Barbarian
These barbarians, different as they might be, are defined by their rage: unbridled, unquenchable, and unthinking fury. More than a mere emotion, their anger is the ferocity of a cornered predator, the unrelenting assault of a storm, the churning turmoil of the sea.
For some, their rage springs from a communion with fierce animal spirits. Others draw from a roiling reservoir of anger at a world full of pain. For every barbarian, rage is a power that fuels not just a battle frenzy but also uncanny reflexes, resilience, and feats of strength.
Primal Instinct
People of towns and cities take pride in how their civilized ways set them apart from animals, as if denying one’s own nature was a mark of superiority. To a barbarian, though, civilization is no virtue, but a sign of weakness. The strong embrace their animal nature—keen instincts, primal physicality, and ferocious rage. Barbarians are uncomfortable when hedged in by walls and crowds. They thrive in the wilds of their homelands: the tundra, jungle, or grasslands where their tribes live and hunt.
Barbarians come alive in the chaos of combat. They can enter a berserk state where rage takes over, giving them superhuman strength and resilience. A barbarian can draw on this reservoir of fury only a few times without resting, but those few rages are usually sufficient to defeat whatever threats arise.
Their courage in the face of danger makes barbarians perfectly suited for adventuring. Wandering is often a way of life for their native tribes, and the rootless life of the adventurer is little hardship for a barbarian. Some barbarians miss the close-knit family structures of the tribe, but eventually find them replaced by the bonds formed among the members of their adventuring parties.
Building a Barbarian
Hit Dice. \(1d12\) per barbarian level.
Proficiencies
Armor. You gain proficiency with light armor, medium armor, shields.
Weapons. You gain proficiency with simple weapons and martial weapons.
Tools. None.
Skills. Choose two from Animal Handling, Athletics, Intimidation, Nature, Perception, and Survival.
Saving Throws. Strength and Constitution are your saving throw proficiencies.
Equipment
You start with the following equipment:
- A greataxe or any martial melee weapon,
- two handaxes or any simple weapon,
- Explorers' pack and four javelins.
Barbarian Table:
| Level | Class Features Gained | Rages | Rage Damage | Proficiency Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Rage, Unarmored Defense | 2 | +2 | +2 |
| 2nd | Reckless Attack, Danger Sense | 2 | +2 | +2 |
| 3rd | Choose Barbarian Subclass, Primal Knowledge | 3 | +2 | +2 |
| 4th | Obtain Feat | 3 | +2 | +2 |
| 5th | Extra Attack, Fast Movement | 3 | +2 | +3 |
| 6th | Subclass Feature | 4 | +2 | +3 |
| 7th | Ferocious Instinct, Instinctive Pounce | 4 | +2 | +3 |
| 8th | Obtain Feat | 4 | +2 | +3 |
| 9th | Brutal Critical | 4 | +3 | +4 |
| 10th | Subclass Feature | 4 | +3 | +4 |
| 11th | Relentless Rage | 4 | +3 | +4 |
| 12th | Obtain Feat | 5 | +3 | +4 |
| 13th | 5 | +3 | +5 | |
| 14th | Subclass Feature | 5 | +3 | +5 |
| 15th | Persistent Rage | 5 | +3 | +5 |
| 16th | Obtain Feat | 5 | +4 | +5 |
| 17th | 6 | +4 | +6 | |
| 18th | Indomitable Might | 6 | +4 | +6 |
| 19th | Obtain Feat | 6 | +4 | +6 |
| 20th | Primal Champion | +4 | +6 |
Subclasses
At 3rd level, you choose a path that shapes the nature of your rage: Path of the Ancestral Guardian, Path of the Battlerager, Path of the Beast, Path of the Berserker, Path of the Giant, Path of the Storm Herald, Path of the Totem Warrior, Path of the Zealot, and Path of Wild Magic. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 10th, and 14th levels.
Class Features
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.
- 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 of times shown for your barbarian level in the Rages column, 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.
Reckless Attack
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 and spells. To gain this benefit, you can't be blinded, deafened, or incapacitated.
Primal Knowledge
When you reach 3rd level and again at 10th level, you gain proficiency in one skill of your choice from the list of skills available to barbarians at 1st 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.
Ferocious Instinct
At 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.
Instinctive Pounce
At 7th level, as part of the bonus action you take to enter your rage, you can move up to half your speed.
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.
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.
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.
Indomitable 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.
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.