The Possessed: Warlock/Barbarian

[Klaus Teufel]

I have the idea of a warlock that rages when possessed by their demon patron. How would one do this system-wise?

[GreyBlack]

Totem barbarian, refluff the totems to be different demonic entities.

[xyianth]

Barbarian doesn't mix well with casters, but it can be done if you focus on non-concentration spells that have a duration. Here is an example character build I named Flashpoint:

race: scourge aasimar
stats: 14 str, 13 dex, 15(16) con, 8 int, 10 wis, 12(14) cha
build: ancestral guardian barbarian 6/fiend warlock 9

Make sure to grab armor of agathys and fire shield as spells known. Use your ASIs to boost your strength. After a short rest, buff yourself with armor of agathys. During combat, you can decide how powerful you need to be:

low threat: just fight as is; don't waste rage, spell slots, or radiant consumption
medium threat: rage then fight; if you can pre-cast fire shield do so
high threat: cast fire shield and activate radiant consumption in the first round, then rage and fight

Your pact selection is up to you, as are all of your invocation choices. The way this works is you give opponents no good options. If they attack someone other than you, they do so at disadvantage and you can use your reaction to reduce/nullify any damage dealt. If they attack you, they have advantage(reckless attack) but you take half damage, are protected by temp hp, and deal up to 2d8+40 damage to anyone that hits you. (2d8 fire or cold from fire shield, 25 cold from armor of agathys, 15 from radiant consumption) On top of that you are still a raging barbarian.

You can also couple this with the barbarian trick of being a guild artisan background to get proficiency with masonry tools and wield an adamantine weapon. This allows you to auto-crit objects and deal double damage to objects. You can essentially break walls/doors/etc... with ease.

[PeteNutButter]

I'd recommend a Barbarian 1/Fiend Blade Warlock 5. From there you can advance either class as desired. Variant Human can have stats as 16, 14, 14, 8, 9, 13. That's enough to get the warlock online, which is all you need for Armor of Agathys. Sentinel feat goes exceptionally well with this as foes are getting damaged or attacked regardless if they go for you or your allies.

[Vogie]

You'd probably want Blade Warlock Fiend. Not only do you have non-concentration spells, but it generates THP by itself, allows you to use your spell slots while raging via Eldritch Smite, and Dark One's Own Luck is another way to give half-advantage outside of Reckless attack.

As for Barbarians,

Ancestral Guardian can very easily be refluffed as a possession by legion, with the Ancestral Protectors are actually demonic forces.
Desert Herald Barbarians could actually be hellfire aura
Tiger/Bear/Eagle Totem Barbarian would act in a very Supernatural way, which could be interpreted as demonic possession... or theatrical wushu.

[Xihirli]

You could pick necrotic damage and go Zealot.

[Klaus Teufel]

Wow, thanks for the ideas. :smallsmile:

[MaxWilson]

You'd probably want Blade Warlock Fiend. Not only do you have non-concentration spells, but it generates THP by itself, allows you to use your spell slots while raging via Eldritch Smite, and Dark One's Own Luck is another way to give half-advantage outside of Reckless attack.

Seconding this, and throwing in an obligatory mention of how much fun high-level Armor of Agathys is when you also have resistance from Rage.

In general, Warbarians (especially Warbearians) are more MAD than single-classed Barbarians but otherwise IMO better and more fun in almost every way. (Yes, "better" is subjective opinion. YMMV.) You still get two attacks per round for about the same amount of damage as a pure Barbarian, but you get tons of temp HP and Armor of Agathys and Fireball and True Polymorph, etc., etc. You will have a lot more variety in possible tactics than a pure Barbarian does but you can still grab a big axe and go to town in melee when you feel like it. And the flavor of a Blade Pact Fiendlock X/Barbarian 1-3 is undeniably still barbaric. :-)