Remembering Our Ancestors: Class Options for the Barbarian and Warlock

I often get ideas for doing homebrew material from people asking about a particular concept. I think the universal introduction of class options in 5e was one of the best design decisions possible, and it opens up a lot of space for designing flavorful themes that would have been restricted to prestige classes or heroic paths in the previous two editions.

One idea someone suggested on Facebook was that of gaining magical power from one’s ancestors. Two classes seem to stand out as good options here: we often think of this as a more primitive religious form, so the concept of a primitive warrior asking blessings from his or her ancestors feels appropriate. Thus, the Barbarian Path of the Ancestors was born.

The other idea is that as supernatural entities these spirits should have some extra power. Although they don’t fit with the assumed definition of a Patron, it still makes sense that they could give some supernatural abilities, and so I thought it would be a good idea to put together a Warlock Patron. I also have design notes about each feature.

After messing around in the Homebrewery bit, I've decided to just replace this post with a link to it. Try this instead!

Design notes below here.

Barbarian Path - Way of the Ancestors

• Not a ton of combat application from Ancestral Protection, but there's some nice out-of-combat utility from this feature. It's generally better than the rituals given by the Totem Warrior, though it doesn't compare with the Totem Spirits. However, it also doesn't come with the Frenzy drawback, however. I might need to add something minor to bring it up a bit; removing the restriction on targets might be enough.

• Ancestral Assistance is basically borrowed from the Fiend Patron. This feature gives you another "active" thing to remember, but it helps ensure that you really make that crucial save.

• Ancestral Courage is fairly similar to what the Berserker gets, but this one helps out your allies.

• Ancestral Advantage is recycled from one of the Wolf totem benefits, but it also has a nice "spike" feature if you really need to kill things without also making yourself an easier target. Sure, you can get advantage at will with Reckless Attack, but this one doesn't have as steep of a drawback in the moment.

This path is likely weaker than the current options, but I'd rather err on the side of caution. I think the flavor is there, at least.

Warlock Patron – The Ancestors

• The spell list here is made of supportive and defensive options, but still not ones that give direct healing ability. All of these things feel like things spirits could accomplish fairly easily, whether that’s looking at things far away or intercepting harm for you.

• Ancestral Knowledge: The 1st-level Warlock feature is usually combat-relevant, but I thought a skill-based option feels more characteristic of calling on your ancestors. It also gives some flexibility in that you can switch this option, making it more interactive and versatile than other warlock features.

• Protective Spirit: The 6th-level Warlock feature is a defensive or utility feature meant for combat use. Here, I liked the idea of a modified mirror image and the potential of completely avoiding an attack. There’s still a bit of counterplay as enemies can work around it or use weak attacks to try to “waste” it.

• Spiritual Shell: The 10th-level Warlock feature is always a fairly passive defensive one. This one is a bit more powerful than the Fiend’s damage resistance, but it lacks the flexibility and deals with two fairly rare damage types. Because of this, I liked the idea of providing another minor passive benefit when your allies help you out.

• Ancestral Reunion: Finally, the 14th-level Warlock feature is the big one: major combat application, usually based on removing a single enemy from battle or dealing massive amounts of damage to them. However, variety is the spice of life, and I wanted the ability to be a bit more flexible in terms of its targets. Why not give it an area option? As a trade-off, the trigger requires your action, making it worse than the Fiend’s Hurl through Hell, it doesn’t temporarily remove the target from combat, and the damage type is probably a bit worse.

If you like this content, you can find additional player options with the DM's Guild Skull and Shadow. Themed around death and undeath, this document includes one new undead race (with two subraces) designed for player use, a new Tombknight base class with three subclass options, a few feats, and 21 subclass options--at least one option for each of the 12 base classes. As per the subreddit rules, it's a Pay What You Want, so you don't have to spend any money to get it.

Happy Memorial Day weekend!