Base Class: Barbarian
Some barbarians channel storms of emotion, others the fury of beasts - but a Living Dreadnaught embodies the relentless forces of iron itself. Where most warriors see heavy armor as a burden, these barbarians learn to move within it as though it were a second skin. They brace their bodies against steel plating, feel the weight settle into their bones, and embrace the drumbeat thunder of each step. In battle, they are not merely armored - they become the armor.
A Living Dreadnaught advances like a siege engine given breath. Their plating crashes into foes with bone-rattling impact, their greaves carve trenches into the soil, and their gauntlets strike with the full inevitability of a falling anvil. Every blow against them is turned aside or absorbed, redirected through iron channels and sheer physical will until the enemy’s assault breaks long before their resolve does.
Strength is not merely what you wield - it is what you can endure.
To face one is to be confronted by a charging iron monolith, a figure who shrugs off wounds that would fell lesser warriors, and who turns every impact into momentum. They are the fortress in motion, the bulwark that advances, the unstoppable force that refuses to yield.
Ironbound Ferocity
3rd Level Living Dreadnaught Feature
You gain proficiency with heavy armor, and wearing it no longer prevents you from raging or using any barbarian class features.
While wearing heavy armor, you gain the following benefits:
Armor as a Weapon
You can use your armor to strike or body-slam.
• Iron Bash: A melee unarmed attack using Strength, dealing 1d8 + Strength bludgeoning damage. You can make this attack as part of the Attack action or replace any unarmed strike with it.
At level 10, the damage of Iron Bash increases to 2d8 + Strength bludgeoning damage, and it is considered magical for the purposes of defeating resistances.
• Reinforced Fury
Your familiarity with armor allows you to twist with incoming blows, using your protection to your advantage.
When you take damage from a source you are aware of, you may use your reaction to roll one of your Hit Dice + your Constitution modifier and reduce the damage by the total.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum 1) so long as you have hit dice remaining, and regain all uses on a long rest.
The Bastion's Momentum
6th Level Living Dreadnaught Feature
Your armored ferocity makes you nearly unstoppable.
• Bulwark Advance
While raging and wearing heavy armor, you gain +15 ft. movement and are treated as one size larger for the purpose of shoving, grappling, and forced movement.
• Impact Shock
When you successfully shove a creature, or move into its space and stop (as with a body-check), it takes your Rage Damage + your Constitution modifier bludgeoning damage.
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Living Citadel
10th Level Living Dreadnaught Feature
Your armor becomes an extension of your will. You learn to distribute force through your plating, minimizing damage.
• Dreadnaught Plating
You gain Damage Reduction 5 against slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning damage, whether it be magical or nonmagical. If you are resistant to the damage you receive, the damage is reduced by your Damage Reduction first, before considering your resistances halving it further.
At 14th level, this Damage Reduction increases to 10.
• Unmoving
While raging and wearing heavy armor, your movement speed cannot be reduced, and you cannot be pushed or knocked prone unless you choose to be or fall unconscious.
The Juggernaut Reborn
14th Level Living Dreadnaught Feature
Your armor now answers your fury with its own strength.
• Armored Cataclysm
When you reduce damage using the Reinforced Fury reaction, you may immediately make one Iron Bash attack against a target within 5 feet of you as part of the same reaction.
If the Iron Bash hits, the target must also make a Strength save (DC 8 + Proficiency + Strength).
On a failure, you may either knock them prone or push them 10 feet.
• Titanic Crash
Once per long rest, as an action, you hurl yourself into your enemies. Move up to your speed; each creature whose space you pass through must make a Dexterity save (DC 8 + Proficiency + Strength) or take 5d10 magical bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone.
Creatures that succeed take half the damage and remain standing.
At level 18, you may perform Titanic Crash once per short or long rest.
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