This subclass is ripe for reflavouring. You could be transforming into some eldritch horror for that Lovecraftian setting, or a wereshark for that nautical campaign, or any number of other possibilities. When combined with certain races (like aarakocra, dragonborn, leonine, lizardfolk, shifter, Simic hybrid, tabaxi, tortle, or yuan-ti) this might not be flavoured as any kind of transformation at all, just using your naturally available biology.
And you're not limited to one animal either. One moment you could grow sharp cat claws, the next you're rocking a gnarly crocodile face or a spiky Anklyosaurus tail. You can really get a Beast Boy vibe with this subclass.
I’m planning on a centaur character who has Drow ancestry (so a Drow humanoid half) from a bloodline that was cursed by Lolth. So when he goes into rage, he transforms into a drider (basically a spider-bottomed centaur). Flavors perfectly when you get the ability to climb walls and ceilings.
You have access to any animal with a mouth/claws/tail, so you don't have to stick to just one. Cat claws, shark jaws, anklyosaurus tail, etc. Even the later features for climbing and swimming could be flavored differently. One day you could be a monkey with a prehensile tail, the next you could be a weird man-spider that can stick to walls. And with swimming you could grow gills and fins, and be a fish/shark guy. Definitely in love with the versatility here
I like that you can choose which natural weapon you get because it allows the barbarian to retain their flexibility. Since they dont have any fighting styles, barbs can freely swap between weapons. Wanna go offensive? A greataxe paired with claws can give you a big burst of damage. Things looking tough? A longsword with a shield paired with a bite can boost your armor and let you heal a little. Allies not looking so hot? A halberd with a tail can keep enemies away while you deflect attacks.
Circle of the moon/forge seems like a good fit for a combo build. That tail ability ...... wonder if you can pair it with the interception fighting style.
Circle of the Moon I can totally see being paired as it fits thematically with the Beast Barbarian. Unfortunately the Interception fighting style has a 5ft range limit so you wouldn't be able to take advantage of the reach property on the tail.
Great minds, just go with a Tasha's lizardfolk to put the points in con and str, getting you the bite attack, go this subclass for the tail, and finally either mc fighter or use the feat to gain the unarmed fighting style for reflavored claws as slashing is a far weaker dmg type so your dm should be okay with the swap to slashing on your "fists" boom you have Lizard If allowed in your games you could sub fighter for mutant bloodhunter to add in the experimenting scientist and mad brews of the Lizard proper though you'd need to get your int up to compensate lowering your con still sounds really fun.
If I were a tabaxi barbarian, path of the beast, does cats claws (1d4) and the beast feature 'claws' (1d6) stack when adding damage? Meaning 1d4+1d6+STR mod on a hit, because 1 is a race feature and 1 is a class feature?
Technically, no because they would be considered different weapons unfortunately. The Tabaxi Claws are listed as a Natural Weapon that can be used in place of an Unarmed Strike, while the Beast Barbarian Claws are considered a Simple Melee Weapon.
@@B.Long13 I'd think of it as your claws altering, getting bigger or something thus making the damage die bigger, adding both damage dice just makes it feel like you have two sets of claws on each hand which is odd lol
The fact that you have to choose an attack type at level 3 is strange. The character has clawed hands but the normal face from the race remains, or just a muzzle but normal hands... I wish all options were available depending on the beast you are incarnating.
You pick 1 of the natural weapons when you rage, you're not stuck with a single choice forever, you can rage and pick claws, and the next time you rage pick bite or tail etc..., also, you only have the natural weapons while you're raging, not all the time, the Bestial Soul feature (in my mind) lets you take on a slight bestial change semi-permanently, claws that help you climb, gills and webbed toes, digitigrade legs for jumping just as an example, in my opinion it makes rage more of a transformation than anything, not just the natural weapon manifests, even if i pick claws as a natural weapon I would still have my face and body take on a more bestial form.
Soooooo given the strong moon druid/barb multiclass combo, does this mean you could be a raging bear with a 10ft tail? Cause I wanna be a raging bear with a 10ft tail XD
Like the Armorer, I love the flavor here but oof these features are really lame. Up until level 6 I’ve got no problem but the later features really let this one down. Infectious Fury being limited to long rest uses and still requiring a save is really disappointing, this means you can’t wait until you get crits to use this for massive damage since the fury damage isn’t technically a part of the attack. Not to mention getting what is effectively a second level smite that can fail 4-6 times a day isn’t all that exciting to me at level 10. The Capstone is just irredeemable, it has no mechanical cohesion with any of your other features and it’s such a minimal buff that it’s hardly worth factoring in. What this class needed at later levels was a buff to its natural weapons. The natural weapons are pretty good at the start of the game but when the party starts getting magical weapons your damage is going to fall off hard. I hate that I’m always negative in the comments but it feels like all of the subclasses I was excited to read are horribly imbalanced.
Can’t deny that the later features are underwhelming and I honestly should have been more outspoken and critical of them in this video. Don’t worry about coming off as negative as you provide awesome insight that I miss!
Well the last feature gives everyone the hex spell besides you which is good. I think it should work on you too tho. Letting the beast barbarian find the insignia of claws should help with damage some. And at least infectious fury ignores magic resistance, but I agree that it should work like smite.
This subclass is ripe for reflavouring. You could be transforming into some eldritch horror for that Lovecraftian setting, or a wereshark for that nautical campaign, or any number of other possibilities. When combined with certain races (like aarakocra, dragonborn, leonine, lizardfolk, shifter, Simic hybrid, tabaxi, tortle, or yuan-ti) this might not be flavoured as any kind of transformation at all, just using your naturally available biology.
For me this is always a great sign for a subclass when the mechanics can evoke a ton of character ideas.
And you're not limited to one animal either. One moment you could grow sharp cat claws, the next you're rocking a gnarly crocodile face or a spiky Anklyosaurus tail. You can really get a Beast Boy vibe with this subclass.
a triton who transforms into a shark would be amazing
I’m planning on a centaur character who has Drow ancestry (so a Drow humanoid half) from a bloodline that was cursed by Lolth. So when he goes into rage, he transforms into a drider (basically a spider-bottomed centaur). Flavors perfectly when you get the ability to climb walls and ceilings.
Making a (beasthide shifter) gladiator named Chimera. Had to, the tail reminded me of a chimera’s snake tail. Should be sweet!
You have access to any animal with a mouth/claws/tail, so you don't have to stick to just one. Cat claws, shark jaws, anklyosaurus tail, etc. Even the later features for climbing and swimming could be flavored differently. One day you could be a monkey with a prehensile tail, the next you could be a weird man-spider that can stick to walls. And with swimming you could grow gills and fins, and be a fish/shark guy. Definitely in love with the versatility here
I like that you can choose which natural weapon you get because it allows the barbarian to retain their flexibility. Since they dont have any fighting styles, barbs can freely swap between weapons. Wanna go offensive? A greataxe paired with claws can give you a big burst of damage. Things looking tough? A longsword with a shield paired with a bite can boost your armor and let you heal a little. Allies not looking so hot? A halberd with a tail can keep enemies away while you deflect attacks.
I'm thinking of a Aarakocra with this class that would be half Eagle and half Panther in a chimera sort of character.
That would be pretty sweet. Could possibly be a discarded Wizard experiment? 😱
Thinking of doing a lizard folk path of the beast.
Circle of the moon/forge seems like a good fit for a combo build.
That tail ability ...... wonder if you can pair it with the interception fighting style.
Circle of the Moon I can totally see being paired as it fits thematically with the Beast Barbarian. Unfortunately the Interception fighting style has a 5ft range limit so you wouldn't be able to take advantage of the reach property on the tail.
@@DungeoneersPack would be funny to wildshape into dinosaur or something, rage for the tail. And you defend the archers and casters. Lol
Didn't know about gaining a tail. Funny mentioned spider man because claw and tail attacks climbing or swimming made me think of The Lizard
Great minds, just go with a Tasha's lizardfolk to put the points in con and str, getting you the bite attack, go this subclass for the tail, and finally either mc fighter or use the feat to gain the unarmed fighting style for reflavored claws as slashing is a far weaker dmg type so your dm should be okay with the swap to slashing on your "fists" boom you have Lizard
If allowed in your games you could sub fighter for mutant bloodhunter to add in the experimenting scientist and mad brews of the Lizard proper though you'd need to get your int up to compensate lowering your con still sounds really fun.
Sounds like fun
My friend. take a two level dip into Druid and go circle of the moon. YOu now have a path of the beast barbarian dire wolf that is on the ceiling.
Gothic Horror, you say? Now that's the kind of nightmare fuel I can work with.
If I were a tabaxi barbarian, path of the beast, does cats claws (1d4) and the beast feature 'claws' (1d6) stack when adding damage? Meaning 1d4+1d6+STR mod on a hit, because 1 is a race feature and 1 is a class feature?
Technically, no because they would be considered different weapons unfortunately. The Tabaxi Claws are listed as a Natural Weapon that can be used in place of an Unarmed Strike, while the Beast Barbarian Claws are considered a Simple Melee Weapon.
@@DungeoneersPack mechanically, that makes no since, respectively. But I have to accept it. I'll just make a badass monk instead 😏
@@B.Long13 I'd think of it as your claws altering, getting bigger or something thus making the damage die bigger, adding both damage dice just makes it feel like you have two sets of claws on each hand which is odd lol
@@B.Long13 it's almost they thought of it and worded it to prevent abuse.
You just gonna ignore the Tail’s reaction to add 1d8 to your AC?
Nope! I mention it and refer to how it acts as a Shield-Spell like ability!
The fact that you have to choose an attack type at level 3 is strange. The character has clawed hands but the normal face from the race remains, or just a muzzle but normal hands... I wish all options were available depending on the beast you are incarnating.
You pick 1 of the natural weapons when you rage, you're not stuck with a single choice forever, you can rage and pick claws, and the next time you rage pick bite or tail etc..., also, you only have the natural weapons while you're raging, not all the time, the Bestial Soul feature (in my mind) lets you take on a slight bestial change semi-permanently, claws that help you climb, gills and webbed toes, digitigrade legs for jumping just as an example, in my opinion it makes rage more of a transformation than anything, not just the natural weapon manifests, even if i pick claws as a natural weapon I would still have my face and body take on a more bestial form.
Soooooo given the strong moon druid/barb multiclass combo, does this mean you could be a raging bear with a 10ft tail? Cause I wanna be a raging bear with a 10ft tail XD
ohh yeah
1d8 for tail insted of 1d6 not trying to be rude
I had to look this up to make sure but my digital copy of Tasha's lists the attack damage for the tail as 1d8 piercing.
nope im Put my comment wrong I meant to say it backwards supposed to be D8 instead of the d6
sorry for the miss understanding
I will role play my character doesn't bath to embrace the full aspect of the beast and never succeed in Social encounters.
Like the Armorer, I love the flavor here but oof these features are really lame. Up until level 6 I’ve got no problem but the later features really let this one down. Infectious Fury being limited to long rest uses and still requiring a save is really disappointing, this means you can’t wait until you get crits to use this for massive damage since the fury damage isn’t technically a part of the attack. Not to mention getting what is effectively a second level smite that can fail 4-6 times a day isn’t all that exciting to me at level 10. The Capstone is just irredeemable, it has no mechanical cohesion with any of your other features and it’s such a minimal buff that it’s hardly worth factoring in. What this class needed at later levels was a buff to its natural weapons. The natural weapons are pretty good at the start of the game but when the party starts getting magical weapons your damage is going to fall off hard. I hate that I’m always negative in the comments but it feels like all of the subclasses I was excited to read are horribly imbalanced.
Can’t deny that the later features are underwhelming and I honestly should have been more outspoken and critical of them in this video.
Don’t worry about coming off as negative as you provide awesome insight that I miss!
@@DungeoneersPack Thanks, I love your content.
Well the last feature gives everyone the hex spell besides you which is good. I think it should work on you too tho.
Letting the beast barbarian find the insignia of claws should help with damage some. And at least infectious fury ignores magic resistance, but I agree that it should work like smite.