D&D: Path of the Storm Herald
Be a Barbarian, bring the thunder. Check out the latest Xanathar’s Guide preview.
Just in time for some sweet sweet movie tie-in opportunities, the latest barbarian subclass is here, and next week you’ll be able to see the Storm Herald Barbarian in action in Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok.
Seriously though, I’m very excited for that movie. Taika Waititi is a phenomenal director who, in addition to looking like a more rugged Richard Ayoade, has been responsible for some fully excellent films. I can’t wait to see his own brand of levity and humor influence the movie–and it sounds like he’s had the freedom to play around enough to let his own style shape the production, which is good, those Marvel movies could do with a little diversity in terms of their look and feel.
But the Storm Herald has plenty flavor all to themself. Capable of creating an explosive burst of natute’s unbridled wrath when they rage, the Storm Herald is a literal expression of a Storm. When they Rage, they transform the area around them. A Storm Herald might be attuned to the desert, and carry within her the fiery fury of the desert heat, and slow her enemies with the shifting sands. Or a Storm Herald might have the unrelenting cold of the tundra, and slow foes with an icy aura. And then of course there’s the sea, with all the fury and thunder and lightning that you’ll doubtless see next Friday in theatres across North America.
I chose the steppes and now have chicken.
Whatever element you choose, this path is an interesting take for the Barbarian. More about battlefield control than straight up enhancing the rage, this path helps you damage and ensure your foes are where you want them to be. It also affords some resilience in the form of elemental resistance depending on the type of storm.
But all that’s based on the earlier version of the Storm Herald. It sounds like the class is still the same, but who knows what minor tweaks may have been made, even a small change can make a huge difference in overall effectiveness.
Xanathar’s Guide to Everything comes out in a few weeks–the question is, how many times will you see Thor Ragnarok before it comes out?
