Path of the Bladelord (5e Subclass)
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Path of the Bladelord[edit]
Barbarian Subclass
A tall and slender Half-Elf is led through a small procession of humans, with two flanking her on either side and holding her arms in their grip as her forearms are bound in chains. As they come to stand before the executioner, the Half-Elf lets out an enraged roar, as she shatters her bonds and frees herself of her captors' grip, holding their heads in her hands as a sudden stream of blue energy surges out from her arms, piercing through their skulls in a blur with a blood-curdling hiss.
Standing in a darkened cave, a Half-Orc launches his arm forward, embedding his blade in the chest of his victim as he hoists them into the air. Their body spasms with their final death throes as the victim's life is ripped from their body, and their thoughts torn from their mind and channeled into that of his killer. With a re-invigorated exhale, he drops his victim to the floor as his blades glow even brighter than before, and the power that runs along their edges becomes far more untamed. Turning to face the rest of his enemies, the Half-Orc charges forward with a bloodthirst that remains unquenched.
As he begins to slash at his foe with a pair of glowing azure blades, a Dragonborn with weathered bronze scales pulls away as he notices the little effect his attacks are having. With a loud growl of fury, the azure weapons briefly shift into a pair of spheres with which he blocks the oncoming onslaught of arrows - before leaping back into the fray with a pair of twin hammers of the same coloration as his prior weapons in either hand, bellowing out a battlecry as he begins to shatter the armour of his enemy.
The Path of the Bladelord is an subclass option for the Barbarian, though unlike the rest of their kind, Bladelords channel their rage inward until it becomes so strong it unlocks a vast well of untouched power within themselves. Bladelord Barbarians have anger and hatred so focused, that it becomes tangible, as Psionic energy that flows outwards from themselves and interacts with the very world in which they live. Their fury is tempered into blades of hatred that burn brightly with their wielder's rage - carving a path of untold retribution in their enemies.
- Warlord Blades
When you choose this path at 3rd level, when you enter a rage, or as a bonus action during your rage, you can channel your psionic energy into a pair of twin blades of destruction, known as Warlord Blades, that flow outwards from both of your hands. You have two Warlord Blades, which count as martial weapons that cause 1d4 Psychic damage. You can use either your Strength, Intelligence or Charisma for attacks and damage rolls with your Warlord Blades. Weapon attacks with your blades may be used with features that would require Strength rolls (Such as your rage damage or reckless attack). Finally, the blades emit dim light in a 5-foot radius.
Once per turn, when you take the Attack action and attack with one of the blades, you can attack with the other as part of the same action.
The damage die of each of your Warlord Blades increases to 1d6 at 6th level, 1d8 at 12th level, and 1d10 at 18th level
- Mind Forge
Beginning at 6th Level, your prowess with your mind allows you to create sharper edges, blunter faces and pointier spikes. When you summon the blades, or as a bonus action when they are summoned, you can cause the blades to take the shape of any one-handed weapon of your choice. Doing so doesn't changes the blade damage die, but allow you to replace the blade damage with bludgeoning, slashing or piercing, rather than psychic. The damage caused by the blades is considered magical, for the purposes of overcoming resistances and immunity to non-magical damage.
In addition, you can use your reaction to shape your Warlord Blades into small shield bubbles when an attack is rolled against you, granting you +2 to your AC until you use your Bonus Action to re-shape them into weaponry.
- Psionic Shielding
Starting at 10th Level, your Psionic Energies coalesce into a protective barrier around you as you Rage. At the start of each of your turns, for the duration of your Rage, you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum of 1). These Temporary Hit Points are lost once your Rage ends.
- Focused Fury
Upon reaching 14th level, your blades grow in strength when you kill an enemy, as you rip their minds from their corpse. This mental energy empowers you, and whenever an enemy is killed by your Warlord Blades, you gain a bonus of +1 to your damage rolls using the blades, up to a maximum of your Intelligence or Charisma modifier. You lose this bonus when your rage ends.
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