Berserker

Role: Vanguard · Resource: Fury · Signature: Rage

An unstoppable force of wrath. An unarmored melee warrior who deals damage and can reduce incoming damage. A brawler.

• Primary abilities: Might, Resolve
• Class dice: 1d12

Proficiencies

• Ability proficiency level increase (choose two): Might, Dexterity, Resolve
• Skills (choose two): Taming, Athletics, Awareness, Intimidation, Knowledge: Nature, Survival
• Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
• Tools: None
• Armor: Light, shields

Class features

Fury. You gain 1 fury for every round you deal or take damage. Your fury maximum equals your Resolve score. You can expend points of fury before any attack. You lose all fury after a battle.

Class kit

Rage [1AP]. You imbue yourself with primal power, granting extraordinary might and resilience. You can enter a rage if you aren’t wearing Heavy Armor. Your rage lasts one minute, or until you run out of fury, can perceive no enemies, or fall unconscious. While active, your rage gives you:

• Damage resistance. Resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from mundane and supernatural sources.
• Rage damage. When you deal damage with a melee or ranged attack using Might, you gain bonus damage equal to your tier level.
• Might advantage. Advantage on Might tests.
• Tunnel vision. You can’t maintain concentration and can’t cast spells.

Unarmored Defense. While you aren’t wearing armor, your base Defense Score equals 10 + your Dexterity and Resolve bonuses. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.

Weapon Expertise. Your training lets you use the techniques of two kinds of melee weapon you’re proficient with.

Tier 1 traits

• Fast Movement. Your speed increases by 5 feet while you aren’t wearing Heavy Armor.
• Primal Shout. You let out a scream. Everyone within 15 feet who fails becomes shaken.
• Primal Knowledge. You gain proficiency in another skill from the Berserker list. While your rage is active, whenever you make an ability test with a skill you’re proficient in, you can make it as a Might check even if it normally uses a different attribute.
• Thrash [1AP]. You thrash a grappled foe. It takes bludgeoning damage equal to 2× your strength score.
• Reckless Attack. When you make your first attack on your turn, you can attack recklessly: you have advantage on Might attack rolls during your turn, but attack rolls against you have advantage until the start of your next turn.
• Brutality. While raging, when you disarm, grapple, shove or trip a foe, you deal blunt damage equal to your Might score.
• Adrenaline Rush. While raging, your speed increases by 10 feet and you gain a bonus equal to your tier level on Athletics tests to lift objects and force things open.
• Moment of Clarity. You push back your rage to think clearly. Until the end of this turn, you can use abilities that use your concentration.
• Ferocious Critical. On a critical hit with a Might-based melee weapon, add one additional damage die, and the target’s DV decreases by 2.
• Aggressive Lunge. When you move at least 20 feet and hit a target with a melee attack, you can shove it back 5 feet and move into the space it left.
• Raging Thrower. You can apply rage effects to weapons with the thrown property, and can treat all one-handed weapons as having the thrown property.
• Shake It Off. You gain a bonus against shaken effects equal to twice your tier level.
• Open slots: “?- When raging”, “?- When bloodied”, and one more.

Tier 2 (4th Action Point, 2 rages, subclass feature)

• Feral Instinct. Advantage on initiative rolls and Dexterity tests, and (unfinished).
• Brutal Strike. As a special attack action, make a melee attack. Creatures damaged by a brutal strike gain the battered condition until the end of your next turn. You can expend a physical focus to deal additional damage.
• Indomitable (Might). If your total for a Might check is less than your Might score, you can use your score in place of the total.
• Rough Manipulation. While raging, when you successfully disarm, grapple, shove, trample or trip a foe, you deal bludgeoning damage equal to your Might modifier.
• Scouring Fury. (Requirement: your fury has a damage type.) You unleash a surge of primal energy. Each adjacent creature takes damage equal to your fury level.
• Juggernaut. Not written yet.
• Lightning Reflexes. Not written yet.
• Raging Resistance. Not written yet.
• Furious Sprint [2AP]. You rush forward up to 3× your speed in a straight line, ignoring speed penalties such as difficult terrain. Spend an additional AP to sprint up to 4× your speed.
• Sundering Leap. Deals significant damage with a chance to sunder the target’s armor.
• Savage (name TBD). An attack that staggers and leaves opponents reeling.
• [New Social Skill] · [New Exploration Skill] · [Upgraded Exploration Skill] · [Upgraded Combat Skill] ×2

Tier 3 (5th Action Point, 2 rages, subclass feature)

• Brutal Critical. When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon or unarmed strike using Might, the target takes extra damage equal to your Berserker level, of the same type as the original damage.
• Persistent Rage. Your fury doesn’t decrease if you haven’t attacked or been attacked. Rage still ends if you’re incapacitated, don heavy armor, die, or no enemies are nearby.
• Relentless Rage. If you drop to 0 hit points while raging and aren’t dead, you don’t mark a vitality for failing to stabilize.
• Fury Action. You can spend fury on your leap and shout abilities.
• Mighty Rage. Not written yet.
• Weapon Fury. Not written yet.
• Tempered Fury. When spending fury, you choose how much to spend.

Tier 4 (6th Action Point, 2 rages, subclass feature)

• Rage Resurgence. You regain one expended use of rage at the start of every battle.
• Primal Champion. Your Might and Resolve each increase by 1, and so do their maximums.
• Fury Action. Not written yet.
• Unbound Fury. Your fury damage applies to all attacks that round.
• Armor of Fury. Not written yet.
• Devastator. Not written yet.

Legacy terms in Berserker

• Thrash uses “strength score” (should it be Might?).
• Brutal Critical scales with “Berserker level”, but the rest of the class uses tier level.
• Rage resists “bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing”, but the Damage Types page replaces these with Sharp and Blunt.
• Relentless Rage mentions “marking a vitality” and Brutal Strike mentions “physical focus”. Neither is defined elsewhere yet.

Subclasses

The source has four lists of Berserker subclass names.

Chapter 4	Class roles (v1)	Class roles (v2)
Fury of the Bloodrager	Blood Frenzy	Bloodfrenzy
Feral Warrior	Runescarred	Runescarred
Wildheart / Wildlands	Wildlands	Wildlands
Brawler or Rune Magic	Valhalla	Hulking Destroyer
	Smoldering Wrath	Smoldering Wrath

• Runescarred. Berserkers who etch magical runes into their weapons, armor and even their own skin for special effects.
• Wildlands. Berserkers who gain abilities of the land and the creatures who live there.
• Blood Frenzy. Constantly seeking conflict to feed their craving for battle; they sometimes rile up those around them.
• Hulking Destroyer. Everything is a weapon in their hands. Grows and throws.
• Smoldering Wrath. Rage lurks just beneath the surface. They keep their composure while raging and release it in precise, vicious attacks.

Expansion subclasses

Runescarred · Feral Warrior / Wildheart (beast, bear warrior, totem) · Frenzied Berserker · Wildlands · Brawler · Zealous Frenzy · Ancestral Guardian / Revenant Blade · Frostrager / Stormrager · Ravager / Carnage · Wild Surge / Rage Mage · Dragonscale · Magebane · Poised Defender