Hi all - This is a pretty rough draft right now but wanted to get a gut feel from folks on balance/interesting mechanics or lack thereof ;)
One of my Players plays a Goliath Barbarian and didn’t really latch on to any of the existing paths. He was interested in focusing on Grappling multiple creatures and making unarmed strikes against them, so I tried to develop a Path that empowered that play style, and took some inspiration from Goliaths and Giants, such as stone skin and using massive thrown weapons. I haven’t played the new God of War yet but I’ve heard the combat has some parallels to this as well.
Certainly work to be done on the flavor text as well as terminology to match what’s used in official material, but hopefully should be clear enough what I’m going for in each feature. Thanks in advance for feedback!
Path of the Stone Giant:
Level 3 - Boulderfist: Your strikes hit with the force of a boulder. You gain proficiency with Unarmed Strikes and they do 1d4 points of bludgeoning damage, While raging, they do 1d6/1d8/1d10/1d12 damage at Level 3/6/10/14. In addition, while you are in a Rage, you can slam or hurl a weapon with such force it embeds into the ground. As a Bonus Action, you can grant a Heavy Weapon the "Thrown (20/60)" Property and make an attack with it. Whether or not you throw it, after you make the attack, the weapon becomes embedded deeply into the ground in the space of the enemy you attacked. It requires a Bonus Action to dislodge it from the ground before it can be picked up as normal.
Level 6 - Grasp of Stone: The ground shifts under the feet of you and your foes, causing them to trip and stumble into your grasp. While you are in a Rage, after an opponent within 5 feet of you attacks you, as a Reaction you can attempt a Grapple check against them if you would be able to take that Action normally. This ability also allows you to more easily dislodge your weapon from the ground. As a Bonus Action, you can have the ground expel your weapon into the air, causing it to fly up to 60 feet and into your hand.
Level 10 - Gifts of the Earth: You can cause an ally's skin to turn to stone, briefly taking on the appearance of a goliath. When an ally is hit by an attack, you can use your reaction to grant them resistance to non-magical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage on that attack. You can't use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.
Level 14 - Sundered Ground: When you use Boulderfist to attack with a Heavy Weapon as a Bonus Action, the ground around the impact fractures and pulls creatures into the sink holes. The ground in a 5' radius around your weapon becomes difficult terrain. A creature in the 5’ radius where the attack is made must succeed on a Strength save (DC 8 + Proficiency + Con Modifier) or be restrained until the weapon is removed from the ground. A creature can use its action to make a Strength check against the save DC to free itself. The Barbarian using this feature is not affected by this effect, but all other creatures are.
Hi all - This is a pretty rough draft right now but wanted to get a gut feel from folks on balance/interesting mechanics or lack thereof ;)
One of my Players plays a Goliath Barbarian and didn’t really latch on to any of the existing paths. He was interested in focusing on Grappling multiple creatures and making unarmed strikes against them, so I tried to develop a Path that empowered that play style, and took some inspiration from Goliaths and Giants, such as stone skin and using massive thrown weapons. I haven’t played the new God of War yet but I’ve heard the combat has some parallels to this as well.
Certainly work to be done on the flavor text as well as terminology to match what’s used in official material, but hopefully should be clear enough what I’m going for in each feature. Thanks in advance for feedback!
Path of the Stone Giant:
Level 3 - Boulderfist: Your strikes hit with the force of a boulder. You gain proficiency with Unarmed Strikes and they do 1d4 points of bludgeoning damage, While raging, they do 1d6/1d8/1d10/1d12 damage at Level 3/6/10/14. In addition, while you are in a Rage, you can slam or hurl a weapon with such force it embeds into the ground. As a Bonus Action, you can grant a Heavy Weapon the "Thrown (20/60)" Property and make an attack with it. Whether or not you throw it, after you make the attack, the weapon becomes embedded deeply into the ground in the space of the enemy you attacked. It requires a Bonus Action to dislodge it from the ground before it can be picked up as normal.
Level 6 - Grasp of Stone: The ground shifts under the feet of you and your foes, causing them to trip and stumble into your grasp. While you are in a Rage, after an opponent within 5 feet of you attacks you, as a Reaction you can attempt a Grapple check against them if you would be able to take that Action normally. This ability also allows you to more easily dislodge your weapon from the ground. As a Bonus Action, you can have the ground expel your weapon into the air, causing it to fly up to 60 feet and into your hand.
Level 10 - Gifts of the Earth: You can cause an ally's skin to turn to stone, briefly taking on the appearance of a goliath. When an ally is hit by an attack, you can use your reaction to grant them resistance to non-magical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage on that attack. You can't use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.
Level 14 - Sundered Ground: When you use Boulderfist to attack with a Heavy Weapon as a Bonus Action, the ground around the impact fractures and pulls creatures into the sink holes. The ground in a 5' radius around your weapon becomes difficult terrain. A creature in the 5’ radius where the attack is made must succeed on a Strength save (DC 8 + Proficiency + Con Modifier) or be restrained until the weapon is removed from the ground. A creature can use its action to make a Strength check against the save DC to free itself. The Barbarian using this feature is not affected by this effect, but all other creatures are.