Barbarian

*"Are we going to stand around here all day, or are we going to fight?"*

*- Harry Hart*

A roller derby skater elbows an enemy skater hard as she tries to pass her. She laughs in delight when she sees blood start pouring out of the other skater’s nose.

A politician throws the remote across the room after watching the 5:00 news tear him to pieces over his latest legislation.

A teenage girl gets her bra strap snapped for a third time by the boy sitting behind her in math class. She breaks her pencil, sending splinters flying as she turns around and pushes him away from her.

As different as these people are they all have one thing in common—uncontrollable rage, always lurking just beneath the surface. Not simply just anger, their fury is a force to be reckoned with.

### Creating a Barbarian

What angers you? Consider being your character—what would anger a sixty year old businessman or a twenty-one year old college student?

Now think even deeper. What would enrage that same twenty-one year old? What is so terrible to her that even thinking about it makes her want to punch holes in the wall, kick someone’s teeth in, scream until her voice is hoarse?

What has been her life up to this point? What made her angry as a child? As a middle schooler? Maybe her parents got divorced right before her high school prom and it ruined her special night, or she had a bully on the elementary school playground that she never got to get back at. Are those things still making her angry?

When creating a barbarian, figure out how and why their fury got so overpowering that they would now go into a battle rage during even the smallest fights.

### Kingsman Barbarian

Unlike a traditional barbarian, you do not necessarily have a home in the true wild—the frozen tundra, swampy wetlands and thick forests don’t invigorate you. Work with your setting and where your character grew up. They might have grown up as a circus acrobat who is most comfortable in the back of an RV. Maybe they were raised in the seediest part of New York City and nothing feels more like home than gunshots late at night and drug deals openly happening on the corner. Just remember that barbarians are in tuned with their animal nature and feel the strongest when they are relying on pure instinct and physicality, as well as their unbridled rage.

Your character lives for the fight—combat is when they come alive. When they go into a rage the world melts away and they feel completely in tune with their primal instincts, giving them access to superior strength and a resistance to some attacks of physical damage.

### Barbarian Quick Build

You can make a barbarian quickly by following these suggestions. First, put your highest ability score in strength, followed by constitution. Second, choose the veteran lifestyle.

### Class Features

**Hit Die:** d12

**Primary Ability:** Strength

**Saves:** Strength & Constitution

#### 1st Level

##### **Rage**

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 wearing 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 of the Barbarian table.
* You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.

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 of times shown for your barbarian level in the Rages column of the Barbarian table, you must finish a long rest before you can rage again.

##### Unarmored Defense

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

##### Proficiencies

**Armor:** Light armor, medium armor, shields

**Weapons:** Simple weapons, martial weapons

**Tools:** None

**Saving Throws:** Strength, Constitution

**Skills:** Choose two from Animal Handling, Athletics, Intimidation, Nature, Perception, and Survival

##### Hit Points

**Hit Dice:** 1d12 per barbarian level

**Hit Points at 1st Level:** 12 + your Constitution modifier

**Hit Points at Higher Levels:** 1d12 (or 7) + your Constitution modifier per barbarian level after 1st

#### 2nd Level

##### Reckless Action

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.

##### Danger Sense

At 2nd level, you gain an uncanny sense of 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. To gain this benefit, you can’t be blinded, deafened, or incapacitated.

#### 3rd Level

##### Primal Path

At 3rd level, you choose a path that shapes the nature of your rage. The Path of the Berserker is detailed at the end of the class description, and additional primal paths are available in other sources. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 10th, and 14th levels.

#### 4th Level

##### Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of 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.

Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.

#### 5th Level

##### Extra Attack

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

##### Fast Movement

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

#### 7th Level

##### Feral Instinct

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.

#### 8th Level

##### Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 8th level, and again at 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of 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.

Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.

#### 9th Level

##### Brutal Critical

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.

#### 11th Level

##### Relentless Rage

Starting at 11th level, your rage can keep you fighting despite grievous wounds. 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.

#### 12th Level

##### Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 12th level, and again at 16th and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of 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.

Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.

#### 13th Level

##### Brutal Critical

At 13th level, you can roll two additional weapon damage dice when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with a melee attack.

This increases to three additional dice at 17th level.

#### 15th Level

##### Persistent Rage

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.

#### 16th Level

##### Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 18th level, and again at 19th level, you can increase one ability score of 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.

Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.

#### 17th Level

##### Brutal Critical

At 17th level, you can roll three additional weapon damage dice when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with a melee attack.

#### 18th Level

##### Indominable Might

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

#### 19th Level

##### Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 19th level, you can increase one ability score of 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.

Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.

#### 20th Level

##### Primal Champion

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.

### Path of the Bar Brawler

Similar to Path of the Berserker barbarians Path of the Bar Brawler barbarians focus on their rage as an outlet to unleash violence. Unlike other barbarians however, bar brawlers have a focus on unarmed combat and are skilled at outrunning their enemies such as the cops or other bar brawlers they’re fought with.

#### 3rd Level

##### Bar-bar-ian

Starting at level three, you become proficient with improvised weapons, and improvised weapons deal 1d8 bludgeoning damage. You also gain advantage when using improvised weapons. While raging, attacks against you dealing bludgeoning damage are done with disadvantage. Also starting at third level, your armed strike uses a d6 for damage if your strength is above 12.

#### 6th Level

##### 1-2 Punch

Beginning at sixth level, while raging you can make two unarmed strikes during your turn in combat for a total of three attacks. If you are not using an unarmed strike, you only make two attacks Also starting at sixth level, your unarmed strike uses a d8 for damage if your strength if above 14.

#### 10th Level

##### When They Come for You

Starting at level ten, when you know an enemy is tracking you or if you are fleeing combat or the scene of a crime, your speed increases to 60 ft. for 1 hour. Also beginning at level ten, your unarmed strike uses a d10 for damage if your strength is above 16.

#### 14th Level

##### Fast Reflexes

Beginning at level fourteen, enemies have disadvantage when they attempt to make an opportunity attack against you while you’re raging. If they fail, you may use your reaction to deal an unarmed strike against them. Also starting at level fourteen, your unarmed strike uses a d12 for damage if your strength is above 18.