Skald Instinct

Skalds are poets, historians, and keepers of lore who use their gifts for oration and song to inspire allies into a frenzied rage. They balance a violent spirit with the veneer of civilization, recording events such as heroic battles and the deeds of great leaders, enhancing these stories in the retelling to earn bloodier victories in combat.

Anathema

Forsaking your heritage or omitting part of your history is anathema.

Raging Song

(Instinct Ability)

As a skald your Rage is a performance, turning it into a Raging Song. You learn the Inspire Courage composition cantrip. All composition spells you know gain the Rage trait, allowing them to be cast while raging.

When you use the Rage action, you can cast a composition spell that you know as part of entering a Rage, increasing the actions needed to enter a Rage to match the number of actions necessary for the composition spell you use.

If you cast a composition cantrip that takes 1 action and has a duration of 1 round, the duration instead lasts until you stop raging.

Specialization Ability

Increase the additional damage from your Inspire Courage composition cantrip from 1 to 2. If you have greater weapon specialization, instead increase the additional damage from Inspire Courage to 4.

Raging Resistance

You resist sonic damage and your choice of bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing, chosen when you gain raging resistance.

Barbarian Feats for Skald Instinct

When you gain a class feat, you can take any of the following Bard feats:

Hymn of Healing (1)

Inspire Competence (2)

Song of Strength (2)

Inspire Defense (4)

Triple Time (4)

Dirge of Doom (6)

Song of Marching (6)

Allegro (14)

Soothing Ballad (14)

Fatal Aria (20)

Song of the Fallen (20)

Change Log

First, I would really like to say thank you all for giving this a look over. I am really happy to see any comments or feedback you may have. If you decide to play this and have any feedback at all, please don’t hesitate to send me a message on reddit. I would love to hear about how it functions in actual play! Thank you so much!

v1.0

• This is the first publishing of this Homebrew Option and I am using this space to explain my own concerns and what my ideas were.

• Inspiration: What was it inspired by?

• Homebrew Ability Explanations: Stuff and Things.

  • More stuff, longer things.

• Homebrew Feat Explanations: Stuff and Things.

  • More stuff, longer things.

Giant Instinct Your rage gives you the raw power and size of a giant. This doesn’t necessarily mean you revere giants—you might scoff at them or even aspire to slay them! You could instead seem like a giant to other people due to your exceptional strength or larger-than-life emotions and ego.

Anathema Failing to face a personal challenge of strength is anathema.

Titan Mauler (Instinct Ability) You can use a weapon built for a Large creature if you are Small or Medium (both normally and when raging). If you’re not Small or Medium, you can use a weapon built for a creature one size larger than you. You gain access to this larger weapon, of any weapon type otherwise available at character creation. It has the normal Price and Bulk for a weapon of its size (page 295). When wielding such a weapon in combat, increase your additional damage from Rage from 2 to 6, but you have the clumsy 1 condition (page 618) because of the weapon’s unwieldy size. You can’t remove this clumsy condition or ignore its penalties by any means while wielding the weapon.

Specialization Ability (Level 7) Increase the damage from Rage when using a larger weapon from 6 to 10; if you have greater weapon specialization, increase it from 10 to 18.

Raging Resistance (Level 9) You resist bludgeoning damage and your choice of cold, electricity, or fire, chosen when you gain raging resistance.

Inspire Courage

Cantrip 1 UncommonBardCantripCompositionEmotionEnchantmentMental Cast verbal Area 60-foot emanation Duration 1 round You inspire your allies with words or tunes of encouragement.

You and all allies in the area gain a +1 status bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and saves against fear effects.

Rage

BarbarianConcentrateEmotionMental Requirements You aren’t fatigued or raging. You tap into your inner fury and begin raging. You gain a number of temporary Hit Points equal to your level plus your Constitution modifier. This frenzy lasts for 1 minute, until there are no enemies you can perceive, or until you fall unconscious, whichever comes first. You can’t voluntarily stop raging. While you are raging: You deal 2 additional damage with melee weapons and unarmed attacks. This additional damage is halved if your weapon or unarmed attack is agile. You take a –1 penalty to AC. You can’t use actions with the concentrate trait unless they also have the rage trait. You can Seek while raging. After you stop raging, you lose any remaining temporary Hit Points from Rage, and you can’t Rage again for 1 minute.