Path of the Shepherd (Not Playtested)
Made for a Weird Western westmarch (I prefer to call it Frontier-punk). I was contemplating what I wanted to do for the western "executioner/hangman" stereotype when one of Pentakill's videos popped up on my recommendation on YouTube, and I remembered how much I liked Yorick's aesthetic. Barbarian felt right, and paladin/fighter have been done to death, pun intended.
Path of the Shepherd
Barbarians who walk the Path of the Shepherd are bound not by tribe or land, but by a covenant with death itself. These barbarians do not lead the living to safety—they guide the dead to war. Bound by a solemn pact with the forces beyond the veil, Shepherds become vessels for the mist-drenched souls that linger between life and death.
Their rage is not a scream, but a sermon—spoken in choking mist and silence. From their mouth, the cold truth of the afterlife spills forth in cursed words that bend time. And when their fury peaks, they call upon the Mother of the Mist, an ancient spirit who embraces them like a bride and strikes with them in spectral harmony.
These barbarians do not fight to survive—they fight to shepherd others into the quiet peace of death.
Blessing of the Shepherd (3rd-Level)
Your strikes carry the cold weight of the grave. While you’re raging, the first creature you hit with a melee weapon or unarmed strike on each of your turns becomes cursed by the mist. A creature cursed in this way suffers the following effects:
- When the cursed creature deals damage with an attack, that damage is reduced by an amount equal to your Rage Damage bonus.
- If the cursed creature drops to 0 hit points while your rage is still active, the curse immediately transfers to the next creature you hit with a melee weapon or unarmed strike.
A creature can be affected by only one curse at a time. The curse ends early if your rage ends or you become incapacitated.
Children of the Shepherd (3rd-Level)
When you enter a rage, you tear a rift in the veil between life and death, calling forth a ghostly warrior known as a Mistborne to fight beside you.
The Mistborne uses the specter stat block. It acts on your initiative and takes its turn immediately after yours. It obeys your verbal commands (no action required), and if you give it no commands, it takes the Dodge action.
The Mistborne disappears when your rage ends, you become incapacitated, or when it drops to 0 hit points. When the Mistborne is reduced to 0 hit points by an attack or effect, you regain hit points equal to the damage that caused it to fall.
You can summon one Mistborne per rage.
The maximum number of Mistborne increases by one when you reach Barbarian levels 6 (2), 12 (3), and 17 (4).
Touch of the Shepherd (6th-level)
The dead answer your call, clawing at the living from beyond the veil. While you’re raging, you can use a bonus action to cause spectral arms to erupt from the ground or mist and grasp at a creature within 30 feet of you.
This ability can affect flying creatures as long as they are no more than 30 feet above the ground or surface beneath them.
Choose one creature within range that you can see. That creature must succeed on a Strength saving throw (DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier) or become restrained until the end of its next turn. While restrained in this way, the creature takes necrotic damage equal to your Rage Damage bonus at the beginning of its turn. A creature can attempt to free itself by repeating the saving throw. On a successful escape, the creature is no longer restrained and has advantage on future attempts.
You can use this feature once per rage.
Words of the Shepherd (10th-Level)
You speak with the breath of the grave, calling the weight of death to slow the living.
You can cast the slow spell a number of times equal to your Rage Damage bonus. This spell can be cast while raging. Additionally, if this spell is cast while raging, it requires no concentration. However, the spell ends early should your rage end.
Your spellcasting ability for this feature is Constitution, and your spell save DC is calculated as follows:
Spell Save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier
You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Wife of the Shepherd (14th-Level)
When you rage, the Mother of the Mist—a spectral entity and creator of the Mistborne—embraces you in a bond of undeath, becoming your eternal bride. She remains until your rage ends or you choose to end her presence early (no action required).
While she is present:
- A chilling mist radiates from you. At the start of each of your turns, each creature of your choice within 10 feet must succeed on a Constitution saving throw (DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier) or become poisoned and take 2d6 necrotic damage. On a success, they are immune to this effect until the end of their next turn.
- When you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, Mother may make two unarmed spectral strikes against the same target. These use your attack modifier to hit and deal 1d8 + your Constitution modifier necrotic damage. Alternatively, she can forgo both strikes to grapple one creature within 5 feet.
- Your Mistborne deal an additional die of necrotic damage with their Withering Touch.
- When the Mother is first summoned, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Rage Damage bonus + your Constitution modifier.
- As a bonus action while raging, Mother may consume one of your Mistborne within 30 feet (summoned during this rage) to restore your temporary hit points to the original amount granted upon her arrival.
If you would drop to 0 hit points while raging and embraced by Mother, she sacrifices herself in your stead, ending the embrace and negating the damage you would have taken. You gain 1 level of exhaustion. This can occur once per rage.
You may summon the Mother of the Mist once per long rest.