Bulwark

[JNAProductions]

HIT POINTS
Hit Dice: 1d12
Hit Points at 1st Level: 12+Constitution Modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d12 (7)+Constitution Modifier

PROFICIENCIES
Armor: Light, Medium, and Heavy Armor, plus Shields
Weapons: All Simple and Martial Weapons
Tools: One artisan tool of your choice

Saving Throws: Strength and Constitution
Skills: Choose two from Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Athletics, History, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, and Survival

EQUIPMENT
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
-(a) Leather armor, (b) scale mail, or (c) chain mail
-Any two weapons you have proficiency in, with two copies (if it is thrown) or twenty pieces of ammo (if it uses ammo)
-A shield
-Any one pack

Bulwark


Level
Proficiency Bonus
Features


1st
+2
Bulwark


2nd
+2
Fighting Style


3rd
+2
Archetype, Controlling Strike


4th
+2
Ability Score Improvement


5th
+3
Extra Attack, Improved Bulwark


6th
+3
Indomitable


7th
+3
Archetype Feature


8th
+3
Ability Score Improvement


9th
+4
Bulwark's Shield


10th
+4
Indomitable (Two Uses)


11th
+4
Archetype Feature, Improved Controlling Strike


12th
+4
Ability Score Improvement


13th
+5
Master Bulwark


14th
+5
Indomitable (Three Uses)


15th
+5
Archetype Feature


16th
+5
Ability Score Improvement


17th
+6
Master Controlling Strike


18th
+6
Indomitable (Four Uses)


19th
+6
Ability Score Improvement


20th
+6
Impenetrable Bulwark



Bulwark
At level one, you may use your reaction to change the result of any dice rolled to damage by a single attack (or other damage instance) to the minimum possible result.

At level five, you also reduce any damage dealt to you by an amount equal to your proficiency bonus (after any resistances or other damage mitigation features are used).

At level thirteen, you may use this ability without expending a reaction once. You regain the ability to do so at the start of your turn.

At level twenty, any damage rolled against you is treated as the minimum possible result.

Fighting Style
At level two, you gain any one Fighting Style, excepting a style that grants you magic.

Archetype
At level three, choose your Archetype. This grants you features at levels three, seven, eleven, and fifteen.

Controlling Strike
Also at level three, you gain access to various abilities that let you shape the battlefield. When you successfully strike an enemy an attack that adds your Strength modifier to the damage dealt, you may choose to deal no additional damage from your Strength score, and instead inflict one of the following conditions on them. Any saves made to resist this ability have a DC equal to 8+your proficiency modifier+your Strength modifier.

At level three, you have the following options:
-Shove 5'
-Knock the target prone if they fail a Strength save
-The target cannot make reactions until the start of your next turn if they fail a Constitution save

At level eleven, you may now use one ability from above without giving up your Strength modifier, or one of the below abilities as normal:
-Shove 15'
-Any attacks the target makes before the start of your next turn have disadvantage and any saves they provoke have advantage, unless you are included in the attack, if they fail an Intelligence save.
-One ally of your choice can immediately make an Attack of Opportunity against the target, if they fail a Dexterity save

At level seventeen, you may now use one ability from any of the above without giving up your Strength modifier, or one of the below abilities as normal:
-Shove 30'
-Frighten the target until the start of your next turn if they fail a Charisma save
-Incapacitate the target until the start of your next turn if they fail a Wisdom save

Ability Score Improvement
Usual levels, usual deal.

Extra Attack
Level five, usual deal.

Indomitable
At level six, you may reroll a failed save as a Constitution save. You may only do so once per save, and only once per long rest.

You gain an additional use of this ability at levels ten, fourteen, and eighteen.

Bulwark's Shield
At level nine, you can grant your allies a measure of protection. Any ally within 10' of you gains +2 to their AC, and can use their reaction when damaged to force all the dice for the damage roll to be rerolled. They may then use the lower of those two results for taking damage.


Unkillable

Diehard
At level three, you may act normally when at zero HP, and must fail one additional death save to die. You still accumulate death saves as normal, including one failed death save each time you take damage (two on a critical hit) and die upon reaching your normal allotment of death saves.

Unkillable
At level seven, you gain advantage on death saves, and must fail another additional death save to die.

Immovable Object
At level eleven, you may use your bonus action to enter an immovable stance. Until you move from your spot, you gain +2 to your AC, one additional reaction, and have advantage on saves against forced movement. You also must fail another additional death save to die.

Hardy Body
At level fifteen, increase your current and maximum Constitution by two, to a maximum of thirty.


Unstoppable

Powerful Blows
At level three, you can add your proficiency modifier to the damage roll for an attack that used Strength, once per turn.

Unstoppable Force
At level seven, you ignore difficult terrain and any other mundane effects that would slow you. You have advantage against any magical effect that would reduce your speed.

Mighty Blows
At level eleven, you may use Powerful Blows for every qualifying attack you make.

Mighty Body
At level fifteen, increase your current and maximum Strength by two, to a maximum of thirty.

[Olffandad]

I really like the core lvl 1 Bulwark mechanic to reduce damage as a reaction. At 1st level, that reduces a typical 1d6+2 attack from a max of 8 HP of damage down to 3 HP, which is strong.

After that, the powers don't seem very well balanced. I like the Diehard, Unkillable, and Unstoppable Force as thematic/reasonably balanced but a lot of other stuff is very OP.

It's a good start, though!

[Breccia]

That class feature feels quite strong to me. You're probably basing it of Uncanny Dodge.

1) Uncanny Dodge isn't available until 5th level.
2) Uncanny Dodge doesn't subtract an increasing value, after the damage is halved.
3) The Rogue has to see the attack coming. The Bulwark does not.

Admittedly, at starting levels the effect is less of a problem. Reducing 1d6+2 to 1+2 is about half damage. The Rogue could do that...if Uncanny Dodge started at 1st level. A Barbarian can do it too while Raging (more on that later).

Let's look at 5th level. At this point, monsters are routinely getting 2 dice for damage, and that's when the Bulwark pulls away from the Rogue and never looks back.

An Earth Elemental is a CR5 monster and does 2d8+5 damage, averaging 14. A Rogue can reduce that to 7, as would a Raging Barbarian. The Bulwark will reduce it to 4. Oh sure, the Earth Elemental can attack again, but neither the Rogue nor Bulwark can do anything about that, so it's still even footing.

A Hill Giant is also CR5, and does 3d8+5 with a club. That averages 18. The Rogue can reduce it to 9. The Bulwark will reduce it to 5.

Both characters are hit with an 8d6 lightning bolt, and both fail their save. The average of 8d6 is 28. The Rogue will reduce that to 14, if "hits you with an attack" even covers the lightning bolt spell. [EDIT: I am pretty sure it does not, but bear with me] The Bulwark reduces it to five. The Rogue doesn't have Evasion yet, so if they save, they take 14 and could reduce it to 7. The Bulwark, if they save, takes 1. One damage.

Then, let's crank up the volume. An Adult White Dragon is a CR13 monster. The Rogue hates this monster, because its breath is a Con save. The breath does 12d8 which averages 54 damage. The Rogue can reduce that to 27, again, if "hit with an attack" even covers white dragon breath [EDIT: I still think doesn't]. The Bulwark takes 7, and you better believe they're going to use their Reaction for that one. If they make their save, the Rogue takes 27 and can reduce it to 13. If the Bulwark saves, they take 1. One damage.

Or, the dragon could claw-claw-bite. This is where the Bulwark's multi-hit protection kicks in, since even if the DM is rolling the attacks one at a time (they probably are supposed to) if the Rogue is hit by a claw, they have to guess if the dragon will also bite them, and hit. The Bulwark does not. Under the assumption the dragon hits with one claw and one bite, and the Rogue Uncanny Dodges the bite, the Rogue will take 13 from the claw and 8 from the bite, totalling 21. The Bulwark will take 3 from the claw and 3 from the bite, totalling 6.

The issue is when the damage from the dice outweighs the bonus damage, which also means the Bulwark will almost ignore crits. While the 10d6+40 damage of disintegrate favors the Rogue, a more standard 12d6, 12d8, 10d10, etc. hit favors the Bulwark by an increasing degree. Half of 10d10 is 27. Minimum of 10d10 is 10, and then that Prof Bonus kicks in. Or, consider that Hill Giant critting for 3d8+5+3d8 again. No reduction at all, that's 32 damage. The Rogue takes 16. The Bulwark takes 6. From a crit. The Bulwark will also laugh in the face of a purple worm sting, because that +12d6 poison is about to become either +7 or +1 damage, and they're good at Con saves and are also Indominable.

So far, you might be thinking "So what? The Bulwark is a one-note character class. All they do is ignore damage. It should be strong, it's all they can do."

First of all, no it isn't, I've looked over the rest of the class.

Second of all, no, it shouldn't. Uncanny Dodge is one of the strongest defense abilities in the game. Dedicated defenders don't get it. Rogues do, because they're not really meant to be tanking hits (especially hits plural). Bulwarks are, and have much higher HP (almost double!) and probably a higher AC as well. This ability is stronger for much larger periods of the game and can be used more often. Maybe I missed a class or subclass somewhere, but I don't remember seeing "Fighter/Barbarian, except they have Uncanny Dodge" and I would have shared this concern if I had.

Let's revisit the Rogue, the Bulwark, and the Earth Elemental. Assuming they take one hit/round, the Rogue will be dead in 3-4 rounds depending on Con. Again, that's fair, the Rogue isn't built to be soaking all the hits, but this is still a situation where their Uncanny Dodge would pay strong dividends. A Raging Barbarian would last 5-7 again based on Con. The Bulwark will live at least nine rounds. And I suspect the Bulwark will have the highest AC of the three options.

And then, the other shoe drops: multiclassing.

The baseline minimum damage is available at level 1 with no set number of uses or other restrictions. Why couldn't a Fighter take it? Or a Monk? Worse, why wouldn't a Barbarian? Imagine a Raging Bulwark, taking half damage first then reducing it second.

The 5th level Bulwark above is replaced by a 4th level Barbarian/1st level Bulwark when they're hit by the Earth Elemental. First, they take minimum, then cut it in half because they're Raging. That's 3. Granted, they can't use their Reaction to hit back (if that's the option they're going with) but they just took 3 damage from a monster that can crush buildings.

They are also a Totem Bear when hit by that lightning bolt. Now they take minimum, that's 8, halved, that's 4. From a failed saving throw.

At higher levels (assuming still only 1 Bulwark level) the Barbarian's damage intake is more even, as their Resistance always works no matter how many times they're hit while the Bulwark has to pick and choose. In most circumstances, the Bulwark wins, because it takes a lot to be hit by 3+ high-damage attacks in one round. Especially considering the Bulwark's AC. But if the Adult White Dragon actually lands 2d6+6/2d6+6/2d10+6 on a Bulwark, they'll take 13/3/3 for 19 total, the Bulkbarian will take 7/7/4 for 18 total. The Rogue is probably just dead.

Or...they could go level 1 Barbarian, level X Bulwark, get the Prof Bonus reduction after their Rage kicks in. I'll spare you the details, and skip straight to "unkillable".

And it takes you 5 levels to get Uncanny Dodge in Rogue -- a weaker defensive ability.

I'm sorry, I know you put a lot of thought into this. Some of the class/subclass abilities look like a lot of fun. But I can't get behind it when the core gameplay mechanic is just so strong. "Minimum" is just too often too strong of a DR to apply to literally any damage source, even if it wasn't on a high-hp high-AC dedicated defender class.

I beg you to take another go at this.

[JNAProductions]

How do you get -Prof to damage with one level in Bulwark?

And an Earth Elemental has two +8 to-hit, 2d8+5 bludgeoning damage attacks. They also have AC 17 and 126 HP, as well as resistance to non-magical weapons.

Against a Rogue with Studded Leather and 18 Dexterity, they deal slightly over 12 damage per round.
The Rogue does (assuming Sneak Attack is available, and two Short Swords are used) just over 13.8 damage per round before resistance.

Against a Barbarian with 18 Strength, 14 Dexterity, and Half Plate, they deal 16.8 damage per round, before resistance.
The Barbarian does (assuming a Greatsword or Maul, and no Reckless Attacking) 12.1 damage (14.3 with Rage) before resistance.

Against a Bulwark with Full Plate, a Shield, and 18 Strength, they deal just over 5 damage per round.
The Bulwark does (assuming Dueling Fighting Style and a d8 damage weapon) 11.55 damage before resistance.

All math done is excluding crits.

So the Barbarian is, without Rage, the worst among them. Damage dealt is less than a Rogue's, damage taken is higher.

Of course, let's add a subclass to that Barbarian. Zealot won't do anything if we're not Raging, but increases the damage dealt to just shy of 19.5-with part of it being necrotic or radiant, so it bypasses resistance to non-magical weapons.
The Bulwark, if we're going offense, gets to add +3 damage once per turn. (I just noticed I forgot the once per turn clause on Powerful Blows-fixed that.) It's less than half as good as the Zealot buff, even before accounting for resistance.

Plus, you're using a CR X encounter for a single PC of level X. That's not how 5E is usually run, or how it's designed.

[Breccia]

How do you get -Prof to damage with one level in Bulwark?

I didn't. Those were done with Rage. That's why the Bulwark tends to be better, barring 3+ attacks.

EDIT: Ah, yes, once with the lightning bolt. My bad, instead of taking 1 on a failed save, they take 4. I'm...not sure that helps your cause much.


So the Barbarian is, without Rage, the worst among them.

Well...yeah. I imagine the Fighter without armor would be even worse. The fact that a Bulwark often does better than a Barbarian with Rage is the concerning part. That's why I mentioned it.



Plus, you're using a CR X encounter for a single PC of level X. That's not how 5E is usually run, or how it's designed.

No, I'm showing how much damage they'd take when being hit, and talking about their overall survivability. At some point, that monster rolls a d20 and swings at something.

[Greywander]

After skimming, here's some quick thoughts. I like the concept, so I'll be back with a more thorough analysis a little later.

It's not clear if the 5th level Bulwark feature requires you to spend your reaction to get the benefit. I'd assume not, but the 1st level iteration is all about using your reaction to do something, so it's unclear.

Controlling Strike gets a little out of hand at higher levels. I like the idea, but I might tone it down a bit and compensate with other benefits elsewhere.

This class should get proficiency with using shields as weapons, and should get a bonus (+1 AC?) for using two shields. Mind you, dual shields should be optional, so don't make it too strong.

As weird as it sounds, I feel like this class should get something similar to Evasion, likely requiring a shield to be equipped. Maybe call it Deflection or something. I feel like it shouldn't be a straight copy of Evasion, but I'm blanking on how it might be mechanically different.

This class should use CON for its "spell save" DC. In fact, this class could have CON as a primary stat, and STR as a secondary. Consider reworking the class a bit to use their CON score for more things, making it advantageous to boost CON before STR if one so desires. That said, there should be a clear trade off between offense and defense: boosting CON should improve defense, while boosting STR improves offense. Both STR and CON builds should be viable (e.g. at lower levels when you can't max both), and shouldn't become too powerful once both are maxed.

Hmm, consider a mechanic wherein you roll a hit die, and if the amount rolled (+CON mod?) is higher than the damage taken, you reduce the damage to 0 and keep the hit die. If the damage is higher, you reduce it by the amount rolled and lose the hit die. This allows you to incorporate hit dice as a core mechanic to the class without preventing them from being used to heal during a short rest. One of the issues with homebrew classes that use hit dice to fuel their class features is that they then can't spend those hit dice to heal. Here, you expect to keep the hit die, and if you do lose it you're still gaining essentially the same benefit as if you'd spent it to heal. This would also help curb multiclass shenanigans a bit, since the feature is less effective with an anemic pool of d6s than it is with a healthy pool of d12s.

[Kane0]

As weird as it sounds, I feel like this class should get something similar to Evasion, likely requiring a shield to be equipped. Maybe call it Deflection or something. I feel like it shouldn't be a straight copy of Evasion, but I'm blanking on how it might be mechanically different.


'Mettle' was a 3.5 analogue to Evasion that operated on Fort saves instead of Reflex, so that could be reapplied for any save for half damage that isn't a Dex save?

[Rilmani]

I like the concept of it. I’d like to suggest some minor abilities and ribbon abilities.

Guardian Presence (lv2): At the start of a long rest, choose one allied creature who is also completing a long rest nearby. They recover one additional spent Hit Die at the end of a successful Long Rest.

Cheerleader (lv1): Over the course of a Short Rest, choose one creature (including yourself) who can communicate with you that is suffering from a form of Madness. At the end of the Short Rest, they can spend one or more hit dice. For each hit dice spent in this way, the target can suppress the effects of one form of Madness until they become incapacitated for any length of time or gain a level of exhaustion.

Harmony (lv 4): You can use an Action to stabilize a creature without making a Medicine check or expending a use of a Healer’s Kit. In addition, when you craft a healing potion with an Herbalism Kit, you may cast Purify Food and Drink as a spellcaster, without expending any spell slots.

[Greywander]

Okay, I'm back. Unfortunately, I'm about to suggest a complete rewrite; don't take it personally (often my homebrew classes change pretty radically between the first and final drafts). It's your class, so these are just suggestions, but hopefully you find something useful here.

First, a couple critiques. Bulwark is a neat idea, but using a reaction means it competes with the Protection and Interception fighting styles, which would otherwise be great thematic fits for this class. I'm not saying we can't have reaction abilities, just that those reaction abilities should have different use cases. Instead, I'm going to suggest Bulwark be replaced with an ability that grants temp HP to yourself and nearby allies, at no action cost. This then becomes the central gimmick of the class that we can use in every battle.

Second, Controlling Strike is a neat idea, but it's kind of messily written. I'm going to suggest axing this ability altogether and replacing it with something simpler and better suited to the theme. Namely, two new signature abilities. Shield Wall will grant cover to nearby allies, while Bulldozer allows us to knock over and trample enemies just by moving into them. Both use your action, so they're an expensive opportunity cost, but they're also quite powerful in the right situation.

Some minor nitpicks: I don't understand why this class gets proficiency with a tool. Also, I'd change the equipment to be:

Any simple or martial weapon.
(a) one simple or martial weapon, (b) four weapons with the thrown property, or (c) one ranged weapon with 20 pieces of ammunition.

Anyway, here's my suggested rewrite:


Bulwark


Level
Proficiency Bonus
Features


1st
+2
Great Bulwark, Shield Fighter


2nd
+2
Fighting Style


3rd
+2
Archetype, Shield Wall, Bulldozer


4th
+2
Ability Score Improvement


5th
+3
Extra Attack, Strong Tower


6th
+3
Archetype feature


7th
+3
Deflection


8th
+3
Ability Score Improvement


9th
+4
Impenetrable Armor


10th
+4
Archetype feature


11th
+4
Mighty Fortress


12th
+4
Ability Score Improvement


13th
+5
Iron Mirror


14th
+5
Invincible


15th
+5
Archetype Feature


16th
+5
Ability Score Improvement


17th
+6
Iron Citadel


18th
+6
Iron Blood


19th
+6
Ability Score Improvement


20th
+6
Dead Stand Strong



Great Bulwark
Beginning at 1st level, your very presence instills confidence in your allies. At the start of each of your turns, you and one creature of your choice within 5 feet of you gains temporary hit points equal to your Constitution modifier.

As you reach higher levels in this class, this ability grows stronger. At 5th level, you reinforce into a Strong Tower. At 11th level, you entrench into a Mighty Fortress. At 17th level, you fortify into an Iron Citadel.

Shield Fighter
Starting at 1st level, you learn how to use a shield not only for defense, but also to attack. For you, shields are a simple weapon with which you are proficient and that deals 1d4 bludgeoning damage on a hit. Although you can normally only benefit from one shield at a time, if you wield a second shield then you gain +1 to your AC.

Fighting Style
When you reach 2nd level, you adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can't take the same Fighting Style option more than once, even if you get to choose again.

Choose one of the following:
Archery, Blind Fighting, Defense, Dueling, Great Weapon Fighting, Interception, Protection, Thrown Weapon Fighting, Unarmed Fighting

Bulwark Archetype
When you reach 3rd level in this class, you choose your Bulwark Archetype. You may choose the defensive Impregnable, or the destructive Inevitable. You gain additional features from your bulwark archetype at 6th, 10th, and 15th level.

Shield Wall
Starting at 3rd level, you may become a protective wall for your allies. As an action, you raise your shield and plant yourself firmly, providing cover for yourself and your allies. This has the following effects:

You and creatures of your choice within 5 feet of you have half cover.
Creatures of your choice behind you gain three-quarters cover.
If a creature qualifies for both of the above benefits, they instead gain full cover.

To determine if a creature is behind you, draw a line from the origin of an effect to the target of the effect; if the line passes through your space, the target is behind you.

You must be wielding a shield to use this feature.

Bulldozer
Starting at 3rd level, you can charge through your enemies, knocking them to the ground and trampling them. As an action, you brace yourself and charge forward. Until the end of your turn, you may move into the spaces of creatures the same size as you or smaller, attempting to knock them prone and trample them. Once per creature, when you move into that creature's space and that creature isn't already prone, the creature must make a Strength saving throw. The DC for this saving throw is 8 + your Strength modifier + your proficiency bonus. If the target fails the saving throw, it is knocked prone. If the target succeeds on the saving throw, you are pushed back to the space you occupied just before entering that creature's space. Moving over a prone creature deals bludgeoning damage equal to your proficiency bonus.

Ability Score Increase
At 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, as normal.

Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Strong Tower
When you reach 5th level, your Great Bulwark reinforces into a Strong Tower. Once during your turn, you may grant temporary hit points equal to your Constitution modifier to yourself and up to three creatures of your choice within 10 feet of you, no action required. This replaces the Great Bulwark feature.

Deflection
Beginning at 7th level, you can deflect certain area effects, such as a red dragon's fiery breath or an ice storm spell. When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution saving throw to take only half damage, you have resistance to the damage dealt by that effect.

Impenetrable Armor
Starting at 9th level, you gain a +1 bonus to your AC while you are wearing armor.

In addition, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage you take is reduced by an amount equal to your proficiency bonus.

Mighty Fortress
When you reach 11th level, your Strong Tower entrenches into a Mighty Fortress. During your turn, you may grant temporary hit points equal to your Constitution modifier to yourself and up to five creatures of your choice within 20 feet of you. This requires no action, and you can move between granting this benefit to another creature. This replaces the Strong Tower feature.

Iron Mirror
Once you reach 13th level, your defenses are so hardened and unyielding that they cause damage to those who strike at you. When you are hit by a melee attack, the attacker takes bludgeoning damage equal to your proficiency bonus.

Invincible
Beginning at 14th level, you may add your Constitution modifier to any saving throw you make.

In addition, the damage reduction granted by Impenetrable Armor now extends to all damage, instead of just bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.

Iron Citadel
When you reach 17th level, your Mighty Fortress fortifies into an Iron Citadel. During your turn, you may grant temporary hit points equal to your Constitution modifier to yourself and any number of creatures within 30 feet of you. This requires no action, and you can move between granting this benefit to another creature. Furthermore, you can even grant this benefit when it isn't your turn if a creature comes within 30 feet. Each creature can only receive this benefit once until the start of your next turn. This replaces the Mighty Fortress feature.

Iron Blood
Starting when you reach 18th level, you can spring back from defeat. When your hit points drops below half your maximum, you immediately regain full hit points. Once you use this feature, you must finish a long rest before you may use it again.

Furthermore, any effect that would instantly kill you instead reduces you to 0 hit points. Taking damage no longer causes you to fail death saving throws.

Dead Stand Strong
When you reach 20th level, you are able to defend your allies even in death. When your hit points are reduced to zero and you fall unconscious, you remain on your feet and immediately activate your Shield Wall feature, even if you aren't wielding a shield. Your Shield Wall remains active until you regain consciousness, until you are brought back from the dead, or until your corpse is destroyed.

Furthermore, you continue to inspire confidence in your allies, allowing you to continue to use the Iron Citadel feature for up to 1 minute after being reduced to 0 hit points.

I suppose that's enough for now. I can come back and write up the Impregnable and Inevitable later, or maybe you'd like to fill those out yourself. The Impregnable probably gets another +1 AC somewhere. I also wanted to give them the ability to intercept an effect as a reaction (e.g. if it was targeting someone/somewhere "behind" them), redirecting it to their location. What would make this so effective is that if they're also using their Shield Wall at the time, an AoE effect originating from inside their space would treat all other targets as being "behind" them, and give full cover to those immediately around them. The Inevitable would likely gain an ability to ignore difficult terrain, and probably a +10 speed bump as well. This gives both subclasses a buff to either the Shield Wall or Bulldozer features, without making one so strong you'd never use the other.

Anyway, that's my two cents, hopefully you found something here useful.

[Olffandad]

There are some good ideas here, but in thinking about it - is there anything that makes Bulwark into a class rather than a fighter or barbarian archetype? (other than wanting a sweet sweet d12 HD :smallbiggrin: )

[Jervis]

I always appreciate when a class has a force movement option early on. Works great on frontliners.