Base Class: Barbarian
All barbarians draw strength from anger, but those of the Path of the Spiteful fuel theirs with raw hatred. These barbarians’ extreme animosity toward their enemies is so intense, it manifests as psionic powers that the barbarian uses to crush the objects of their hatred in mind as well as body.
Psionic Power
At 3rd level, you harbor a wellspring of psionic energy within yourself. This energy is represented by your Psionic Energy dice, which are each a d6. You have a number of these dice equal to twice your proficiency bonus, and they fuel various psionic powers you have, which are detailed below.
Some of your powers expend the Psionic Energy die they use, as specified in a power's description, and you can't use a power if it requires you to use a die when your dice are all expended. You regain all your expended Psionic Energy dice when you finish a long rest. In addition, as a bonus action, you can regain one expended Psionic Energy die, but you can't do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
When you reach certain levels in this class, the size of your Psionic Energy dice increases: at 5th level (d8), 11th level (d10), and 17th level (d12).
The powers below use your Psionic Energy dice.
Mind Breaker. You can break the minds of your enemies with psychic energy. When you hit a creature with an attack, you can use you bonus action to force the target to make a Wisdom saving throw against a DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier. If the save fails, the target becomes frightened. While frightened in this way, at the start of each of its turns, the target must use its movement to move away from you by the safest available route, unless there is nowhere to move. The frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Psionic Resilience. You can bolster your body and mind with psionic energy. When you fail a saving throw, you can roll one Psionic Energy die and add the number rolled to the saving throw, potentially turning failure into success. You expend the die only if the roll succeeds.
Vindictive Rebuke. The depth of your hatred physically harms those who attack you. When you take damage, you can expend one Psionic Energy die, rolling it and dealing psychic damage to the creature that damaged you equal to the number rolled plus your Charisma modifier.
Enduring Enmity
Beginning at 6th level, suffering fuels your hatred, giving you improved psionic abilities.
Irrepressible Fury. When you start your turn paralyzed, stunned, or unconscious you can end one effect on yourself subjecting you to those conditions. Once you use this feature in this way, you can't do so again until you finish a short or long rest, unless you expend a Psionic Energy die to take it again.
Vengeful Rebuke. When you use your Vindictive Rebuke on damage that reduces you to 0 hit points, you instead drop to 1 hit point, and deal additional damage to the target equal to two rolls of your Psionic Energy die.
Hostile Mind
Beginning at 10th level, your mind is so full of malice that those who intrude upon in are greeted with pain and torment. While raging, you have immunity to psychic damage, can’t be charmed, and your thoughts can't be read by telepathy or other means unless you allow it. If you are charmed when you enter your rage, the effect is ends. If a creature attempts to deal psychic damage to you, charm you, or read your thoughts against your will while raging, they take psychic damage equal to your Charisma modifier plus your Barbarian level.
Psychic Tempest
Starting at 14th level, the intensity of your spite creates an area of psychic disturbance around you which prevents creatures from thinking clearly. When you rage, you can choose to emit a psychic tempest. If you do so, for the duration of your rage, when a creature within 10 feet of you makes an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, they must roll a d4 and subtract the number rolled from the roll.
Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend a Psionic Energy die to use it again.
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Posted Aug 18, 2021Subclass Analysis
Thematics
This subclass has different thematics that they other two psionic classes (Psi Warrior and Soulknife), which are about discovering latent power within themselves and awakening into their psionic form. This subclass is instead themed around intense hatred. This leaves a lot of avenue for customization on the side of the player; a character could have a vengeful hatred of their enemies, or for all who oppose them, or just for people in general.
Class Overview
This subclass, like the Psi Warrior, is versatile in what it is able to do. Overall, however, the subclass is adept at dealing damage, defense, and debuffing enemies. The first two of these are things that most barbarians are able to do to some extent, but the latter is something that is somewhat uncommon, although various options exist in subclasses also provide such abilities.
3rd Level: Psionic Power
The psionic energy dice are the same as the other two psionic classes. It’s worth noting that the Psi Warrior has its psionic abilities based on its Intelligence, this subclass has them based on Charisma; the reason for this is clear, based on the thematics of two subclasses.
Mind Breaker: A frightened effect, similar to the fear spell in that it causes the creature to flee from you, although it doesn’t take the creature’s action, and offers a saving throw each turn. Useful for temporarily removing an enemy from combat and giving them disadvantage on any attack rolls they do make.
Psionic Resilience: Obviously useful to help on saving throws. The presence of this feature is likely also means that you aren’t required to take the Resilient (Wisdom) feat to be an effective barbarian tank.
Vindictive Rebuke: Considering the frequency with which a barbarian takes damage, this is essentially a damage boost. (Note that you are not required to take damage from a creature to use this feature; this in an error, and will be resolved in future versions of this subclass.) Also note that Vindictive Rebuke requires you to take damage, and thus will not work with features like Arcane Ward or Bastion of Law.
6th Level: Enduring Enmity
Irrepressible Fury: Similar to the Psi Warrior’s Guarded Mind feature, this allows you to expend a die and recover from a status effect, although the status effect is different. Likely not used often, but extremely strong when the correct situation arises.
Vengeful Rebuke: While unlikely to be used often, this feature will likely improve the your survivability substantially, both by preventing you from reaching 0 hit points, and by disincentivising enemies from dealing damage to you at low hit points.
10th Level: Hostile Mind
Obviously useful in preventing the charmed and psychic damage, this feature is unlikely to deal much damage, as creatures are unlikely to target you more than once. If a creature has the ability to affect an area without excluding creatures, such as a mind flayer’s Mind Blast, they may be forced into a situation where they either avoid targeting your allies or damaging themselves, based on the position of you and your allies.
14th Level: Psychic Tempest
This feature is similar to a bane, localized to the area around you; like that spell, while simple, it should be reasonably effective. It’s worth noting that you cannot exclude your allies from this effect, so it may be advantageous not to use this feature, even if you have the resources to do so.
Recommended Builds:
The versatility of this subclass means that any builds that work for other barbarians will work for it as well. In fact, this subclass will likely have more flexibility in its build that other barbarians, as it does not have to be as concerned with maintaining strong saving throws, both due to Psionic Resilience, and the condition immunity/removals granted by other features. While the Charisma component to this subclass may make it seem like it would multiclass well with a Charisma caster, Rage makes such multiclasses unviable.
Any feedback on this subclass is welcome!