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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Barbarian Path of the Brawler: For when you wanna hulk out and suplex a giant.



Sexyshoeless
2019-11-03, 08:04 PM
Path of the Brawler

Without the mystical training of a monk, it takes something extra to take on the horrors of the world with ones bare hands. Those that follow the Path of the Brawler tap into wells of deep rage and physical might to go toe to toe with any opponent - man, beast or outsider.

Lvl 3. Mighty Brawler. Your might is such that your bare hands are deadly weapons.

Your unarmed strike deals 1d4 damage. At level 6 this increases to a d6. Your unarmed strikes count as light weapons.

Additionally, you gain proficiency with improvised weapons.

While raging, if you take the attack action you may make an unarmed strike, shove or grapple attempt using your bonus action.

Lvl 6. Tossed like chaff. You are a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, tossing, slamming and crushing your enemies in your wake.

Whenever an enemy fails a contested ability check to be shoved, overrun or grappled by you, they take your strength +rage bonus in damage. This does not apply to actions spent to escape your grapples. You may in place of an attack against a grappled enemy initiate a contested athletics check - dealing your rage damage +STR in damage on a victory.

Lvl 10. Incredible Bulk
Your unarmed strikes are so powerful they ignore resistance, but not immunity to non magical or magical bludgeoning damage.

Additionally, while in a rage you count as One size larger for the purposes of carrying, shoving and grappling.

Lvl 14. Juggernaut. You are an unstoppable force on the battlefield. You have advantage on saving throws vs effects to knock you prone, decrease your movement speed, or otherwise move or hold you against your will.

Additionally, if you are forced to make a dexterity saving throw or targeted by an attack while you are grappling an enemy of your size or smaller, you may use your reaction to interpose their body in the way. You gain advantage on the saving throw or a +2 to AC against the attack and your grappled foe is also subject to the attack or saving throw. You may not use this ability to cause a creature to be struck by their own attacks


Please PEACH! :D

Composer99
2019-11-04, 11:12 PM
Path of the Brawler

Pretty solid. A few things here and there.


Without the mystical training of a monk, it takes something extra to take on the horrors of the world with ones bare hands. Those that follow the Path of the Brawler tap into wells of deep rage and physical might to go toe to toe with any opponent - man, beast or outsider.

"Outsider" is such a 3.X term. It also kind of ruins the phrasing. I'd consider going with just "man or beast".


Lvl 3. Mighty Brawler. Your might is such that your bare hands are deadly weapons.

Your unarmed strike deals 1d4 damage. At level 6 this increases to a d6. Your unarmed strikes count as light weapons.

Additionally, you gain proficiency with improvised weapons.

While raging, if you take the attack action you may make an unarmed strike, shove or grapple attempt using your bonus action.

Giving unarmed strikes the light property seems needless. Sure, you're not always raging, but I think this subclass is about hulking out, not light weapons. That stuff is for monks! And, at any rate, while you're not raging you're usually better off with a big weapon.


Lvl 6. Tossed like chaff. You are a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, tossing, slamming and crushing your enemies in your wake.

Whenever an enemy fails a contested ability check to be shoved, overrun or grappled by you, they take your strength +rage bonus in damage. This does not apply to actions spent to escape your grapples. You may in place of an attack against a grappled enemy initiate a contested athletics check - dealing your rage damage +STR in damage on a victory.

The wording of the second paragraph just doesn't jive with the 5e aesthetic. It could stand a bit of revision.

Having said that, most barbarian subclasses have a non-combat feature at 6th. Lacking such a feature, this subclass feels a bit one-dimensional.


Lvl 10. Incredible Bulk
Your unarmed strikes are so powerful they ignore resistance, but not immunity to non magical or magical bludgeoning damage.

Additionally, while in a rage you count as One size larger for the purposes of carrying, shoving and grappling.

This is fine. Solid 10th-level feature.


Lvl 14. Juggernaut. You are an unstoppable force on the battlefield. You have advantage on saving throws vs effects to knock you prone, decrease your movement speed, or otherwise move or hold you against your will.

Additionally, if you are forced to make a dexterity saving throw or targeted by an attack while you are grappling an enemy of your size or smaller, you may use your reaction to interpose their body in the way. You gain advantage on the saving throw or a +2 to AC against the attack and your grappled foe is also subject to the attack or saving throw. You may not use this ability to cause a creature to be struck by their own attacks.

Ah, the ol' human shield trick. Another solid feature.

Old Harry MTX
2019-11-05, 01:37 AM
Nice subclass. I agree with everything Composer99 says. Considering that the 3rd lv feature is just a way to use your bare hands, you could move the 6th lv feature at 3rd too, and add a new one at 6th that works out of combat. Maybe something social, which comes from the barbarian's fame as a boxer?

However, I love the 14th level feature.

Sexyshoeless
2019-11-05, 11:35 AM
Thanks so much for the feedback!

As you can see, I cut my teeth on 2/3.5e and it definitely shows when I write anything DnD related both as homebrewer and DM.

I think you're right about the light weapon property critique and am always looking for a simpler way to assemble things.
Likewise, I like the idea of merging the 3rd and 6th level features to add a utility/non combat feature. I was afraid of overly frontloading the subclass when I designed it.

I'm away from my notes right now but I'll come back later today and edit the original post to reflect these changes and a trial 6th level feature for review. I'll also try and clean up the wording as suggested.

Sexyshoeless
2019-11-05, 11:23 PM
New version, with re-worked text and a new lvl 6 feature. I noticed alot of the XGTE subclasses have a fairly combat focused feature, but I wanted to add a luchadore type ability to allow the Brawler to participate in social events as well. RAGE PERSUADE just seems like such a fun thing to yell!

Path of the Brawler

Without the mystical training of a monk, it takes something extra to take on the horrors of the world with ones bare hands. Those that follow the Path of the Brawler tap into wells of deep rage and physical might to go toe to toe with any opponent - man, beast or monster.

Lvl 3. Mighty Brawler. Your might is such that your bare hands are deadly weapons. You gain the following benefits.

You unarmed strike deals 1d6 damage.

You gain proficiency with improvised weapons.

While raging, if you take the attack action you may make an unarmed strike, shove or grapple attempt using your bonus action.

Whenever you successfully shove or grapple an enemy, you may deal bludgeoning damage equal to your strength bonus plus your rage bonus damage. You may in place of an attack against a grappled enemy initiate a contested athletics check. If you win, you deal bludgeoning damage equal to your strength bonus plus your rage bonus damage.


Lvl 6. Magnificent Musculature Your sheer might and feats of athleticism are beneficial on more than just the battlefield. You wow crowds, frighten foes and inspire allies with your primal might!

You add your rage damage bonus to Charisma checks and saving throws. Additionally, while raging, you have advantage on Charisma checks and saving throws.


Lvl 10. Incredible Bulk
Your unarmed strikes are so powerful they ignore resistance, but not immunity to non magical or magical bludgeoning damage.

Additionally, while in a rage you count as One size larger for the purposes of carrying, shoving and grappling.

Lvl 14. Juggernaut. You are an unstoppable force on the battlefield. You have advantage on saving throws vs effects to knock you prone, decrease your movement speed, or otherwise move or hold you against your will.

Additionally, if you are forced to make a dexterity saving throw or targeted by an attack while you are grappling an enemy of your size or smaller, you may use your reaction to interpose their body in the way. You gain advantage on the saving throw or a +2 to AC against the attack and your grappled foe is also subject to the attack or saving throw. You may not use this ability to cause a creature to be struck by their own attacks

Thoughts?

Composer99
2019-11-06, 06:58 AM
Lvl 6. Magnificent Musculature Your sheer might and feats of athleticism are beneficial on more than just the battlefield. You wow crowds, frighten foes and inspire allies with your primal might!
While raging, you have advantage on Charisma checks and saving throws.

Thoughts?

How about, instead of advantage, you add your rage damage bonus to Charisma checks and saves, and also getting the ability to gain that bonus a limited number of times in between long rests when you're not raging? That way you always have some non-combat utility, in case you don't get much chance to rage outside of combat.

Sexyshoeless
2019-11-06, 11:29 AM
I love the idea of more utilization of rage bonus damage numbers, and also like the idea of giving a couple of uses without having to burn rage uses.

Out of curiosity what brings you to suggest using rage bonus over advantage? Mathematically until higher levels it's about the same as far as I understand.

Composer99
2019-11-06, 12:46 PM
I love the idea of more utilization of rage bonus damage numbers, and also like the idea of giving a couple of uses without having to burn rage uses.

Out of curiosity what brings you to suggest using rage bonus over advantage? Mathematically until higher levels it's about the same as far as I understand.

Mainly because advantage makes it easier for the barbarian to hit the DCs that it can possibly hit, while the additional die roll modifier allows it to hit more DCs than it could before.

Old Harry MTX
2019-11-06, 01:56 PM
I love the idea of more utilization of rage bonus damage numbers, and also like the idea of giving a couple of uses without having to burn rage uses.

Out of curiosity what brings you to suggest using rage bonus over advantage? Mathematically until higher levels it's about the same as far as I understand.

Yes, actually I prefer this ability to be mainly out of combat. You could add always your rage damage to Charisma checks (but not saves) + your proficiency bonus if you are proficent in a certain skill, and maybe gives also advantage while raging...

Sexyshoeless
2019-11-06, 03:21 PM
Old Harry, that's where my head was going with this after feed back from Composer. I think I'll edit the 2nd version to reflect adding rage bonus to cha checks and advantage during rage. Love the idea of the charming wrestler type, or the imposing hulk/venom style bruiser working as the face of the party.