Trevor

Riftcutter Barbarian

The Riftcutter Tribe is a terrifying presence felt in many worlds. Bursting through gates torn open by their mighty chieftains, this confederation of warriors from throughout the multiverse attacks the cities of other planes to plunder them for treasure, with a particular taste for magical weapons, armor, scrolls, and other portable and practical forms of wealth. Planar rulers must be vigilant to prevent incursions by these raiders, for whenever they let their defenses down, the druids of the tribe will sense it, and gather the horde to strike.

Most members of the tribe have human blood, so the most numerous are humans, half-orcs, half-elves, and planetouched such as tieflings and aasimar, but any warrior or spellcaster who proves their worth can be inducted, so renegade Gith, elves, and even fiends or celestials can be found among their numbers. The only requirement is that members forsake all previous allegiances for the freedom the tribe offers. The tribe is a meritocracy, ruled by those who commit the most daring acts in battle or loot the greatest treasures.

The origin of the Riftcutters is unknown, but they have existed for at least a century. Those who have traded with them note that their magic and the symbols they use are unique, and there are hints that they may be from a collapsed plane that was erased from the multiverse.

Barbarians and Druids are the most common classes among the tribes, and each class has their own special techniques and training for use as planar raiders. The Riftcutter Barbarian is presented below, and next week we will give you the Veilminder Druids, who are the mystics and healers of the tribe, and rules for using the tribe as an organization.

Path of the Riftcutter
Barbarians trained by the tribes develop a unique set of skills that lets them augment their formidable rages with the magical ability to see the barriers between planes and to break through them when needed. Riftcutters refer to the barrier between worlds as the “veil,” for they see all worlds as one; a warrior must merely push aside the veil to see the other worlds beneath.

Planar Knowledge
Your dimensional raiding has taught you much about dimensional travel, how to combat creatures of the outer planes, and how to identify possibly valuable magic items. When you choose this path at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Arcana skill and Intelligence saving throws.
Spatial Offense
Your rage allows you to reach through time and space, your blade appearing through small portals to cut into your foes. Beginning at 3rd level, if you are raging and use your Reckless Attack feature, you add 5 feet to your reach for attacks made that turn.

Charge through the Veil
You can ignore petty barriers of the physical world, making your location unpredictable in combat. Beginning at 6th level, while you are in a Rage, you may use 10 feet of movement to teleport up to 10 feet. You may only teleport this way once per turn.

Dimensional Smash
You can launch the target of your attack through the veil of reality with the sheer force of a blow, intentionally smashing it into something when it arrives. Starting at 10th level, when you are Raging and hit a creature with a melee attack, you may activate this ability and the creature hit must make a Strength saving throw (DC 8+Proficiency Bonus+your Strength modifier). Huge or Gargantuan creatures have advantage on this saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is teleported up to 15 feet to a space of your choice that you can see. If you teleport your target into the space of another object or creature, both take an additional 4d6 points of force damage and the teleported creature appears in the nearest unoccupied space, or you can simply send the target into the ground (only the creature you hit takes the force damage in this case). On a successful save, the creature is not teleported and takes 2d6 force damage. You may not use this ability again until you complete a short rest.

Carve Rift
You become a true Riftcutter, able to cleave open holes in reality with your force of will and allow the hordes of the Riftcutter tribe to sweep through and begin their pillaging. Beginning at level 14, you may spend an action to create a Gate, which functions as the spell but with the following limitations. You must enter a Rage the turn you cleave open the gate, and the gate lasts as long as you maintain that Rage. The gate you create has a maximum diameter of 10 feet. You may not speak the name of a creature to open the gate at its location (effectively, ignore the last paragraph of the spell’s text for the purposes of this ability).

Designer notes
The path features may seem a bit flip-flopped from a normal barbarian, with an offensive ability at level 10 and a more utility/plot device ability at level 14, but since the Carve Rift ability duplicates a limited version of a 9th level spell, it had to be moved later to keep the class in line with spellcasters who get access to planar travel at about that level. While Carve Rift may seem “powerful” even at level 14, it has significant limitations compared to the base spell, which is already very plot/DM dependent on how potent it is.

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