BerzerkerUnit
2022-04-15, 10:55 PM
Path of the Walled Heart
As a Barbarian you have lived by unleashing your rage and letting overflow as a torrent to crush the forces in front of you like a flooding river or tsunami.
But some warriors find this way of life takes to great a toll on their personal relationships. Even the most seasoned Barbarian may lose control of themselves and their rampant emotions can do harm where no good can come of it.
As a one that follows the path of the Walled Heart you instead learn to contain your emotions. You confine the rage and sorrow until it is as dense as adamantine and then channel your positive emotions, joy, love, and others from the core of your being. That creates an expansion of your Rage into a force that creates literal barriers.
As you grow in power and experience you will go from desperately holding your own emotions in check, to binding your foes with the grudges you bear them and shielding allies with the absolute terror of being truly known.
Terror of Knowing and Being Known
At 3rd level after choosing this Path you gain proficiency in Deception and your choice of the Protection or Interception Fighting Style.
Wall of Sorrows and Pain
Beginning at 3rd level after choosing this path you learn to channel your rage into a literal external barrier. You create the barrier at a point you can see within 10 ft you. It does not require an anchor point, hanging solidly in the air if that’s where it’s placed. It appears as a reflection of your mental state, so may be as elaborate as a rune-scriven gate that confines devils to their hells, or as simple as a shimmering field of force. In any case it is an opaque panel up to 10x10 ft that is 1 ft thick. If a creature occupies a space in which it appears, it moves to a side you choose.
The barrier has an AC of 15+your Proficiency bonus, hit points equal to yours and is immune to psychic and poison damage. The Barrier lasts until your rage ends or it is destroyed, whichever comes first.
When the Barrier takes damage you can choose to take half the damage. This damage cannot be reduced in any way.
Damage suffered by the barrier perpetuates your rage as if you had taken it yourself.
You can cause the barrier to teleport to another space you can see within 10 feet as a bonus action.
Reactive Barrier
Beginning at 6th level, when a creature you can see within 30 ft of you would take damage, you can use your reaction to interpose the barrier between the target and the source of damage. The barrier grants the target total cover and takes all of the damage in their place.
Greater Enduring Barrier
At 10th level you can extend the duration of your barrier and increase its size. Your Barrier can now be up to 15x15 ft. When your Barrier would normally disappear because your Rage ends or it is destroyed, you can expend a hit die. Doing so increases the Barrier’s current hit points by the maximum value of the die + your constitution modifier and the Barrier’s duration becomes 1 hour.
Additionally, whenever your Brutal Critical feature is triggered, you may increase the Barrier’s current hit points by an amount equal to the extra damage dealt by the feature.
Grudgebound Prison
Beginning at 14th level you can liberate yourself from attachments borne of anger by imbuing your Barrier with the grudge and wrapping it around the target of your ire. When you manifest your Barrier or use a bonus action to teleport it you can attempt to use it to trap a creature you can see within 30 feet. The target creature must make a Dexterity save against a DC equal to 8 + your Strength modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a failure the target is restrained as parts of it become fused in the Barrier. The creature can use their action to attempt to escape but on a failure they are trapped until the barrier is destroyed or you cause it to move.
While it is trapped in this way, your attacks against the target are critical hits on a roll of 19 or 20.
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Very much touching on the AT Field concept.
Barbs are frustrating to write because so much goes into Rage.
Any insight is appreciated.
I know Barbs are usually of the hulk smash variety but I’ve been looking for a more strategic type. A PC that runs around creating temporary cover, foot holds, bridges, high ground, and more felt right.
Early levels it’s best use is probably a place for a rogue to hide and eliminating LOE to allies that want to leave melee without disengaging.
Level 6 will see it absorbing a lot more damage.
Level 10 provides some more utility out of combat and some benefit between rages. The option to heal the wall with HD is probably pound for pound better than healing at the cost of a resource harder to recover and fewer in number.
Level 14 is probably a huge get as a capstone. It’s modeled like an upgraded Iron Bands of Billarro.
As a Barbarian you have lived by unleashing your rage and letting overflow as a torrent to crush the forces in front of you like a flooding river or tsunami.
But some warriors find this way of life takes to great a toll on their personal relationships. Even the most seasoned Barbarian may lose control of themselves and their rampant emotions can do harm where no good can come of it.
As a one that follows the path of the Walled Heart you instead learn to contain your emotions. You confine the rage and sorrow until it is as dense as adamantine and then channel your positive emotions, joy, love, and others from the core of your being. That creates an expansion of your Rage into a force that creates literal barriers.
As you grow in power and experience you will go from desperately holding your own emotions in check, to binding your foes with the grudges you bear them and shielding allies with the absolute terror of being truly known.
Terror of Knowing and Being Known
At 3rd level after choosing this Path you gain proficiency in Deception and your choice of the Protection or Interception Fighting Style.
Wall of Sorrows and Pain
Beginning at 3rd level after choosing this path you learn to channel your rage into a literal external barrier. You create the barrier at a point you can see within 10 ft you. It does not require an anchor point, hanging solidly in the air if that’s where it’s placed. It appears as a reflection of your mental state, so may be as elaborate as a rune-scriven gate that confines devils to their hells, or as simple as a shimmering field of force. In any case it is an opaque panel up to 10x10 ft that is 1 ft thick. If a creature occupies a space in which it appears, it moves to a side you choose.
The barrier has an AC of 15+your Proficiency bonus, hit points equal to yours and is immune to psychic and poison damage. The Barrier lasts until your rage ends or it is destroyed, whichever comes first.
When the Barrier takes damage you can choose to take half the damage. This damage cannot be reduced in any way.
Damage suffered by the barrier perpetuates your rage as if you had taken it yourself.
You can cause the barrier to teleport to another space you can see within 10 feet as a bonus action.
Reactive Barrier
Beginning at 6th level, when a creature you can see within 30 ft of you would take damage, you can use your reaction to interpose the barrier between the target and the source of damage. The barrier grants the target total cover and takes all of the damage in their place.
Greater Enduring Barrier
At 10th level you can extend the duration of your barrier and increase its size. Your Barrier can now be up to 15x15 ft. When your Barrier would normally disappear because your Rage ends or it is destroyed, you can expend a hit die. Doing so increases the Barrier’s current hit points by the maximum value of the die + your constitution modifier and the Barrier’s duration becomes 1 hour.
Additionally, whenever your Brutal Critical feature is triggered, you may increase the Barrier’s current hit points by an amount equal to the extra damage dealt by the feature.
Grudgebound Prison
Beginning at 14th level you can liberate yourself from attachments borne of anger by imbuing your Barrier with the grudge and wrapping it around the target of your ire. When you manifest your Barrier or use a bonus action to teleport it you can attempt to use it to trap a creature you can see within 30 feet. The target creature must make a Dexterity save against a DC equal to 8 + your Strength modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a failure the target is restrained as parts of it become fused in the Barrier. The creature can use their action to attempt to escape but on a failure they are trapped until the barrier is destroyed or you cause it to move.
While it is trapped in this way, your attacks against the target are critical hits on a roll of 19 or 20.
—————————
Very much touching on the AT Field concept.
Barbs are frustrating to write because so much goes into Rage.
Any insight is appreciated.
I know Barbs are usually of the hulk smash variety but I’ve been looking for a more strategic type. A PC that runs around creating temporary cover, foot holds, bridges, high ground, and more felt right.
Early levels it’s best use is probably a place for a rogue to hide and eliminating LOE to allies that want to leave melee without disengaging.
Level 6 will see it absorbing a lot more damage.
Level 10 provides some more utility out of combat and some benefit between rages. The option to heal the wall with HD is probably pound for pound better than healing at the cost of a resource harder to recover and fewer in number.
Level 14 is probably a huge get as a capstone. It’s modeled like an upgraded Iron Bands of Billarro.