You do not have to follow what I posted but after reading the subclass this is surprisingly great, but considered strong in some aspects such as dealing an extra 1d6 damage from the table. But to further extrapolate my thoughts:
Path Of the Draconic Blood
Blood Of the Dragon
Horn of the Dragon. The extra 1d6 that scales its damage via half the barbarian level at the start is pretty strong for a barbarian but if this is only once per turn then it's a little fine might want to make it a normal 1d4 and make it scale at certain levels instead like the storm herald barbarian desert aura Eg. 1d4 at 3rd level and then 1d6 at 14th level. Otherwise just retain the 1d6 damage for the entirety of the subclass and not have it scale (This is inconsideration of weapons such as flame tongue and frost brand being wielded by the barb) so imagine that with a + 1d6 and half barb level damage dice. Dealing an extra elemental damage from the chosen draconic ancestry is also an interesting thing as the path of the giant gains this kind of feature but at 6th level but receiving this at 3rd level is a little stretching it already.
Tail Of the Dragon. Overall fine with this feature and scales to immunity at 14th is really great. Synergize this with the ability to switch the resistances then this is a great ability. Rather than limiting yourself to a chromatic dragon try adding all resistances from all dragon types instead unless you deem that strong considering the +1 Ac and resistance to the elemental damage already combined with the path of the beasts tail swipe reaction feature at 10 feet (might want to also be applicable to your player character). So indeed my suggestion is to add all resistances based on a dragons type like gem dragon and metallic dragon instead of just chromatic inconsideration to the subclasses name (this is fine because it is situational but if you think having switchable resistance to all dragon types is strong then do not apply this suggestion) and make it that the character using this class can also defend themselves with the tail. Maybe also make the tail a natural weapon instead of just being there for the sake of defense.
Mind Of the Dragon. Really good utility motif with advantage against frightened, learning the draconic language, proficiency in arcana, and that dragon sight like ability as well. Overall a really good feature for 6th level that may had the chance to be applicable at 3rd level. But considering the pathing of this subclass is reminiscent off dragonflesh grafter this feature is till fine at 6th level as thematically they would start with the combat prowess then mind.
Breath Of the Dragon. Good combat feature instead of utility at 10th level, scaling via proficiency bonus is quite strong (cause imagine having 3 breath weapons that deal 4d8 at 10th level each turn) so how about 2 at 10th level 3 at 15th and 4 at 20th. The damage dice is pretty okay as well. Adding up with the choice off choosing the breath weapons save or suck range. Otherwise there is no need to change this feature if you apply my suggestion for Horn of the dragon feature, but if you deem your 14th level key feature to be strong; apply this suggestion if you wish.
Aspect of the Dragon. Overall great feature that scaled well in the subclass no need for changes, but you may find this strong; however this thematically fits for the subclass despite being incredibly strong. This is why I wanted the 1d6 from horn of the dragon not to scale as being large deals an extra 1d4 damage. Thats Flame Tongue Great Sword 2d6 slashing + 2d6 fire damage + Feat if any + 1d6 draconic elemental damage + 1d4 + brutal critical if any damage. Immunity is fine at that level, blind sight and flight is also okay.
You do not have to follow what I posted but after reading the subclass this is surprisingly great, but considered strong in some aspects such as dealing an extra 1d6 damage from the table. But to further extrapolate my thoughts:
Path Of the Draconic Blood
Blood Of the Dragon
Horn of the Dragon. The extra 1d6 that scales its damage via half the barbarian level at the start is pretty strong for a barbarian but if this is only once per turn then it's a little fine might want to make it a normal 1d4 and make it scale at certain levels instead like the storm herald barbarian desert aura Eg. 1d4 at 3rd level and then 1d6 at 14th level. Otherwise just retain the 1d6 damage for the entirety of the subclass and not have it scale (This is inconsideration of weapons such as flame tongue and frost brand being wielded by the barb) so imagine that with a + 1d6 and half barb level damage dice. Dealing an extra elemental damage from the chosen draconic ancestry is also an interesting thing as the path of the giant gains this kind of feature but at 6th level but receiving this at 3rd level is a little stretching it already.
Okay, here I basically took the Zealot divine fury and changed its flavour, but the damage is the same. I think it is less strong because elemental damage is more easily resisted than radiant. The elemental damage is nice because, differently from path of the beast, I don't give magical attacks to the subclass, so immunity to physical damage is still a threat.
Tail Of the Dragon. Overall fine with this feature and scales to immunity at 14th is really great. Synergize this with the ability to switch the resistances then this is a great ability. Rather than limiting yourself to a chromatic dragon try adding all resistances from all dragon types instead unless you deem that strong considering the +1 Ac and resistance to the elemental damage already combined with the path of the beasts tail swipe reaction feature at 10 feet (might want to also be applicable to your player character). So indeed my suggestion is to add all resistances based on a dragons type like gem dragon and metallic dragon instead of just chromatic inconsideration to the subclasses name (this is fine because it is situational but if you think having switchable resistance to all dragon types is strong then do not apply this suggestion) and make it that the character using this class can also defend themselves with the tail. Maybe also make the tail a natural weapon instead of just being there for the sake of defense.
I don't know if it is clear, you can choose the dragon type every time you enter rage.
I did only chromatics because metallics have the same resistances, and gem dragons resistances seemed too strong. However anyone can easily add them if they want, It does not change much.
Yes, the PG can use the tail to defend themselves or other creatures, if it is not clear I will rephrase it. Yeah the natural weapon is a nice addition that gives some extra flavour to the fight, thanks!
Mind Of the Dragon. Really good utility motif with advantage against frightened, learning the draconic language, proficiency in arcana, and that dragon sight like ability as well. Overall a really good feature for 6th level that may had the chance to be applicable at 3rd level. But considering the pathing of this subclass is reminiscent off dragonflesh grafter this feature is till fine at 6th level as thematically they would start with the combat prowess then mind.
Exactly, I preferred to give some "meat" on the combat side at 3rd, and then utility and flavour and 6th.
Breath Of the Dragon. Good combat feature instead of utility at 10th level, scaling via proficiency bonus is quite strong (cause imagine having 3 breath weapons that deal 4d8 at 10th level each turn) so how about 2 at 10th level 3 at 15th and 4 at 20th. The damage dice is pretty okay as well. Adding up with the choice off choosing the breath weapons save or suck range. Otherwise there is no need to change this feature if you apply my suggestion for Horn of the dragon feature, but if you deem your 14th level key feature to be strong; apply this suggestion if you wish.
Yeah the balancing of the breath weapon is quite complicate. The thing is that it recharges only with the long rest, so in theory you should use it only 1 time per fight. I think that the quite limited range makes it strong but not broken: A single melee attack done with Horn active should deal 2d6 (weapon)+ 4 + 1d6 + 5 (horn) + 3 (rage) = 22.5 average, against 18 average damage of the breath (which is multi target of course).
At quite high levels you should use it only for removing annoying minions or sides from the fight, in 1v1 vs the boss is still better to use the normal attack. I think trading it with a single attack was the only possible option, because it would be broken as a bonus action and weak as a complete action.
Aspect of the Dragon. Overall great feature that scaled well in the subclass no need for changes, but you may find this strong; however this thematically fits for the subclass despite being incredibly strong. This is why I wanted the 1d6 from horn of the dragon not to scale as being large deals an extra 1d4 damage. Thats Flame Tongue Great Sword 2d6 slashing + 2d6 fire damage + Feat if any + 1d6 draconic elemental damage + 1d4 + brutal critical if any damage. Immunity is fine at that level, blind sight and flight is also okay.
Being large does not add 1d4 damage, it is specified in the Enlarge/Reduce spell but it is a spell effect: it does not happen automatically.
This actually seems pretty good overall, just a couple of initial thoughts:
My gut reaction to Blood of the Dragon would be to drop either Horn of the Dragon or Tail of the Dragon and just have the feature be one thing only, with the choice of elemental type. It's not that it's especially complicated but it feels a bit like trying to get the benefits of multiple sub-classes in one.
Mind of the Dragon might be a bit busy with four features in one. If you drop Tail of the Dragon you could potentially move the damage resistance to a secondary 6th-level feature, and put draconic and Arcana proficiency into a secondary 3rd-level feature? This is when most sub-classes usually grant bonus proficiencies so you're not waiting too long for them.
Aspect of the Dragon is pretty strong for a 14th-level feature, though it's hard to compare as other Barbarian sub-classes vary wildly (Zealot basically becomes unkillable except via certain effects/spells, whereas Storm Herald gets fairly minor aura bonuses). It's probably not too much overall considering Barbarian has a lot of "meh" higher levels, so it's nice to have something cool at 14th. I'd recommend restructuring this though along the lines of "While raging you gain the following benefits…" then the bullet points of effects, as it's currently very repetitive since it's all Rage limited.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
This actually seems pretty good overall, just a couple of initial thoughts:
My gut reaction to Blood of the Dragon would be to drop either Horn of the Dragon or Tail of the Dragon and just have the feature be one thing only, with the choice of elemental type. It's not that it's especially complicated but it feels a bit like trying to get the benefits of multiple sub-classes in one.
Thank you for the feedback! Yeah that is a specific request of my player, to have two possible options, one defensive and the other offensive. I think it is quite exciting in combat, every fight you have to do several choices, first of all to go damage or tank. I've basically taken the path of the beast and reduced the feature to 2 options. In my opinion, Barbarian is a quite flat and repetitive class in combat, so adding choices and variety it's a good thing for me.
Mind of the Dragon might be a bit busy with four features in one. If you drop Tail of the Dragon you could potentially move the damage resistance to a secondary 6th-level feature, and put draconic and Arcana proficiency into a secondary 3rd-level feature? This is when most sub-classes usually grant bonus proficiencies so you're not waiting too long for them.
Yeah, I also thought that four were too much, but the last one is mostly rp and flavour, not something really impactful.
What alternative features would you give?
Aspect of the Dragon is pretty strong for a 14th-level feature, though it's hard to compare as other Barbarian sub-classes vary wildly (Zealot basically becomes unkillable except via certain effects/spells, whereas Storm Herald gets fairly minor aura bonuses). It's probably not too much overall considering Barbarian has a lot of "meh" higher levels, so it's nice to have something cool at 14th. I'd recommend restructuring this though along the lines of "While raging you gain the following benefits…" then the bullet points of effects, as it's currently very repetitive since it's all Rage limited.
Yeah, I wanted something really badass, Barbarian are really "meh" at high levels, resemble a f***in' dragon should compensate it ahahaha
Yup, I will restructure the sentence, much better in your version.
Thanks a lot!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hi everyone,
I've created a new barbarian subclass, with dragons as main theme.
The Path of the Draconic Blood Class for Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) Fifth Edition (5e) - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com)
It's a mashup between path of the beast, other dragon-themed homebrew (like Xanotoz one) and some original ideas.
I would love to receive some feedback, both on the balancing and the flavour.
Thank you in advance and have a nice D&Day!
-DamPauls
Hope this helps in scaling things.
Barbarian
Primal Path
3rd- Level Motif
Bonus Proficiency-Style Feature
Berserker bucks this trend.
Rage Passive Mechanic
6th-Level Motif
Defensive/Utility Buff
10th-Level Motif
Additional Defensive/Utility Feature
14th-Level Motif
Rage Passive Capstone
You do not have to follow what I posted but after reading the subclass this is surprisingly great, but considered strong in some aspects such as dealing an extra 1d6 damage from the table. But to further extrapolate my thoughts:
Path Of the Draconic Blood
Blood Of the Dragon
Horn of the Dragon. The extra 1d6 that scales its damage via half the barbarian level at the start is pretty strong for a barbarian but if this is only once per turn then it's a little fine might want to make it a normal 1d4 and make it scale at certain levels instead like the storm herald barbarian desert aura Eg. 1d4 at 3rd level and then 1d6 at 14th level. Otherwise just retain the 1d6 damage for the entirety of the subclass and not have it scale (This is inconsideration of weapons such as flame tongue and frost brand being wielded by the barb) so imagine that with a + 1d6 and half barb level damage dice. Dealing an extra elemental damage from the chosen draconic ancestry is also an interesting thing as the path of the giant gains this kind of feature but at 6th level but receiving this at 3rd level is a little stretching it already.
Tail Of the Dragon. Overall fine with this feature and scales to immunity at 14th is really great. Synergize this with the ability to switch the resistances then this is a great ability. Rather than limiting yourself to a chromatic dragon try adding all resistances from all dragon types instead unless you deem that strong considering the +1 Ac and resistance to the elemental damage already combined with the path of the beasts tail swipe reaction feature at 10 feet (might want to also be applicable to your player character). So indeed my suggestion is to add all resistances based on a dragons type like gem dragon and metallic dragon instead of just chromatic inconsideration to the subclasses name (this is fine because it is situational but if you think having switchable resistance to all dragon types is strong then do not apply this suggestion) and make it that the character using this class can also defend themselves with the tail. Maybe also make the tail a natural weapon instead of just being there for the sake of defense.
Mind Of the Dragon. Really good utility motif with advantage against frightened, learning the draconic language, proficiency in arcana, and that dragon sight like ability as well. Overall a really good feature for 6th level that may had the chance to be applicable at 3rd level. But considering the pathing of this subclass is reminiscent off dragonflesh grafter this feature is till fine at 6th level as thematically they would start with the combat prowess then mind.
Breath Of the Dragon. Good combat feature instead of utility at 10th level, scaling via proficiency bonus is quite strong (cause imagine having 3 breath weapons that deal 4d8 at 10th level each turn) so how about 2 at 10th level 3 at 15th and 4 at 20th. The damage dice is pretty okay as well. Adding up with the choice off choosing the breath weapons save or suck range. Otherwise there is no need to change this feature if you apply my suggestion for Horn of the dragon feature, but if you deem your 14th level key feature to be strong; apply this suggestion if you wish.
Aspect of the Dragon. Overall great feature that scaled well in the subclass no need for changes, but you may find this strong; however this thematically fits for the subclass despite being incredibly strong. This is why I wanted the 1d6 from horn of the dragon not to scale as being large deals an extra 1d4 damage. Thats Flame Tongue Great Sword 2d6 slashing + 2d6 fire damage + Feat if any + 1d6 draconic elemental damage + 1d4 + brutal critical if any damage. Immunity is fine at that level, blind sight and flight is also okay.
Okay, here I basically took the Zealot divine fury and changed its flavour, but the damage is the same. I think it is less strong because elemental damage is more easily resisted than radiant. The elemental damage is nice because, differently from path of the beast, I don't give magical attacks to the subclass, so immunity to physical damage is still a threat.
I don't know if it is clear, you can choose the dragon type every time you enter rage.
I did only chromatics because metallics have the same resistances, and gem dragons resistances seemed too strong. However anyone can easily add them if they want, It does not change much.
Yes, the PG can use the tail to defend themselves or other creatures, if it is not clear I will rephrase it. Yeah the natural weapon is a nice addition that gives some extra flavour to the fight, thanks!
Exactly, I preferred to give some "meat" on the combat side at 3rd, and then utility and flavour and 6th.
Yeah the balancing of the breath weapon is quite complicate. The thing is that it recharges only with the long rest, so in theory you should use it only 1 time per fight. I think that the quite limited range makes it strong but not broken: A single melee attack done with Horn active should deal 2d6 (weapon)+ 4 + 1d6 + 5 (horn) + 3 (rage) = 22.5 average, against 18 average damage of the breath (which is multi target of course).
At quite high levels you should use it only for removing annoying minions or sides from the fight, in 1v1 vs the boss is still better to use the normal attack. I think trading it with a single attack was the only possible option, because it would be broken as a bonus action and weak as a complete action.
Being large does not add 1d4 damage, it is specified in the Enlarge/Reduce spell but it is a spell effect: it does not happen automatically.
Thank you for the feedback!
This actually seems pretty good overall, just a couple of initial thoughts:
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Thank you for the feedback! Yeah that is a specific request of my player, to have two possible options, one defensive and the other offensive. I think it is quite exciting in combat, every fight you have to do several choices, first of all to go damage or tank. I've basically taken the path of the beast and reduced the feature to 2 options. In my opinion, Barbarian is a quite flat and repetitive class in combat, so adding choices and variety it's a good thing for me.
Yeah, I also thought that four were too much, but the last one is mostly rp and flavour, not something really impactful.
What alternative features would you give?
Yeah, I wanted something really badass, Barbarian are really "meh" at high levels, resemble a f***in' dragon should compensate it ahahaha
Yup, I will restructure the sentence, much better in your version.
Thanks a lot!