely have a magic weapon anyways, but it gets the job done. (Then again, the fact that they are basically the same thing might be reason enough to just go for the force damage.)


Ghostly Apotheosis, perhaps you could also add that opportunity attacks have disadvantage against you whilst raging because of your incorporeal nature.

I considered this, but I didn't want to hew too far into the Eagle Totem's territory. Also, the incorporeal baddies in the Monster Manual are just as vulnerable to attacks of opportunity as any other creature.

It is still something I'm considering, though. Perhaps immunity to necrotic and poison damage while raging would be a better fit?

Which is better? Flight in short bursts or incorporeality in short bursts?


the main thing that sticks out to me is the Harrowing Strike at 3rd level. 1d8 Psychic damage as a bonus action seems a bit underpowered compared to the bonus actions that barbarians of different paths can take, especially at higher levels as Harrowing Strike doesn't scale at all.

There are two approaches I'd take here.

One would be simply removing the bonus action and just letting the raging barbarian do an extra 1d8 psychic damage once per turn, a la the ranger.

The other option would be to make it scale as you mentioned. I was thinking of granting an extra 1d8 at levels 6 and 14. An extra 3d8 damage as a bonus action with no feats expended might be enough to compete with bonus action attacks.


Anyways, thanks for the feedback and let me know if you have any other thoughts.

[Elminster298]

Ghost abilities are generally fueled by charisma. Charisma is generally the primary dump stat for barbarians. This class seems pretty well balanced but a couple tweaks that could round it out a little better...
a)Harrowing strike should add charisma mod to the psychic damage. Since its only once per turn that's not a lot of added damage but at least it now scales...a bit.
b)While incorporeal you add your charisma mod to all melee attacks as well. This would get your damage up just a bit but not as much as the damage focused barbs. Alternatively, this could be swapped to damage reduction equal to your charisma mod while incorporeal.

[Mortis_Elrod]

Ghost abilities are generally fueled by charisma. Charisma is generally the primary dump stat for barbarians. This class seems pretty well balanced but a couple tweaks that could round it out a little better...
a)Harrowing strike should add charisma mod to the psychic damage. Since its only once per turn that's not a lot of added damage but at least it now scales...a bit.
b)While incorporeal you add your charisma mod to all melee attacks as well. This would get your damage up just a bit but not as much as the damage focused barbs. Alternatively, this could be swapped to damage reduction equal to your charisma mod while incorporeal.

I wouldn't do this. Simply because there's no reason that this should be a charisma fueled barbarian, other than one sometimes associates ghostly abilities and charisma.

A. to me this is strictly worse because as you mentioned cha is a dump stat for barbarians and even when you take the time to max it for this purpose you only edge out 2 more damage on average.

b. second verse same as the first. Its alot easier to do as OP has already done, no reason to add stats where there aren't any, if you want something to scale proficiency bonus or class levels are better go to numbers than a non used stat for the class.

[Ganymede]

Yeah, I'm not sure I like the idea of mixing in the Cha stat, either.

Here are my revised class features. I left Ghostly Apotheosis alone because I'm still not convinced that feature is underpowered.

Harrowing Strike

At 3rd level, when you adopt this path, you may cause your Gloam to momentarily materialize in order to menace your foes. While raging, you can use a bonus action immediately after hitting a creature with a melee weapon attack to inflict an additional 1d8 psychic damage with that attack.

This extra damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 6th level (2d8) and 14th level (3d8).

Pierce the Veil

At 10th level, you may perceive and interact with the spirit world via your Gloam. You can see 60 feet into the Ethereal Plane while on an Inner Plane, and your melee weapon attacks can affect creatures in the Ethereal Plane, even if you are on an Inner Plane.

Additionally, your Gloam's baleful energies allow your attacks to cleave both body and soul. While raging, you can choose to have your melee weapon attacks inflict force damage instead of damage type normally associated with the weapon used.

[Mortis_Elrod]

Yeah, I'm not sure I like the idea of mixing in the Cha stat, either.

Here are my revised class features. I left Ghostly Apotheosis alone because I'm still not convinced that feature is underpowered.

Harrowing Strike

At 3rd level, when you adopt this path, you may cause your Gloam to momentarily materialize in order to menace your foes. While raging, you can use a bonus action immediately after hitting a creature with a melee weapon attack to inflict an additional 1d8 psychic damage with that attack.

This extra damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 6th level (2d8) and 14th level (3d8).

Pierce the Veil

At 10th level, you may perceive and interact with the spirit world via your Gloam. You can see 60 feet into the Ethereal Plane while on an Inner Plane, and your melee weapon attacks can affect creatures in the Ethereal Plane, even if you are on an Inner Plane.

Additionally, your Gloam's baleful energies allow your attacks to cleave both body and soul. While raging, you can choose to have your melee weapon attacks inflict force damage instead of damage type normally associated with the weapon used.

i think this is better, scaling is fair and optional force damage is nice.

[WhiteWolf]

Yeah, I'm not sure I like the idea of mixing in the Cha stat, either.

Here are my revised class features. I left Ghostly Apotheosis alone because I'm still not convinced that feature is underpowered.

Harrowing Strike

At 3rd level, when you adopt this path, you may cause your Gloam to momentarily materialize in order to menace your foes. While raging, you can use a bonus action immediately after hitting a creature with a melee weapon attack to inflict an additional 1d8 psychic damage with that attack.

This extra damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 6th level (2d8) and 14th level (3d8).

Pierce the Veil

At 10th level, you may perceive and interact with the spirit world via your Gloam. You can see 60 feet into the Ethereal Plane while on an Inner Plane, and your melee weapon attacks can affect creatures in the Ethereal Plane, even if you are on an Inner Plane.

Additionally, your Gloam's baleful energies allow your attacks to cleave both body and soul. While raging, you can choose to have your melee weapon attacks inflict force damage instead of damage type normally associated with the weapon used.

I think you've got it, this seems good. I'm going to incorporate this into a game I'm DMing atm if you don't mind? The PC's are crewmembers on a pirate ship and the captain, Varod Skullcrusha, is a barbarian type. I think it'll suit him really well.

Well done on a creative and inspiring homebrew

[Ganymede]

I think you've got it, this seems good. I'm going to incorporate this into a game I'm DMing atm if you don't mind? The PC's are crewmembers on a pirate ship and the captain, Varod Skullcrusha, is a barbarian type. I think it'll suit him really well.

Well done on a creative and inspiring homebrew

Thanks. Feel free to use it in your own games.

[Ganymede]

Here is a slightly different take on Harrowing Strike. It does slightly more damage and has range, but now requires a failed save to do any damage. Is this up to snuff?

Harrowing Strike

At 3rd level, when you adopt this path, you may cause your Gloam to momentarily materialize in order to menace your foes. While raging, you can use a bonus action to target one creature you can see within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against a DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier or take 1d8 psychic damage.

This damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 6th level (2d8), 10th level (3d8) and 14th level (4d8).

[Vaz]

I don't see either as being better than the other, and think that both work equally.

[Ganymede]

I don't see either as being better than the other, and think that both work equally.

Yeah, but which one is more fun?

[Vaz]

Entirely subjective. As a Barbarian, I'd think it would be more thematic to deal additional guaranteed damage, even if it's slightly less than what a Berserker Path can put out (entirely fine). If you're concerned about low damage, perhaps consider making it D8+Proficiency, that way it slightly scales.

[WhiteWolf]

Here is a slightly different take on Harrowing Strike. It does slightly more damage and has range, but now requires a failed save to do any damage. Is this up to snuff?

Harrowing Strike

At 3rd level, when you adopt this path, you may cause your Gloam to momentarily materialize in order to menace your foes. While raging, you can use a bonus action to target one creature you can see within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against a DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier or take 1d8 psychic damage.

This damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 6th level (2d8), 10th level (3d8) and 14th level (4d8).

I'd leave it as it was, the melee aspect ties it more closely to the barbarians other features and not having a saving throw makes it more streamlined and less faffy while playing.

Just my thoughts

[Sariel Vailo]

Its cool but uh why isnt this in the homebrew forum. But yes i actually like this.

[Ganymede]

Spitballing here...

What if instead of the force damage feature for Pierce the Veil, you instead got an ability similar to the UA Warlock Invocation Gaze of Khirad?

Here is the invocation for your reference.

Gaze of Khirad
You gain the piercing gaze of the blue star Khirad. As an action, you can see through solid objects to a range of 30 feet until the end of the current turn. During that time, you perceive objects as ghostly, transparent images.

Essentially, the Gloambound would be able to get x-ray vision for one turn with an action by seeing into the ethereal plane. Would that work?

(I should probably wait to see if this invocation ends up making the cut in Xanathar's, first.)

Edit: I've also updated the original post with the most current revisions, for those following along.

[Vaz]

That was updated in the later invocations giving Eldritch Smite rather than Cursebringer for example.

[Ganymede]

For those interested, I've finally finished this Primal Path.

www.dmsguild.com/product/239278/Path-of-the-Gloambound