SaigonTimeMD
2020-03-02, 11:40 AM
Hey all!
With Doom Eternal coming out soon, I decided to try my hand at a Doom Slayer-style subclass; I've seen a few before, but they seemed either extraordinarily overpowered or didn't quite capture the spirit of the Doom Slayer in my eyes, so I wanted to make one that would actually be playable in a normal game (assuming the inclusion of firearms) without breaking the experience. There WILL be a 'fluff' page/entry once I'm satisfied with it, but for now I just put out the class features by themselves.
My intent when designing this was a Barbarian that used guns up close before finishing enemies off with melee, but one that could also have some serious tanking/survivability potential through Rip and Tear and Unyielding, Unbreakable - a real run-and-gun Barbarian, but one that required players to get up close and personal instead of far back if they wanted to reap the rewards of what the class was capable of.
I'm looking mainly for balancing feedback; as I mentioned before I want this to be something that could actually function in a D&D game instead of being a broken, one-man-army power fantasy subclass. I do plan on creating a 'Doomslayer Armory' supplement to go with it that will have various guns and gadgets, but I want to get the class nailed down before anything else.
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Path of the Doom Slayer
Firearm Enthusiast
Your affinity for guns is apparent. Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with firearms and Tinker's Tools. Proficiency with firearms allows you to add your proficiency bonus to attacks made with firearms. Tinker's Tools can be used to craft ammunition at half the cost, repair damaged firearms, or even draft and craft new ones (DM's discretion). Some extremely experimental and intricate firearms are only available through crafting.
This feature is a no-brainer; a gunfighter without proficiency in guns who can't repair them if they break makes no sense.
Unchained Predator
While other barbarians believe that true power can only come from the swinging of a blade, you carry no such compunctions. All you need is the dying screams of your enemies and the splash of hot blood on your face. Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you gain the following benefits:
Rage damage now also applies to ranged attacks on creatures within 30 feet of you regardless of ability score used.
Reckless Attack now also applies to ranged attack rolls on creatures within 10 feet of you regardless of ability score used.
You ignore the loading property of firearms.
Being within 5 feet of a hostile creature doesn't impose disadvantage on your ranged attack rolls.
When you use the Attack action and attack with a firearm, you can use a bonus action to make a melee weapon attack.
This feature has probably seen the most tweaking, and will probably continue to be tweaked. I've toyed with the idea of additional abilities at higher levels, such as being able to ignore the two-handed property of firearms, and the ability to use STR in place of DEX when using firearms (similar to how Hexblades can use CHA for weapon attacks), but I'm worried about adding too many things onto a single feature that already does quite a bit. I also decided to leave crossbows and regular bows out of it as well, since then it would almost render Crossbow Expert redundant.
Rip and Tear
Beginning at 6th level, your rage becomes truly boundless, allowing you annihilate your fallen enemies and take strength from their gruesome demise. When a creature within 5 feet of you is reduced to 0 hit points, you may make an unarmed attack on that creature as a reaction. If the attack is successful, the creature is reduced to bloody chunks, and you regain hit points equal to 1d4 + your Barbarian level.
The 'glory kill' mechanic feels intrinsic to the Doom Slayer playstyle, but I don't mind holding off until level 6 to include it. I've gone back and forth on whether there should be a damage roll or a contested check of some sort if the attack hits since the target is already at 0 hit points and can't really fight back. I've also considered adding a 'group heal' to the feature at later levels where any friendly creature within 5 feet of the player also gets healed. Maybe a fear effect to hostile creatures within 5 feet instead or in addition? Again, I'm trying to avoid overpowering the subclass.
Hell Walker
Beginning at 10th level, your fury coalesces into pure hatred, steeling yourself against any interference as you stride through the carnage of battle. You cannot be charmed or frightened by any fiendish creature, and have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened while raging.
I'm not 100% in love with this as a level 10 feature, but I don't think that the other features can wait any longer since they're such iconic abilities. I've considered adding fire resistance as well, but that might be too many things in a single feature.
Unbreakable, Unyielding
Starting at 14th level, your fury reaches an intensity beyond mortal comprehension, driving you to fight on through any torment. While raging, you have resistance to all forms of damage.
When I first added this feature, it felt pretty strong, until someone else pointed out to me that it's basically just a slightly better version of the Bear totem Barbarian feature, so now I'm stumped. This could definitely be a depositing ground for those extra features I talked about earlier (ignoring two-handed on guns, additional effects on Rip and Tear, etc.) but it seems like just enhancing the other three features is underwhelming as a capstone.
With Doom Eternal coming out soon, I decided to try my hand at a Doom Slayer-style subclass; I've seen a few before, but they seemed either extraordinarily overpowered or didn't quite capture the spirit of the Doom Slayer in my eyes, so I wanted to make one that would actually be playable in a normal game (assuming the inclusion of firearms) without breaking the experience. There WILL be a 'fluff' page/entry once I'm satisfied with it, but for now I just put out the class features by themselves.
My intent when designing this was a Barbarian that used guns up close before finishing enemies off with melee, but one that could also have some serious tanking/survivability potential through Rip and Tear and Unyielding, Unbreakable - a real run-and-gun Barbarian, but one that required players to get up close and personal instead of far back if they wanted to reap the rewards of what the class was capable of.
I'm looking mainly for balancing feedback; as I mentioned before I want this to be something that could actually function in a D&D game instead of being a broken, one-man-army power fantasy subclass. I do plan on creating a 'Doomslayer Armory' supplement to go with it that will have various guns and gadgets, but I want to get the class nailed down before anything else.
+++
Path of the Doom Slayer
Firearm Enthusiast
Your affinity for guns is apparent. Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with firearms and Tinker's Tools. Proficiency with firearms allows you to add your proficiency bonus to attacks made with firearms. Tinker's Tools can be used to craft ammunition at half the cost, repair damaged firearms, or even draft and craft new ones (DM's discretion). Some extremely experimental and intricate firearms are only available through crafting.
This feature is a no-brainer; a gunfighter without proficiency in guns who can't repair them if they break makes no sense.
Unchained Predator
While other barbarians believe that true power can only come from the swinging of a blade, you carry no such compunctions. All you need is the dying screams of your enemies and the splash of hot blood on your face. Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you gain the following benefits:
Rage damage now also applies to ranged attacks on creatures within 30 feet of you regardless of ability score used.
Reckless Attack now also applies to ranged attack rolls on creatures within 10 feet of you regardless of ability score used.
You ignore the loading property of firearms.
Being within 5 feet of a hostile creature doesn't impose disadvantage on your ranged attack rolls.
When you use the Attack action and attack with a firearm, you can use a bonus action to make a melee weapon attack.
This feature has probably seen the most tweaking, and will probably continue to be tweaked. I've toyed with the idea of additional abilities at higher levels, such as being able to ignore the two-handed property of firearms, and the ability to use STR in place of DEX when using firearms (similar to how Hexblades can use CHA for weapon attacks), but I'm worried about adding too many things onto a single feature that already does quite a bit. I also decided to leave crossbows and regular bows out of it as well, since then it would almost render Crossbow Expert redundant.
Rip and Tear
Beginning at 6th level, your rage becomes truly boundless, allowing you annihilate your fallen enemies and take strength from their gruesome demise. When a creature within 5 feet of you is reduced to 0 hit points, you may make an unarmed attack on that creature as a reaction. If the attack is successful, the creature is reduced to bloody chunks, and you regain hit points equal to 1d4 + your Barbarian level.
The 'glory kill' mechanic feels intrinsic to the Doom Slayer playstyle, but I don't mind holding off until level 6 to include it. I've gone back and forth on whether there should be a damage roll or a contested check of some sort if the attack hits since the target is already at 0 hit points and can't really fight back. I've also considered adding a 'group heal' to the feature at later levels where any friendly creature within 5 feet of the player also gets healed. Maybe a fear effect to hostile creatures within 5 feet instead or in addition? Again, I'm trying to avoid overpowering the subclass.
Hell Walker
Beginning at 10th level, your fury coalesces into pure hatred, steeling yourself against any interference as you stride through the carnage of battle. You cannot be charmed or frightened by any fiendish creature, and have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened while raging.
I'm not 100% in love with this as a level 10 feature, but I don't think that the other features can wait any longer since they're such iconic abilities. I've considered adding fire resistance as well, but that might be too many things in a single feature.
Unbreakable, Unyielding
Starting at 14th level, your fury reaches an intensity beyond mortal comprehension, driving you to fight on through any torment. While raging, you have resistance to all forms of damage.
When I first added this feature, it felt pretty strong, until someone else pointed out to me that it's basically just a slightly better version of the Bear totem Barbarian feature, so now I'm stumped. This could definitely be a depositing ground for those extra features I talked about earlier (ignoring two-handed on guns, additional effects on Rip and Tear, etc.) but it seems like just enhancing the other three features is underwhelming as a capstone.