This is a strength-based brawler. He's supposed to hit a little harder than a monk, but without the finesse or speed.
I borrowed quite a bit from the Path of the Beast subclass to try to keep it balanced.
I'm unsure about the option to make a light attack as a bonus action. It seemed like there should be some benefit if you're not wearing a shield, I just don't want the subclass to be too powerful.
Crippling Blows at 10th level introduced some fun control elements.
I thought about including Wisdom more for defensive purposes (like adding the Wisdom modifier to your AC when you take Dodge as an action), but I didn't want to add any more features to what may already be a pretty powerful class.
Thoughts or ideas?
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If you got a problem, yo, I'll solve it || Cast Fireball, that usually resolves it
I find turning Barbarian's few large attacks into many smaller attacks works against the core class, as Reckless Attack and Brutal Critical do not shine as well with small weapon dice as with a large weapon dice. In your subclass, a Barbarian with a great sword deals 2d6 with a single hit for the first two levels, and then they would ditch the sword to make two separate 1d6 unarmed strikes instead seems a bit of a waste for those core abilities Barbarians get.
If compared to a Monk, your subclass would get 3 attacks from level three onwards without any spent resources in battle, and 4 attacks at level five. This steps on the toes of a Monk player quite heavily. Granted, if there are no Monks in the game, this issue is not as relevant. Still, if this Barbarian gained access to an extra action, the number of attacks would get pretty big and the Rage damage bonus would begin to climb super high.
As I've seen mentioned before, a character that has no shields, weapons, or armor, will face the sad consequences of smaller magic item pool potential. This isn't as massive issue if the Barbarian uses a shield or armor, or if the DM can make them magical knuckles, bracers, boots, etc. But items anyone can wear, will draw the attention of any player, unlike a magical Great Sword. That's an aspect to consider.
Retaining the strength-based gameplay, I would pick the Fighting Initiate as a first level feat and start with a Monk, then instantly on second level, take 1 level dip into Barbarian. This combo would give similar damage output with the Rage adding on to those punch flurries, provide magical attacks at lvl 7 - and if Way of the Open Hand is picked, gives those combat utilities already at level 4.
If I could give any advice, I'd keep the number of attacks close to the other Barbarian builds, but turn the damage die into a bigger one. For example, if the barbarian chose your subclass and reverted to using their fists, I'd suggest something along the lines of Unarmed Fighting, such as the 3rd level ability.
Strong Blows
"At level 3, when raging, you toss aside your equipment and begin wailing on your enemies with your own hands"
Make unarmed strikes as 1d6+STR if they're wearing a shield, and make an improvised attack with the shield at 1+STR as a bonus action.
Make an unarmed strike as 2d6+STR if they're not wearing a shield, using both of your hands.
(No grapple business, getting too close to the feat)
I have not delved too deep into the Barbarian subclass abilities along the levels, but it seems lvl 6 marks some defensive utilities. But since Barbarian without a weapon needs to find another way of dealing damage to physical immunities, this gets tricky. Perhaps it gains a resistance to the type a magical target they manage to land a hit on, gives the Barbarian resistance to a type that creature does, and then can deal that damage themselves for the duration of their Rage? I'm not going to tap into the Crippling blows, as it seems like a feature that can be used to fix or unfix other aspects of this subclass later on. Brutal Spirits is the same as Berserker's Retaliation at the same level, so it works, I guess.
I've been looking for ways to make an unarmed Barbarian brawler work and came up with a subclass for it. Subclass in question:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/857893-path-of-the-street-brawler
The basics:
Thoughts or ideas?
If you got a problem, yo, I'll solve it || Cast Fireball, that usually resolves it
I find turning Barbarian's few large attacks into many smaller attacks works against the core class, as Reckless Attack and Brutal Critical do not shine as well with small weapon dice as with a large weapon dice. In your subclass, a Barbarian with a great sword deals 2d6 with a single hit for the first two levels, and then they would ditch the sword to make two separate 1d6 unarmed strikes instead seems a bit of a waste for those core abilities Barbarians get.
If compared to a Monk, your subclass would get 3 attacks from level three onwards without any spent resources in battle, and 4 attacks at level five. This steps on the toes of a Monk player quite heavily. Granted, if there are no Monks in the game, this issue is not as relevant. Still, if this Barbarian gained access to an extra action, the number of attacks would get pretty big and the Rage damage bonus would begin to climb super high.
As I've seen mentioned before, a character that has no shields, weapons, or armor, will face the sad consequences of smaller magic item pool potential. This isn't as massive issue if the Barbarian uses a shield or armor, or if the DM can make them magical knuckles, bracers, boots, etc. But items anyone can wear, will draw the attention of any player, unlike a magical Great Sword. That's an aspect to consider.
Retaining the strength-based gameplay, I would pick the Fighting Initiate as a first level feat and start with a Monk, then instantly on second level, take 1 level dip into Barbarian. This combo would give similar damage output with the Rage adding on to those punch flurries, provide magical attacks at lvl 7 - and if Way of the Open Hand is picked, gives those combat utilities already at level 4.
If I could give any advice, I'd keep the number of attacks close to the other Barbarian builds, but turn the damage die into a bigger one. For example, if the barbarian chose your subclass and reverted to using their fists, I'd suggest something along the lines of Unarmed Fighting, such as the 3rd level ability.
Strong Blows
"At level 3, when raging, you toss aside your equipment and begin wailing on your enemies with your own hands"
(No grapple business, getting too close to the feat)
I have not delved too deep into the Barbarian subclass abilities along the levels, but it seems lvl 6 marks some defensive utilities. But since Barbarian without a weapon needs to find another way of dealing damage to physical immunities, this gets tricky. Perhaps it gains a resistance to the type a magical target they manage to land a hit on, gives the Barbarian resistance to a type that creature does, and then can deal that damage themselves for the duration of their Rage?
I'm not going to tap into the Crippling blows, as it seems like a feature that can be used to fix or unfix other aspects of this subclass later on.
Brutal Spirits is the same as Berserker's Retaliation at the same level, so it works, I guess.
I hope some of this was useful to you!
Great feedback and things to ponder, thanks!
If you got a problem, yo, I'll solve it || Cast Fireball, that usually resolves it