Some warriors learn the art of combat through years of training. Some develop strength through calm and meditative discipline. The barbarian, however, uses pure emotion to gain power. They learn to craft pain, anger, hatred, or sorrow into a well of potential strength. Channeling this passion into their abilities, the barbarian can transform themselves in ways other fighters cannot.
Level
Combat Proficiency Bonus
New Abilities
1st
+1
Rage Pool, Improved Grappling, Rage Channels, Unarmored Expertise
Armor Proficiency: Light and Medium Armor Proficiency, Shield Proficiency
Other: Unarmed Combat Proficiency
Improved Grappling (Ex)
You have the Improved Grappling ability, allowing you to use your level + strength bonus in place of your athletics score when making grappling checks.
Unarmored Expertise (Ex)
You are comfortable training with minimal armor. You gain the Unarmored Expertise ability.
Rage Pool (Ex)
Your combat is fueled by intense emotion, whether that's anger, fear, sorrow, a sense of loss, or others. Your feelings augment your natural abilities, giving them focus and empowering them. Your emotional reserves are measured by rage points, which you can use to power your barbarian abilities. Your rage pool has a number of points equal to your barbarian level + your CON bonus. Every time you take a short rest, you gain all your rage points back again.
Emotional Channels (Ex)
As a barbarian, you can channel the emotion from your Rage Pool into a transformative state. This state can improve your reflexes, make you stronger, or focus your mind. At level 1, choose two of the following channels for your rage.
Adrenaline: You are able to push your body into a high adrenaline state. While in this state, you gain an extra reaction.
Dreadful Presence: Your display of pure rage and other emotions is terrible to behold. While active, whenever you successfully hit a target with a melee attack, you can use a bonus action to make an Intimidation check to demoralize the target.
Elemental Zeal: You channel your emotions, surging with power from one particular energy type. When you learn Elemental Zeal, choose from acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage. While channeling elemental zeal, you gain a +2 bonus to damage. Half the total damage you deal is of your chosen damage type, while the other half is normal weapon damage.
Feral: You transform into a feral, animal-like creature, ready to tear apart those in your way. While in this state, you gain a special bite attack, which you can use as a bonus action. This attack deals piercing damage equal to 1d6 + strength and can be combined with either weapon or natural attacks.
Focus: You channel emotion into a very focused direction, enhancing your abilities. You gain advantage on strength and constitution-based rolls (skills, saves, and ability checks).
Frenzy: You work yourself up into a frenzy, lashing out at enemies around you. While in a frenzy you gain +2 bonus to melee and thrown attacks.
Juggernaut: Your rage transforms you physically, turning your body into an unstoppable force. While a juggernaut, you gain weapon resistance 1.
Mystical Disdain: You find supernatural or religious phenomena to be particularly distasteful. By focusing on this disdain for the supernatural, you have developed a mind particularly resistant to its effects. While in this state, you gain advantage on saving throws meant to resist the effects of spells. Even friendly spells are resisted, forcing you to make a WIS saving throw (at advantage) if the spell otherwise doesn't require one.
Activating one of these emotional channels is a free action, though you must spend 1 point of rage each round it is active. You can have more than one channel active, but you must pay the rage costs separately for each channel you have open.
Closing an emotional channel properly requires a standard action. Each channel must be closed separately. If you fall unconscious, run out of rage points, or choose to simply drop a rage channel recklessly, you gain one point of fatigue for each channel that closes.
Whenever you gain a new level, you can improve a channel you know by selecting one enhancement to it. Instead of enhancing a channel, you may also instead choose to acquire a new channel altogether. See Channel Improvements, below.
Rage Abilities (Ex)
At level 2 you gain one of the following abilities, fueled by your rage pool.
Burst of Speed: By expending a point of rage, you can use a bonus action to move up to half your movement speed. This movement is in addition to any you might do using your movement action. If you are in an adrenaline rush and have Enhanced Adrenaline, you can use both your bonus actions to move up to your movement speed, expending only one point of rage.
Ground Breaker: You can attack the floor around you as a standard action that uses one point of rage. This attack automatically hits, and the space you occupy and all of the squares adjacent to you become difficult terrain. Creatures in these squares, except you, must make a DC 15 Strength save or be knocked prone.
Guarded Life: When you are reduced to 0 hit points, can use 2 points of rage to automatically stabilize. You may only use this ability once per long rest.
Powerful Blow: You focus your rage into a single powerful blow. Attempting a powerful blow takes a standard action. If successful, you use one point of rage and your damage gains a +1 bonus per barbarian level.
Reckless Attack: By using a point of rage, you gain advantage to all melee attacks you make during this turn, but enemies have advantage on all attacks against you until your next turn.
Renewed Vigor: As a bonus action, you can expend a number of rage points up to half your Barbarian level. For each point you spend, you heal yourself for 1d6 + Con worth of hit points.
Rolling Dodge: As a reaction to a successful attack, you can add a +4 dodge bonus to your AC against a single attack. This uses 1 point of rage.
Smasher: You can use one rage point when making a sunder action to halve the object's hardness.
At level 4 and every three levels afterward (levels 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, and 19), you may choose another ability.
Uncanny Abilities (Ex)
At level 5, you gain the Uncanny Dodge and Danger Sense abilities, even if you don't meet the prerequisites.
Extra Attacks (Ex)
At level 6 and again at level 11, you gain an extra attack that you can make when making a full attack. In a full attack, all attacks except for your first ones are made at a -5 penalty.
Improved Channeling (Ex)
At level 8, you can close a channel as a bonus action.
Greater Channeling (Ex)
At level 14, you can close all channels at once.
Unstoppable Rage (Ex)
At level 20, you cannot die while channeling your rage. When you reach 0 hit points, you remain conscious and fully functional, though you must make death saves and take CON damage, as usual. If you reach maximum CON damage while raging, you become staggered but otherwise continue to live until you drop out of your rage, at which point you immediately die.
Channel Improvements
Adrenaline Rush
Each time you improve this emotional channel, you may choose from one of the following enhancements.
Enhanced Reflexes: You gain another reaction while in your adrenaline state. You can take this enhancement multiple times, and each reaction you gain stacks to a maximum of four reactions.
Frenetic Headbutt: While in an adrenaline rush, you can use a bonus action to hit a target with a headbutt, dealing 1d4+strength damage.
Human Shield: As a reaction, while you are in a grapple with a creature in your adrenaline state, you can make a grapple check against that creature to gain half cover against a single attack. If you are successful and your attacker's cover roll fails, then the attack targets the creature you used as cover, using the same attack roll. The cover you gain ends after the attack is resolved.
Quick Parry: While in an adrenaline rush, you can use one point of rage and a reaction to parry an attack, as per the fighter technique parry.
Reflexive Dodge: While in an adrenaline rush, as a reaction, you can use a point of rage to attempt to re-roll a failed Dexterity save.
Quick Imbibe: While in an adrenaline rush, you can drink potions as a bonus action.
Quick Poison: While in an adrenaline rush, you can use a bonus action (instead of a movement action) to apply poison to your weapon. This still requires a DC 15 poison check.
Quick Throw: While in an adrenaline rush, you can use a bonus action to throw an opponent as part of an initial grapple check. This functions as per the quick throw technique, except that you do not need to meet its prerequisites.
Side-Step: Any time an opponent misses you with a melee attack while you are in an adrenaline rush, you may move 5 feet as a reaction. This movement doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity.
Swift Aid: While in an adrenaline rush, you can use a bonus action to aid an ally. This functions as per the swift aid technique, except that you don't need to meet its prerequisites.
At level 6, each time you enhance your adrenaline state, you may also choose from the following.
Enhanced Adrenaline: While in your adrenaline state, you get two bonus actions instead of one.
Burst of Freedom: While in an adrenaline rush, as a bonus action you can make acrobatics check against any adjacent opponent's DCs. If you are successful, that creature does not get an attack of opportunity against you if you move from that threatened space.
Unexpected Strike: While in an adrenaline rush, you can make an attack of opportunity against a foe that moves into any square threatened by you.
Feral
Each time you improve this emotional channel, you may choose from one of the following enhancements.
Animal Senses: You gain the scent ability while in your feral state
Beast Sense: While in your feral state you can designate an animal within sight. For the duration of your feral state, no matter where the animal moves, you can see, hear, or smell what it does. This functions as per the beast sense spell.
Bloody Bite: Your bite attack deals 1d6 points of bleed damage in addition to its other effects.
Feral Ascent: While in your feral state, you gain a climb speed of 20.
Intimidating Charge: If you charge an opponent while in your feral state, you can make a free intimidation check against that opponent. If successful, the target doesn't gain advantage on attacks against you as a result of your charge.
Savage Jaw: The bite attack gains the grab ability. Whenever you hit with the bite attack, you may make a free grapple check. If successful, you latch on to your opponent and he is considered grappled.
Wild Empathy: You gain the Wild Empathy common ability while in your feral state.
At level 6, each time you enhance your feral state, you may also choose from the following.
Enhanced Bite: Your bite now deals 1d8 damage instead of 1d6. If you take this enhancement an additional time, it increases to 1d10.
Primal Scent (prerequisite: Animal Senses): When using scent ability, you temporarily gain Skill Focus on Track and Perception checks to pinpoint the location of creatures you cannot see.
Rend Flesh: Each time the attack roll for your bite attack beats the AC by 5 points, you rip flesh, adding +3 points of damage. If you beat the AC by 10, the bite deals an automatic critical hit.
Targeted Bite: You can use your bite attack as a standard action to attempt to blind or deafen a target by biting at or near their eyes or ears (assuming they have them). If your attack hits, it deals damage normally, but your target must make a CON save or be blinded or deafened (your choice) for a number of rounds equal to your prime ability modifier.
Dreadful Presence
Each time you improve this emotional channel, you may choose from one of the following enhancements.
Channel Fear: When you successfully demoralize a target with an Intimidation check while in your dreadful presence, you can choose to not inflict fear on your target. Instead, you feed on their fear and channel it back into an attack on that target, granting advantage on your next attack roll against them.
Consume Fear: You feed off the fear of those around you. Each time you successfully demoralize an opponent while in dreadful presence, you heal 1d6 hit points. You cannot use this ability on the same target twice in 24 hours.
Fearless: They are scared of you, not the other way around. You have immunity to fear effects while in dreadful presence.
Lingering Demoralization: Any demoralization you make while in dreadful presence, persists as long as dreadful presence remains active.
Unwavering Presence: You have advantage on saves made to resist enchantment or mental control while in your dreadful presence.
At level 6, each time you enhance your dreadful presence, you may also choose from the following.
Greater Dread: As a full-round action, you are able to make an intimidation check to demoralize all targets within 30 feet.
Battle Roar: When you successfully demoralize an opponent while in dreadful presence, you also deal 1d6 points of psychic damage to that opponent.
Cowering Dread (prerequisite: Greater Dread): When you use a full-round action to demoralize a crowd, all targets who fail their saves are considered flat-footed against you until the end of your next turn.
Terrifying Howl: When successfully demoralize an opponent while in dreadful presence, the target gains level 2 fear instead of level 1.
Elemental Zeal
Each time you improve this emotional channel, you may choose from one of the following enhancements.
Detect Energy: You can detect the presence of any item or effect within 60 feet that deals your type of elemental damage. This detection works through all barriers, no matter how thick, except lead. It also functions at all times, even when elemental zeal is not active.
Elemental Resistance: While zeal is active, you gain resistance to your chosen element equal to half your barbarian level.
Energy Absorption (prerequisite: Elemental Resistance): When you take elemental damage of your chosen type, you can choose not to use your resistance to reduce damage taken. At any time before your next rest, you can release this energy to heal a target a number of hit points equal to your energy resistance.
Greater Elemental Resistance (prerequisite: Elemental Resistance): Once per short rest, when Elemental Zeal is active, you can reduce damage by half from a single attack against which you have energy resistance (halve the damage, then apply resistance).
Enhanced Zeal: Your attacks gain another +2 damage. You can take this enhancement multiple times gaining the +2 bonus each time though your total bonus cannot be greater than half your barbarian level.
Full Elemental Zeal: When using elemental zeal, all of your melee damage can be elemental damage (instead of half).
Focus
Each time you improve this emotional channel, you may choose from one of the following enhancements.
Detect Magic: While your focus is active, you can detect magic, as if you were using the spell.
Discern Lies: While your focus is active, you automatically know whether a creature is lying or not.
Focused Defense: When your focus is active, full defense adds a +6 to your AC instead of +4.
Focused Proficiency: You gain a proficiency of your choice (Two-Weapon Fighting, Trapper, Locksmith, Performer, etc.). You may take Focused Proficiency multiple times, choosing a different proficiency each time. You do not need to have your focus activated to use these proficiencies.
Focused Skills: When you activate your focus, choose one skill. You gain Skill Focus in this skill as long as your focused channel remains active.
Improved Vision: You gain either low-light or darkvision while your focus is active.
Know your Enemy: While your focus is active, you can use a full-round action to reflect on a creature you encountered in the last day. You may make a knowledge check about that creature with a +10 competence bonus. You may not attempt this check twice on the same type of creature.
Knowledgeable: Your knowledge points per level increases to Medium (4 points per level). You do not need to be in your focus state for this to take effect.
Photographic Memory: While your focus is active, as a standard action you can instantly memorize one page worth of content (text, diagrams, etc.). The content of this page is permanently known to you and you are able to recite it verbatim. If you don’t know the language of the text, you still remember each word and can reproduce them, even if you don’t understand their meaning.
Rage Scream: By using one point of rage, as a standard action you can let off a focused burst of rage so frightening that it can stun a target. This functions as per the scream spell.
Siphon: Once per short rest, as a standard action you can siphon the strength of a target, channeling it back into you or an ally. This functions like the Siphon Might spell, except that you do not need to concentrate on it, and it lasts as long as your focus is active.
Tireless: You may ignore the effects of fatigue while your focus is activated.
At level 10, when you enhance your focus, you may also choose from the following.
Tremorsense: While your focus is active, you gain tremorsense 30.
Frenzy
Each time you improve this emotional channel, you may choose from one of the following enhancements.
Acrobatic Rage: While in a frenzy, you gain Skill Focus (Acrobatics)
Athletic Rage: While in a frenzy, you gain Skill Focus (Athletics)
Blind Flail: Obscured vision has less effect on you in a frenzy, as you wildly swing and flail at your target, hoping to hit something. In melee, you get a +3 to vision-based cover rolls. At level 6 and 12, this increases to +6 and +9. This bonus does not stack with Blind-Fight.
Brutal Frenzy: While in your frenzy, you also gain a bonus to damage equal to your frenzy attack bonus.
Fearless Frenzy: While in a frenzy, you are immune to level 1 fear effects and get advantage on saves against any effect that would instill level 2 fear or higher.
Frenzied Initiative: While in a frenzy, you can use an extra rage point to re-roll your initiative and use the new result, if better.
At level 8, you may also choose the following.
Enhanced Frenzy: Your frenzy attack bonus increases by +2. You can take this enhancement multiple times, increasing the bonus each time. Your frenzy attack bonus cannot increase to more than half your barbarian level.
Brutal Critical: When in a frenzy, you receive an enhancement to critical hit damage from melee weapons. Melee weapons that do X2 damage on a critical hit now do X3. Those that do X3, now do X4, and so forth. This boost does not stack with any other boosts to critical damage.
Juggernaut
Each time you improve this emotional channel, you may choose from one of the following enhancements.
Durable Body: While a juggernaut, each time you take ability damage, reduce the damage taken by 1 point.
Fast Healing: While a juggernaut, you also gain fast healing 2. If your health is full, your fast healing adds 2 points of temporary hit points each round (max = 2 temporary hit points per barbarian level).
Internal Fortitude: While a juggernaut, you are immune to any effect that causes you to be sick or nauseated, such as the effects from disease, sickening strikes, or stinking cloud.
Tough Hide: While a juggernaut, your natural armor bonus increases by +2. This stacks with any other natural armor bonuses you already have.
Unshakable Vitality: While a juggernaut, you are immune to death effects and life drain.
At level 6, each time you enhance your juggernaut form, you may also choose from the following.
Enhanced Juggernaut: Your weapon resistance increases to 2. At level 12, you may take this enhancement again, increasing it to 5.
Raging Vitality (prerequisite: Fast Healing): Your Fast Healing increases to 3.
Shrug Off: Once per short rest, you have one opportunity to completely shrug off serious damage from a single attack. Make a constitution save against the effect or attacker's DC. If successful, you take no damage from the effect. On a failure, you take half damage.
Ward Away: Once per short rest, you have the opportunity to use a reaction to attempt to swat one magical effect away without harm. The magical effect must target you directly (no area affect spells). For that effect only, you gain a temporary spell resistance equal to 15 + your barbarian level.
Mystical Disdain
Each time you improve this emotional channel, you may choose from one of the following enhancements.
Eater of Magic: Once per short rest, after you make a successful save against magic, you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to twice the effect's spell level. These temporary hit points last until mystical disdain is finished.
Improved Disdain: Mystical disdain also works against spell-like and supernatural abilities.
Ghost Rager: While raging with mystical disdain, you deal normal damage to incorporeal creatures even when using nonmagical weapons. You also gain a +3 dodge bonus against incorporeal creatures. This increases by 1 at 8th level and every 4 levels thereafter (to a maximum of +7 at 20th level).
Mage Slayer: While raging with mystical disdain, a creature provokes an attack of opportunity if it uses a spell or spell-like ability while you threaten it.
Smell Invisibility: While raging with mystical disdain, you gain the ability to smell invisible creatures. You automatically know if a creature within 30 feet of you is invisible. Furthermore, you know the direction of the invisible creature and can confirm its exact location when standing within 5 feet of it.
Smell Magic: You can detect magic at will by smelling it. This function as per the detect spell, except that your sense of smell does not detect magical auras through solid surfaces. You do not need to be in your disdain state to use this effect.
Teleport Tactician: While raging with mystical disdain, a creature provokes an attack of opportunity if it attempts to use teleportation magic while you threaten it.
At level 6, each time you enhance mystical disdain, you may also choose from the following.
Shatterspell: By using 3 points of rage, you can use a standard action to attempt to shatter an ongoing spell effect as if you had cast dispel magic at level 3. If the spell level is higher than level 3, you may make an attack roll against the caster's DC to attempt to destroy the effect. The attack roll can be either strength-based or dexterity-based and uses any bonuses you currently have active.
