u/Jounniy

Storm Aura

When you select this path at 3rd level, you emanate a stormy, magical aura while you rage. The aura extends up 10 feet from you in every direction, but not through total cover. You choose the aura’s exact range when starting your range. Moderate wind blows inside of your aura at a speed of 15 miles per hour.

Your aura has an effect that activates when you enter your rage, and you can choose to active again thereafter at the start of each of your turns. When you enter your rage, choose desert, sea, or tundra. Your aura's effect depends on that chosen environment, as detailed below.

If your aura's effects require a saving throw, the DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier.

Desert. Whenever this effect is activated, all other creatures in your aura take fire damage as searing hot wind courses around you. The damage equals your proficiency bonus. You also shed bright light to a range of 10 feet and dim light to a range of 20 feet. 

Sea. Whenever this effect is activated, you can choose one other creature you can see in your aura. The target must make a Dexterity saving throw, as lightning strikes from you. The target takes lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. If the target fails its save, it also cannot take reactions until the start of its next turn. The amount of damage is determined by rolling a number of d4 equal to your proficiency bonus minus 1.

Tundra. When this effect is activated, each creature of your choice in your aura gains temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus, as icy spirits inure it to suffering.

Changes: The effects of the aura are chosen when raging instead of when gaining this subclass/when leveling up and the barbarian is capable of determining the exact range of the aura. I did this to allow for more strategical decisionsmaking. I also let the aura’s effects scale with your proficiency-bonus to make tracking them simpler. (They previously improved at 5th, 10th, 15th and 20th level.) I also changed the lightning damage from d6 to d4 and made it so that target cannot take reactions to increase utility. I also added the speed of the wind inside the aura to clear up interactions with spells like fog cloud and since I thought it would be cool.

Storm Soul

At 6th level, the storm grants you benefits even when your aura isn't active. When you finish a long rest, choose one of the following options:

Desert. You gain resistance to fire damage, and you don’t suffer the effects of extreme heat, as described in the Dungeon Master's Guide. Moreover, as an action, you can touch a flammable object that isn't being worn or carried by anyone else and set it on fire. This deals fire damage to the object determined by rolling a number of d4 equal to your proficiency bonus minus 1.

Sea. You gain resistance to lightning damage, and you can breathe underwater. You also gain a swimming speed of 30 feet.

Tundra. You gain resistance to cold damage, and you don’t suffer the effects of extreme cold, as described in the Dungeon Master's Guide. Moreover, as an action, you can touch water and turn a 5-foot cube of it into ice, which melts after 1 minute. This action fails if a creature is in the cube.

Changes: I kept this milestone mostly as is, only adding a specific damage-number to the desert ability to make it easier for the DM and the player to roughly determine how damaging the ability is.

Shielding Storm

At 10th level, you learn to use your mastery of the storm to protect others. Each creature of your choice has the damage resistance you gained from the Storm Soul feature while the creature is in your Storm Aura.

Moreover, while raging, you gain a flying speed equal to your walking-speed, as the storm carries you into battle.

Changes: I also did not change much about this milestone, only adding the ability to fly. I‘m worried that the resistances + the flying speed are a bit strong, but since most people likely have a class-fantasy of a stormriding barbarian when thinking of the "Storm Herald", I wanted to make that possible.

Raging Storm

At 14th level, the power of the storm you channel grows mightier, lashing out at your foes. The range of your aura increases up to 20 feet. However, once on each of your turns you can change the range of your aura once you have activated its effects. Your aura also grants you an additional effect. This effect is based on the environment you choose for your Storm Aura.

Desert. Immediately after a creature in your aura hits you with an attack, you can use your reaction to force that creature to make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes fire damage equal to half your Barbarian level.

Sea. When you hit a creature in your aura with an attack, you can use your reaction to force that creature to make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is knocked prone, as if struck by a wave.

Tundra. Whenever the effect of your Storm Aura is activated, you can choose one creature you can see in the aura. That creature must succeed on a Strength saving throw, or its speed is reduced to 0 until the start of your next turn, as magical frost covers it.

Changes: I also kept the feature mostly unchanged, only adding the ability to modify the aura’s size as you wish up to 20 feet, to make it feel like the actual final feature by just generally buffing your aura and giving you more utility. Beyond that, this feature remained unchanged.

What do you think? I‘m aware that these changes make the subclass considerably stronger, but I liked the idea of encouraging some tactical decisionmaking and utility with the toolkit this subclass gives you. Do you have any suggestions to improve it or things you think I overlooked or balanced poorly? Feel free to let me know below in the comments.

A free Vampirespawn. No I'm not talking about Astarion or Astarion-OC. I'm talking about a free Tav-spawn.

As most of you might know, an Ascended Astarion can turn you into a Spawn. This gives you the same abilities he had in Act 1. He also says that his protection will keep you safe from the sun even without the tadpole. If the game ends with both of you surviving and the brain dead, when you show up to the epilogue, it’a clear he has not been treating you well and is effectively using you as his puppet.

Now my question: If you get rid of this Ascended Astarion before the end of the game (either by attacking him or by having him get killed by Harleep) how does this affect the epilogue? Did Larian include a scene of you having to flee from the docks? Or does the game not account for that?