Path of the Dragon (5e Subclass)
Path of the Dragon[edit]
Barbarian Subclass
Barbarians that take on this path have had some encounter with the overwhelming might a dragon possesses. Even the weakest dragon is still able to easily defeat an ordinary person, after all. They take on characteristics of a dragon of their choice, behavioral, physical, and mental. What sort of dragon do you wish to emulate? What caused you to choose that dragon instead of any other? What will you do with this power now? Will you protect the innocent for free or for a reward? Will you seek to learn about as much as you can? Crave a variety of experiences? Seek a hoard yourself? The choice is yours. Or is it the dragon’s choice, disguised as your own?
d4 | Origin |
---|---|
1 | You come from a lineage that respects the dragon you emulate. |
2 | A dragon of that kind allowed you to live despite you being an easy meal for them. |
3 | You saw what a dragon could do, and wished to gain that power yourself. |
4 | An ancient dragon spirit lies within you, and has guided you towards this path. |
Charisma is your spellcasting ability for any spells you get, and you may cast them once without needing material components or spell slots at their lowest level, being able to do so again after finishing a long rest, unless otherwise stated.
The DC for your breath weapon saving throw, along with any other saving throw you impose, is calculated as follows: DC: 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus.
- Draconic Reverence
At 3rd level, you choose a dragon to revere and respect. Choose a general dragon type from the table below, and then a subtype of dragon. Each one grants you access to a special boost while raging. Your choice grants you additional features at 6th, 10th, and 14th level.
You may switch dragons by spending an amount of workweeks equal to your barbarian level with the dragon you want to switch to.
- Chromatic: Rage damage replacement. Black/brown is acid, blue is lightning, green is poison, purple is psychic, red is fire, and white is cold.
Black dragons are terrifying, amphibious dragons. Blue dragons are desert hunters that strike with lightning. Brown dragons are ambush desert predators. Green dragons are cunning, manipulative, and treacherous. Purple dragons dwell deep underground and focus on hampering the capabilities of their prey before ending them. Red dragons are great listeners and also very powerful. White dragons are perceptive hunters in the coldest areas.
- Gem: Retributive damage as a reaction upon getting hit while raging. 1d4 damage, becomes 1d6 at 10th level. Amber is fire (sticky, scalding sap), amethyst is force, crystal is radiant, emerald is psychic, sapphire is thunder, and topaz is necrotic.
Amber dragons release a sticky sap to restrain their foes and are able to speak telepathically to others. Amethyst dragons are strong minded psychic masters that prefer to sneak around and deceive others. Crystal gems enjoy spending time learning about others, preferably while in the elemental plane of air. Emerald dragons are able to learn about the past and future with their minds. Sapphire dragons are teleporters and climbers. Topaz dragons are the embodiment of decay itself.
- Lung: Additional 2 weapon damage while raging. Choose one of the following: Chiang lung, Li lung (thunder; roar), Lung wang (fire; hot steam), Pan lung, Shen lung (cold), T’ien lung (fire), Tun mi lung (bludgeoning; wind).
Chiang lungs are river dragons that always have a large sword when in human form. Li lungs are earth dragons. Lung wangs are sea dragons. Pan lungs are long, coiled dragons that enjoy learning about a foe before striking. Shen lungs are spirit dragons. T'ien lungs are celestial dragons. Tun mi Lungs are typhoon dragons.
- Metallic: +1 AC bonus while raging. Choose one of the following: Brass (fire), bronze (lightning), copper (acid), gold (fire), iron (lightning), mercury (radiant), silver (cold), steel (force).
Brass dragons prefer deserts and to have a conversation rather than fight. Bronze dragons enjoy the company of humanoids and are capable of repelling foes away from them. Copper dragons very much enjoy storytelling, jokes, and pranks, which makes them great friends with bards. Gold dragons have a rich, written history and are able to give themselves good luck. Iron dragons are ferocious fighters, capable of seeing things which were invisible as well. Mercury dragons could turn into a quicksilver form and make creatures believe they had fled before striking them. Silver dragons were quite intent on seeing if one was honorable and could paralyze their foes with a breath attack. Steel dragons were particularly magical, especially towards the divine.
- Breath Weapon
Your reverence has allowed you to better emulate more characteristics of the dragon you chose. Starting at 6th level, you may unleash a breath weapon as an action. You may do so again after finishing a short or long rest. The shape is listed in the Draconic Table, as well as the saving throw needed and the die size. You roll an amount of dice equal to your base rage damage to determine the damage dealt.
Cone: 15 ft. Line: 5 ft wide, 30 ft long.
- Chiang lung and Pan lung dragons do not have a breath weapon, and so will gain an equivalent listed, both of which count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity:
Chiang Lung: Summon and swing down a massive sword, slashing damage.
Pan Lung: Form a tail and slam it down on your foes., bludgeoning damage.
- Draconic Adaptation
Starting at 10th level, you gain an adaptation based on the dragon you revere as your body starts to morph a bit to better reflect the dragon.
- Draconic Spirit
Starting at 14th level, you can, as you enter your rage, summon a spirit of the dragon you chose, gaining additional benefits depending on the chosen dragon for the duration of the rage. You may do so again after finishing a long rest.
- Draconic Table
(General Type) Dragon Type | Breath Weapon | Adaptation | Spirit Buff |
---|---|---|---|
(Gem) Amber | Cone, Dexterity, d10 | 60 ft telepathy, you to target only. | Each hostile creature that ends their turn within 10 ft of you must make a Strength saving throw or become restrained. A creature can free themselves by making a Strength check as an action on their turn. |
(Gem) Amethyst | Cone, Constitution, d4 | You gain proficiency in deception and stealth. If you are already proficient, you add double your proficiency bonus to the check. | You can make creatures and objects float as per the telekinesis spell. |
(Chromatic) Black | Line, Dexterity, d6 | Can breathe both air and water, gain advantage on Charisma (intimidation) checks against creatures with a CR less than or equal to half your character level. | Upon hitting a creature, you may attempt to frighten it once per turn. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you until your rage ends. |
(Chromatic) Blue | Line, Dexterity, d8 | You do not suffer any of the effects of extreme heat. | Creatures that end their turn within 5 ft of you must make a Dexterity saving throw or take 3d8 lightning damage. |
(Metallic) Brass | Line, Dexterity, d10 | You only need to consume half as much water as normal in order to not suffer exhaustion due to lack of water. | You can attempt to make a creature fall unconscious until your rage ends. If a creature ends their turn within 5 ft of you, as a reaction, you can force them to make a Constitution saving throw or fall unconscious. A creature awakens upon if the sleeper takes damage, or someone uses an action to shake or slap the sleeper awake. |
(Metallic) Bronze | Line, Dexterity, d8 | You have advantage on Charisma checks when interacting with humanoid creatures. | Whenever a creature ends its turn within 5 ft of you, you can use your reaction and attempt to knock it prone and away from you. Make contested Strength checks. Upon you succeeding, the creature is knocked prone and 10 ft away from you. |
(Chromatic) Brown | Line, Dexterity, d8 | You gain 30 ft of burrowing speed. | You can take the dash action as a bonus action. |
(Lung) Chiang lung | Line, Dexterity, d6 | You gain 30 ft of swimming speed and can breathe underwater. | You can control the water around you as per the control water spell. |
(Metallic) Copper | Line, Dexterity, d6 | You learn the tongues spell. (Optional: You may replace the spell with one social or communication spell of 1st through 3rd level from the bard spell list, such as sending and calm emotions.) | You learn the hold monster spell and can cast and concentrate on it while raging. (Optional: You may replace the spell with one from the bard spell list of 1st through 5th level.)) |
(Gem) Crystal | Cone, Constitution, d4 | You can cast the scrying spell. | You can control the air as per the control winds spell. |
(Gem) Emerald | Cone, Intelligence, d6 | As an action while touching an object, you learn about the previous owner. You can spend 1 minute focusing on the object to learn their age, gender, race, alignment, and how they gained and lost the object. Every minute spent past this reveals information about the owner before them, up to 10 total owners. You may do so again after finishing a long rest. | You gain a +3 bonus to your AC. The insight of the emerald dragon allows you to see brief glimpses of the future. |
(Metallic) Gold | Cone, Dexterity, d10 | You can cast the legend lore spell once, being able to do so again after finishing 1d4+3 long rests. | You can add a +2 bonus to all saving throws, as the luck of the gold dragon is passed onto you. |
(Chromatic) Green | Cone, Constitution, d8 | You have advantage on Wisdom (insight) checks to learn a creature’s secrets. | You have advantage on opportunity attacks. The cunning mind of the green dragon aids you in dealing with fleeing foes. |
(Metallic) Iron | Cone, Dexterity, d8 | You gain blindsight out to 15 ft. | You add an extra die of weapon damage to all your attacks. The fierceness of the iron dragon enhances your strikes. |
(Lung) Li lung | Cone, Constitution, d6 | You gain 30 ft burrowing speed. | You gain the effects of the spell investiture of stone. |
(Lung) Lung wang | Cone, Constitution, d10 | You have advantage on Wisdom (animal handling) checks when interacting with oceanic creatures, such as sharks and whales. | Fog erupts from you in a 30 ft radius. Only creatures hostile to you are unable to see through this fog. |
(Metallic) Mercury | Line, Constitution, d4 | Can turn into a liquid quicksilver form for 1 hour as a bonus action. While in this form, you occupy a 5 ft square/hex, you cannot attack or be attacked, have advantage on Dexterity and Constitution saving throws, and can fit through gaps as small as 1 inch wide. | You release a poison within a 10 ft radius. Each creature in the area other than you must make a Constitution saving throw or become poisoned. While poisoned in this way, the creature cannot see you until you attack them. This ends upon your rage ending. |
(Lung) Pan lung | Line, Strength, d8 | You learn the ventriloquism spell which you can cast at will while not raging. | You add 1d4 to all attack and damage rolls and to your saving throws. |
(Chromatic) Purple/Deep | Cone, Dexterity, d6 | You gain darkvision out to 120 ft. | Upon hitting a creature, once per turn, you can force them to make a Constitution saving throw or be come dazed. A dazed creature is unable to take reactions and can only take 1 of the following on their turn: action, bonus action, movement. At the end of each of the creature’s turns, they can free themselves by making a Constitution saving throw. Upon a success, whether initial or later, they cannot be dazed again for 24 hours. |
(Chromatic) Red | Cone, Constitution, d10 | You gain advantage on Wisdom (perception) checks related to hearing. | Add +5 to all melee damage rolls. |
(Gem) Sapphire | Cone, Constitution, d6 | Teleport up to 30 ft as an action 3 times, regaining all expended uses after finishing a short or long rest. | You are under the effects of the spell spider climb. |
(Lung) Shen lung | Cone, Constitution, d8 | Any beasts such as beetles, flies, spiders, and wasps are naturally drawn away from you, and tend to avoid you as best as possible. You have advantage on Charisma (intimidation) checks made against such creatures. | You gain an ethereal tail. You can make a tail attack whenever you take the attack action once per turn. You are proficient in it, deal 1d8 bludgeoning damage on a hit and have a reach of 15 ft. |
(Metallic) Silver | Cone, Constitution, d8 | You have advantage on Wisdom (insight) checks made to see if a creature is honorable. | You release a paralyzing gas in a 5 ft radius. Each creature in the area must make a Constitution saving throw or become paralyzed until the rage ends or they make a Constitution saving throw at the end of their turn. A creature after succeeding becomes immune to the gas for 24 hours. |
(Metallic) Steel | Cone, Constitution, d4 | You can cast the charm person spell. | You have advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. |
(Gem) Topaz | Cone, Constitution, d6 | You can destroy a 30 ft cone of fog, mist, or water. | You can attempt to weaken a creature. Once per turn, upon hitting a creature, you can force them to make a Strength saving throw. Upon a fail, the creature has disadvantage on Strength based ability checks and Strength saving throws. The creature also deals half damage with all Strength based attacks until the start of your next turn. Upon a success, the creature becomes immune to being weakened for 24 hours. |
(Lung) T’ien lung | Cone, Strength, d8 | You can cast the suggestion spell. | You gain a flying speed of 30 ft. |
(Lung) Tun mi lung | Cone, Dexterity, d10 | You can cast the gust of wind spell. | Your weapon attacks can knock a creature prone. Once per turn, whenever you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can force them to make a Strength saving throw or fall prone. |
(Chromatic) White | Cone, Constitution, d8 | You do not suffer any of the effects of extreme cold and you have advantage on Wisdom (perception) checks to notice other creatures. | You gain the effects of the spell investiture of ice. |
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