Path of the Totem Warrior, Revised

Path of the Totem Warrior

The Path of the Totem Warrior is a spiritual journey, as the barbarian accepts a spirit animal as guide, protector, and inspiration. In battle, your totem spirit fills you with supernatural might, adding magical fuel to your barbarian rage.

Most barbarian tribes consider a totem animal to be kin to a particular clan. In such cases, it is unusual for an individual to have more than one totem animal spirit, though exceptions exist. At your option, you can pick from or roll on the Totem Warrior Quirks table to create a quirk for your character.

Totem Warrior Quirks

d6	Quirks
1	Your bear totem makes you unusually broad and hairy.
2	When raging, your totemic power gives you the yellow eyes of an eagle.
3	You have a glorious leonine mane of hair.
4	Your skin is leathery and wrinkled like that of an elephant.
5	You have the unblinking gaze of a snake, and elongate your s'es.
6	You have to repress the urge to sniff new acquaintances.

Spirit Seeker

Yours is a path that seeks attunement with the natural world, giving you a kinship with beasts.

At 3rd level when you adopt this path, you learn the druidcraft cantrip. You also gain the ability to cast the animal friendship, beast sense and speak with animals spells, but only as rituals, as described in the Spellcasting section. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Totem Spirit

At 3rd level, when you adopt this path, you choose a totem spirit and gain its feature. Most barbarians make or acquire a physical totem object — an amulet or similar adornment — that incorporates fur or feathers, claws, teeth, or bones of the totem animal. Each totem spirit conforms to an archetype, which are listed below.

Ironhide Totem

Suggested Spirit Animals: Bear, Armadillo, Tortoise.

While raging, you have resistance to acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder, and poison damage. Your spirit animal is renowned for its toughness, and grants you the ability to stand up to nature's punishment.

Swiftstride Totem

Suggested Spirit Animals: Eagle, Elk, Shark.

While you’re raging, other creatures have disadvantage on opportunity attack rolls against you, and you can use the Dash action as a bonus action on your turn. Your spirit animal is renowned for its speed or agility, and grants you the ability to weave through the fray with ease.

Packleader Totem

Suggested Spirit Animals: Wolf, Orca, Oxen.

While you’re raging, your friends have advantage on melee attack rolls against any creature within 5 feet of you that is hostile to you. Your spirit animal travels in mighty herds or hunting packs, and makes you a leader of warriors.

Venomfang Totem

Suggested Spirit Animals: Scorpion, Snake, Spider.

While you’re raging, the first creature you hit on each of your turns with a weapon attack takes poison damage equal to 1d6 + half your barbarian level. Your spirit animal is famed and feared for its venom, and grants you powerful toxins in battle.

Aspect of the Beast

At 6th level, you gain a magical benefit based on the totem animal of your choice. You can choose the same animal you selected at 3rd level or a different one.

Ironhide's Strength

You gain the legendary might of your spirit animal. Your carrying capacity (including maximum load and maximum lift) is doubled, and you have advantage on Strength checks made to push, pull, lift, or break objects.

Swiftstride's Speed

You gain the roaming speed of your spirit animal. Your walking speed increases by 10 feet while you aren’t wearing heavy armor, and you gain a climbing or swimming speed (your choice) equal to your walking speed.

Additionally, you can track other creatures while traveling at a fast pace, and you can move stealthily while traveling at a normal pace (see “Adventuring,” for rules on travel pace).

Packleader's Alertness

Your spirit animal gives you keen senses to look out for predators that threaten your herd. You can see up to 1 mile away with no difficulty, able to discern even fine details as though looking at something no more than 100 feet away from you.

Additionally, dim light doesn’t impose disadvantage on your Wisdom (Perception) checks.

Venomfang's Cunning

Your gain the sinister hunting abilites of your spirit animal. You gain proficiency in Stealth and with poisoners kits.

Additionally, you can use a bonus action to apply poison to a weapon, and you can also apply poison to a weapon as part of the same bonus action used to enter a rage.

Spirit Walker

At 10th level, you can cast the animal messenger and commune with nature spells, but only as a ritual. When you cast commune with nature in this way, a spiritual version of one of the animals you chose for Totem Spirit or Aspect of the Beast appears to you to convey the information you seek. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Totemic Attunement

At 14th level, you gain a magical benefit based on a totem animal of your choice. You can choose the same animal you selected previously or a different one.

Bellowing Ironhide

While you’re raging, any creature within 5 feet of you that’s hostile to you has disadvantage on attack rolls against targets other than you or another character with this feature. An enemy is immune to this effect if it can’t see or hear you or if it can’t be frightened.

Charging Swiftstride

While raging, you have a flying speed equal to your current walking speed. This benefit works only in short bursts; you fall if you end your turn in the air and nothing else is holding you aloft.

Additionally, if you move at least 20 feet in a straight line toward a Large or smaller target right before making a melee weapon attack against it, you can use a bonus action to make a shove or an additional melee weapon attack against it.

Inspiring Packleader

While you’re raging, you can use a bonus action on your turn to inspire your allies to heightened ferocity in battle. Choose one or more creatures within 30 feet of you who can see or hear you, up to a number of creatures equal to your proficiency bonus. You and each creature you choose gain temporary hit points equal to 1d8 + half your barbarian level. While a creature has these temporary hit points, once on each of their turns when they hit a target with a weapon attack roll and deal damage to it, they can roll a d6 and gain a bonus to the damage equal to the number rolled.

Crippling Venomfang

While you’re raging, once per turn when you hit a creature with melee weapon attack, you can force it to make a Constitution saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier) or be poisoned until the end of your next turn.

Art Credits

Front Cover: 'Ulfthednar the Berserker' by Krzysztof Porchowski
Page 2: 'The Adventures of Hercules' by Javier Charro
Page 3: 'Beorn' by Tomasz Ryger
Page 4: 'Jaguar Warrior' by Qiang Zhou

Notes v1:

Spirit Seeker

Added druidcraft and animal friendship.