Part of the work in progress “The Divine Guide to Odyssey of the Dragonlords”, by Nethalri

Design Discussion
The Barbarian subclass Herculean Path is actually a favorite of mine from the original
content. While other subclasses that we’ve tackled with revisions so far were either detached
from their alleged flavors or mechanically unengaging, the general framework of what we’ll
slightly rename the Path of Heracles is absolutely on point: it works off wonderfully off of its
base material - Heracles, the greatest and mightiest of all ancient Greek heroes - and usually
presents functional mechanics that work well with the Barbarian’s base kit.

And yet, we believe we can add slight revisions in order to make it marginally better.
This will not at all be a radical rework: despite our previous iterations of other subclasses having
presented large changes, we do try to work with a “don’t fix what isn’t broken” mindset. In this
sense, our particular design goals for this document are:

❖ Succinct writing. We’ll attempt to offer adjustments to the features’ writing,

hopefully making them clearer and more in tune with standardized language for
D&D5e. Mechanical revisions will usually be light.

❖ Precise themes. Heracles was the complete warrior and, like many fictional
characters from many mediums across history, is hard to replicate within the
confines of a game, especially one that is supposed to have balance both between
player characters and against their likely foes. Sometimes, in the pursuit of this
kind of replication, a design can go unnecessarily wide instead of picking and
choosing what facets of the character should be on the forefront. We believe this
is a slight issue in the original design, and will attempt to offer reasonable
alternatives while still feeding into this specific fantasy and the representation of
the strongest of Thylean heroes.
Part of the work in progress “The Divine Guide to Odyssey of the Dragonlords”, by Nethalri

Barbarian Subclass: Path of Heracles, Revised

Some individuals are born with seemingly impossible strength, exhibiting rippling
muscles even before they learn to speak. Such men and women quickly learn that every good
thing in this world may be obtained through the exercise of overwhelming might. Others may
scorn them and call them “barbaric”, but what are words but useless noise to be choked out of
the speaker’s windpipe or simply ignored as you walk over them?

As one such individual, you know that strength is what determines one’s worth in the
world: the brawn to crush your enemies, and to rouse your allies. You savor every opportunity to
show off your great vigor, whether it be in arduous battle or friendly competition. This incredible
blessing allows you to accomplish herculean feats that will leave your foes wailing in anguish,
and, maybe one day, allow you to grab the entire world by its horns.

● Precocious Wrestler

Starting at 3rd level, you have learned to take advantage of your innate strength to wrestle
foes into submission. You are proficient in the Athletics skill, you can grapple and shove
creatures that are up to two sizes larger than you, and you can attempt to grapple with a bonus
action. Additionally, you use only one hand while grappling a creature, and while doing so you
may use your free hand to attack with two-handed weapons as if you were using both hands.

● Mighty Marksman

Starting at 6th level, you can leverage your immense strength when using some ranged
weapons. You may choose to use your Strength modifier for attack and damage rolls with
longbows, and you may add your rage damage bonus to the damage rolls of longbows and
thrown weapons while you’re raging.

Thunderous Shot. When you make a ranged attack, you may choose to imbue the
projectile with overwhelming power. Instead of making a ranged attack against a target, choose a
point within range of the weapon you’re attacking with. You then generate the effects of the
Thunderwave spell around the point of impact, and creatures make the saving throw against a DC
that’s equal to [8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier]. Once you have used this
feature, you can’t use it again until you complete a short or long rest.

Starting at 17th level, Thunderous Shot can be used at will.

Part of the work in progress “The Divine Guide to Odyssey of the Dragonlords”, by Nethalri

● Herculean Rage

Starting at 10th level, your rages take on legendary qualities and overcome physical
barriers that limit lesser warriors. While raging, you gain the following benefits:

❖ You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened;

❖ If you are part of a small race, you can wield weapons with the
heavy property without incurring disadvantage on your attack rolls
with them;

❖ You are able to wield oversized weapons up to one size larger than
you without incurring disadvantage on your attack rolls with it.

● Earth-Shaker

Starting at 14th level, your colossal strength causes the world itself to tremble and quake.
You can use an action to strike the ground and immediately generate the effects of an earthquake
within 40 ft. of your current location, as per the Earthquake spell. The saving throw DC for this
feature is equal to [8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier].

At the beginning of each of your subsequent turns, you may use your bonus action to
stomp the ground and repeat the effects of the earthquake until the beginning of your next turn,
for a maximum duration of 1 minute. Once you have used this feature, you may not use it again
until you complete a long rest.