I see that the D&D Beyond character builder factors the barbarian's strength bonus into each Form of the Beast attack. This, of course, makes complete sense, since they are described as melee weapon attacks, albeit simple ones. Since those abilities are only gained when the barbarian rages, why isn't the barbarian's rage damage bonus also factored into the total damage bonus? Or is is not applicable?
So that I articulate this point clearly, a 3rd level PotB barbarian has a strength of 17, giving the character a +3 to the listed Form of the Beast damage rolls. But to restate from TCoH:
When you enter your rage, you can transform, revealing the bestial power within you. Until the rage ends, you manifest a natural weapon. It counts as a simple melee weapon for you, and you add your Strength modifier to the attack and damage rolls when you attack with it, as normal.
The character builder/sheet details will display a damage bonus of, say, a Form of the Beast: Tail attack, as 1d8+3 piercing damage. Since this class ability is only available during a period of rage, why don't our character sheets also display the additional damage detailed in the base classes' description of Rage on the Barbarian table? From the PHB Barbarian class description for Rage:
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.
I would expect, given the descriptions available in the PHB and TCoH, that the damage for our hypothetical barbarian should be listed as Form of the Beast: Tail 1d8+5 (+3 for STR, +2 Barbarian Table Rage Damage for 3rd level). I enjoy math as much as the next person, but the detail could escape notice during a heated melee, or be ignored by VTT platforms like Foundry.
Again, my understanding and observations could be wrong. If so, thank you for your time and attention on the matter, and keep up the good work!
It's just something D&DB has not implemented. You are right that every instance of those attacks would by definition have the rage bonus, so the attack on your sheet is not right. Best solution I've found is to make a custom attack for it and use that one.
I'm sure it's on their radar, but they have a long list of issues to deal with.
It's just something D&DB has not implemented. You are right that every instance of those attacks would by definition have the rage bonus, so the attack on your sheet is not right. Best solution I've found is to make a custom attack for it and use that one.
I'm sure it's on their radar, but they have a long list of issues to deal with.
To be sure; I'm quite sure the D&D Beyond backlog is huge. But it costs nothing to make the point, and customization can only go so far. For example:
A half-orc fighter, say 3rd level with Great Weapon Fighting under his/her belt, is created. Wouldn't it be nice to know that, heaped upon the D&D Beyond backlog, the character sheet UI, upon rolling a critical when attacking with a glaive, will have the capability of adding an additional d10 to the damage result as an artifact of the character's Savage Attack and, going further, re-roll any damage die resulting in a 1 or 2? Luxury!
For those still wondering: 2 years later this is still an issue. But there is a very easy fix.
On a pc go to your character sheet. Go to the "actions" sheet. Click on the attack and a side bar will appear. Just below the name of the attack you will see the word "customize" click on that and a drop down will appear. On the damage bonus just add the amount corresponding to your "rage damage bonus" for your level. And it will change the numbers in the UI.
Much easier than making a custom weapon for each attack. Just remember to increase the bonus when you hit lv 9 and 16.
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I see that the D&D Beyond character builder factors the barbarian's strength bonus into each Form of the Beast attack. This, of course, makes complete sense, since they are described as melee weapon attacks, albeit simple ones. Since those abilities are only gained when the barbarian rages, why isn't the barbarian's rage damage bonus also factored into the total damage bonus? Or is is not applicable?
So that I articulate this point clearly, a 3rd level PotB barbarian has a strength of 17, giving the character a +3 to the listed Form of the Beast damage rolls. But to restate from TCoH:
The character builder/sheet details will display a damage bonus of, say, a Form of the Beast: Tail attack, as 1d8+3 piercing damage. Since this class ability is only available during a period of rage, why don't our character sheets also display the additional damage detailed in the base classes' description of Rage on the Barbarian table? From the PHB Barbarian class description for Rage:
I would expect, given the descriptions available in the PHB and TCoH, that the damage for our hypothetical barbarian should be listed as Form of the Beast: Tail 1d8+5 (+3 for STR, +2 Barbarian Table Rage Damage for 3rd level). I enjoy math as much as the next person, but the detail could escape notice during a heated melee, or be ignored by VTT platforms like Foundry.
Again, my understanding and observations could be wrong. If so, thank you for your time and attention on the matter, and keep up the good work!
It's just something D&DB has not implemented. You are right that every instance of those attacks would by definition have the rage bonus, so the attack on your sheet is not right. Best solution I've found is to make a custom attack for it and use that one.
I'm sure it's on their radar, but they have a long list of issues to deal with.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
To be sure; I'm quite sure the D&D Beyond backlog is huge. But it costs nothing to make the point, and customization can only go so far. For example:
A half-orc fighter, say 3rd level with Great Weapon Fighting under his/her belt, is created. Wouldn't it be nice to know that, heaped upon the D&D Beyond backlog, the character sheet UI, upon rolling a critical when attacking with a glaive, will have the capability of adding an additional d10 to the damage result as an artifact of the character's Savage Attack and, going further, re-roll any damage die resulting in a 1 or 2? Luxury!
For those still wondering: 2 years later this is still an issue. But there is a very easy fix.
On a pc go to your character sheet. Go to the "actions" sheet. Click on the attack and a side bar will appear. Just below the name of the attack you will see the word "customize" click on that and a drop down will appear. On the damage bonus just add the amount corresponding to your "rage damage bonus" for your level. And it will change the numbers in the UI.
Much easier than making a custom weapon for each attack. Just remember to increase the bonus when you hit lv 9 and 16.