There are some wonderful and powerful subclasses for Dungeons & Dragons’ Barbarian class. The 5th Edition 2024 gave us updates to Path of the Berserker (which is a great upgrade), Wild Heart (formerly Totem Warrior), Zealot, and gave us a new subclass, Path of the World Tree. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my favorite subclass, Path of the Giant from Bigby Presents Glory Of The Giants.

But one subclass that I think is very unique and one I would love to play is actually from a third party source, Vorpal Dice Press, called Path of the Runescarred. This subclass can be found in the “Forgotten Realms Rashemen: Unapproachable East Campaign Guide” on the DMs Guild. Path of the Runescarred is tied to the land of Rashemen, which is part of the Arcane Empires of Faerun and has history with combating the nefarious and infamous Red Wizards of Thay.

One of the things I love about this subclass that I think makes it very unique is that it allows you to cast certain spells while you’re raging and uses Constitution as your spellcasting ability, which is on par for the Barbarian class. And I think this actually works well because when we look at the Druid class, Druids cannot cast spells while they’re in Wild Shape form unless you take the subclass Circle of the Moon, which allows certain spells to be cast in this form.

So here is a quick breakdown of each subclass feature. For a full breakdown, check out the video at the end of this article.

• Level 3: Runescarred. You learn the craft of Runescarring, which allows you to inscribe runes on your body that allows you to cast spells, even if you are Raging (this includes concentration spells). Constitution is your spellcasting ability and you learn a number of spells at levels 3, 7, 13, and 19.
• Level 6: Runic Power. When you are benefitting from an effects of a Runescar feature, your weapon attacks are considered magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances.
• Level 10: Witch Strength. While Raging, you can use a Bonus Action to make a melee spell attack against a creature within 10 feet of you. The damage is 1d12+CON Force damage, and if they are Large or smaller, you can pull them within an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you.
• Level 14: Reckless Wards. When you are forced to make a Saving Throw against a spell or magical effect and fail, you can choose to succeed instead (up to a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus). Then, you roll on the Reckless Magic table to determine a magical effect to be produced.