Path of the Brawler

Barbarians who follow the Path of the Brawler are masters of street fighting, thriving in bare-knuckle brawls and barroom brawls where weapons are whatever you can grab. Whether you're throwing punches, smashing bottles, or swinging bar stools, you turn anything in your grasp into a deadly weapon.

Unrestrained by traditional combat styles, Brawlers are scrappy and unpredictable, using grapples, sucker punches, and dirty tricks to overpower foes. Their bodies become living weapons, hardened by countless fights in back alleys, taverns, and pit arenas. While other warriors wield steel, you fight with raw instinct, brute strength, and whatever’s within reach.

Level 3: Brawler’s Fury

At 3rd level, when you choose this path, your fists and improvised weapons become as deadly as any blade. You gain the following benefits:

• Your unarmed strikes and attacks with improvised weapons count as melee weapon attacks for all barbarian features (such as Rage and Reckless Attack).
• When making an unarmed strike or attacking with an improvised weapon, you deal 1d6 + your Strength modifier in bludgeoning damage. This damage increases as you gain levels in this class, as shown in the Brawler’s Damage Die table.
• You can roll a d4 in place of the normal damage of your offhand attack when you make an unarmed strike as a bonus action while Two-Weapon Fighting. This increases to a d6 at 6th level, a d8 at 10th level, and a d10 at 14th level.

Brawler’s Damage Die Table:

Barbarian Level	Brawler’s Damage Die
3rd	1d6
6th	1d8
10th	1d10
14th	1d12

Level 6: Barroom Bully

A true tavern brawler never runs out of things to swing. When you take the Attack action and all attacks before your bonus action were made using improvised weapons, you can make one additional improvised weapon attack as part of that bonus action.

• This attack follows the same damage progression as Brawler’s Fury.
• You must have an available improvised weapon to make this attack.

Level 6: Dirty Fighting

At 6th level, you learn how to fight dirty, using any means necessary to bring your foes down. You gain the following benefits:

• Grappler’s Edge. When you successfully grapple a creature, you can use a bonus action to make an unarmed strike against it.
• Opportunist. When a creature within 5 feet of you attacks an ally, you can use your reaction to make an unarmed strike or attack with an improvised weapon against that creature.
• Improvised Mastery. You are proficient with improvised weapons, and they now have the Thrown (20/60) property. If you throw an improvised weapon that isn't already magical, it counts as magical for overcoming resistances.

Level 10: Brawler's Toughness

At 10th level, your body has been hardened by countless brawls, making you incredibly resistant to damage and difficult to take down. You gain the following benefits:

• When you are not wearing armor, your AC equals 10 + your Strength modifier + your Constitution modifier (you can still use a shield).
• When you take damage from a melee weapon attack while raging, you can use your reaction to reduce the damage by an amount equal to your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier (minimum of 1).
• (In the current iteration of Homebrew, it is not possible to ignore the base feature Unarmored Defense. An updated release of this subclass homebrew will be available when WOTC makes it possible.) You will have to manually customize the removal of the DEX modifier to armor class until it is made automatic.

Level 14: Champion of the Pit

At 14th level, you have reached the pinnacle of hand-to-hand combat, becoming a true champion of street brawls, tavern fights, and pit arenas.

• Relentless Assault. When you use Reckless Attack, you can make one additional unarmed strike as a bonus action.
• Brutal Grappler. A creature grappled by you takes bludgeoning damage equal to your Strength modifier at the start of each of its turns.