PLAYTEST CONTENT

Hello! This is Playtest Content! As such, it might change in time, this is not a final release.
There’ll be channels to give feedback on this article and future articles soon!

DISCLAIMER: This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of
America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is
prohibited without the express written permission of its author.
This product is a work of fiction.
The Path of Spirits
A Barbarian Subclass by Pointy Hat
 “Though we often think of the line between the living and the dead as a clear and
defined wall that separates those who belong to either realm, there are those among the living
who have the uncanny ability to reach through that wall as if it was mist. Some do so through
magic, some through an innate ability, and some, like the barbarians who walk the Path of
Spirits, do so with the pure raw strength of their feeling.
“Barbarians who take this path summon the spirits of the dead through an
unconventional and oft-maligned way: possession. The barbarian reaches out through the veil
into the realm of the dead, and invites a spirit into the realm of the living by offering their body
as an anchor. Spirits are beings of pure raw emotion; the feeling that they most strongly felt in
life or at the time of their death becomes their very nature. When the barbarian invites a spirit
to possess them, the spirit’s pure, distilled emotion mixes with the barbarian’s own rage,
granting them incredibly powerful supernatural abilities in battle and allowing the spirit to
manifest itself once more in the realm of the living.
“Although there are those who cultivate and teach the ways of this path, most
barbarians begin their walk along the path of spirits inadvertently. A mother filled with rage at
the death of her son summoning the spirit of her child, a ranger filled with grief summoning the
spirit of their animal companion, a soldier filled with fear summoning the spirit of their fallen
general during a battle they cannot win -- stories like these are often told of those who walk
the path of spirits. These stories all start from grief, but what they do with their newfound
power, only those that walk the path of spirits can decide.”

Overview:
The Path of the Spirits barbarian subclass is meant to explore a different aspect of the word
“spirit” that is often associated with other barbarian subclasses. Some paths use revered
ancestors, while others concentrate on spiritual animals. The barbarian Path of Spirits puts the
focus on spirits as their most common incarnation: ghosts, the souls of the deceased. Death is
common in character backstories, and this subclass allows you to center the death of a loved
one and bring it forward from the realm of backstory into the mechanics of the game. With this
subclass, you can play a child protected by the spirit of their dead parent, a lover haunted by the
memory and the undead shade of their partner, a medium seeking to help spirits cross into the
afterlife, or something else entirely different.

In terms of abilities, the Path of Spirits subclass enhances the tanking capabilities of the
barbarian in different ways with different types of possession. These impact the way a barbarian
fights, and they allow the barbarian to switch their tactics depending on the fight. Additionally,
abilities like Spirit-Touched and Grave Message bring utility to the barbarian’s arsenal,
expanding what they can do outside of combat. The subclass’ capstone ability is focused on
combat utility, allowing you to empower an ally with the boons given to you by your spirits.
3rd Level: Spirit-Touched
Choosing this path gives you an inherent connection with the spirits of the dead. At 3rd level,
when you adopt this path, you are aware of the presence, but not the location, of any undead
creature within 60 feet of you. Additionally, you gain the ability to cast the Speak with Dead and
Gentle Repose spells, but only as rituals.

3rd Level: Possession

Your barbarian rage is the result of a spirit entering your body and granting you its power. When
you choose this path at 3rd level, you choose a spirit and gain its feature. You form a connection
with a specific spirit you want to summon into your body by reaching out to them past the realm
of the living and into the realm of the dead. This spirit can be anyone, but they must embody the
quality of the spirit you wish to summon. For example, a spirit of protection might be a parent
who died defending their children, or a general who died so their troops could escape.

If you wish, you can change in subtle ways to reflect the personality of the spirit that shares your
body. For example, your posture, your voice, or your general demeanor may change depending
on the spirit possessing your body.

You choose one spirit when gaining this feature at level 3, and gain an additional spirit at levels
6 and 14. You choose the spirit you wish to be possessed by each time you rage:

● Spirit of Ecstasy. While raging, your movement increases by 5 feet. Additionally, when
you receive damage, you can use your reaction to move up to half your movement
speed.

● Spirit of Fury. While raging, you double your rage damage when you make a reckless
attack, and your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.

● Spirit of Protection. While raging, your AC increases by half your rage damage,
rounding up. Additionally, when you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a
Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you
succeed on the saving throw.

● Spirit of Resolve. While raging, you can’t be put to sleep by magical means, you do not
suffer the effects of exhaustion, and you are immune to the following conditions:
charmed, paralyzed, frightened, exhausted, and stunned.

● Spirit of Sacrifice. While raging, if another creature you can see within 60 feet of you
takes damage, you can use your reaction to take the damage instead. If you do so, the
damage is doubled.
 ● Spirit of Vengeance. While raging, if you have taken any damage during the previous
round, you make all attacks with advantage.

6th Level: Death Savant

At 6th level, your mastery over the domain of death grows, blurring the line between the realms
of the living and the dead. You have resistance to necrotic damage, you cannot succumb to
instant death by massive damage, and you only suffer one death saving throw failure when
taking damage at 0 hit points, regardless of whether the damage taken is from a critical hit.

6th level: Grave Message

Also at 6th level, your connection with your chosen spirit has become even stronger, allowing
you to call for their aid without the need of possession and use them to enter the bodies of
others to learn their secrets. As an action, you can summon a spirit and covertly send them into
the body of another creature you can see within 60 feet of you. If the creature you choose has
an Intelligence of 3 or lower or doesn’t speak any language, the creature is unaffected. When
you do so, you learn the surface thoughts of the creature — what is most on its mind in that
moment. The creature is not aware of this incursion at this stage.

You can then recall the spirit, or instruct it to delve deeper into the creature’s mind and body.
The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your Constitution
modifier + your proficiency bonus) or suffer one of the following effects (your choice):

● The target becomes blinded and deafened until their next turn and must use half their
movement to move in one direction of your choosing.
● You learn a piece of information of your choosing that the target knows. For example,
provided the target knows, you could learn the location of an object, the name of a
specific person, or their deepest desire.

If the target fails on their saving throw, they remain unaware. If the target succeeds on their
saving throw, the possession ends without effect and the target is aware of the spirit’s incursion
into their mind.

You can take this action a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.

10th level: Spiritual Host

At 10th level, your body has become a perfect vessel for spiritual possession. When you enter
rage, you now choose two spirits to possess you at the same time.
14th level: Spirit Catalyst
At 14th level, your mastery over possession grows so powerful that you can use spirits’ strength
to enhance others. When you enter rage, choose another willing creature that you can see
within 30 feet of you. Until your rage ends, that chosen creature now benefits from the bonuses
granted from the spirit you have chosen that isn’t currently possessing you. The chosen
creature is not considered to be raging while enjoying the effects of the possession.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.