Path of the Windblade
Barbarians who follow the Path of the Windblade channel their rage to summon a mantle of furious wind that swirls around them when they rage. Fighting with a grace and speed that sets them apart from other barbarians, they dance and flow across the battlefield like a whirlwind of gore and steel. At your option, you can pick from or roll on the Windblade Quirks table to create a quirk for your character.
Windblade Quirks
| d6 | Quirks |
|---|---|
| 1 | Powerful winds whip up around you when you experience strong emotions. |
| 2 | A gentle wind consantly blows your hair and clothes. |
| 3 | Each of your movements looks like a step in a neverending dance. |
| 4 | Designs of gusts and clouds magically etch themselves in weapons you wield. |
| 5 | In your dreams you dance on the winds, soaring high amongst the clouds. |
| 6 | You find it almost impossible to sit still, constantly tumbling or dancing. |
Wind of Bitter Steel
Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you learn to fight with a weapon in each hand. You learn the two-weapon fighting Fighting Style from the fighter class, and you can draw a one-handed melee weapon as part of the attack you make with the weapon.
Additionally, you can make a single weapon attack with a one-handed melee weapon weapon as part of the same bonus action you use to enter a rage.
Iron Gale
Also at 3rd level, when you rage you can summon primal winds that slash and buffet your enemies. While raging, once on each of your turns choose one of the following immediately after you hit a creature with a one-handed melee weapon:
- The attack’s target takes slashing damage equal to 1d6 + your proficiency bonus.
- You glide on the wind, flying up to 10 feet without provoking opportunity attacks.
- The attack’s target must succeed on a Strength saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier). If it fails, the winds shove it up to 10 feet away from you or knock it prone (your choice).
Leaf on the Wind
Also at 3rd level, your primal connection to the howling winds imbues your movements with supernatural grace and agility. You gain proficiency in the Acrobatics skill if you don’t already have it. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses this proficiency.
Additionally, you learn the gust cantrip, and Constitution is your spellcasting ability for this spell. You can cast this spell while raging.
Furious Zephyr
Beginning at 6th level, your primal connection to the howling winds around you deepens. When you enter a rage, you can cast the gust of wind or warding wind spell, requiring no components and without requiring concentration. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
You can use this feature twice, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Steel Cyclone
At 10th level, you move with the speed of a howling gale. When you take the Dash action, you charge like a cyclone. For the remainder of your turn you gain a +2 bonus to AC against opportunity attacks, and when you move within 5ft of a hostile creature that you can see, that creature immediately takes 1d6 slashing damage from your scything blades. A creature can only take this damage once per turn.
Additionally, your walking speed increases by 10 feet and your jump distance is tripled while you aren’t wearing heavy armor.
Whirlwind of Blades
Starting at 14th level, your movememt is as unstoppable as a hurricane and you emanate a whirlwind of hard-edged air that slashes nearby foes like blades while you rage. The whirlwind extends 10 feet from you in every direction, but not through total cover. A creature takes 4d4 magical slashing damage when it enters the whirlwind for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there. A creature can only take this damage once per turn.
Additionally, whilst raging you are always under the effects of a freedom of movement spell.
Art Credits
- Front Cover: 'Barbarian Chick' by Maciej Kuciara
- Page 2: 'Barbarian' by Carlos Amaral
- Page 3: 'Celtic Swordsman' by Roman Zawadzki
Notes v2:
Wind of Bitter Steel
- Moved the two-weapon fighting style bit to this seperate feature.
- Changed it to actually just get the two-weapon fighting fighting style from the fighter instead of copy-pasting the wording from there. Avoids the possibility of stacking both this and the fighting style.
- Added drawing weapon as part of attack (cue from thrown weapon fighting style and dual-wielder feat).
- Added making a one-handed weapon attack as part of the bonus action to rage.
Iron Gale
- Removed restriction that it only works while dual-wielding. Dual-wielding is incentivized through Wind of Bitter Steel anyway. Whilst I had dual-wielding in mind when I wrote this subclass, if you really want to play with a sword and board then that's fine; the point of the subclass was to let you dual-wield at the same level of efficacy as fighter/ ranger, not to force you to dual-wield.
- Added restriction that it only functions to be only while raging.
Leaf on the Wind
- Changed spellcasting ability of gust to Constitution instead of Wisdom.
- Added ability to cast gust while raging (sub-optimal but go nuts you big windy boi).
Furious Zephyr
- Changed spellcasting ability of gust of wind and warding wind to Constitution instead of Wisdom.
Hurricane Speed
- Removed feature after feedback; movement increase has gone to level 10, freedom of movement has gone to the capstone and is now only whilst raging.
Steel Cyclone
- Moved the 10ft move speed increase/ triple jump distance from Hurricane Speed to here.
Whirlwind of Blades
- Moved freedom of movement from Hurricane Speed to here.
- Limited freedom of movement to only whilst raging instead of always-on.
