The Barbarian Subclass Everyone Forgets About

Get Access to Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt, a Soulsborne and Lovecraft inspired DnD setting book: www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

[@MonkeyDM]

I'll be honest I also forgot it existed, and upon reading about it, I will forget about it again :)

[@ZeroTwo--]

Yes

[@Complex_assault]

Ah yes, Gurruk, the first planswalker I ever pulled. Wish they did more with him. Oh yeah there's also the one dwarf... uhh... From the legend of Drizzt. Bruenor's freind. He was a battlerager. And that's about it.

[@EvilFrosty2U]

I never knew it existed and after exiting this short I may very well forgot about it right away

[@TheGearmachine]

I had a homebrew idea with a few DM friends and myself to make it actually viable, to make the damage increase by 1D4 per every barbarian level, and damage dealt to attacking enemies increase by 1 for every other level +constitution. We were never able to run with it, but I always felt like it would have been fun. Also the armour came with the subclass, so if the character is broke, it’s fine, like it would be makeshift at first and only gain half benefit, until the character was able to find the armour

[@isaactelesco2141]

I'm working on a rewrite great enough to please morridin. If you would like a copy sent to you, let me know

[@rappinrodney]

Don't forget that the subclass is also racially locked to Dwarves only

[@SkeithSheep]

Bruh

[@dimonddefender567]

They gave us this and not the arcane jolt apprentice mages get

[@tincat2347]

Well I guess that kinda makes sense to me and the armor cost also makes to me because it has to be master crafted by the dwarves. Thus it would kinda make sense that only they get it because, to them it would waste materials to make the armor bigger or more often

[@infinitytower8957]

@@tincat2347 Halflings and Gnomes are far, far smaller, by default Dwarves aren’t even small I believe (though maybe that change with MoTM)

[@maxinesenior596]

@@infinitytower8957 by MotM you can be medium or small no matter what race you are, with no negative to your movement. It's awkward with dwarves tho cause they've got 25 move and are medium

[@anthonycannet1305]

The problem with battle ranger is that the damage doesn’t scale, the armor is expensive, and the abilities you get are almost all at the wrong levels…

[@anthonycannet1305]

The 18th level spiked retribution should be earned at 3rd level and scale with your level, the 3rd level ability should be the 6th level ability to bonus action spike and add spike damage to grapples, the 6th level ability which gives temporary hp on reckless attack should be scrapped entirely and replaced with an actually useful 18th level ability, and the 10th level ability to bonus action dash should come with some charge attack effect like “when you dash you can ram into a large or smaller creature. That creature makes a dex save and takes spike damage on a failed save, then if they took spike damage they make a contested strength check and get knocked prone if they fail.”

[@lautaromoreno3916]

Wow, you reworked it pretty well pretty fast. I'd some non-combat related feature early on too, tho.

[@Deer67]

It's 75 gp for the same stats as a breastplate that costs 400 gp.

[@dragonhearthx8369]

@@anthonycannet1305 I actually like the temporary hit points. You should almost always be recklessly attacking. But it should be based off your level.

[@tiagobarbosa8262]

It’s like if it was taken from an Upside Down Unearthed Arcana, where the classes also don’t get approved but instead of that being because they are too op is because they’re too shitty.

[@disendromeder4347]

I mean it's pretty strong If you're the size of a hedgehog

[@luggy9256]

Well you do need to be a dwarf…

[@kamchatmonk]

It really shines when you're swallowed.

[@SoraDolla]

It's the natural Wizard counter, you know, having 1d4 damage and all

[@PhoenixAce]

Even a fuckin Wizard can survive that!

[@demonwolf8024]

@@PhoenixAce Wizard dies from 1d4 Surviving damage....

[@Mikey-ve6wd]

@@demonwolf8024 I get the joke 1d4 kills wizards but that was before 5e, I think they used 1d4 on level up back then🤔. I suppose the joke only counts now if a wizard rolls badly and dump stats Con. By that point, I think they're actually trying to die.

[@demonwolf8024]

@@Mikey-ve6wd Wizard dies from 1d4 Getting The Joke damage. Wizard then takes an extra 1d4 New Edition damage and skips Death Saves...

[@duskgaming18]

@@PhoenixAce But wait! It's 1d4...+ Strength Mod...:0 But yeah you...can get the same effect by just using a Dagger

[@orlandoflorida4500]

I hope wizards revises the battlerager in the future

[@matapavosgamer]

It's called WIZARDS of the coast, not barbarians of the coast, they almost ignore martial classes, sadly

[@orlandoflorida4500]

How would one revise battlerager though it’s kind of trash anyway. One can remove the dwarven prerequisite and buff its damage, but you still have to BUY the armor…

[@lanceyoungblood9267]

@@orlandoflorida4500 you start with regular plate armor. You can spend 2 hours making bone spikes out of recently defeated enemies and attach them to your armor. The amount of spikes is 1d4 plus your barb level. During combat you can take an entire action to body slam an enemy, impaling half the spikes rounded down, into that enemy. Damaging the spikes in a way that they cannot be used again. For each spike impaled deals an additional 2 damage to the target. There the worst barb class just became the second most fun to play.

[@Kevin-zz9du]

Locked to transgender dwarves. That'll be wotc's change... lmao. Fuck them. Homebrew it.

[@RangerRealmStudios]

If I'm not mistaken they were first introduced in AD&D in the complete book of dwarves. They were alot more interesting to play back then! In one of the games I played with a friend my dm allowed me to incorporate some of the old abilities, which made it alot more fun and scaled surprisingly well

[@markbrener1259]

It's based on the R.A. Salvatore The Legend of Drizzt books in the 90s. There was a dwarf named Thibbledorf Pwent, who led a battalion of battleragers nicknamed the Gutbuster Brigade, who all wore that spiked armor. There was no planning, no thinking involved in their style of fighting. They'd charge straight into the enemy hopped up on dru-- potions, and would spread chaos and disease wherever they pleased. Reading it was incredibly entertaining!!

[@lordzaboem]

Thank you

[@Dragowolf_Rising]

The problem with this interpretation is that battleragers wear full plate, modified to interlock into an impenetrable shell. It should be a fighter subclass with some barbarian like features or it should be a barbarian that can rage in heavy armor.

[@Zombiewithabowtie]

I've made a Battlerager recently, and I'm quite looking forward to playing them. I've done a couple of choices and tweaks which help it out somewhat; First, I've taken the Unarmed Fighting Style with Fighting Initiate. This means that, bare handed, I'm doing 1d8+STR (which, since the class also deals damage when grappling, I would be doing anyway, since I'd need a one handed or versatile weapon to keep one hand free to grapple.) And it also means I'm doing 1d4 damage every round I maintain the grapple. Grappling as a Barbarian can be very important, as it lets you lock an opponent down, and the rules for grappling also let you climb onto creatures larger than you. Second, and directly linked to the first point, I've grabbed the Eldritch Claw Tattoo (Tasha's CoE). This makes all my unarmed Strikes magical, gives a +1 to attack and damage, and can be empowered for one minute to give my melee attacks a range of 15 feet and an extra 1d6 force damage, which also tags onto the bonus action 1d4, meaning that that bonus action then deals an average of 7+STR+Rage up to 15 feet away, which is a bit more worthwhile. Third, the class does 3 piercing damage when you successfully grapple someone. My DM's agreed to allow that to stand whenever the enemy fails to escape the grapple too, as well as letting that damage scale if I get magical armour (+1 Armour does 4 damage, etc). It's not too much, but it's a little extra on the side. Finally, while the capstone abilities are a bit naff, the 6th and 10th level abilities are at least worth mentioning. The former grants you temporary hp equal to your CON mod every time you Reckless, and considering you're only taking half damage from physical attacks that's going to help eat a lot of damage (providing you have decent CON, and... I mean, you're a Barbarian, come on). This can get a bit overshadowed at higher levels, and if I were DM I'd consider making it PB+CON, cos at absolute most that's 11 temporary HP per round that invites advantage, while an Artillerist Artificer can (in theory) give up to 32 people up to 13 temporary HP as a bonus action. The latter allows you to Dash as a bonus action. Even if you commit to playing this class as Dwarf only, as a Barbarian, that's hugely powerful. Even without Squat Nimbleness or Mobile, you can cover 70 feet and still attack twice, which can be of huge benefit in getting you where you need to be on the map in a hurry. This is my "I want to play this badly imbalanced subclass, please be kind" essay, thanks for reading.

[@jamesedwards2869]

Lots of good ideas, if I give this class a try it’ll DEFINITELY be with these tweaks

[@dsargus3]

I think you did it, you made that subclass work ^^ congratulation!

[@riccardocalosso5688]

Hats off to you. It sucks tho, that you have to sacrifice 2 feats, and have to barter with the dm to make the class just playable. Those features should be part of the subclass to begin with.

[@Zombiewithabowtie]

@@riccardocalosso5688 It's only one feat, the Tattoo is an uncommon magic item, if you're playing an unarmed fighter who isn't a Monk at Level 6 or above it's practically a necessity to make your Unarmed Strikes magical. It helps that after racial bonuses (I'm playing a Warforged), I've got 16 STR and 18 CON, so I can afford to take the Feat.

[@wolfielagg]

One useful thing to note is that nothing is stopping you from applying different types of poisons to your armor before combat. Poisons might not be the greatest overall but with this subclass every little bit of extra counts.

[@gaelcastaneda7158]

That subclass is such ass it makes sense no one remembers it

[@mosesferney1722]

People forget that it is better than the beserker and storm herald subclasses. Those are even worse. (In my opinion obviously)

[@jeremiahwalton7580]

@@mosesferney1722 I'm sorry you're just flat out wrong here man, the battlerager gets 0 useful abilities, the storm herald can do some decent aoe chip damage as a bonus action and you also get some really common resistances which you can switch up when you gain a level, and also give that to your friends at a decent level. Berserker is pretty meh but if you've got a cleric who always preps greater restoration you should be good to go

[@beyondblood2707]

@@jeremiahwalton7580 berserker would be good if they didn't give you a level of exhaustion. I don't think it would be broken to outright remove the negative, but an alternative would be the effect of a haste getting cancelled where you're gimped for just a turn

[@jeremiahwalton7580]

@@beyondblood2707 oh I'm not saying it's amazing or anything but like I said greater restoration cures it so at higher levels it's manageable, also the fear effect and immune to charm and fright while raging is also pretty sweet

[@mosesferney1722]

@@jeremiahwalton7580 The berserker gets some pretty good abilities. With the bonus action attack you get to add your strength and rage bonus to the damage. This is way more than storm herald desert option. The level 6 feature offers some temp HP every round very similar to the Tundra option from storm herald. Getting into melee as a barbarian is a necessity. Dashing as a bonus action can save you an entire round of attacks. The level 14 ability is meh but on the other hand it is free damage so better than nothing and can add up during a fight.

[@Karmasu_L]

This subclass can be replaced by a first level spell that doesn't even cost concentration.

[@theirishviking9278]

Think I have a cantrip that deals a d10 of damage

[@mordisgaminggedons5119]

One should really make a Party consisting of Undying Warlock, Battlerager, un revised Ranger and 4 Elements Monk. It would be the ultimate Loser Party!

[@AtholAnderson]

@@mordisgaminggedons5119 TPK after encountering a large dog and 2 angry kobolds

[@tylerdetert5459]

Thibbledorf Pwent was one of my favorite characters. I always loved the dwarves that Salvatore wrote.

[@dicegoblin6484]

I REMEMBER THE BATTLERAGER! Gotta love Thibbledorf Pwent

[@PieBoy4242]

A truly cultured individual, you are.. Stabby hugs for everyone!

[@runzumarun4925]

This subclass just feels like it was slapped together under 5 minutes before they needed to release it

[@callmeobsequious]

"The barbarian everyone forgets about" "Is it Battlerager?" "Remember Battlerager?" "It's Battlerager." It's not even that I forget it exists. I just don't play dwarves like that. My interests lie in elf lore.

[@gabrialsperka422]

Elven lore is awesome, I love it :) magic lore is also super interesting, although that often goes hand in hand with elf lore

[@Sundowner69420]

You’re either a Dwarf fan, or an Elf enjoyer

[@hirokimura1316]

Leaf lovers, clearly

[@mutenroshie]

I just remember Pwent, but he seemed to have some homebrew powers who made him more powerful. Well still a great character, story wise.

[@punishedwhispers1218]

You sure he's just not from an actually good edition?

[@Noveler00]

I didn't forget this barbarian subclass, I've chosen to ignore it.

[@Frankly_Amazing2000]

I tried a grung Battlerager in a setting where the race restriction was waved…and our fist enemy were statues that couldn’t be harmed

[@thesongbird1679]

I love battlerager barb. Combine it with minotaur's charge/gore ability to become a spiked bullet train of pain. Not the strongest by a long shot, but a hilarious way to do combat.

[@DrakeLord213]

Sadly you cannot. Battlerager is a Dwarf only subclass, and for whatever reason, unlike Bladesinger it doesn't have the stipulation that it can be taught to other races. Obviously your DM can overrule this, as it's quite dumb, but even then the class is... very bad. Flavor is there for sure, but you will feel pretty bad in combat. Speaking from experience here

[@CashySwanson]

Why does this bring back so much nostalgia ???

[@georgeuferov1497]

Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide as always outdid itself

[@jtjr26]

They really screwed up by the numbers when coming up with this subclass.

[@luggy9256]

I mean the same goes for berserker, if you need to fight more than a few battles, you either can’t rage, become useless, or risk dying of exhaustion… Good thing there is 2 top tier subclasses for barbarian to make up for the bad ones….

[@joshwoodferd5737]

@@luggy9256 also the fact you can't even use the main benefit of a frenzy in the same turn you turn it on. Bonus action to Rage/Frenzy. Frenzy gives you a bonus action option for attacking. Whiiiich you can't use til the following turn. Not only do you need to wait a full turn, but that also means you run the risk of not being in range to try and hit something or being hit, and your rage falls off.

[@luggy9256]

@@joshwoodferd5737 yep, really not a good option is it?

[@braydenweis9190]

This is one of the things about 5e that made me really upset, in RA Salvatore's books The Battle ranger is an amazing warrior that tears people to shreds. They fight to the very end and are very chaotic. But in 5e, they just suck.

[@kman227hj]

I came here looking for a reference to the mighty Thibbledorf Pwent. Absolutely loved him in the books Maybe if they give the subclass poison and bleeding it could make up the damage?

[@Serrath431]

@@kman227hj My comment was about the mighty Pwent sir. A hero through and through.

[@thedrunkengreybeareddwarf8431]

I just learned about the new giant barbarian subclass that enable you to throw great axes and ive decided to use it at some point

[@exomancer3632]

The subclass does have one not bad feature: Temp HP (albeit a tiny amount) every time you Recklessly Attack (which you can and should do every turn).

[@blackwingdragonmasta]

That's literally the worst feature

[@JazzJackrabbit]

Well, the bonus action attack DOES add your strength modifier and your rage bonus. That's probably the best part of the class!

[@Lugon-Hirn]

Well you can take the feat polearm master that does the sames damages but better because it's give you another bonus And if you take this feat you can take another subclasses that are all better that battle rager Sorry for my probably bad english

[@davidstratton696]

Theirs other ways to get a bonus action attack that either does the same dmg or more. Someone already mentioned Polearm master but theirs also great weapon master or dual wielding (pick up fighting initiate to get the fighting style to add to your offhand). I would say berserker Barbarian but they suck as well. Exhaustion sucks!!! And it gives u an extra bonus attack and I just gave u multiple other ways to get that without getting exhaustion. Even just the first lv of exhaustion sucks cause it’s disadvantage on all ability checks (which includes initiative).

[@bonzwah1]

The 5e source books are more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules XD

[@roetemeteor]

Someone's been getting the same Pirates of the Caribbean shorts that I have.

[@frankbelmont1565]

Lazy as fuck compared to previous editions

[@objectionheresay9668]

Exactly

[@TheAzureblaze]

I think they had these in the Drizzt Do’urden books… they were a wild breed. They’d hug their enemies with their spiked and ridged armor, and shake furiously lmao

[@MonsieurPenguin_]

Yet another npc I'm immediately adding to the campaign, thank you

[@lordzaboem]

They probably make great NPCs: memorable characters and scaling over time isn't an issue.

[@spencerengland1593]

I know this one from the Drizz books, they're absolutely gross in them

[@shinon748]

They're such an amazing concept from how the novels describes them. Shame they didn't translate that well to the table top game.

[@kryptos4812]

What about you make a video buffing/overhauling it (?)

[@theenduriangamer5509]

This is my favourite barbarian subclass. yes, I homebrewed it to fix it, but don't insult my dwarven spikey boi

[@soMeRandoM670]

Whats the fix

[@LordOfIntrusiveThoughts]

I can't even imagine why such an amazing subclass was forgotten

[@skullsquad900]

I love the concept And have been waiting to play it for a while *my HB version that is actually playable anyway lol

[@MildlyInfuriating]

All i learned was just, "barbarian."

[@sumdumcanine8969]

Hey, I can kill like, a whole wizard with this bonus action

[@alsenddrake7764]

Don't forget when you forget the spike damage half the time! XD I'm playing a Demi-Dragon who ATM has the spiked scales Misfits Adaptation, and I ALWAYS forget the piercing damage!

[@cydude5856]

We as a community need to take the sucky subclasses like GOOlock, Battlerager, scout, etc and jus rework them.

[@luggy9256]

There is a lot of useless subclasses…

[@punishedwhispers1218]

Scout is fine. I think we need to focus on the worst *full class* that doesn't even function. Monk.

[@cydude5856]

@@punishedwhispers1218 in what way is monk bad and scout good?

[@punishedwhispers1218]

@@cydude5856 Let's see, you need to dump all your resources to do less damage than every other martial, you have terrible ac for a class that's expected to do melee, you can't benefit from any good items or feats, you have terrible hp, need three good stats to function, and have to rely on a tiny pool of resources to do what other classes do better for free. So yes, scout is better. You do your job of slap a fistful of d6s into people and not get touched *really* well.

[@luggy9256]

@@punishedwhispers1218 monk has the issue or being total crap early so people forget it doesn’t suck later

[@somegoodsoup7008]

When I was think8ng battlerager I was thinking more of taking advantage of the barbarian's rage and turning it into some kind of Super Saiyan/Akari type thing. *I WASN'T THINKING THE THORNS ENCHANTMENT, GOOD LORD THUS SUBCLASS IS SHIT*

[@mosesferney1722]

At least it is better than beserker and storm herald. People don’t give it credit for that.

[@luggy9256]

@@mosesferney1722 better than berserker I get, but I would argue storm herald is better, even if it requires a specific campaign to be good.

[@mosesferney1722]

@@luggy9256 What do you mean specific campaign? Tell me what type of campaign would it be good in. Even in heightened temperatures, your party would still need a way to survive in the cold/heat/water rendering it not very useful.

[@luggy9256]

@@mosesferney1722 well any campaign that starts at a higher level automatically makes it better than battlerager, because it actually gets damage scaling. But to be be an actual good pick, I’m too tired to think of a reason I would want it over totem or zealot barbarian…

[@crapshot321]

After watching this short, I am beginning to see why everyone has forgotten about this subclass.

[@Anonymous_Individual]

I read the title and the first word in my head was battlerager. I adore this subclass with my whole heart

[@robertlagerqvist2114]

Well, its a poor subclass, dwarf locked and in one of the least known books :p nothing to miss

[@shinon748]

One of the least known TABLETOP book. In the Drizzt novels they show up regularly and are actually badass. They were invented in the novels first and WOTC just couldn't translate it well to the tabletop game.

[@colewegner7576]

What book is it in?

[@shinon748]

@@colewegner7576 Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

[@Dark_3333]

3 damage! Perfect against lv1 wizards!

[@punishedwhispers1218]

Perfect against level 1 any class, except wizards because they'll just cast grease on you or something

[@akaawesom5134]

Dude so far the dnd Eldrich hunt dude it so cool see so many people come together and investing in something amazing.

[@WiscoDbo]

You always pick such nostalgic music to accompany these videos.

[@covenant05]

Ahhh my memories reading about Drizzt and his adventures

[@FinalShieldnobi]

So, I made a lot of changes to the Battlerager and to the Spiked Armor itself. For the armor, I made the spikes deal 1d6, also I gave it a special property where if you roll a 19 or 20 on your attack roll, the enemy gets "punctured" and loses 1 ac. Finally, I made it so battleragers can turn any medium armor into Spiked Armor using Leatherworker's or Smith Tools with 1 hour of work.

[@farman2table]

Absolutely love that Garruk art you used

[@dustinmcneil1119]

Thank you for hitting my nostalgia strings with ocarina of time music brother

[@lucasramey6427]

I'd say the subclass is only really good as a grappler grung so you can deal Poison damage along with the poisoned condition mix that with the rune knight and you got yourself a pretty unique playstyle

[@lordzaboem]

Huh, I was thinking of mixing the Battle Rager with the Alchemist Artificer. I actually like your Poisoner plan better.

[@lucasramey6427]

@@lordzaboem yeah grung stuff happens when you hit with a piercing weapon for the poison damage (the bonus action attack) and contact for the poisoned effect (also taking the grapple attack action will allow you to do the bonus action attack since grappling counts as an attack) Just make your dm away of what you hope to do otherwise you might get hit with the literally almost every creature is immune or resistant to Poison

[@wolfflamekindl9339]

The battlerager can easily be reworked to fit a more proper "you gain heavy armor proficiency and can rage in heavy armor" theme. Level 3 could also let you use your armor weight to push opponents around; you can perform a shove as a bonus action and can choose which direction you shove opponents. Maybe at level 6 you could use a reaction when you get hit with a melee attack to grapple a large or smaller creature. Throw in ritual mending and/or Smith's tool proficiency at level 10 and some sort of grapple specific heavy hitter at 14, maybe you can add your constitution modifier to your damage against grappled opponents or something.

[@williamhemming8228]

2nd edition Battleragers were beasts. Bonus action, enhanced stats, extra hit points, spell immunities, etc. Fantastic dwarf class

[@Lord_of_commencement]

I thought you were gonna talk about zealot, but this is even more obscure

[@luggy9256]

Least the zealot is good.

[@masterd4964]

Thibbledorf Pwent from R.A Salvatore's books and his entire brigade of battleragers were just insane badasses. 5E really missed the bus just like they did with the monk class.

[@dylanloveland7628]

I absolutely love the concept of it, because it reminds me so much of Kirk from dark souls. In my campaigns I edited the subclass to be more handy, and also anyone can use it if they are taught by dwarves

[@DanMarik]

Only reason why I knew of Battleragers was the “Gutbuster Brigade” from the ‘Legend of Drizzt’. They were nuts attacking as a team and just rolling over the goblins…

[@donatczene-polgar8387]

In the novels battleragers like Pwent were my fav characters, because they are so unique, funny, and cool at the same time. I would love to see the subclass get some justice and play it one day, because it could be insanely fun

[@Osprixx]

My brother played a dwarf battlerager and it was pretty crazy. He built it completely around pugilist/grappler playstyle and was able to singlehandedly lock down the biggest threat in most combats… for the whole combat.

[@mosesferney1722]

This subclass is actually pretty ok considering it is better that beserker and storm herald. It is a solid subclass to play, especially their level 6 feature which will you a reasonable amount of HP during an entire adventuring day.

[@kaorifujimiya1358]

"...dealing 1d4 damage!" Just enough to kill a wizard!

[@duskgaming18]

A Level 1 Wizard *Level 20 Wizard still dies of 1d4 Weak Sause Damage*

[@punishedwhispers1218]

@@duskgaming18 >Polymorph I'm now the best martial in the game

[@xCanadianWookie]

I took a spin on this with my first ever character. He was a Tortle Paladin that wore a spiked covering over his shell. Whenever a creature made an unarmed melee attack from behind, it did 1d4 piercing damage. Homebrew, yes, made the tortle better, also yes.

[@Darkangxl]

I used it in a multiclass meme build recently. Unarmed fighting fighter, monk, and battlerager with grappler feat. Honestly was pretty fun for the one-shot we did and actually held his own, even if it was a bit of a one trick pony. Grapple, punch punch, flurry of blows.

[@johnfinch6351]

It is just like 4, we don't talk about disastrous failures

[@thecacklinggoblin1452]

We fixed it at my table by making the bonus action scale like a martial arts die, and making the damage on being hit 1d4 +proficiency so it scales at all with level

[@SonAlexander]

OG Battleragers from 3rd Edition we’re SICK. The point was you have spikes armor and you became a GRAPPLER. So you just became a dwarven blender to most things. Not to mention you were a CC character to a challenging opponent.

[@hunterbeach9941]

I like the idea of a barbarian subclass that is a 1/3rd caster, with exceptions to the barbarian rage rules for concentration and spellcasting

[@BolasMinion]

I kid you not, Battlerager was the first to come to mind for me the moment you said Barbarian

[@danielverkest1718]

There is one that gives you rage beyond death that is my favorite for an unstoppable ultimate shield

[@user-yd4tj9db5q]

-Oath Of Throwing It Back -One Shot Quips

[@moth-queen]

The first game of D&D I ever joined, one of the players played this class, this was my introduction to barbarian... lol.

[@rogersharp1650]

My absolute favorite fighter kit from 2e. Look what they did to my boy 😢 my Thibbledorf Pwent

[@SolarFlairIsBestPony]

Oh I didn't forget. This is my go to bad subclass example. Its also technically for dwarves only unless your DM says otherwise.

[@acerbusthedarkenvtuber5684]

In one of the campaigns I'm in my character is dating a Battlerager Barbarian, so I could never forget about it.

[@WolfHreda]

When you think about the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, this is one of the low points. If I remember right, it originally introduced the Swashbuckler Rogue, one of its highlights. To this day, I don't think any singular book has been so hit or miss.

[@bleach-kun]

The revised battlerager is more magical than gimmicky. Basically an aura of spikes shrouds your character while they're raging, dealing 1d8 damage to creatures that get within five feet of you, at later levels creatures targeting your for attacks gain disadvantage, you gain the ability to frighten anyone who attacks you a number of times equal to your proficiency modifier, when you attack you can bonus action grapple your opponent dealing 1d8 piercing damage and knocking them prone. At 10th level your spike auras damage extends to 10 feet instead of 5. You gain advantage in intimidation checks when covered in your spike aura. Your capstone allows you to goad a target or targets to attack you, and you gain +5 temporary HP for each target that fails the goad check, and they are forced to target you and you alone. It's alright, I tried it out in a home game and it has pretty decent play, especially if you put yourself porpoisely in the middle of a hoard of enemies, dealing pretty decent damage.

[@bjorntrier7587]

Storm Herold barbarian....I really enjoyed that subclass. It's fun for Roleplay And has its utility

[@pagingdoctorsideburns]

Saves you from having to take Polearm Master to get an attack (also a d4) as a bonus action, which is one of the best ways to inflate your damage as a barb. It’s not about the size of the damage die, it’s another chance to add your Str mod and your rage bonus damage. The level 6 feature is you also get temp HP when you use reckless, which you should be doing every turn anyway. It is a million times better than something like Berserker and more flavorful than being yet another Bear totem Barb.

[@jeremiahrobert6144]

Thanks now I have to forget it all over again

[@bobsmith7066]

Add to all that that you used to have to be a dwarf to use it, and battle rager is quite possible the only subclass worse than undying warlock.

[@toxiclunch]

Kirk armor dwarf gutbuster was awesome!

[@pepperbunz9093]

Sounds like a challenge to homebrew it into something good for my table 🤔

[@dannydavis18]

Yes i remember this vividly, as I made a gnome who went into this and I loved him

[@bregenoranthoran1820]

It is until you realize the bonus action attack does not say you must take the attack action in order to make the attack. This means you can take all sorts of actions and still get a strength+rage bonus hit in as well. When you pair this with the feats Durable and dwarven resilience you get a massive pool of hitpoints that can just tank while still getting hits in. I do think they should add features that modify the armor's effect AC as you level up but at levels 10 or below it can be awesome.

[@aaasht2606]

I did not know of it, and now i shall proceed to force myself into forgettin

[@FireCheetah12]

Beserker Barbarian: we heard you like barbarian so we put more barbarian in your barbarian

[@hunterbarnett4893]

A long time ago I remade this subclass for my games, I basically made it just a secondary alternative to a “this class but more” subclass, so basically straight Barbarian alternative. I also reworked Spiked Armor, basically it gets default Battlerager benefits: -Do 1d4+Str Piercing as a Melee Weapon Attack. -Deal 3 Piercing damage whenever you Grapple a Target. -Deal 3 Piercing damage whenever you’re hit by a melee weapon attack from a creature. So that’s why they’re not mentioned in this rework: 3rd) While wearing Spiked Armor your attacks with it increase to 1d8+Str Piercing damage and you can attack with it as a Bonus Action. Additionally, whenever you Rage as a Bonus Action you can make two additional attacks using your Spiked Armor. Whenever you Grapple a creature any melee weapon attacks an ally makes against the creature has advantage on the attack roll. 6th) You can take the Dash Action as a Bonus Action while Raging, as well as this, whenever you enter your Rage or use your Reckless Attack feature during your Rage you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to your Constitution Modifier, you loose any of these Temporary Hit Points whenever your Rage ends. Additionally, while wearing your Spiked Armor and you’re hit by an attack, you reduce the damage you take from Bludgeoning, Piercing, or Slashing damage you take by 5 points of damage. 10th) Whenever a creature hits you with an attack or casts a spell while within 5ft of you you can use your Reaction to make Two (2) attacks using your Spiked Armor against the creature, you make these attacks after taking the attacks damage but before a creature finishes casting a spell. Additionally, whenever you use your Reckless Attack to make an attack with your Spiked Armor you gain a +5 to the damage roll of the attack. 14th) You can attack Three (3) times instead of Twice (2) using the Attack Action. Additionally, whenever you make a melee weapon attack you can expend a number of Hit Dice up to your Constitution Modifier Modifier and add it to your attacks damage roll, you can choose to do this after seeing the attack’s roll but before you know the result of the roll.

[@Mikey-ve6wd]

My 2 cents on this: 3rd and 6th are fine but bonus actions like that you should be weary of. 10th is basically clairvoyance. All reactions happen *after* the triggering event. I can't remember what page it's on but that's a big thing, specially for readied actions which are a type of reaction. So the way you worded that ability essentially makes it an ability that predicts the future. On that note, there's no lag time between spells and their casting. When a spell is cast, it happens immediately, there's no wait period. Hence the reason why teleportation effects supercede the Mage Slayer feat. If a spellcaster is knocked out before they cast a spell, the spell simply doesn't happen because the casting can't be completed. Again though, the way you wrote it is that this ability is one that's straight up a divination kind of ability or one that effects time itself. Edit: Revising my original input - 14th is entirely fine, great actually. It's useful and you put a limit on it so it doesn't trivialize every encounter. All of which is fantastic.

[@VWgamer20]

A way to buff the capstone is to make a d6 roll and depending on how much you rolled you would do that much damage in return. Ex: you get hit for 24 damage and you get a 2 you would do 2/6 of that damage back, so you would do 8 damage back in this example (if it’s uneven you round down)

[@mosesferney1722]

The bonus action attack is actually good when you consider that some barbarians don’t have a way to consistently use their bonus action. You also get to add strength and rage bonus to the attack.

[@mosesferney1722]

Also, in my opinion, it is better than beserker and storm herald. Those also had bonus action gimmicks that only did like 1d6 plus nothing and one that gives you exhaustion.

[@argiedude3762]

Only with lack of imagination, have a Goliath ally throw you while you also jump from his hand, you have two strength checks there, and then you add those to an enemy. And if thr DM allows it, add your hit with your axe. The fast ball special.

[@chesterthetester7446]

As yes, the well known Barbarian Planeswalker in Magic the Gathering, Garruk

[@Fella_friend]

We balanced this to be. Every point of damage resisted is dealt back to your enemy. As a bonus action you can shell up reducing your movement to 0 and if you’ve moved reducing your movement next turn for the amount spent. The final ability being as a reaction to reflect half the damage dealt to your allies within 5ft and all the damage you take. This feature grants resistance to all forms of damage to your allies and immunity to all but force and physic damage only being resisted. 2 times per long rest And some other stuff. Still not as strong as a lot of other things though

[@Nexsyana]

My favourite barbarian subclass is definitely Beast... Four attacks, extra ac, heal on hit. Athletic based jumping, monk like wallrun. Ways to force saves and oh my god is call the hunt glorious. I am currently working on making an optimised but flavourful beast barbarian MC, would love tips(monk doesn't work for the theme). Their whole flavour is wolves, either through ranger beastmaster, moon druid or shifter/lycantropy

[@clarkside4493]

I suspect it'll get reprinted in the eventual Dark Sun book.

[@tanjirohuman9276]

Just remember dnd is a ttrpg there is roleplay involved, so this class could be perfect for them so it’s not bad

[@spatan9835]

Here’s some ideas for BattleRager: Buff the capstone defensive ability to at least 10 per hit, and give you an additional 1d4 unarmed piercing damage which scales to +2d4 at level 8, +3d4 at 12, and +4d4 at level 16. Also add a feature that makes your unarmed attacks while wearing this armor count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances. I’d also add a feature that allows you to force spikes to erupt out around you in a 10ft radius, forcing the enemies to make a dex save or take something like 6d6 or 6d8 piercing damage, half on a successful save. You could do this a number of times equal to either your strength or constitution modifier per long rest (whichever is higher). This ability would be able to be used while raging. I’d also remove the racial lock on the subclass.

[@wolas321]

Its first ability is actually really good, 1d4+mod is equivalent to polearm master which is arguably the strongest feat in the game(though mostly because it can be combined to excellent effect with GWM). Getting access to a bonus action attack is huge for martials and not all of them get it without investing into TWF and the extra flat damage added to it from rage really stacks on. The problem is the rest of the subclass.

[@matheusbellini9461]

I forced myself to forget it but now I remember it

[@Serrath431]

Ahhhh the sub class of the Pwents. My dude Thibbledorf Pwent was a hilarious, loyal, fierce, drunkard and friend. That any dwarf king would be honored to have by their side.

[@MrAllen1049]

dont forget about the rage bonus on all those attacks and bonus actions

[@anthonycannet1305]

I know all too well about the battle ranger because a friend of mine was trying desperately to make it work and I had to hear all about his complaints and how underpowered it is

[@lordzaboem]

Like the Beast Master Ranger, the Battle Rager might be better suited for NPCs who remain at a specific experience than PCs who are supposed to scale over time.