Barbarian

Living on the fringes, barbarians cling to the old ways of the first age. Survival of the fittest. Survival of my kin over others. Most live in the middle and edge areas where the continent is still wild, as most of the world is, despite the efforts of "civilized" society. Barbarians also crave to make a name for themselves as great warriors, and so can be found as gladiators, warriors, and mercenaries.  

Creating a Barbarian

When creating a barbarian character, think about where your character comes from and his or her place in the world. Talk with your DM about an appropriate origin for your barbarian. Did you come from a distant land, making you a stranger in the area o f the campaign? Or is the campaign set in a rough-and-tumble frontier where barbarians are common? What led you to take up the adventuring life? W ere you lured to settled lands by the promise o f riches? Did you join forces with soldiers o f those lands to face a shared threat? Did monsters or an invading horde drive you out o f your homeland, making you a rootless refugee? Perhaps you were a prisoner o f war, brought in chains to “civilized” lands and only now able to win your freedom. Or you might have been cast out from your people because o f a crime you committed, a taboo you violated, or a coup that removed you from a position o f authority.  

Starting Equipment

• (a) a greataxe or (b) any martial melee weapon
• (a) two handaxes or (b) any simple weapon
• An explorer’s pack and four javelins
 

Class Features

R a g e

In battle, you fight with primal ferocity. On your turn, you can enter a rage as a bonus action. While raging, you gain the following benefits if you aren’t w earing heavy armor: • You have advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws. • When you make a melee weapon attack using Strength, you gain a bonus to the damage roll that increases as you gain levels as a barbarian, as shown in the Rage Damage column o f the Barbarian table. • You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. If you are able to cast spells, you can’t cast them or concentrate on them while raging. Your rage lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are knocked unconscious or if your turn ends and you haven’t attacked a hostile creature since your last turn or taken damage since then. You can also end your rage on your turn as a bonus action. Once you have raged the number o f times shown for your barbarian level in the Rages column o f the Barbarian table, you must finish a long rest before you can rage again.  

U n a r m o r e d D e f e n s e

While you are not w earing any armor, your Armor Class equals 10 + your Dexterity m odifier + your Constitution modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.  

R e c k l e s s A t t a c k

Starting at 2nd level, you can throw aside all concern for defense to attack with fierce desperation. When you make your first attack on your turn, you can decide to attack recklessly. Doing so gives you advantage on melee weapon attack rolls using Strength during this turn, but attack rolls against you have advantage until your next turn.  

D a n g e r S e n s e

At 2nd level, you gain an uncanny sense o f when things nearby aren’t as they should be, giving you an edge when you dodge away from danger. You have advantage on Dexterity saving throws against effects that you can see, such as traps and spells. To gain this benefit, you can’t be blinded, deafened, or incapacitated.  

P r i m a l Pa t h

At 3rd level, you choose a path that shapes the nature of your rage. Choose the Path of the Berserker or the Path o f the Totem Warrior, both detailed at the end o f the class description. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 10th, and 14th levels.  

Ab i l i t y S c o r e I m p r o v e m e n t

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score o f your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.  

E x t r a A t t a c k

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

Fa s t M o v e m e n t

Starting at 5th level, your speed increases by 10 feet while you aren’t w earing heavy armor.  

F e r a l I n s t i n c t

By 7th level, your instincts are so honed that you have advantage on initiative rolls. Additionally, if you are surprised at the beginning of combat and aren’t incapacitated, you can act normally on your first turn, but only if you enter your rage before doing anything else on that turn.  

B r u t a l C r i t i c a l

Beginning at 9th level, you can roll one additional weapon damage die when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with a melee attack. This increases to two additional dice at 13th level and three additional dice at 17th level.  

R e l e n t l e s s R a g e

Starting at 11th level, your rage can keep you fighting despite grievous w ounds. If you drop to 0 hit points while you’re raging and don’t die outright, you can make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. If you succeed, you drop to 1 hit point instead. Each time you use this feature after the first, the DC increases by 5. When you finish a short or long rest, the DC resets to 10.  

P e r s i s t e n t R a g e

Beginning at 15th level, your rage is so fierce that it ends early only if you fall unconscious or if you choose to end it.  

I n d o m i t a b l e M i g h t

Beginning at 18th level, if your total for a Strength check is less than your Strength score, you can use that score in place o f the total.  

P r i m a l C h a m p i o n

At 20th level, you embody the power of the wilds. Your Strength and Constitution scores increase by 4. Your maximum for those scores is now 24.  

Primal Paths

 

Pa t h o f t h e B e r s e r k e r

For some barbarians, rage is a means to an end-—that end being violence. The Path o f the Berserker is a path of untrammeled fury, slick with blood. As you enter the berserker’s rage, you thrill in the chaos o f battle, heedless o f your own health or well-being.

F r e n z y

Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you can go into a frenzy when you rage. If you do so, for the duration o f your rage you can make a single melee weapon attack as a bonus action on each o f your turns after this one. When your rage ends, you suffer one level o f exhaustion (as described in appendix A).

M in d l e s s R a g e

Beginning at 6th level, you can’t be charmed or frightened while raging. If you are charmed or frightened when you enter your rage, the effect is suspended for the duration o f the rage.

I n t im i d a t i n g P r e s e n c e

Beginning at 10th level, you can use your action to frighten someone with your menacing presence. When you do so, choose one creature that you can see within 30 feet o f you. If the creature can see or hear you, it must succeed on a W isdom saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier) or be frightened o f you until the end o f your next turn. On subsequent turns, you can use your action to extend the duration o f this effect on the frightened creature until the end of your next turn. This effect ends if the creature ends its turn out o f line o f sight or more than 60 feet away from you. If the creature succeeds on its saving throw, you can't use this feature on that creature again for 24 hours.

R e t a l i a t i o n

Starting at 14th level, when you take damage from a creature that is within 5 feet o f you. you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack against that creature.  

Pa t h o f t h e T o t e m W a r r i o r

  The Path o f the Totem Warrior is a spiritual journey, as the barbarian accepts a spirit animal as guide, protector, and inspiration. In battle, your totem spirit fills you with supernatural might, adding magical fuel to your barbarian rage. Most barbarian tribes consider a totem animal to be kin to a particular clan. In such cases, it is unusual for an individual to have more than one totem animal spirit, though exceptions exist.

Sp i r i t Se e k e r

Yours is a path that seeks attunement with the natural world, giving you a kinship with beasts. At 3rd level when you adopt this path, you gain the ability to cast the beast sense and speak with animals spells, but only as rituals, as described in chapter 10.

T o t e m Sp i r i t

At 3rd level, when you adopt this path, you choose a totem spirit and gain its feature. You must make or acquire a physical totem object- an amulet or similar adornment—that incorporates fur or feathers, claws, teeth, or b ones o f the totem animal. At your option, you also gain minor physical attributes that are reminiscent o f your totem spirit. For example, if you have a bear totem spirit, you might be unusually hairy and thickskinned, or if your totem is the eagle, your eyes turn bright yellow. Your totem animal might be an animal related to those listed here but more appropriate to your homeland. For example, you could choose a hawk or vulture in place o f an eagle.

Bear.

While raging, you have resistance to all damage except psychic damage. The spirit o f the bear makes you tough enough to stand up to any punishment.

Eagle.

While you're raging and aren’t wearing heavy armor, other creatures have disadvantage on opportunity attack rolls against you, and you can use the Dash action as a bonus action on your turn. The spirit of the eagle makes you into a predator w ho can weave through the fray with ease.

Wolf

, While you're raging, your friends have advantage on melee attack rolls against any creature within 5 feet o f you that is hostile to you. The spirit of the wolf makes you a leader o f hunters.

A s p e c t o f t h e B e a s t

At 6th level, you gain a magical benefit based on the totem animal o f your choice. You can choose the same animal you selected at 3rd level or a different one. Bear. You gain the might o f a bear. Your carrying capacity (including maximum load and maximum lift) is doubled, and you have advantage on Strength checks made to push, pull, lift, or break objects. Eagle. You gain the eyesight o f an eagle. You can see up to 1 mile away with no difficulty, able to discern even fine details as though looking at something no more than 100 feet away from you. Additionally, dim light doesn't impose disadvantage on your Wisdom (Perception) checks. Wolf, You gain the hunting sensibilities o f a wolf. You can track other creatures while traveling at a fast pace, and you can move stealthily while traveling at a normal pace (see chapter 8 for rules on travel pace).

Sp i r i t W a l k e r

At 10th level, you can cast the commune with nature spell, but only as a ritual. When you do so, a spiritual version o f one o f the animals you chose for Totem Spirit or Aspect o f the Beast appears to you to convey the information you seek.

T o t e m i c A t t u n e m e n t

At 14th level, you gain a magical benefit based on a totem animal o f your choice. You can choose the same animal you selected previously or a different one. Bear, While you’re raging, any creature within 5 feet o f you that’s hostile to you has disadvantage on attack rolls against targets other than you or another character with this feature. An enemy is immune to this effect if it can’t see or hear you or if it can’t be frightened. Eagle. While raging, you have a flying speed equal to your current walking speed. This benefit works only in short bursts; you fall if you end your turn in the air and nothing else is holding you aloft. Wolf. While you’re raging, you can use a bonus action on your turn to knock a Large or smaller creature prone when you hit it with melee w eapon attack.