This here is a new subclass for the Barbarian put together by my friend Kintaro. It has some really interesting mechanics where the Barb generates temporary hit points while raging and can spend those hit points to do some crazy stuff. Check it out:
Path of the Reaver
Some ancient tribes know only bloodshed. Their honor is forged on the field of war, and tempered in the blood of their fallen adversaries. They rely upon ancient rituals of their ancestors that harness their own vitality to engorge their ferocity. Barbarians that walk the Path of the Reaver throw caution to the wind and rely on the power of their own blood and lineage to massacre their often helpless, cowering prey.
Level 3 Feature: Blood Rage
Option A: Starting at the 3rd level when you choose this path, when you enter a rage you gain temporary hit points equal to five plus your barbarian level. The temporary hit points last until you exit your rage.
Additionally, if you are going to exit your rage from lack of striking a foe, you may instead choose to sacrifice a hit die to extend the duration of your rage for one turn. This may not extend a rage beyond its normal duration.
Option B: Starting at the 3rd level when you choose this path, when you enter a rage you can harness the blood of your foes to bolster your vitality. Upon striking a foe you generate a number of temporary hit points equal to 1 + your constitution modifier (minimum of 1). You cannot generate more than 10 hit points from this trait per rage.
The cap of hit points generated by this feature increases by 5 at the 6th level, 12th level, and 18th level.
Additionally, if you are going to exit your rage from lack of striking a foe, you may instead choose to sacrifice a hit die to extend the duration of your rage for one turn. This may not extend a rage beyond its normal duration.
Level 6 Feature: Reave
Starting at the 6th level, you may choose to offer your own vitality in an attempt to strengthen your offense. Once per turn while raging after making a successful melee attack you can sacrifice up to five health points to increase your damage by an equal amount. Attacks made with the reave feature are considered magical if they are not already. The cap of health that can be offered increases by 5 at the 14th level and 20th level.
Health sacrificed in this way cannot be reduced, resisted, or ignored in any fashion.
(I’m debating if the cap should be increased or if it should scale with a modifier instead. I’m also debating if the health drained should bypass temporary hit points. I’ve also considered an alternative that uses hit dice to deal extra damage instead of health so that this feature can’t be abused if you have a healer, but I wasn’t sure how to balance it)
Level 10 feature (the fluffy feature): Unrelenting Predator
Starting at the 10th level you come to learn more about your foes through their blood. Using ancestral techniques you can taste fresh or preserved blood and determine the gender, race, and certain physical features, and any abnormalities of your prey. Additionally you gain advantage on survival (tracking) checks when pursuing this individual for 24 hours. You can only use this feature on one person at a time.
Level 14 feature: Killing Blow
Starting at the 14th level you learn how to exploit bloodied foes. After a successful melee attack against a creature below half health you may declare a killing blow. Killing blows are considered a critical strike. You may use this feature once per short or long rest. You may instead choose to sacrifice all of your remaining hit dice to restore this feature without needing to take a short rest.
