Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you can go into a frenzy when you rage. If you do so, for the duration of your rage you can make a single melee weapon attack as a bonus action on each of your turns after this one. When your rage ends, you are incapacitated until the end of your next turn.
Intimidating Presence
Beginning at 10th level, you can use your action to frighten someone with your menacing presence. When you do so, choose one creature that you can see within 30 feet of you. If the creature can see or hear you, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier) or be frightened of you until the end of your next turn. This effect ends if the creature ends its turn out of line of sight or more than 60 feet away from you.
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"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
If intimidating presence needs improved, ability modifier is only a small part of it. My concern is that intimidation is one of the examples given for the improvise action. So having an intimidation action class feature, both raises questions about improvise and feels like a waisted class feature.
Dropbear, your fix is more straightforward than mine and I like it.
For my own version I tweaked Frenzy a bit more and fiddled with the later options. See Frenzy below and the full subclass in the link.
Frenzy
Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you can choose to go into a frenzy when you rage. If you do so you gain all the benefits of rage and for the duration of your frenzy you can make a single melee weapon attack as a bonus action on each of your turns after this one. Additionally at the start of your frenzy you gain temporary hit points equal to your barbarian level times two and during your frenzy you are not affected by any levels of exhaustion you may have. When your frenzy ends, you suffer one level of exhaustion, any temporary hits points gained are lost and you once again suffer the effects of exhaustion levels.
Beginning at 11th level your frenzy no longer causes you to suffer a level of exhaustion when it ends.
Looks like a good solution to both, I tended to use constitution for the stats bonus on the Intimidating presence as it seemed to be more the ancillary "power stat" for a Barbarian much like wisdom is for a monk (but strength works too). While the incapacitated moves Frenzy to be a bit more akin to the effect of a Haste spell.
Frenzy Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, whenever you use Reckless Attack you may attack an additional time.
This sounds like what a frenzy is to me. More attacks, less concern for your own safety. No exhaustion. No bonus action wasting. Just improving an existing barb skill.
Since few combats last until Rage ends, you've effectively just removed the drawback and the barbarian still gets an additional bonus action attack every turn. Being incapacitated for 6 seconds after combat has ended is meaningless.
Frenzy gives exhaustion because it's extremely powerful. For a 3rd level character using a great weapon, it's a 100% damage output increase. For a 5th-20th level character it's a 50% damage increase.
Yeah, I'd agree this is not a good fix. Most of the time you are just momentarily in the fetal position after the fight is over.
And the other times? It's already a huge bummer when you lose Rage due to enemies being too far apart or a spell that prevents you from attacking or any number of circumstances that might occur in encounters that aren't a single room full of goblins. Like to the point that most people I know don't want to play barbarians at all just due to the difficulty of keeping Rage up. Making the most disheartening part of the class even worse is not the way I'd go.
Yeah, I'd agree this is not a good fix. Most of the time you are just momentarily in the fetal position after the fight is over.
And the other times? It's already a huge bummer when you lose Rage due to enemies being too far apart or a spell that prevents you from attacking or any number of circumstances that might occur in encounters that aren't a single room full of goblins. Like to the point that most people I know don't want to play barbarians at all just due to the difficulty of keeping Rage up. Making the most disheartening part of the class even worse is not the way I'd go.
I've not often found my players have thought that deeply about classes that they want to play, they mostly just go with a character idea rather than deep readings of the rules (though I do have a couple of those two).
Barbarians are the best tank, and one of the best damage dealers in the game and rage is a big part. If you're doing the weirdly recommended 6-8 encounters per long rest, you shouldn't need to rage every fight, since you'll be taking a couple of short rests, and the encounters are going to mostly be cake-walks anyway. If you're doing a more reasonable 3-4 deadly encounters per long rest (which is way more fun, totally manageable and better balanced), then you should have enough rages to see you through anyway.
Even if Frenzy is just considered a "once per day" ability, it's still extremely powerful. What melee class wouldn't take the opportunity for an additional attack each turn?
The only thing I don't like about Frenzy is that it eats the bonus action, meaning you can't do two weapon fighting. That seems weird for a berserker. I'd like to see a Berserker using Dual Wielder and a battleaxe in each hand, but since you can't bonus attack with two weapon fighting and frenzy at the same time it's kind of redundant.
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Frenzy
Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you can go into a frenzy when you rage. If you do so, for the duration of your rage you can make a single melee weapon attack as a bonus action on each of your turns after this one. When your rage ends, you are incapacitated until the end of your next turn.
Intimidating Presence
Beginning at 10th level, you can use your action to frighten someone with your menacing presence. When you do so, choose one creature that you can see within 30 feet of you. If the creature can see or hear you, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier) or be frightened of you until the end of your next turn. This effect ends if the creature ends its turn out of line of sight or more than 60 feet away from you.
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
― Oscar Wilde.
I like your fix to frenzy.
If intimidating presence needs improved, ability modifier is only a small part of it. My concern is that intimidation is one of the examples given for the improvise action. So having an intimidation action class feature, both raises questions about improvise and feels like a waisted class feature.
Dropbear, your fix is more straightforward than mine and I like it.
For my own version I tweaked Frenzy a bit more and fiddled with the later options. See Frenzy below and the full subclass in the link.
Frenzy
Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you can choose to go into a frenzy when you rage. If you do so you gain all the benefits of rage and for the duration of your frenzy you can make a single melee weapon attack as a bonus action on each of your turns after this one. Additionally at the start of your frenzy you gain temporary hit points equal to your barbarian level times two and during your frenzy you are not affected by any levels of exhaustion you may have. When your frenzy ends, you suffer one level of exhaustion, any temporary hits points gained are lost and you once again suffer the effects of exhaustion levels.
Beginning at 11th level your frenzy no longer causes you to suffer a level of exhaustion when it ends.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/subclasses/52363-path-of-the-frenzied-berserker
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats
Looks like a good solution to both, I tended to use constitution for the stats bonus on the Intimidating presence as it seemed to be more the ancillary "power stat" for a Barbarian much like wisdom is for a monk (but strength works too). While the incapacitated moves Frenzy to be a bit more akin to the effect of a Haste spell.
- Loswaith
Wondering if this is a good idea:
Frenzy
Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, whenever you use Reckless Attack you may attack an additional time.
This sounds like what a frenzy is to me. More attacks, less concern for your own safety. No exhaustion. No bonus action wasting. Just improving an existing barb skill.
This is a good idea and very much in line with my image of the subclass.
Maybe add a debuff after like the haste one. Just cause it should be taxing to go into a frenzy.
Since few combats last until Rage ends, you've effectively just removed the drawback and the barbarian still gets an additional bonus action attack every turn. Being incapacitated for 6 seconds after combat has ended is meaningless.
Frenzy gives exhaustion because it's extremely powerful. For a 3rd level character using a great weapon, it's a 100% damage output increase. For a 5th-20th level character it's a 50% damage increase.
Yeah, I'd agree this is not a good fix. Most of the time you are just momentarily in the fetal position after the fight is over.
And the other times? It's already a huge bummer when you lose Rage due to enemies being too far apart or a spell that prevents you from attacking or any number of circumstances that might occur in encounters that aren't a single room full of goblins. Like to the point that most people I know don't want to play barbarians at all just due to the difficulty of keeping Rage up. Making the most disheartening part of the class even worse is not the way I'd go.
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
I've not often found my players have thought that deeply about classes that they want to play, they mostly just go with a character idea rather than deep readings of the rules (though I do have a couple of those two).
Barbarians are the best tank, and one of the best damage dealers in the game and rage is a big part. If you're doing the weirdly recommended 6-8 encounters per long rest, you shouldn't need to rage every fight, since you'll be taking a couple of short rests, and the encounters are going to mostly be cake-walks anyway. If you're doing a more reasonable 3-4 deadly encounters per long rest (which is way more fun, totally manageable and better balanced), then you should have enough rages to see you through anyway.
Even if Frenzy is just considered a "once per day" ability, it's still extremely powerful. What melee class wouldn't take the opportunity for an additional attack each turn?
The only thing I don't like about Frenzy is that it eats the bonus action, meaning you can't do two weapon fighting. That seems weird for a berserker. I'd like to see a Berserker using Dual Wielder and a battleaxe in each hand, but since you can't bonus attack with two weapon fighting and frenzy at the same time it's kind of redundant.