When designing our first subclass for Rexfald, we knew that we needed something evocative of the West, that still had a unique identity among the other 5th edition official barbarian subclasses. We had been looking into the stories of John Henry, Paul Bunyan, Captain Stormalong, Pecos Bill, and a half dozen other American legends already when suddenly we discovered an unifying element that tied all of these characters together: rage. Not anger or fury specifically, but an almost divine ability to do amazing feats of strength and ability.

John Henry breaks through a mountain, Paul Bunyan wrestled his giant ox Babe, and Stormalong fought the Kraken with his bare hands. They were fighters – and all were insanely strong. Perfect breeding grounds for our new barbarian subclass: The Tall Tale. Barbarians who use their rage to achieve legendary feats of strength, skill, and ability.

The focus of the Tall Tale is on these incredible feats of skill. When a player first selects this subclass, they gain what is essentially expertise in one tool or skill of their choice. This means that a player can be highly proficient in their athletics (as one would expect of a barbarian) or they can select something strange; like survival for a ranger-esque barbarian, or even an intelligence skill like history for a legend that knows of those legends that came before them. A barbarian can also select carpentry skills to live out a Paul Bunyan build, or a Water Vehicle to captain a vessel like Stormalong.

The next ability we gave the Tall Tale barbarian was their “Bold Claim” ability. Barbarians finally have some real skill utility! It does take some preparation, costing a bonus action rather than a reaction, but a barbarian can give themselves a bonus ability checks made with the chosen skill or tool for the next 10 minutes equal to their Rage Damage bonus. At 3rd level this means essentially a +2 to the skill for the next ten minutes, scaling up to +4 at 16th level. This is in addition to any bonuses the barbarian already possesses, like proficiencies, bardic inspiration, guidance, etc. A tall tale barbarian can make their bold claim, proudly exclaiming that they are going to grapple each head of a hydra at once with their athletics, that they will track down the invisible imp with a perception check, that they know more about dwarven sculpture than anyone else with a history or stoneworking tools check, or that they will convince the evil baron to give his money back to the children through the power of their persuasion. If you can imagine it, a tall tale can claim the ability to do so – and they may just succeed.

In combat, a tall tale is mainly concerned with focusing down single opponents as they force them into direct combat against the barbarian. The “Audacious Challenge” feature grants Tall Tale barbarians the ability to challenge worthy opponents to direct combat, setting up legendary battles between the two. In a special barbarian version of compelled duel the creature is forced to damage the barbarian before they can move away from the hulking meat slab of death. Again, we leaned into the Rage Damage bonus utilization and we gave it the special ability to lower any damage the barbarian takes from the source by an amount equal to the bonus. So if a challenged Flind attacks your barbarian, all three of its attacks are reduced by 2-3 if they hit.

Speaking of being hit, the Tall Tale loves a good brawl, laughing in the face of their opponents who would try and damage them. So powerful is this defiant laugh that opponents take psychic damage and gain disadvantage on their next attack roll, saving throw, or even ability check. In essence, fighting a Tall Tale is like the monster’s own boss battle – fighting against an almost invulnerable opponent that laughs at their efforts.

Out of their starting abilities, we gave Tall Tales the ability to increase one important check as a reaction at 6th level with their “Marvel of the Masses” feature. Observant readers will note that there is no cap to this bonus, so feel free gaining a +25 from all the summons, enemies, allies, and observers standing around you when you go to lift a heavy rock…or cleave a Lich in half. Although it can only be used once per short rest, the ability to succeed because all eyes are on you felt so quintessential to the Tall Tale’s character. The downside to this is of course that in some cases you will not be getting much of a bonus, just +2 or +3 to the roll, but this can still turn the tide of some combats. You now have the power of friendship. Congratulations.

At 10th level, we have something really special, or I suppose absurd. Tall Tales and Legends always have some sort of insane ability they can do, moving faster than a bullet, smashing solid stone like it was chalk, or summoning great beasts to their aid. These feats felt primal and powerful and we wanted to give the barbarian the ability to tap into these crazy abilities. To facilitate this, we gave the barbarian the ability to cast one spell (and only one spell) with this ability – even while raging. They can haste themself, protect themself from evil and good, open up holes in rock with Stone Shape or Passwall, or just fling a bunch of fireballs around. They can use this spell only once per long rest, but they can tap into their rages to cast it again if they so wish. The ability to concentrate on this spell also gives it a unique flavor. First and foremost, this spell should be something that gives the Tall Tale that kind of “Wow, he just started flying, didn’t he” incredulity that makes these tales so entertaining.

The final gift we gave the Tall Tale is their capstone at 14th level: “Unlimited”. As John Henry fought the machine, he almost seemed to grow in size, taking a 40-pound hammer in each hand and absolutely decimating the rock before him, cleaving his way through the mountain – but with each blow he exerted himself, before finally collapsing at the end in his death. The Tall Tale has this sort of power as well, imbuing themself when they rage with primal power that enhances their abilities to an unlimited level. You can finally have a 30 as a player! But the catch is that whenever you use this ability, it takes its toll on you. We decided against exhaustion mechanics (Yuck!) in favor of just having the barbarian take necrotic as their life dwindles and fades with the exertion. We were nice and made this not “kill” the barbarian, but being reduced to 1 hit point is almost certain to cause the barbarian to start using their Relentless Rage feature. The necrotic damage dealt also extends their rage, so feel free to keep your feet in the coals of this ability to keep on raging! Needless to say, at 14th level the Tall Tale should be achieving insane feats and massive rolls that speak to their own personal legendary abilities.

The Tall Tale is the barbarian of legend. If you’ve ever been a barbarian and wanted to do something incredible with your rage, this one is the way for you! In Rexfald we’re going to include a couple of these legendary barbarians, so keep an eye out and join the mailing list!

Up next is the College of the Mariachi bard, so stay tuned for this passionate new subclass in Rexfald!

Art done by our fantastic illustrator Fanomezaniaina Rakotoharisendra!