Path of Fury: A Barbarian Archetype

[BattleMonkeyz]

Had an idea about a Barbarian that gets stronger and more deadly as he gets hurt. I'm not great at balancing, and some of the abilities are a bit iffy maybe. But this is what I have and I'd really love some feedback. This is also my first time homebrewing a class or archetype, so that is why I am asking for your help, community!

Lvl 3: Fury
Starting when you choose this path at level 3, you enter a fury when you rage. While in a fury, your damage and amount of attacks increase by the amount of hit points you are missing. When you get below 50% of your total hit points, you deal an additional 1d6 damage. When you are below 25%, you have an additional attack per round.

Additionally, you cannot wear armor of any kind.

Lvl 6: Frothing at the Mouth
At level 6, you gain the ability to heal wounds you receive in combat. Once per day during a Fury, you may replenish hit points equal to 1d10 + your Barbarian level.

Lvl 10: Audacious Fury
Beginning at level 10, you gain an additional 1d6 to your damage at 50%, and an extra attack at 75% of your HP, but all attacks against you deal an additional 1d6 damage during your Fury.

Lvl 14: Unstoppable Behemoth
Starting at level 14, the Fury Barbarian may cheat death for a short moment. Once per day, you may prevent yourself from falling unconscious for a number of rounds equal to 1 + your CON modifier.

So there it is. I think you all understand what I am going for here. I would love to hear your feedback, because I think this could be a pretty cool archetype with the right balance in mind.

Thanks again! :)

[Amnoriath]

Whenever you have an idea about a mechanic first ground it in flavor so that what you make isn't all about making the mechanic better. Your sub-class only increases combat prowess in damage and taking some. It has no utility and even makes you easier to kill at 25% which sort of negates your 6th level ability. Overall it has ridiculous damage output and nothing else while being identical in flavor to the Berserker.

[GalacticAxekick]

Had an idea about a Barbarian that gets stronger and more deadly as he gets hurt. I'm not great at balancing, and some of the abilities are a bit iffy maybe. But this is what I have and I'd really love some feedback. This is also my first time homebrewing a class or archetype, so that is why I am asking for your help, community!

[QUOTE]Lvl 3: Fury
Starting when you choose this path at level 3, you enter a fury when you rage. While in a fury, your damage and amount of attacks increase by the amount of hit points you are missing. When you get below 50% of your total hit points, you deal an additional 1d6 damage. When you are below 25%, you have an additional attack per round.|

Additionally, you cannot wear armor of any kind.More often than not, a good feature is a good option. It lets your character do something totally new, or it lets your character push themselves in short bursts. The player has to decide "when is it appropriate to use this feature?" and being rewarded for good judgement is the fun of it.

Your Fury rewards the Barbarian for doing exactly what it was already doing: raging, attacking, and tanking hits without armor. This is a pure upgrade, instead of an alternative tactic.

Audatious Fury has the same problem.


Lvl 6: Frothing at the Mouth
At level 6, you gain the ability to heal wounds you receive in combat. Once per day during a Fury, you may replenish hit points equal to 1d10 + your Barbarian level.
Amniorath was right to point out that this feature directly contradicts the 3rd level feature. It might come in handy if you can just stay under the threshhold, like healing from 1% to 24%. But how often is that?


Lvl 14: Unstoppable Behemoth
Starting at level 14, the Fury Barbarian may cheat death for a short moment. Once per day, you may prevent yourself from falling unconscious for a number of rounds equal to 1 + your CON modifier.
This serves the same purpose as Relentless Rage: it keeps the Barbarian active after they're reduced to 0 hit points.

Redundant mechanics like these can make the game confusing, and perhaps more importantly, they are strict buffs instead of novel options.



So first of all, I totally agree with Amniorath. You need an idea for this archetype's flavour. Getting angry and tanking blows isn't enough, because all Barbarians are about that. A unique idea will help you write unique features.

Second of all, when you start writing features, try to focus on new options: alternatives to the Barbarian's normal attacks instead of bonuses. Status effects, ranged attacks, area of effect, saving throws, mobility and support abilities are all untouched paths for Barbarians in 5e, so those are some areas to look.