So, this is the first subclass release from Broken Knives. We as a company were really excited by the dmsguild and OGL news posted in January!
We've decided to use dmsguild to the fullest. Posting our files there not only allows us to serve a larger audience, but also allows us to easily notify people of revisions and collect feedback on the quality of our products. Speaking of quality, we think that dmsguild has a huge potential to change Dungeon's and Dragons as we know it. So we've decided to not go in halfway. We aren't a big company. We're a couple of dudes that like playing and designing games. Still, we have decided to make an investment in all the products we're placing in dmsguild.
Which brings us to our first subclass release: The Path of the Consumed barbarian subclass.
Our plan is to release the actual subclass on dmsguild.com, which you can find here. The blog will be used to discuss some of the thought and design processes behind the subclass.
Let's start with the basic idea of the subclass. The Path of the Consumed is a barbarian based a character that is driven by an inner darkness within him that compels him toward carnage on the battlefield. Part of the description we gave the artist was:
“Massively built in terms of muscles, with battle scars on his visible flesh and his cheeks and face hollow.”
We wanted the character to look powerful, but at the same time haggard as if the dark force within him was taking a toll.
The hallmark feature of The Path of the Consumed barbarian is his Consuming Rage ability. He is able to deal damage to himself in order to increase his damage output. This is not an idea new to D&D, and this particular implementation was partially inspired by the bloodclaw weapons of 4E. We tried to make sure that this ability, while it does scale, does not overshadow the berserker subclass's damage output.
The second ability Threatening Demand is a supernatural expression of murderous intent by the barbarian. This is reflected in an ability that allows him to be intimidating at a level well beyond a simple skill check. Interestingly, it also gives rage an out of combat use.
The next ability Morbid Glee reflects the zeal the barbarian feels on the battlefield and gives him a mobility boost after dispatching an enemy.
The capstone feature of the class at 14th level Unstoppable Malice ensures that when the barbarian is raging he is unstoppable for anything short of death.
We also want to not only give the players options, but to give the subclass some substance in the world. To that end, we included a brief description of Thoregar Stonebreaker, an NPC that follows the Path of the Consumed. His description also includes an adventure hook that a DM might use.
We really hope you enjoy our first release and look forward to any feedback!