Introducing the Barbarian: Path of the Zealot in 'Xanathar's Guide To Everything'

Todd Kenreck: The barbarian path of the zealot, may be the most reckless of all of the paths a barbarian can take. And that's saying a lot. I talked to Mike Mearls about this new subclass appearing in Xanathar's Guide to Everything.

Mike Mearls: To the path of the zealot, came up with the idea that, what if you had someone who is devoted to a God, like a zealot, someone who is like very fiercely, emotionally devoted. But not necessarily, you know, the paladin is more of a, I don't want to say intellectual, because paladins aren't an intelligence based class, but they have a code that they live up to.

So, what if you had the opposite, right? You could image a chaotic god might not necessarily have the paladin, because paladins are about, "Here's my code." Right? "Here's the principles I live by." And so it's almost thinking like, "Well, what would a chaotic god's paladins look like?" And, you know, I think I kind of always had this idea that the barbarian is the opposite of the paladin. You know, barbarians be very impulsive.

And so the idea that if you had a chaotic, neutral god, this is what their warriors might look like. They don't have a code of conduct, because it's chaotic neutral. They do whatever they want. And they just create freedom. And so their fighting style is sort of based on that. And the idea that they throw themselves into the fight, and count on their god to protect them. The more ferocious they are. It's heedless, you know, seeming suicidal tactics that they use.

And so it felt like something that, mechanically, really fit the barbarian's concept of raging, and all that, that idea. But then it kind of fit this really nice idea of the person who just relies on their deity to carry them through the fight. They just fight mindlessly, and hack away, and know that the gods will watch over them.

So, it's one of those things where the story concept, maybe if you describe that character, you might not start at barbarian, but it makes the most sense in terms of fitting this idea of what this character does, and what type of character they are. And it kind of represents us, sort of spreading out the territory the class covers conceptually.

You know, you could be a barbarian dedicated to Tempest in the Forgotten Realms, and this might be the subclass you choose. You know, that it would seem to fit in with your character.

Todd Kenreck: I feel like that would be tiresome for the god.

Mike Mearls: Well, it depend on kind of god you have, right? Some gods would say that's what they want their followers to do. Right? Like Tempest would not, would be amused by that. Right? That someone so dedicated to fighting, they just throw themselves into it.

Now, someone like Tyr, a more measured god, of if you think in like, you know, the way deities treated the Greek mythos, someone like Athena probably would not have an infinity for that kind of character, but Ares might. You know, where it's just about violence. Where Athena's more, it's about justice, it's about wisdom, it's about fighting intelligently. That would be a much better fit for paladin, or even a fighter who's just sort of spun a bit that way, to get, role-playing wise.

Todd Kenreck: You can find the barbarian path of zealot in Xanathar's Guide to Everything. You can purchase that book on DNDBeyond.com by clicking on the link in this video description. And you can also earn pre-order bonuses as well. I'm Todd Kenreck, thank you for watching.