Path of the Plains

Barbarians who follow this Path forge a bond with a wild creature, usually one large enough to act as a mount. On the Talenta Plains, halfling barbarians craft a mask out of wood that represents their animal spirit, and many consider themselves spiritually equal to these wild creatures. They believe they lead their mount because of their dominance in strength and aggression, and taming a new mount often looks more like a wrestling match between halfling and beast.

Feral Packmate

At 3rd level, you gain the ability to establish a bond with a creature that you can ride as a mount and establish it as your Packmate.. Over the course of an hour, you can perform a ritual with this creature to bond it to you. This ritual might be a display of physical might, a spiritual ceremony, or a magical process. While bonded to your Packmate, you gain the following features:

 

• On the turn when you start your rage, mounting or dismounting your Packmate costs no movement. 
• Your Packmate gains the benefit of your Danger Sense feature while you are riding it.
• While you are riding your Packmate, you have advantage on Animal Handling checks to control it.
• Your Packmate can use your proficiency bonus in place of its own when making attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws.. If its hit point maximum is lower than half your hit point maximum, it increases to that number, and you can calculate its AC as 10+your proficiency bonus, or use the AC in its stat block. On a short rest, it can roll a number of hit dice equal to your level in this class to restore hit points.When you take the Attack action while riding your Packmate, you can direct your Packmate to make one attack as a bonus action. 
• If you are not riding your Packmate, you can verbally command it to move (no action required by you). You can use your action to direct it to take the Attack, Dash,  or Disengage actions. If you do not do so, it takes the Dodge action.

You can bond with one Packmate at a time. Your connection to your Packmate fades if you perform this ritual with another creature.

Variant: Difficult Mounts

This feature assumes that you are bonding with a creature that is commonly used as a mount. In the event that you attempt to bond a wilder creature, you must succeed on a Strength (Animal Handling) check in order to successfully bond with it.

 

Feral Fury

At 10th level, your connection with your mount is so profound that your rage infects it. You gain the following features:

• While you are raging and within 30ft of your packmate, your packmate gains the benefits of your rage. It loses these benefits if it ends its turn more than 30ft away from you.
• If your packmate has the Multiattack action, it can use it in place of the Attack action when you direct it using your action.
  
• The maximum damage on your Furious Charge feature increases to 5d12.

Deepened Bond

At 6th level, your connection with your packmate deepens. You gain the following benefits:

• When you are not riding your packmate and direct it to take the Attack action, you can make one attack yourself using your Extra Attack feature.
• Your packmate gains the benefit of your Fast Movement feature while you are riding it. 
• Furious Charge: Once upon your turn while riding your packmate, if you move at least 20ft in a straight line and hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you gain a bonus to your damage roll. This bonus equals 1d12 per 20ft moved, up to 3d12.

Vicious Assault

At 14th level, you have perfected your bond with your Packmate. While you are raging, you may throw your Packmate, or your Packmate may throw you. As an action, you may make a thrown weapon attack with a short range of 20 feet and a long range of 60 feet. On a hit, the target takes 3d12 bludgeoning damage. Hit or miss, the thrown creature may immediately make one melee attack against the target using their reaction. You can apply the bonus damage from your Furious Charge feature to this attack.

You can direct your Packmate to take this action while you are riding it (no action required by you).