Path of the Phalanx

Soldiers of Torment

Beginning at 3rd level, you gain the ability to call upon warriors beyond the reach of age and distance. When you begin raging, you can summon two Phalanx Soldiers to unoccupied spaces within 10 feet of you. As a bonus action on your turns, you can command both the soldiers to immediately take an action on their turn, whether from their statblock or another action. You don't need your voice to command them; they follow your will, and can't be forced or compelled to do otherwise. A soldier will vanish into spectral dust if it moves more than 60 feet away from you, if it is reduced to 0 hit points, or if your rage ends.

In combat, the soldiers can either act on your initiative immediately after your turn, or can roll initiative once and have all soldiers act on that initiative. The soldiers can use reactions and move as though they were living creatures.

While raging, you can use your action to re-summon one soldier with half its maximum hit points, as though you had just began raging. As long as you command your soldiers on your turn or re-summon one, your rage doesn't end due to not taking or dealing damage directly.

The number of soldiers you can summon increases to three at 6th level and four at 10th level.

Dreadful Commands

Starting at 3rd level, your command over your soldiers lets you use basic tactics in combat. When you have at least one Phalanx Soldier summoned, you can use a bonus action to make all summoned soldiers follow one of the following orders on their turn:

Press Forward. You command all your soldiers to move up to 15 feet towards an enemy that you or a soldier can currently see. The distance the soldiers can move increases to 20 feet at 6th level and 25 feet at 10th level. If a soldier ends this movement within 5 feet of a hostile creature, it can make a shield attack against it.

Shield Wall. You order all your soldiers to form a line by moving up to 10 feet to spaces adjacent to each other. If an attack that targets a friendly creature within 10 feet of this shield wall passes though the line, the creature can add your Rage Damage bonus to its AC for that attack.

If you command the soldiers to do something else, such as attack, the line breaks and the bonus is lost. The distance the soldiers can move increases to 20 feet at 10th level.

In addition, you add your Rage Damage bonus to your AC while raging.

Dire Lord

At 6th level, your command over your army grows. You gain access to the following Dreadful Commands:

Close Ranks. You order all your soldiers to move up to 15 feet towards a friendly creature the soldier can see. For every soldier that ends this movement within 5 feet of a friendly creature, it gains a +1 to AC until the start of your next turn.

Noble Sacrifice. Choose one soldier that is currently summoned. That soldier immediately drops to 0 hit points and you gain temporary hit points equal to your barbarian level.

In addition, whenever you use your Reckless Attack ability, you can cause all soldiers within 10 feet of you to also be affected by the ability.

Soldier's Surge

Beginning at 10th level, your knowledge of war and the experiences of your soldiers makes you much more cunning. Whenever you finish a short or long rest, choose a skill or tool. If you haven't already, you gain proficiency in that skill or with that tool. If you already have proficiency in it, you instead double your proficiency bonus whenever you use that skill or tool. This lasts until you finish a short or long rest.

In addition, you gain access to the following Dreadful Command:

Pile On. One soldier of your choice can immediately make a spear attack against a creature it can see within its weapon range. If the attack hits, it gains a bonus to the damage roll equal to the number of soldiers within 5 feet of the target. For the purposes of this attack, you also count as a soldier.