Primal Path
Rage burns in every barbarian's heart. a furnace that drives him or her toward greatness. Different barbarians attribute their rage to different sources, however. For some, it is an internai reservoir where pain. grief. and anger are forged into a fury hard as steel. Others see it as a spiritual blessing. a gift of a totem animal.
Path of the Giants
Path of the Giants barbarians fuel their rage and power from their ancestors: Giants. Barbarians who chose to embrace their heritage can learn much from their ancestory, and grow in power accordingly.
Restriction: Goliaths only
To embrace a Giant heritage, one must have a giant heritage. Only creatures that descend from the ancient titan line may fuel their rage with the primal fury of the Giants.
Your DM may allow other creatures to take on this option. In worlds where Goliaths don't exist, some Humans or Orcs might trace their heritage back to the Giants of old. Some characters that have devoted their life to studying ancient Giant tactics or worship deities in the Giant Pantheon may also be allowed to adopt this primal path.
Lineage Trait
Your Giant heritage has rubbed off in how you treat yourself and others. You may have gained a quirk associated with your ancestors.
When you take this Primal Path at 3rd level, you can choose to gain a quirk from the table below.
Heritage Quirk
| d6 | Quirk |
|---|---|
| 1 | You despise dragons |
| 2 | You feel a constant need to move up in society |
| 3 | You feel superior to smaller creatures and frequently underestimate them |
| 4 | Your feel your line is mistreated by other Giant kin, and they belong higher in the ordning. |
| 5 | You enjoy hurling rocks (the bigger the better) |
| 6 | Your idea of "soon" is very different than other races |
Giant Heritage
At 3rd level, you adopt the aspects of one of the great lines of Giants. Choose a Heritage below. While raging, you gain resistance to the associated damage type of your chosen heritage, and gain additional benefits based of your heritage at 6th and 10th level.
Heritage
| Giant Type | Resistance |
|---|---|
| Hill | Poison |
| Stone | Acid |
| Frost | Cold |
| Fire | Fire |
| Cloud | Thunder |
| Storm | Lightning |
Giant's Grip
Additionally at 3rd level, your Giant heritage empowers your strength. While raging, treat weapons with the Versatile property as having their Versatile damage die even if wielded in one hand.
Also, while raging, you can wield Two-Handed weapons in one hand. Attacking with a Two-handed weapon in this fashion incurs a -5 penalty to all attack rolls you as part of the attack action.
Heritage Aspect
At 6th level, your Giant Heritage comes out even while not raging. You gain an aspect based on your Giant Heritage.
Hill: You gain immunity to the Poisoned condition. You can go twice as long without needing to eat or drink.
Your resistance to poison damage persists while you are not raging.
Stone: You gain proficiency in one set of artisan's tools of your choice and one skill of your choice.
Your resistance to acid damage persists while you are not raging.
Frost: You gain proficiency in the Animal Handling or the Athletics skill. If you already had proficiency in that skill, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability checks you make using your selected skill.
Your resistance to cold damage persists while you are not raging, and you gain resistance to fire damage while raging.
Fire: You gain proficiency in smith's tools or jeweler's tools and the Athletics skill or Intimidation skill. If you are proficient with both Athletics and Intimidation, you may instead gain a skill of your choice.
Your resistance to fire damage persists while you are not raging, and you gain resistance to cold damage while raging.
Cloud: You gain proficiency in the Persuasion skill or the Deception skill.
If you already had proficiency in that skill, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability checks you make using your selected skill.
Your resistance to thunder damage persists while you are not raging, and you have advantage on saving throws against illusions.
Storm: You gain a swim speed equal to your movement speed.
You can cast the Augury spell, but only as a ritual. Once you cast Augury in this fashion, you must complete a long rest before you can cast it again.
Your resistance to lightning damage persists while you are not raging.
Rune Magic
At 10th level, you gain a basic understanding of Rune Magic, and learn two glyphs related to your Heritage.
Over the course of one minute, you inscribe a glyph into a solid surface (such as a table or a section of floor or wall) that stores a specific spell determined by your heritage. The glyph covers a 5 foot wide area. The glyph is easily noticable unless deliberatly concealed under an object.
The glyph is triggered if any creature speaks the runic word within 5 feet of the glyph or touches it, activating the stored spell within and applying its effect to whoever triggered it. If the spell affects an area, the spell is centered on the triggering creature. If the spell requires concentration, it lasts until the end of its full duration. You ignore any material components neccisary to cast a spell in this way.
Wisdom is your spellcasting modifier for any spell cast using this feature.
Hill: Stinking Cloud, Confusion
Stone: Stoneskin, Erupting Earth
Frost: Sleet Storm, Dispell Magic
Fire: Fire shield, Daylight
Cloud: Fly, Major Image
Storm: Storm Sphere, Wall of Water
Once you use this feature, you can not use it again until you complete a long rest.
Image of the All-Father
Starting at 14th level, your rage finally taps into the full depths of your giant heritage. While raging, you gain these benefits:
Your size doubles and wieght multiplies by eight. This increases your size catagory by one. If there isn't enough room for you to double your size, you attain the maximum possible size in the space avalible.
Your equipment changes size with you. Your weapons are enlarged, dealing an additional 1d4 extra damage.
Your new stature increases the reach of your attacks by 5 feet.
You may use a large weapon if you have one available. If you do, it deals damage as a medium weapon with an additional 1d4 damage.
You do not suffer a -5 penalty while wielding Two-handed weapons in one hand.
You gain immunity to your heritage's damage type from the Giant Heritage table.
Changelog (PoG)
1/1/2017
Heritage Aspect (6) Changed Stone's trait from
"You gain proficiency in one set of artisan's tools of your choice.
When you take damage, you can use your reaction to roll a d12. Add your constitution modifier to the number rolled, and reduce the damage by that total. After you use this feature, you must complete a short or long rest before using it again.
If you already have the Stone's Endurance racial trait, you instead gain one additional use of it before needing to complete a short or long rest to use them again.
Your resistance to acid damage persists while you are not raging."
to
"You gain proficiency in one set of artisan's tools of your choice and one skill of your choice.
Your resistance to acid damage persists while you are not raging."
Changed Frost's trait from
You gain proficiency in the Animal Handling or the Athletics skill. If you already had proficiency in that skill, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability checks you make using your selected skill.
Your resistance to cold damage persists while you are not raging.
to
You gain proficiency in the Animal Handling or the Athletics skill. If you already had proficiency in that skill, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability checks you make using your selected skill.
Your resistance to cold damage persists while you are not raging, and you gain resistance to fire damage while raging.
Changed Fire's trait from
You gain proficiency in smith's tools or jeweler's tools, and may add double your proficiency bonus to checks made using your chosen tool.
Your resistance to fire damage persists while you are not raging, and you gain resistance to cold damage while raging.
to
You gain proficiency in smith's tools or jeweler's tools and either the Athletics skill or Intimidation skill. If you are proficient with both Athletics and Intimidation, you may instead gain a skill of your choice.
Your resistance to fire damage persists while you are not raging, and you gain resistance to cold damage while raging.
Comments
Overall I need to make some more changes, but I think I like the place Heritage Aspect ended here for first rounds of testing. Hill might not be right, but I do like the idea of the dumbest not getting skills but instead more bulbous and resistant to poison.
I'd like to keep the -5 on attack rolls because the penalty sticks with Reckless attack, while Disadvantage can easily be turned into advantage with Reckless+Conditionals. The damage bump is not much, but the ability to have an off hand makes them miss more but have higher AC. Current line of thought.
If you could help me brainstorm good spells for Hill/Stone/Frost that are 3-5th level and think about what spell levels Rune Magic should have access to at 10th+.
Thoughts on all of the restrictions?
Roguish Archetype
Rogues have many features in common, including their emphasis on perfecting their skills, their precise and deadly approach to combat, and their increasingly quick reflexes. But different rogues steer those talents in varying directions, embodied by the rogue archetypes. Your choice of archetype is a reflection of your focus- not necessarily an indication of your chosen profession, but a description of your preferred techniques.
Giant Slayer
Small statured creatures can often take advantage of their size as a rogue. You are practiced at striking down creatures much larger than you, and thrive at slipping between their fingers (or claws). Treasure hunters, mercenaries, assassins and other brands of small sized adventurers have adopted this archetype. These features provide an edge in combat against giant enemies, and your nimble escapes and dances with death dealing with large monsters help when adventuring in their lairs.
Restriction: Small Size Only
Only creatures that are under four feet tall can truly utilize the methods and mastery of the Giant Slayer archetype.
Your DM may allow larger creatures to adopt this archetype in specific cases, but the option is designed to mainly be used when playing Halflings, Gnomes, Goblins and Kobolds.
Pint Sized Fury
Dealing with creatures triple your size and larger has some effects on the mind as well as the body. You have developed a quirk over your time adventuring that reflects your relations with Giants.
When you take this archetype at 3rd level, you can choose to develope a quirk from the table below.
Size Quirk
| d6 | Quirk |
|---|---|
| 1 | Short jokes boil your blood |
| 2 | You wish you could fly |
| 3 | You get offended when people offer to help you get to places you can't reach |
| 4 | You are overly confident in taking on people bigger than you |
| 5 | You wish you were taller; your dress expresses this |
| 6 | Nothing is more exciting than grappling with a dangerous foe |
Slippery
Starting at third level, when grappled by a creature of medium size or larger, you can use the bonus action granted by your Cunning Action to attempt to escape the grapple. To escape the grapple, you must succeed on a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check contested by a Strength (Athletics) check made by the grappler.
Lethal from Below
At 3rd level, you are more capable of dealing tremendous damage to giant creatures. When you both have a conscious threatening ally within 5 feet of a large or larger enemy and have advantage on your attack, you roll double your regular Sneak Attack damage
Once you deal extra Sneak attack damage to a creature this way, you can't again against the same target for 24 hours.
Hide Underfoot
Starting at 9th level, Medium or larger creatures have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks to spot you when you hide under or behind objects at least one size larger than you.
Giant Loremaster
At 9th level, you gain a greater understanding of Large creatures. Choose one of the following languages: Giant, Draconic, Abyssal, or Celestial. You gain proficiency in that language and can read and write in it.
Additionally, you have advantage on Intelligence (History) checks to recall information about creatures who primarily speak and write in the language you chose.
Surefooted
At 13th level, when climbing on terrain or creatures, your experience has granted you additional benefits. You have advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks to remain attached to a surface you are climbing on.
Additionally, you have advantage when making Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks to maintain balance on thin surfaces to avoid falling,
Heavy Hitter
Starting at 17th level, you gain expert knowledge of striking large targets. When you hit a creature you share a space with that is Large or larger, you can choose to critically hit them even if the hit normally would not have critically hit. Once you use this feature, you must complete a short or long rest before using it again.
Climbing Larger Creatures Variant
This option is designed to be used along side the "Climb onto a Bigger Creature" variant from page 271 of the DMG.
