Barbarian: Path of The Abyssal Soul

[MustaKrakish]

Taking (heavy) inspiration from the Rune Knight and the Path of The Beast, I wanted to make a demonic barbarian without resorting to multiclassing shenanigans.

Math-wise this subclass won't do more damage than the "common", GWM, PAM barbarians, especially because this one uses unarmed strikes, thus restricting the use of magical weapons. Additionally, fire damage is easily resisted. Nevertheless, I think the idea of a demonic barbarian is very cool. I saw many iterations of it online and wanted to create my own.

The Path of The Abyssal Soul
Barbarians who walk the Path of The Abyssal Soul were created through the vilest and most perverted of rituals. Infused with the immortal soul of a demon, these fiendish hulks wander the land, leaving only ruin and bloodshed in their wake.
Few mortals can survive such existence, a constant bloodthirst that only the flames of battle can extinguish. Those who survive long enough through this harsh existence become true avatars of the Abyss, harbingers of chaos and destruction.

Demonic Armaments
3rd-level Path of The Abyssal Soul
Demonic corruption suffuses your body, turning it into a deadly weapon. Your hands transform into natural weapons that deal 1d6 bludgeoning damage as your muscles gain supernatural strength and your fists grow boney spikes and ridges. It counts as a simple melee weapon for you, and you add your Strength modifier to the attack and damage rolls when you attack with it, as normal.
If you aren't wielding any weapons or a shield when you make the attack roll while using your natural weapons, you can make a single melee attack as a bonus action.
At 10th level, the damage of your natural weapons increases to 1d8 bludgeoning damage.

Scorching Fury
3rd-level Path of The Abyssal Soul
When you enter your rage, you transform, revealing your true demonic nature. Until the rage ends, your natural weapons deal an additional 1d6 fire damage, and you gain resistance to either cold, fire, or poison. You choose the resistance each time you enter your rage.

Abyssal Juggernaut
6th-level Path of The Abyssal Soul
You become even more deadly as demonic energy fuels your strikes, causing the natural weapons of your Demonic Armaments to count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
Additionally, When you enter your rage you gain the following benefits:

If you are smaller than Large, you become Large, along with anything you are wearing. If you lack the room to become Large, your size doesn't change.
You deal double damage to objects and structures.
You keep your chosen resistance even after the rage is over. The resistance lasts until you rage again or after you finish a long rest.


Aspected Corruption
10th-level Path of The Abyssal Soul
You can now call upon the powers of the denizens of the Abyss. When you finish a short or long rest, choose one of the following benefits, which lasts until you finish your next short or long rest:

Balor Fortitude. Your chosen resistance becomes an immunity.
Grip of The Glabrezu. At the start of each of your turns, you can deal ld6 fire damage to one creature grappled by you.
Barlgura's Might You gain expertise in Athletics and your movement increases by 10ft.
Goristro's Charge Two massive horns sprout from your skull allowing you to gore your enemies when you charge, dealing your Demonic Armaments damage as piercing damage. If you move at least 15 feet straight toward a target and then hit it with a gore attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 1d10 piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a Strength saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your Constitution modifier+ your proficiency bonus) or be pushed up to 10 feet away.


Apocalyptic Apotheosis
14th-level Path of The Abyssal Soul
When you enter your rage you become an avatar of the Abyss itself. Your size can increase to Huge, and while you are that size, your reach increases by 5 feet, and your natural weapons of your Demonic Armaments deal 1d1O bludgeoning damage.
Additionally, you can choose two powers from the Aspected Corruption path feature, instead of one.

[BerzerkerUnit]

I think this is straightforward enough. Good concept and solid execution.

That said, one issue is RAW, you can’t make an unarmed strike as a bonus action since natural weapons aren’t “light.” They should be, and a lot of dumb sideways fixes have been applied since the edition’s launch instead of just saying “you can make an unarmed strike as a bonus action when you attack” or “unarmed strikes are considered light for the purposes of twf.”

That said, you can either add the “light weapon” quality to the claws like Beast Barbarian did or add “bonus action claw attack when you attack.” I recommend the latter so you can add Ability score bonus to damage by default without needing a Twf style.

I think at level 14 you could make it a list instead of just Huge, add the choice of Flight or Bonus action teleporting while raging. As written you’re huge every time you rage and that’s not viable in a lot of hallways.

[MustaKrakish]

I think this is straightforward enough. Good concept and solid execution.

That said, one issue is RAW, you can’t make an unarmed strike as a bonus action since natural weapons aren’t “light.” They should be, and a lot of dumb sideways fixes have been applied since the edition’s launch instead of just saying “you can make an unarmed strike as a bonus action when you attack” or “unarmed strikes are considered light for the purposes of twf.”

That said, you can either add the “light weapon” quality to the claws like Beast Barbarian did or add “bonus action claw attack when you attack.” I recommend the latter so you can add Ability score bonus to damage by default without needing a Twf style.

I think at level 14 you could make it a list instead of just Huge, add the choice of Flight or Bonus action teleporting while raging. As written you’re huge every time you rage and that’s not viable in a lot of hallways.

Thank you for the feedback.

I was thinking about TWF when making this build, realizing too late it won't work with an unarmed strike, so I am fixing it.

About the 14th level. You *can* become huge. It's working just like the 10th level ability (or the Rune Knight for example), if you don't have the space to grow you don't grow.

I was also thinking about flying and teleporting (demon gates), but I feel it's too much, other subclasses don't get such crazy things at 14th, and the base upgrade feels strong enough. I am not trying to make a super powerful subclass, I want it to be something that can be played in every table.

[MustaKrakish]

Okay, I fixed some of the abilities.