With the addition of the new barbarian subclass from Unearthed Arcana here on D&D Beyond (in record time, I might add), I am buzzing from the possible character concepts this subclass brings to the table.
Mechanically, this character is best used to hurl themselves into a horde of enemies, and use their "Wild Surge" to wreak havoc upon them in either AOE burst damage or debuffs, or enhance their already considerable offense, defense, or mobility. This doesn't change the way a barbarian plays; it only gives them considerable tools to do it even better with the magical effects.
Their issue is (somewhat) similar to Wild Magic Sorcerers...there are several abilities that could damage or hinder your allies should they be too close. The necrotic damage is most glaring; this is an ability that only does a d10 of damage, but allies near death might have a fatal accident. Likewise, the Plant Growth-lite magical effect would slow down your allies within 10ft of you...though the barbarian simply need move themselves away for that to fix itself.
This is a minor inconvenience; the barbarian is often in the fray, and the more fragile characters susceptible to such effects are typically far-removed from such effects.
I'm pondering the role-playing aspects this subclass brings to mind...my favorite is the stereotypical barbarian who is convinced that he is, in fact, a wizard...he wears a wizard hat, he talks about magic like he's been studying it all his life...but he brandishes a battleaxe like any other barbarian. His "Lingering Magic" allows him to identify any school of magic reactively, and he can even take "Magic Initiate" or "Ritual Casting" to further the ruse. I am most excited for this character!
"Arcane Rebuke" sounds so much fun...the rebuke spells and features I've always enjoyed for the flavor..."Hellish Rebuke" for tieflings and warlocks was amusing for the novelty of cursing at a jerk who just attacked you and lighting them on fire...and Conquest Paladins had their "Scornful Rebuke" that dealt psychic damage.
"Arcane Rebuke" adds to this idea that the barbarian is brimming and overflowing with magic...just touching him causes magic to surge outward if you dare try to interrupt his concentration.
Conversely, their ability to restore spell slots is like a reverse-Arcane Recovery...further adding to the barbarians "Yes, indeed I AM a wizard...see?! I can restore your magic...!"
The "Chaotic Fury" is exactly what you'd hope...cycle through your random magical features until you settle upon a sustainable effect you want.
What I'm curious about concerning Arcane Rebuke is when, precisely, it occurs. The term 'rebuke' makes me think the effect that forces the save is resolved first and incites a 'Rebuke' - which means the Wild Soul can force an immediate concentration check for anything that targets the barbarian with most of the things one would normally use to disable a barbarian. Something Holds you? Arcane Rebuke, see if it breaks their concentration. Some jabberass illusionist tries to spike you with Phantasmal Force because you're playing the classic dumb-as-rocks barbarian? Rebuke him, see if that junk lasts long enough for you to even notice. Undead spirits try to dominate your will or possess you? Rebuke - their resistances don't work on force damage and they get neither a save nor a chance to dodge. Nor is there a range listed - something that tries to cast on you from halfway across the globe through some proxy or other gets Rebuked.
The 3d6 force damage just happens, like Magic Missile except with less anemic damage numbers, and furthermore a quick check of the Mage Slayer feat shows its wording as "when you deal damage to a creature, that creature has disadvantage on maintaining concentration." The disadvantage-to-concentration portion of the feat does NOT require melee damage, or the five-foot range limitation, inherent to the rest of the feat. So Arcane Rebuke becomes 3d6 automatic no-save damage with a disadvantage penalty to whatever it was that tried to mess with you to maintain that spell.
Good luck, wizard bros. This axe is hangry, and its on a faces-only diet.
Now sure, a lot of saves aren't concentration spells, stuff like dragon's breath and the like doesn't care. But the thought of the barbarian being able to instantly and consistently say NUH and challenge concentration before any of these spells can cause the barbarian any real harm is amazing. Overpowered as hell, I'm expecting it to turn into a save and get a range restriction if this ever goes live, but even then. Pretty awesome stuff.
Since arcane rebuke does not specify otherwise, it occurs after the trigger. 3d6 will never force a concentration check higher than 10, but still something.
No, but it's also automatic and unavoidable, and a lot of the stuff with the ugliest disables tend to have weak Constitution scores. With Mage Slayer especially, it helps.
That and if I'm reading this right? RAW, anything that lets you repeat the saving throw to break an ongoing effect also lets you Rebuke the critter again, since it is in fact still forcing you to make the saving throw. So even if an effect sticks around and they keep making their concentration saves, they're effectively Witch Bolt'd themself for as long as the effect lasts.
No, but it's also automatic and unavoidable, and a lot of the stuff with the ugliest disables tend to have weak Constitution scores. With Mage Slayer especially, it helps.
That and if I'm reading this right? RAW, anything that lets you repeat the saving throw to break an ongoing effect also lets you Rebuke the critter again, since it is in fact still forcing you to make the saving throw. So even if an effect sticks around and they keep making their concentration saves, they're effectively Witch Bolt'd themself for as long as the effect lasts.
That does seem to be correct by RAW. But it is only for forced saves, not chosen saves. So hold person is only rebuked once for example.
Man, that seems like such a garbage rule. "You CAN make an extra save to break this absolutely crippling, takes-you-out-of-the-game-entirely effect if you want to, but you don't gotta." Who in their right mind wouldn't try to break a hostile effect like that?
Ugh.
Anyways. Doubt the devs would let that stand in the official release anyways. Just struck me as a cool little thing Wild Souls get to do that few other people can.
They provide the option because there might be a reason from a role-play perspective your character wouldn't break the effect. And also to allow design room for class features such as Arcane Rebuke. If all abilities that had continuous saves were forced, then I doubt this class feature could ever be created since it would make it far too powerful.
Having discussed the topic with a friend who plays a Wild Magic Sorcerer, he liked the concept, but was disappointed that all of the effects are combat oriented.
This makes sense, mind you, because they key off of rage, and all of the subclasses have combat-beneficial effects that key off of raging. It'd be kind of a downer if you went into a rage and got something innocuous like, "Grows 6 inches" or "Grows a beard of feathers."
If I had to make any changes, I might add another table of such effects that triggered off of one of the other class features. Either Lingering Magic or Arcane Reserves . . . maybe both.
Barbarians are traditionally a combat-only class. All of their features are generally combat-based, with very few options for out-of-battle stuff they can do. Any OoB stuff they do get tends to be an ancillary flavor feature of their subclass, and is not what one plays a barbarian for. Frankly I think the condensed Wild Surge table for this class makes a lot of sense, given that their wild surges happen every single time they rage, rather than just once in a great while a'la (RAW) wild sorcerers. Consulting a fifty-item list every time one rages would get tiresome in a bleeding hurry.
Being able to reroll your wild surges becomes redundant once the barbarian gets unlimited rages.
Needs some kind of limit for spell slot recovery.
Other than that this look like a great subclass with a ton of potential.
It absolutely does not become redundant. The idea is that you can either fish for a good continuous effect or continually blast the instantaneous ones. And the whole "I just Rage again!" thing is conceptually dumb; as a DM I would very much rule that once you've Raged, you don't get to burn another Rage just to trigger "when you enter Rage" effects until the first one has ended. You can't suddenly get spitting mad while you're already spitting mad.
Besides, barbarians only get unlimited Rages at 20th level. Being able to freely reroll your Surges at 14th instead is worth some endgame redundancy even if your DM is willing to allow you to just rage again rather than use a Chaotic Fury reroll.
RAW, no. But it's the sort of logical inconsistency many DMs would frowny-face at and likely rule against, and even RAW-maddened Adventure League would likely allow its poor, tortured DMs enough leeway to disallow raging-while-raging. Especially in a case like this where the player is clearly only doing it to be exploitative of a mechanical interaction and not for any proper reason.
When the class clearly has "can reroll its Wild Rage Surge" as its 14th-level feature, I would very much state that cheating such a reroll using another use of Rage is cheesing the mechanics and disallow it at my table. You want those rerolls? Get to level 14 for them.
Personally I think the Wild Magic Table is too "hey hey, we're wacky" for me, but I still liked the idea of a barbarian class touched by fey madness so threw something together real quick:
Path of the Sibyl
Certain cultures revere those who are touched by madness and record their gibbering as portents from the gods.
Visons of Madness
Your madness allows you to get glimpses of the future. At 3rd level when you adopt this path, you gain the ability to cast Augury as a ritual.
Mad Rage
Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you can tap into your madness when you rage, giving you an intuitive foresight that allows you to predict incoming attacks. If you do so, for the duration of your mad rage attacks against you have Disadvantage. You also have Disadvantage on all Wisdom checks and saving throws for the duration of your mad rage as your vision and other senses are assaulted with sensory input from the future.
Fortune Favors the Mad
Starting at 6th level, you have the ability to twist fate using your intuitive connection to your oracular madness. When you or a creature you can see makes an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw, you can use your reaction to roll 1d4 and apply the number rolled as a bonus or penalty (your choice) to the creature’s roll. You can do so after the roll but before any effects of the roll occur. Once you have used this ability the number of times shown for your barbarian level in the Rages column of the Barbarian table, you must finish a long rest before you can do so again.
Infectious Madness
Beginning at 10th level, your madness becomes infectious, reaching out to twist the minds of those who get too close. The first time a creature gets within 10 feet of you during each of your mad rages, they are subject to the Confusion spell. The DC is equal to 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Constitution modifier.
Mouthpiece of the Gods
Starting at 14th level, you gain the ability to cast Contact Other Plane as a ritual. You make the Intelligence saving throw with proficiency. Succeed or fail, when you try to communicate the knowledge gained from this spell you either speak only in cryptic poetry or in complete gibberish. Anyone listening must make a DC 15 Religion check to get a general idea of what you're trying to communicate.
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
With the addition of the new barbarian subclass from Unearthed Arcana here on D&D Beyond (in record time, I might add), I am buzzing from the possible character concepts this subclass brings to the table.
Mechanically, this character is best used to hurl themselves into a horde of enemies, and use their "Wild Surge" to wreak havoc upon them in either AOE burst damage or debuffs, or enhance their already considerable offense, defense, or mobility. This doesn't change the way a barbarian plays; it only gives them considerable tools to do it even better with the magical effects.
Their issue is (somewhat) similar to Wild Magic Sorcerers...there are several abilities that could damage or hinder your allies should they be too close. The necrotic damage is most glaring; this is an ability that only does a d10 of damage, but allies near death might have a fatal accident. Likewise, the Plant Growth-lite magical effect would slow down your allies within 10ft of you...though the barbarian simply need move themselves away for that to fix itself.
This is a minor inconvenience; the barbarian is often in the fray, and the more fragile characters susceptible to such effects are typically far-removed from such effects.
I'm pondering the role-playing aspects this subclass brings to mind...my favorite is the stereotypical barbarian who is convinced that he is, in fact, a wizard...he wears a wizard hat, he talks about magic like he's been studying it all his life...but he brandishes a battleaxe like any other barbarian. His "Lingering Magic" allows him to identify any school of magic reactively, and he can even take "Magic Initiate" or "Ritual Casting" to further the ruse. I am most excited for this character!
"Arcane Rebuke" sounds so much fun...the rebuke spells and features I've always enjoyed for the flavor..."Hellish Rebuke" for tieflings and warlocks was amusing for the novelty of cursing at a jerk who just attacked you and lighting them on fire...and Conquest Paladins had their "Scornful Rebuke" that dealt psychic damage.
"Arcane Rebuke" adds to this idea that the barbarian is brimming and overflowing with magic...just touching him causes magic to surge outward if you dare try to interrupt his concentration.
Conversely, their ability to restore spell slots is like a reverse-Arcane Recovery...further adding to the barbarians "Yes, indeed I AM a wizard...see?! I can restore your magic...!"
The "Chaotic Fury" is exactly what you'd hope...cycle through your random magical features until you settle upon a sustainable effect you want.
Share your thoughts and character concepts below!
Yeah, it is finally a barbarian I can see myself playing.
What I'm curious about concerning Arcane Rebuke is when, precisely, it occurs. The term 'rebuke' makes me think the effect that forces the save is resolved first and incites a 'Rebuke' - which means the Wild Soul can force an immediate concentration check for anything that targets the barbarian with most of the things one would normally use to disable a barbarian. Something Holds you? Arcane Rebuke, see if it breaks their concentration. Some jabberass illusionist tries to spike you with Phantasmal Force because you're playing the classic dumb-as-rocks barbarian? Rebuke him, see if that junk lasts long enough for you to even notice. Undead spirits try to dominate your will or possess you? Rebuke - their resistances don't work on force damage and they get neither a save nor a chance to dodge. Nor is there a range listed - something that tries to cast on you from halfway across the globe through some proxy or other gets Rebuked.
The 3d6 force damage just happens, like Magic Missile except with less anemic damage numbers, and furthermore a quick check of the Mage Slayer feat shows its wording as "when you deal damage to a creature, that creature has disadvantage on maintaining concentration." The disadvantage-to-concentration portion of the feat does NOT require melee damage, or the five-foot range limitation, inherent to the rest of the feat. So Arcane Rebuke becomes 3d6 automatic no-save damage with a disadvantage penalty to whatever it was that tried to mess with you to maintain that spell.
Good luck, wizard bros. This axe is hangry, and its on a faces-only diet.
Now sure, a lot of saves aren't concentration spells, stuff like dragon's breath and the like doesn't care. But the thought of the barbarian being able to instantly and consistently say NUH and challenge concentration before any of these spells can cause the barbarian any real harm is amazing. Overpowered as hell, I'm expecting it to turn into a save and get a range restriction if this ever goes live, but even then. Pretty awesome stuff.
Why you shouldn't start ANOTHER thread about DDB not giving away free redeems on your hardcopy book purchases.
Thinking of starting ANOTHER thread asking why Epic Boons haven't been implemented? Read this first to learn why you shouldn't!
Since arcane rebuke does not specify otherwise, it occurs after the trigger. 3d6 will never force a concentration check higher than 10, but still something.
No, but it's also automatic and unavoidable, and a lot of the stuff with the ugliest disables tend to have weak Constitution scores. With Mage Slayer especially, it helps.
That and if I'm reading this right? RAW, anything that lets you repeat the saving throw to break an ongoing effect also lets you Rebuke the critter again, since it is in fact still forcing you to make the saving throw. So even if an effect sticks around and they keep making their concentration saves, they're effectively Witch Bolt'd themself for as long as the effect lasts.
Why you shouldn't start ANOTHER thread about DDB not giving away free redeems on your hardcopy book purchases.
Thinking of starting ANOTHER thread asking why Epic Boons haven't been implemented? Read this first to learn why you shouldn't!
That does seem to be correct by RAW. But it is only for forced saves, not chosen saves. So hold person is only rebuked once for example.
Man, that seems like such a garbage rule. "You CAN make an extra save to break this absolutely crippling, takes-you-out-of-the-game-entirely effect if you want to, but you don't gotta." Who in their right mind wouldn't try to break a hostile effect like that?
Ugh.
Anyways. Doubt the devs would let that stand in the official release anyways. Just struck me as a cool little thing Wild Souls get to do that few other people can.
Why you shouldn't start ANOTHER thread about DDB not giving away free redeems on your hardcopy book purchases.
Thinking of starting ANOTHER thread asking why Epic Boons haven't been implemented? Read this first to learn why you shouldn't!
They provide the option because there might be a reason from a role-play perspective your character wouldn't break the effect. And also to allow design room for class features such as Arcane Rebuke. If all abilities that had continuous saves were forced, then I doubt this class feature could ever be created since it would make it far too powerful.
Having discussed the topic with a friend who plays a Wild Magic Sorcerer, he liked the concept, but was disappointed that all of the effects are combat oriented.
This makes sense, mind you, because they key off of rage, and all of the subclasses have combat-beneficial effects that key off of raging. It'd be kind of a downer if you went into a rage and got something innocuous like, "Grows 6 inches" or "Grows a beard of feathers."
If I had to make any changes, I might add another table of such effects that triggered off of one of the other class features. Either Lingering Magic or Arcane Reserves . . . maybe both.
Barbarians are traditionally a combat-only class. All of their features are generally combat-based, with very few options for out-of-battle stuff they can do. Any OoB stuff they do get tends to be an ancillary flavor feature of their subclass, and is not what one plays a barbarian for. Frankly I think the condensed Wild Surge table for this class makes a lot of sense, given that their wild surges happen every single time they rage, rather than just once in a great while a'la (RAW) wild sorcerers. Consulting a fifty-item list every time one rages would get tiresome in a bleeding hurry.
Why you shouldn't start ANOTHER thread about DDB not giving away free redeems on your hardcopy book purchases.
Thinking of starting ANOTHER thread asking why Epic Boons haven't been implemented? Read this first to learn why you shouldn't!
It absolutely does not become redundant. The idea is that you can either fish for a good continuous effect or continually blast the instantaneous ones. And the whole "I just Rage again!" thing is conceptually dumb; as a DM I would very much rule that once you've Raged, you don't get to burn another Rage just to trigger "when you enter Rage" effects until the first one has ended. You can't suddenly get spitting mad while you're already spitting mad.
Besides, barbarians only get unlimited Rages at 20th level. Being able to freely reroll your Surges at 14th instead is worth some endgame redundancy even if your DM is willing to allow you to just rage again rather than use a Chaotic Fury reroll.
Why you shouldn't start ANOTHER thread about DDB not giving away free redeems on your hardcopy book purchases.
Thinking of starting ANOTHER thread asking why Epic Boons haven't been implemented? Read this first to learn why you shouldn't!
Berserkers might beg to differ.
I mean, you would first have to stop raging as a bonus action, then rage the next turn, so...
The limit is HP, but you are not wrong. There are definitely exploits as is.
Actually, berserkers just get spittinger mad. They cant frenzy while raging.
RAW, no. But it's the sort of logical inconsistency many DMs would frowny-face at and likely rule against, and even RAW-maddened Adventure League would likely allow its poor, tortured DMs enough leeway to disallow raging-while-raging. Especially in a case like this where the player is clearly only doing it to be exploitative of a mechanical interaction and not for any proper reason.
When the class clearly has "can reroll its Wild Rage Surge" as its 14th-level feature, I would very much state that cheating such a reroll using another use of Rage is cheesing the mechanics and disallow it at my table. You want those rerolls? Get to level 14 for them.
Why you shouldn't start ANOTHER thread about DDB not giving away free redeems on your hardcopy book purchases.
Thinking of starting ANOTHER thread asking why Epic Boons haven't been implemented? Read this first to learn why you shouldn't!
Personally I think the Wild Magic Table is too "hey hey, we're wacky" for me, but I still liked the idea of a barbarian class touched by fey madness so threw something together real quick:
Path of the Sibyl
Certain cultures revere those who are touched by madness and record their gibbering as portents from the gods.
Visons of Madness
Your madness allows you to get glimpses of the future. At 3rd level when you adopt this path, you gain the ability to cast Augury as a ritual.
Mad Rage
Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you can tap into your madness when you rage, giving you an intuitive foresight that allows you to predict incoming attacks. If you do so, for the duration of your mad rage attacks against you have Disadvantage. You also have Disadvantage on all Wisdom checks and saving throws for the duration of your mad rage as your vision and other senses are assaulted with sensory input from the future.
Fortune Favors the Mad
Starting at 6th level, you have the ability to twist fate using your intuitive connection to your oracular madness. When you or a creature you can see makes an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw, you can use your reaction to roll 1d4 and apply the number rolled as a bonus or penalty (your choice) to the creature’s roll. You can do so after the roll but before any effects of the roll occur. Once you have used this ability the number of times shown for your barbarian level in the Rages column of the Barbarian table, you must finish a long rest before you can do so again.
Infectious Madness
Beginning at 10th level, your madness becomes infectious, reaching out to twist the minds of those who get too close. The first time a creature gets within 10 feet of you during each of your mad rages, they are subject to the Confusion spell. The DC is equal to 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Constitution modifier.
Mouthpiece of the Gods
Starting at 14th level, you gain the ability to cast Contact Other Plane as a ritual. You make the Intelligence saving throw with proficiency. Succeed or fail, when you try to communicate the knowledge gained from this spell you either speak only in cryptic poetry or in complete gibberish. Anyone listening must make a DC 15 Religion check to get a general idea of what you're trying to communicate.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
That... Seems to be the case. Still, you could only do that 3-5 times a day before the level 14 feature.