Grapples are something that makes it harder to keep your rage going
How?
You need to attack a hostile creature or take damage to keep your rage going. As both initiating a grapple and shoving are "special melee attacks", these should satisfy it. After that, you always have an enemy there to attack, plus they will probably be attacking you, which means there will probably also be damage taken. Therefore, I would respectfully suggest that it improves your chances of keeping your rage going.
Grapples are something that makes it harder to keep your rage going which is to your advantage while doing it because actual damage dealing potential on both sides is less.
Grappling can actually help to prolong Rage by ensuring a target can't get out of your reach so you can't fail to attack them at all.
Specifically regarding the strength of the Bite attack I suggested a bonus action grapple instead of the somewhat disappointing heal effect, as this would allow a Bitebarian to still make a full number of attacks and also grapple if at least one of them hit, which would make grappling a lot easier/less costly.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Grapples are something that makes it harder to keep your rage going which is to your advantage while doing it because actual damage dealing potential on both sides is less.
Grappling can actually help to prolong Rage by ensuring a target can't get out of your reach so you can't fail to attack them at all.
Specifically regarding the strength of the Bite attack I suggested a bonus action grapple instead of the somewhat disappointing heal effect, as this would allow a Bitebarian to still make a full number of attacks and also grapple if at least one of them hit, which make grappling a lot easier/less costly.
Edit: Ninja'd by Urth/my slow posting.
initiating the Grapple is an attack. maintaining it is simply a matter of not letting go and them not escaping. Escaping doesn't actually require them to attack or hurt you. Assuming they want to escape, And Also assuming that they aren't still going to attack somebody else nearby besides the barbarian. Even if your held down sometimes other close by targets are just potentially easier to hit. Since the Grappled Condition only reduces your movement speed. not your ability to attack.
Grapples are something that makes it harder to keep your rage going which is to your advantage while doing it because actual damage dealing potential on both sides is less.
Grappling can actually help to prolong Rage by ensuring a target can't get out of your reach so you can't fail to attack them at all.
Specifically regarding the strength of the Bite attack I suggested a bonus action grapple instead of the somewhat disappointing heal effect, as this would allow a Bitebarian to still make a full number of attacks and also grapple if at least one of them hit, which make grappling a lot easier/less costly.
Edit: Ninja'd by Urth/my slow posting.
initiating the Grapple is an attack. maintaining it is simply a matter of not letting go and them not escaping. Escaping doesn't actually require them to attack or hurt you. Assuming they want to escape, And Also assuming that they aren't still going to attack somebody else nearby besides the barbarian. Even if your held down sometimes other close by targets are just potentially easier to hit. Since the Grappled Condition only reduces your movement speed. not your ability to attack.
As a barb you simply have to attempt to attack to maintain rage...not hit. If you aren't swinging on the thing you have grappled then I am not sure why you have it grappled.
Also the tail would be better (again) in this scenario as you can attack things from farther away with the reach on the tail. So even if you didn't want to attack the thing you had grappled you could still move with the grappled creature and have a better chance of getting in range to attack something else.
initiating the Grapple is an attack. maintaining it is simply a matter of not letting go and them not escaping
But, unless they escape, you have a target in range to attack. Even for a normal, non-beast Barbarian, you can still use an unarmed strike even with no free hand, so you always have the option of attacking (unless they have some ability to prevent that, which would probably still be the case if you were not grappling). So, I can't really see how it makes it any more likely that you drop out of rage.
Changing it to grant temp HP equal to your level plus an ability modifier every round just for landing an attack would shift the pendulum fully in the other direction and make it an absurdly overpowered ability. Especially on top of the Barbarian's damage resistances while raging.
Just curious do you have an issue with the Warlock and Monk mechanics then?
This would also be an issue with the formula, not using Temporary HP as opposed to Regular HP.
There are other ways to structure the Temporary HP... but Temporary HP is a good buffer against stacking. eg.
Con Mod + Barb Level once per rage / when you begin your rage
Con Mod + 1/2 Barb Level w/ or w/out bonus action requirement
Con Mod + Barb Level that can be used once per turn a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus / Con Mod per long rest
This is would be for playtesting. What are your recommendations? Are you happy with it as is?
Con mod + anything is much, much too powerful.
Con mod regular hp (not temp) once per round or half proficiency bonus rounded up on every attack, regular hp not temp is much much more balanced.
Changing it to grant temp HP equal to your level plus an ability modifier every round just for landing an attack would shift the pendulum fully in the other direction and make it an absurdly overpowered ability. Especially on top of the Barbarian's damage resistances while raging.
Just curious do you have an issue with the Warlock and Monk mechanics then?
This would also be an issue with the formula, not using Temporary HP as opposed to Regular HP.
There are other ways to structure the Temporary HP... but Temporary HP is a good buffer against stacking. eg.
Con Mod + Barb Level once per rage / when you begin your rage
Con Mod + 1/2 Barb Level w/ or w/out bonus action requirement
Con Mod + Barb Level that can be used once per turn a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus / Con Mod per long rest
This is would be for playtesting. What are your recommendations? Are you happy with it as is?
Con mod + anything is much, much too powerful.
Con mod regular hp (not temp) once per round or half proficiency bonus rounded up on every attack, regular hp not temp is much much more balanced.
Con mod regular hp every round is radically stronger than Con mod * 2 THP per round, you know. Regular HP is additive - if the barbarian doesn't take any damage, it stacks. THP isn't - if the barbarian doesn't take any damage, their THP stays where it is.
I would have it work like Bardic Inspiration dice (in particular, aping the way Swords Bards do it): Con mod times per short rest you can add your proficiency die to the bite's damage and gain whatever you roll on it as THP.
Changing it to grant temp HP equal to your level plus an ability modifier every round just for landing an attack would shift the pendulum fully in the other direction and make it an absurdly overpowered ability. Especially on top of the Barbarian's damage resistances while raging.
Just curious do you have an issue with the Warlock and Monk mechanics then?
This would also be an issue with the formula, not using Temporary HP as opposed to Regular HP.
There are other ways to structure the Temporary HP... but Temporary HP is a good buffer against stacking. eg.
Con Mod + Barb Level once per rage / when you begin your rage
Con Mod + 1/2 Barb Level w/ or w/out bonus action requirement
Con Mod + Barb Level that can be used once per turn a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus / Con Mod per long rest
This is would be for playtesting. What are your recommendations? Are you happy with it as is?
Con mod + anything is much, much too powerful.
Con mod regular hp (not temp) once per round or half proficiency bonus rounded up on every attack, regular hp not temp is much much more balanced.
Con mod regular hp every round is radically stronger than Con mod * 2 THP per round, you know. Regular HP is additive - if the barbarian doesn't take any damage, it stacks. THP isn't - if the barbarian doesn't take any damage, their THP stays where it is.
I would have it work like Bardic Inspiration dice (in particular, aping the way Swords Bards do it): Con mod times per short rest you can add your proficiency die to the bite's damage and gain whatever you roll on it as THP.
Yes but the feature now is almost too weak to even be considered a ribbon.
Grapples are something that makes it harder to keep your rage going which is to your advantage while doing it because actual damage dealing potential on both sides is less.
Grappling can actually help to prolong Rage by ensuring a target can't get out of your reach so you can't fail to attack them at all.
Specifically regarding the strength of the Bite attack I suggested a bonus action grapple instead of the somewhat disappointing heal effect, as this would allow a Bitebarian to still make a full number of attacks and also grapple if at least one of them hit, which make grappling a lot easier/less costly.
Edit: Ninja'd by Urth/my slow posting.
initiating the Grapple is an attack. maintaining it is simply a matter of not letting go and them not escaping. Escaping doesn't actually require them to attack or hurt you. Assuming they want to escape, And Also assuming that they aren't still going to attack somebody else nearby besides the barbarian. Even if your held down sometimes other close by targets are just potentially easier to hit. Since the Grappled Condition only reduces your movement speed. not your ability to attack.
As a barb you simply have to attempt to attack to maintain rage...not hit. If you aren't swinging on the thing you have grappled then I am not sure why you have it grappled.
Also the tail would be better (again) in this scenario as you can attack things from farther away with the reach on the tail. So even if you didn't want to attack the thing you had grappled you could still move with the grappled creature and have a better chance of getting in range to attack something else.
In addition, you can still use the tail to roll a d8 and add it to your AC to thwart an attack, potentially saving you from more damage than you would have healed with your bite.
I think the auto-grapple suggestion makes more sense for the class and provides a good strategic reason to pick the bite attack for beastbarians. Damage plus control is worth sacrificing a stronger attack. Perhaps limit it slightly by imposing disadvantage for any two-handed weapon attacks (which seem unrealistic when your face is locked on the target’s body)? So no PAM plus GWM against a target you are bite-grappling.
it also pairs well with the other suggestion that Call of the Wild simply gives you all three beast weapons. The beastbarian would then bite and claw-claw, while defending itself with its tail. The beastbarian then has control and relatively good damage, which seems appropriate for a 14th level ability.
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How?
You need to attack a hostile creature or take damage to keep your rage going. As both initiating a grapple and shoving are "special melee attacks", these should satisfy it. After that, you always have an enemy there to attack, plus they will probably be attacking you, which means there will probably also be damage taken. Therefore, I would respectfully suggest that it improves your chances of keeping your rage going.
I'm not sure of your reasoning on this?
Rage ends if you don't take damage and don't attack; you don't have to hit. Also, grapples and shoves are still a form of attack, they just don't involve an attack roll.
Grappling can actually help to prolong Rage by ensuring a target can't get out of your reach so you can't fail to attack them at all.
Specifically regarding the strength of the Bite attack I suggested a bonus action grapple instead of the somewhat disappointing heal effect, as this would allow a Bitebarian to still make a full number of attacks and also grapple if at least one of them hit, which would make grappling a lot easier/less costly.
Edit: Ninja'd by Urth/my slow posting.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
initiating the Grapple is an attack. maintaining it is simply a matter of not letting go and them not escaping. Escaping doesn't actually require them to attack or hurt you. Assuming they want to escape, And Also assuming that they aren't still going to attack somebody else nearby besides the barbarian. Even if your held down sometimes other close by targets are just potentially easier to hit. Since the Grappled Condition only reduces your movement speed. not your ability to attack.
As a barb you simply have to attempt to attack to maintain rage...not hit. If you aren't swinging on the thing you have grappled then I am not sure why you have it grappled.
Also the tail would be better (again) in this scenario as you can attack things from farther away with the reach on the tail. So even if you didn't want to attack the thing you had grappled you could still move with the grappled creature and have a better chance of getting in range to attack something else.
But, unless they escape, you have a target in range to attack. Even for a normal, non-beast Barbarian, you can still use an unarmed strike even with no free hand, so you always have the option of attacking (unless they have some ability to prevent that, which would probably still be the case if you were not grappling). So, I can't really see how it makes it any more likely that you drop out of rage.
Con mod + anything is much, much too powerful.
Con mod regular hp (not temp) once per round or half proficiency bonus rounded up on every attack, regular hp not temp is much much more balanced.
Con mod regular hp every round is radically stronger than Con mod * 2 THP per round, you know. Regular HP is additive - if the barbarian doesn't take any damage, it stacks. THP isn't - if the barbarian doesn't take any damage, their THP stays where it is.
I would have it work like Bardic Inspiration dice (in particular, aping the way Swords Bards do it): Con mod times per short rest you can add your proficiency die to the bite's damage and gain whatever you roll on it as THP.
Yes but the feature now is almost too weak to even be considered a ribbon.
In addition, you can still use the tail to roll a d8 and add it to your AC to thwart an attack, potentially saving you from more damage than you would have healed with your bite.
I think the auto-grapple suggestion makes more sense for the class and provides a good strategic reason to pick the bite attack for beastbarians. Damage plus control is worth sacrificing a stronger attack. Perhaps limit it slightly by imposing disadvantage for any two-handed weapon attacks (which seem unrealistic when your face is locked on the target’s body)? So no PAM plus GWM against a target you are bite-grappling.
it also pairs well with the other suggestion that Call of the Wild simply gives you all three beast weapons. The beastbarian would then bite and claw-claw, while defending itself with its tail. The beastbarian then has control and relatively good damage, which seems appropriate for a 14th level ability.