Talk:Path of the Aberrant (5e Subclass)

Proposed Changes

A few days ago, I made a few suggestions for this class on the discord. Since then, this subclass has been swimming around in my head, and I've changed my mind regarding a few things. To that end, I thought I'd just go ahead and recap/revise my thoughts here. (One last thing to note before I get into it, I'll only be looking at features and not any of the lore/flavor descriptions. Balancing only!). --Woahluigi (talk) 20:30, 18 March 2025 (UTC)

Aberrant Form (3rd level Feature)
I see two ways this feature could be changed. Option #1 is to leave Tendrils of Madness as the only choice that grants you a natural weapon by changing Void Maw to "Void Cloak" (You become wreathed in an unnatural miasma that appears to take in light...) "Whenever you inflict damage to a creature, you can force them to peer into the abyss. The target must succeed a Wisdom saving throw... (etc.)"
Option #2 is to make all three choices into natural weapons. Tendrils of Madness might be the only weapon with reach, Void Maw might have the largest damage die (but lack a special property), and Warped Reflexes might be changed to "Flensing Claws" (the name is a reference to VGM and mind flayers). These claws could allow you to dual wield them, and function similarly to the mobile feat (Granting disadvantage on opportunity attacks for creatures if you make an attack against them with the claws)
Additionally, you would have a nice spread of the physical damage types (Tendrils could be bludgeoning, Maw piercing, and Claws slashing. You could also allow the barbarian to have the choice between dealing the normal damage type or psychic damage).

Unstable Existence (6th level Feature)
I think that Unstable Existence should be changed to not use your reaction, so that Abyssal Surge can use your reaction (and so they two features don't no-bo with each other). This feature already requires the target to fail a wisdom save, it has a hard cap on the number of times in between long rests, and its already limited to only allow you to use it once per turn!

Abyssal Surge (10th level Feature)
This feature should be changed to require your reaction to use, in correlation to the above change to Unstable Existence. Fun Fact, how the feature works right now (not requiring your reaction) allows two Path of the Aberrant Barbarians to continually proc this feature until one of them runs out of HP (which would take a while because they are resistant). Effectively, two Barbarians with this trait are a nuke as long as they're within 10 feet of each other.
One other thing to note, I think the breathing in any environment trait should be changed to match Ventilating Lungs: "You can breathe normally in any environment (including a vacuum), and you have advantage on saving throws against harmful gases such as..."

Formless Horror (14th level Feature)
I have an idea for Formless Horror that only works if you go with option 1 for Aberrant Form, that being Formless Horror could grant you all 3 of the features of Formless Horror. This feature should probably replace one of the other features, but could be cool. Wouldn't really work if you go with option 2 to make them all weapons, so there's that.

Response to Proposed Changes

Hey Woahluigi, thanks for the feedback! I have a few questions to clarify your suggestions.

Aberrant Form (3rd Level) – I see the reasoning behind making all three options natural weapons, but what issue does that solve? Right now, each choice supports a different playstyle—wouldn’t making them uniform reduce that distinction? Also, does diversifying damage types address a balance concern, or is it more for overcoming resistances?

Unstable Existence (6th Level) – If this no longer costs a reaction, would a limit still be needed to prevent overuse?

Abyssal Surge (10th Level) – I see the issue with the infinite loop; requiring a reaction makes sense. Is that the main concern, or is there another balance issue? Also, is the wording change to Ventilating Lungs just for clarity, or is there a mechanical reason?

Formless Horror (14th Level) – Gaining all Aberrant Form abilities is interesting, but wouldn’t that lessen the impact of the 3rd-level choice? What trade-offs do you see here?

Thanks for your time. --DarkJester89

Response to Responce to Proposed Changes

(3rd level feature)
I think that the current way all 3 options function in relation to each other is confusing. For example, Tendrils of Madness deals psychic damage and has a scaling damage die, but Void Maw is reliant upon you already having a different feature (maybe from your race or a feat) if you want to have powerful natural weapon attacks or unarmed strikes. It's description sounds like you're gaining a natural weapon, but you just aren't.
An additional problem is that Tendrils of Madness is (probably) more powerful than the other two options, which incentivises you to just pick it ever time you rage and never experiment with the other options. Making them all into weapons with distinct traits and benefits, or making void maw work with normal weapons are both possible ways to solve these issues (if you go with the non-weapon route, warped reflexes will likely need a small buff, or Tendrils a small nerf to have them be all roughly equal in strength).
Different damage types is a good narrative way to distinguish the weapon options, and the option of dealing psychic damage is a mechanical way to prevent this subclass from falling into the pit that martials fall in if they don't get a way to adequately hit creatures with resistances and immunities to non-magical damage.

(6th level feature)
It's a straight buff to make this feature not require a reaction, so I don't think this feature should be buffed even more by removing it's limit. You could keep it at 1/turn, or even change it to be once per round (something along the lines of "Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until the start of your next turn.") depending on how much you think it needs to be balanced.

(10th level feature)
I think that with a reaction requirement, this feature is completely balanced. The change to the wording of ventilating lungs is actually for balance, because as of the current version, it would appear to make you immune from certain spells (Stinking Cloud, etc.) or traps (poisonous gas, etc.) that rely on gases. I think this minor adjustment is better for wording, and it's more clear that the ability would grant you advantage on saves against such effects, rather than flat out immunity.

(14th level feature)
I don't think it really lessens the value of the choice you make with the 3rd level feature, especially if they're all changed to work in tandem with each other. You get to make the choice every time you rage, so it makes sense that each option would be better in certain scenarios. And if that's the case, than having all 3 would be even better. (In my personal opinion, I think that having all of the 3rd level choices be different naturals weapons is the better way to go. I only suggested this change if you disagreed and wanted to keep the semblance that aberrant form has now where only 1 choice is a real weapon, so that way the class could come full circle in the way that 5e classes sometimes do). --Woahluigi (talk) 20:14, 20 March 2025 (UTC)

Applied responses

Thank you for the feedback! I've applied most of the suggestions you provided. What I didn't apply was to keep in the thematic of the subclass. --DarkJester89

I get that, I get that. But what if... --Woahluigi (talk) 22:21, 21 March 2025 (UTC)