Okay, so I'm working on a character. I don't have a campaign for said character yet, so they're just based in a generic fantasy setting right now.  But anyway-

O k a y, cool, so--

The character is a half-orc, human father and orc mother. Their name is Beatrix Cambiare, or just Bea. I decided that her class would be a Primal Emotion (joy) Warlock. The core idea for the character is that she's a big ol' angry half-orc gal. Originally, I was thinking I'd start her off as a barbarian and then, after 3 levels worth of barbarian anger issues, I'd switch to the warlock. I thought that was unnecessary though and just decided to stick with the full-on Primal Emotion Warlock. 

Bea was gonna start off the campaign by her therapist having encouraged her to take out her anger in an adventuring party against monsters n' whatnot, to release some stress. I was gonna give her a stone of far speech or something so that she has access to said therapist for an hourly rate fee. This way, I could build up the frame of mind for her 3rd level unlock which would be the Primal Emotion subclass, focusing on joy since her whole arc is coping with anger management. It could be like a spur of the moment "alright, like the doc said, clear your mind, think happy thoughts. Happy thoughts, and..." then that'd be the first instance of the Joy Golem that the subclass gets. 

Any thoughts or ideas? Whether it be with the class layout, background, consistency etc? This is like a shorter version of the stuff I have written out, sorry that the structure is all over the place.

I'm loving the idea!

I REALLY like the idea of someone angry sublimating their rage into joy, trading anger for an ineffable sense of elation.  I think an interesting story arc would be someone consumed by anger at the beginning, but finding herself at the end entering battle in a state of euphoria, motivated by love for the world and a desire to set things right.

I don't know if psionics is your thing, but a character like this SCREAMS psychic flavor to me.  You might could play around with a character drawing on the power of their emotions, and projecting those into tangible effects in the real world.

LOVING your vibe, and interested to see what you ultimately decide to do with Bea!

Hey, thanks for that! I totally considered delving into psionics with this. In fact, her original design had her as either a Gith or a Simic Hybrid, which would have fit that theme of psionics for sure. The current idea for her is to be an angsty, anger-filled delinquent, then throughout her life in the campaign, she'll progress into a life-loving, not-so violent gal, which I think is the notion you ran with? Either way, the idea of psionics would be totally cool to play around with, so thanks for that suggestion! Your enthusiasm is very much appreciated--

It sounds to me like the therapist is the patron. Like you get barbarian levels until you meet your patron, then warlock. You make a “pact” with the therapist, but it’s really a self-help system.

Do you think from a mechanical standpoint, your build is viable. Most warlock / barbarian builds are probably mostly barbarian. Barbarians can’t cast spells or concentrate while raging, and rage is the main point of barbarians. I suppose you could take a level of barbarian just for a weapon proficiency, but there are probably better classes for that, and a warlock is probably better off spamming eldritch blast than almost any weapon, except in melee.

If you want to go for barbarian purely for story reasons, I’d suggest you take just one level. Even one level of multiclassing can really set you back. My druid has one level of rogue, and I always feel behind my other spellcaster party members who have one level higher of spells than me half the time. Multiple levels that don't complement your main class will really make your character underpowered.

I really like the idea of your character. You have really put some thought into your character which will make role playing easier and a LOT more fun.

The therapist as a patron is a good idea. I'm reminded of nutty internet posts about "psychic vampires." Might be something you could play with.

Now, this'll sound stupid, but I never even considered a patron before. Even though that is the whole point of a warlock. But the idea of the therapist being the patron sounds pretty spot on! Thinking it out, I think you're onto something with the one level of barbarian. Anything more would be overkill, I think. In most cases, I go for character development over power but since this is my...second time using a warlock? I'm thinking I might go for the lowest possible level of barbarian, since her main focus is the Primal Emotion of Joy side of things. 

Hey, thanks! I like focusing on the roleplaying elements above all else, getting into the mind of the character is like my favourite thing to do, so a compliment like that really edges me on!

Psychic vampires? Huh, sounds wild! I'll have to look into that, it sounds like an interesting take on things, I'll certainly consider playing around with that!

This doesn't have to be an issue at all. But when reading the character idea, I got sort of worried about the concept of talking to the therapist every day... It's the sort of feature that can quickly become tedious for the rest of the party, you don't want a character who feels like they're constantly trying to steal the spotlight for themselves (Even if that's not the intent).

ONe thing I don't quite understand is the choice of warlock as your class... I can see this concept working with a paladin or cleric.. with the "deity" and/or being your dedication to lead towards joy instead of giving into anger all the time.

Then again I have no idea what a "primal emotion" is :P

I get you. I didn't want to take up the spotlight too much either, I felt like that'd be a bore and a bit of effort. The idea I had originally was that a very short moment where the stones of far speech and the therapist, an ol' satyr wizard dude named Dutch Diddly (my mate Sanjake made up the therapist for me, so props to them-) would be carried out sometime during session 1's nighttime, but it would never actually be roleplayed henceforth unless really necessary. It'd only be insinuated every other night, if that makes sense? That way, the party knows it exists but it doesn't take up excess screen time.

On the other hand, I chose the warlock class because of the Primal Emotion subclass. I'm not sure if it's actually apart of 5e or not, or if its part of my old self-made ones, but essentially you can just summon straight up golems (normally these golems are designed after the mental state of the character) that deal what is basically either wild magic or emotion-specific condition effects (e.g 'joy' golems being able to occasionally heal allies for x amount of health. It has certain class features that are geared towards just dealing with the character's emotions, projecting them outwards in a pyshic-ish fashion, which I think is perfect for Bea's whole arc thingy--

Side note: I'm actually certain it's an old subclass I made because I can't find anything out about it online. Whoops, I guess that's on me-- But if you need further explanation of the subclass, I'd be happy to provide! Sorry if this is like,, very confusing, I'm imagining it is-

I'd suggest you let the DM decide when your therapist-patron contacts you. That way, they can make sure the spotlight is shared fairly. Some sessions might focus entirely on group goals. Other sessions might have a ten minute one-on-one therapy session. And other sessions might have whole encounters targeted toward another player's character.

Seems like a fun character (although they might not fit into a more serious and medieval fantasy where therapists don’t exist)! But please check with your DM about this “primal emotion warlock” thing, which I’ve never heard of. I don’t allow homebrew at my table usually, and if your DM doesn’t, that could lead to some real disappointment, so be aware of the possibility.

Right,, that makes sense! I'll add this onto her sheet for safe keepings, seeing as how it makes the idea work at its peak-

Hey, thanks! I get that they wouldn't fit in for a serious campaign. I, uh, don't really have a party? My mates all kind of split up a few months ago so I've just been making characters since then. The old group were full of jokers, so this sort of concept would be the norm. But thanks for the warning, I'll keep that in mind! I'm nearly certain the sub class was homebrew now though, so thanks for clarifying that-