Finally Finished Path of the Iron Will!!! [PEACH]

[Bjarkmundur]

BOOM! (https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/ry7BdLXjnE)

We finally finished our first Barbarian Subclass homebrew!
The idea was to create a subclass that uses hit dice as a resource, with corresponding flavor. Someone completely mundane, but simply willing to go the extra mile. I guess you can compare it to Rock Lee's ability to open his gates (using hit dice) to go toe-to-toe with people which supernatural abilities.

Playtesting is due soon. The features under scrutiny are whether we should provide additional hit dice to fuel the 'maneuvers' or to say "you regain all hit dice at the end of a long rest" instead.
The number of provided hit dice is also under evaluation, which will be the main method of balancing the subclass. Please note that we decided to keep the barbarian as a long rest class, which should make it a real risk-reward experience.

[Kane0]

Powering the abilities using Hit Dice is interesting, I like it. However in order to do that we have to make sure that the resources work. The closest comparison is the Battlemaster, which doesn't need to burn resources to get their maneuvers and the maneuvers themselves are around the same power level. Granting the extra 4 Hit Die matches the dice you get for free as a battlemaster, but there is a difference in that theirs are recovered every short rest where yours are every long rest. Now you could argue that's fair because you can draw from your other Hit Dice, but at that point you're trading longevity for your class features. Look at the Frenzy barbarian for how that turns out.
Given that the maneuvers just aren't that strong, I recommend granting at least some Hit Dice recovery on a short rest. You could just make them stronger to be worth that Hit Dice expenditure but you still have a problem of only getting to use your defining subclass feature a few times in a day and that's just not as fun in play.

Unstoppable Force is significantly stronger than other options and potentially just breaks the action economy over your knee even in it's limited capacity. You might want to tone that one down.

Also the level 16 feature made me laugh, I won't lie. I recommend something that isn't tied to your hit die maneuvers, since everything else is and you want something to justify the subclass when you're not using them (because you definitely won't be using them every round). In fact I'd move one of the hit die features to the capstone and put the non-hit die feature in earlier, like at level 6.

[Bjarkmundur]

1. Make sure using hit dice is worth it, or enable recovery of spent hit dice between long rests.
I want to keep the Barbarian a long rest class, although I could create some sort of recovery mechanic, similar to what the wizard has for spell slot.
Alternatively, I could just make every single maneuver also grant THP. It does have some interesting effects, like discouraging using multiple maneuvers in a single fight (THP doesn't stack).
You got it right, the whole idea is the gamble of trading longevity for power. We can only do our best to get the balance just right. The entire mechanic is heavily playtest dependant.

2. Nerf Unstoppable Force
I could remove the dodge, but I like dodge, so maybe I'll just remove everything but the dodge. Guess only playtesting will tell.

3. Swap around some features.
You mean some passive feature that increases your overall powerlevel, so the whole subclass isn't dependant on bursts of power from hit dice?
How about a semi-passive, something that clicks on once you've used some maneuvers. "When you roll initiative with less than half of your hit dice remaining you gain....".
I don't know what the flavor for that would be "The more tired, bruised and beaten you are, the stronger you become?".

ah, yes, the classic non-newtonian barbarian xD

I feel that's a dangerous effect, since it has to be balanced in such a way that you don't just want to burn most of your hit dice in one encounter, and then ride the passive to victory.

[Crisis21]

1. Make sure using hit dice is worth it, or enable recovery of spent hit dice between long rests.
I want to keep the Barbarian a long rest class, although I could create some sort of recovery mechanic, similar to what the wizard has for spell slot.
Alternatively, I could just make every single maneuver also grant THP. It does have some interesting effects, like discouraging using multiple maneuvers in a single fight (THP doesn't stack).
You got it right, the whole idea is the gamble of trading longevity for power. We can only do our best to get the balance just right. The entire mechanic is heavily playtest dependant.


While the choice between using a maneuver and possibly getting some hp back during a short rest is an interesting one, it does have the potential to be overpowered in groups that don't use the short rest mechanic. As such, I suggest taking a page out of the Fighter's Battle Master archetype and use 'Superiority Dice' with a number and size progression similar to that archetype's. I suggest this because the mechanic is essentially exactly the same as what you have here. There's no need to reinvent the wheel as it were


Powering the abilities using Hit Dice is interesting, I like it. However in order to do that we have to make sure that the resources work. The closest comparison is the Battlemaster, which doesn't need to burn resources to get their maneuvers and the maneuvers themselves are around the same power level. Granting the extra 4 Hit Die matches the dice you get for free as a battlemaster, but there is a difference in that theirs are recovered every short rest where yours are every long rest. Now you could argue that's fair because you can draw from your other Hit Dice, but at that point you're trading longevity for your class features. Look at the Frenzy barbarian for how that turns out.


Incorrect. The Battle Master must spend special Superiority Dice to perform maneuvers.

[Kane0]

Then you can add in a feature at a later level to burn Hit Die to recover those dice.

Edit: And I meant in the sense that they get a new resource pool to draw from to do it, rather than using an existing one (ala Frenzy Barbarian or better yet Elemental Monk).