The newTasha’s Cauldron of Everythingsourcebook forDungeons and Dragonspresents players and DMs with a wealth of information, including some intriguing newsubclasses for5e. These specialties-within-a-class are a great way for players to make even more unique characters and wield abilities that other members of the class can’t. Classes generally get their subclass picking options at level 3, although wizards and druids get theirs at level 2, and clerics and sorcerers at level 1.
Dungeons and Dragonsis enjoying a renaissance in the past few years, thanks in part to popular actual play streams likeCritical RoleandDimension 20, which have both opened up the realm of tabletop gaming for a lot more people. The playerbase is more diverse than ever, and so are the characters, reflecting the vast and variable worlds in 5e like the Forgotten Realms.Tasha’s Cauldron of Everythingprovides even more (optional) ways for players to create unique characters.
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Barbarians get two new official subclasses, or Primal Paths, inTasha’s Cauldron.One interesting option is the Path of the Beast, which enables the barbarian to embody a wild animal in their fights. Some of thesuggested class features in the sourcebookare for the player’s character to have a shapeshifting parent who passed on some of their curse, or to host the ancient spirit of a beast. Here are some of the ways barbarians who choose this path can optimize or tweak their experience with Path of the Beast.
Form of the Beast
Path of the Beast barbarians retain the classic barbaric feature of raging, which they can enter as a bonus action on their turn in combat and gain some extra features like resistance to some types of damage. Those who choose the Path of the Beast get an extra feature, which is a natural weapon they can choose when they rage. This enables them to bite with mandibles or a muzzle, slash with claws, or swipe with a tail. Whencreating a barbarian build inDnDusing this feature, the physical appearance will be flavor text, but the features themselves could be used more tactically.
Since the barbarian chooses their form any time they rage, they might want to keep in mind what type of damage would help, for example. Some monsters, like the Skeleton Swarm fromGhosts of Saltmarshor the Awakened Shrub from the Basic Rules, have resistance to piercing damage. The Awakened Shrub also doesn’t have resistance to slashing damage, meaning that when facing that monster, claws would come more in handy than biting or whipping with a spiny tail.
At 6th level, the Form of the Beast improves even more, and the player can alter their shape to help with whatever situation or surroundings they’re in. They can either swim faster and breathe underwater, climb faster and more efficiently, or make more powerful jumps. Obviously, these would be better or worse on a case-by-case basis, and choosing the swimming feature would probably come more in handy in a seafaring campaign than one set in a desert.
Infectious Fury
At 10th level, the barbarian can curse enemies they hit by making them perform a Wisdom save, which forces them to attack a creature of the barbarian’s choosing if the check is failed. The cursed enemy also takes 2d12 psychic damage, which can be a pretty hefty shot against some enemies, as d12s are less common in damage rolls. This feature is pretty useful forenemies that have high armor class, or AC, as they take the damage based on a save and not based on high-level (or not) armor. This feature could clearly come in very handy for if the player and party are fighting multiple enemies, especially if the enemy they infect has the ability to deal a ton of damage to their allies.
Turning enemies against each other has the potential to turn losing fights into wins, even if players have to wait until level 10 to snag this feature. Until then, raging and using their natural weapons and Form of the Beast features will hopefully give these barbarians a leg up in and out of combat.
