Drunken Berserker

[Renloth]

I don't think anyone ever attempted this, and thought I might take up the challenge.

So here, inspired by the other drunken classes on these boards and a couple of comments on the need for one, is the Drunken Berserker.
(Keep in mind that this is one of my first trys at this sort of thing.)

Drunken Berserker

Hit Dice: d10
Requirements:
BAB: +5
Feats: Great Fortitude, Power Attack
Skills: Intimidate 6 ranks
Special: Must have been utterly drunk and involved in a bar fight causing more than 1000 Gp woth of damage. (Regardless if he escaped or not)
Class Skills: The Drunken Berserker's Class skills are: Climb (Str), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str)
Skill Points per Level: 2 + Int. Modifier
BAB: As Fighter (1:1)
Saves: Fort: Good Ref: Poor Will: Poor

Levels:
1- Drink Like a Demon, Stagger
2- Drunken Berserker (+2), Tipping the Tables
3- Drunken Rage (1/day)
4- How Can He Do That? (-1), To Numb the Pain (*1)
5- Moment of Clarity, Inebriated Mind
6- Drunken Rage (2/day), Drunken Berserker (+4)
7- How Can He Do That? (-3)
8- To Numb the Pain (*2)
9- Drunken Rage (3/day)
10- Drunken Berserker (+6), How Can He Do That? (-5)

Class Abilities:
Drink Like a Demon- As Drunken Master (p.28 Complete Warrior), except that a Drunken Berserker may take the -2 penalty to Dexterity and either Intellegence or Wisdom.
Stagger- As Drunken Master (p.28 Complete Warrior)
Drunken Berserker- When under the influence of more than half the total bottles of alcohol granted by the Drink Like a Demon ability (rounded up), the Drunken Berserker may add an additional +2 to his Strength or Constitution in any way they see fit. This increases to +4 at sixth level, +6 at tenth.
Drunken Rage- Starting at third level, a Drunken Berserker may rage 1/day (As Barbarian) by burning one bottle from his Drink Like a Demon ability. This increases to 2/day at sixth level, and 3/day at ninth. (This in addition to any rages granted by previous classes.
Tipping the Tables- When the Drunken Berserker is near a movable object that is one size catagory larger or equal to himself, he may tip it or otherwise cause a distraction. This forces a DC 15 will check for everyone within 6 squares. (DC 20 if the object is large, DC 10 if it is small.) If failed, they are stunned for one round.
Moment of Clarity- At fifth level, a Drunken Berserker gains the ability to surpress his drunkeness. Once per a Day, he may suspend all effects (both positive and negetive) of his Drink Like a Demon ability for a number of consecutive rounds equal to 2 + his base will save. After this time, he returns to exactly the same state he was in before using Moment of Clarity, including bonuses and penalties to stats and remaining durations under the effects of alcohol.
Inebriated Mind- After a time, the Drunken Berserker develops an almost magical immunity to enchantments due to his detachment under drink. This confers a +6 bonus to saves vs. enchantments. He also suffers a -2 to saves vs. illusions while under the influence.
How Can He Do That?- At fourth level, the Drunken Berserker gains the abilty to use objects one size larger than himself without taking the -2 penalty for fighting with an over sized weapon. (He still suffers the -4 to attack for being non-nonproficient.) He leaves himself open while doing this however, and recives a -1 AC while doing so.
At seventh level, the Drunken Berserker can use an object his size or one size larger to deal damage as though the object was one size larger than it really is. While doing so, the AC penalty increases to -3.
At tenth level, the Drunken Berserker becomes proficient in the use of over-sized objects, and no longer takes the -4 on attack rolls while using them. When doing so, the AC penalty increases to -5.
To Numb the Pain- At fourth level, when under his Drink Like a Demon ability, the Drunken Berserker gains a number of temporary HP equal to the number of drinks he has consumned. At sixth level this increases to 1.5 times the number of drinks, and at eighth level this temporary HP increases to two times the number of drinks consumed.


So, what do you think? Good, bad? Should I crawl back under a rock and lurk?

Advice and comments are welcomed.

~Renloth

[Frank]

Isn't it just assumed that barbarians are perpetually drunk? =P

-Frank

[bosssmiley]

Mwah-hah-hah. I can see the next WotC splatbook in my mind's eye even as we speak:


"Complete Drunkard"

New classes, new Feats, new spells (detect booze, purify alcohol, power word: sloshed, circle of protection from sobriety) information on traditional drinks and drinking rites in fantasy cultures, NPC class 'lager lout', a fully fleshed out Cult of Dionysus for FR, and discussion of the Plane of Booze (border realm between the Plane of Water and the Far Realm). I'd buy a copy ;D

[Muzzleflash]

You know, we could make a fan-made complete drunkard. :P I like this class, the buffs to con really make more sense and it looks very well done.

I want to share this achewood comic. I think this class shares it's spirit. http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=10222001

I honestly don't know much about constructing classes (I like reading them), so I am *not* qualified to critique, but maybe inebriated mind should progress in two or three stages?

[Belmorn]

I like all the Requirements, but he could also have Rage as one of them. Drunken master had flurry of blows as a requirement (so you had to be a monk to take that prestige class). Also, you should not give him extra AC bonus (it is a monk feature), but give him extra HP or something.
I also like that you changed Drink Like a Demon; but everyone will always pick Int and Wis so they dont lose AC, so you should make it like: you get a -2 to Dex and Int or Wis.
Inebriated Mind is ok, but he coud have a -2 vs Illusions.

All in all good job.

[Blade-Bearer_Ian]

yay! Another class I can add to the Tavern of Drowned Sorrows, where all the NPCs have levels in one of the (now many) PrCs that rely on alcohol to boost their stats ;D

[Renloth]

Frank: Maybe, but its more fun this way. :)

Bosssmiley and Muzzleflash: Glad to do my part for it.

Belmorn: I kind of avoided using rage as a requirment, as while it fits the class, this way, even a fighter can take it and become a quasi-barbarian. My explanation for this is that the rage is drink induced not inherent.
I agree that the AC bonus isn't quite correct, but how much HP should they recieve?

Blade-Bearer_Ian: And so another joins...

[Mephibosheth]

I hesitate to bring this up, but I posted a similar PrC a couple of days ago. The Whisky Bottle Champion can be found at http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=gaming;action=display;num=1135898378 and is slightly different (flavor wise) than your PrC, but shares many of the same class features. I think there's a place in any campaign for both of them, especially since the roleplaying behind them would have to be so different.

Balance wise, I think that a +12 to constitution or strength (drunken berserker combined with drink like a demon) at level 15 is pretty steep. Perhaps giving an additional +2 at 2nd level, an additional +4 at 6th level, and an additional +6 at 10th level would be more appropriate. This, combined drink like a demon would give a drunken berserker a +8 to either strength or constitution, which seems much less overwhelming to me.

I also agree with Belmorn that the extra AC doesn't really make sense. I think the extra HP from drunken rage/drink like a demon/drunken berserker should take its place. Perhaps, it you wanted a bit more benefit, you could craft a class feature that grants the berserker temporary HP equal to his/her class level while under the influence of drink like a demon. Whether or not these would stack with extra HP from increased con score is your call.

Otherwise, I really like this class, especially the inebriated mind feature and the drunken berserker feature. Nice work! I too will possibly be including a Tavern of Drowned Sorrows in my upcoming campaign.

Fun, fun.

Mephibosheth

[bingo_bob]

So... let's check the list:

Barbarian (Drunken Berserker)
Bard
Cleric
Druid
Fighter (Whiskey Bottle Champion)
Monk (Drunken Master)
Paladin
Ranger
Rogue
Sorceror (Dipsomancer)
Wizard (Dipsomancer)

And, as a bonus:
Swashbuckler (CW) (Threepenny Fencer)
Alcoholist (Base Class)

[Karellen]

Well, the class seems to be based on Drunken Master, I'm not actually sure if Drunken Master is entirely balanced, but there's no reason why this one couldn't be as tough. The thing is, I'd make the -2/drink to DEX and CHA instead. Warriors don't need INT or WIS anyway so they're no big loss, while the whole point about Drunken Master is that drinking decreases WIS which does hurt their class abilities. With the Drunken Berserker losing DEX, drinking does actually gimp him with something he needs - that's why he should get no extra AC either. That makes the division with the Threepenny Fencer more pronounced. You have sick amounts of HP but gets hurt easily, while the Threepenny Fencer has barely any HP but barely gets touched.

Drunken Berserker is too much as it is, I think, so it needs to be at least nerfed. On the other hand, I do think this class could use a bit of extra oomph in terms of flavourish bonus skills, which after all is what makes these classes so much fun. I'm seeing a series of "Oversized Improvised Weapons" abilities which allows the Drunken Berserker use big, heavy items as weapons with increasing proficiency (though probably an AC penalty) - so when the Threepenny Fencer takes the wine bottle and the Drunken Master reaches for a chair, the Drunken Berserker lifts the table. ;)

Also, maybe something along the lines of "Vile Breath" at level... 5 or so - a partial action ability us which decreases the alcohol level by one, and forces the opponent to do a fort save with the difficulty of, hm... DC10 + Drunken Berserker level - Drunken Berserker's CHA modifier (the less your CHA, the better =D). The effect is -2 to all throws. At level 9 you get Greater Vile Breath, where the effect to opponents increases to -4 in all throws, and a failure of over 10 means he passes out instantly.

All in all, I'm rather pleased with this collection of drunken characters with style and flavour to burn; there aren't enough comical, flawed D&D heroes around. What we still need is a drunken Rogue PrC, though I'm not entirely sure just how that would work out, and one more for fighting Clerics or Paladins, built in the Friar Tuck mold. No one will ever say that all Paladins have a stick up their arse anymore. =D

[ilovefire]

I like this class, though I agree with effectively everyone here on how to modify it.

oh, and Bingo_Bob: Bards can be dipsomancers too. They just can't take it as early as Wizard and Sorcerers. :D

[bingo_bob]

True, but it's not really flavored for them.

And as for abilities a rogue version might use... how about something along the lines of "Hey guys, watch this!", that provides a large skill bonus, but removes an alcohol level. I'd laugh at that.

[Renloth]

Mephibosheth: I did see the Whisky Bottle Champion, but I wanted to make something more specificly Barbarian. Sorry if I detracted from you in any way.

I agree with the AC, but I felt that at 10, to gain the bonus, they must have lost at least 10 points of Dex and 10 points of Int or Wis, likely putting his AC through the floor. In any case, I suppose your right. I'll work with it.

Karellen: Love the ideas.