D&D 4E 4e Berserker Class (a work in progress) - updated 07/02/08

BERSERKER

<insert random statement indicating player class>

CLASS TRAITS
Role: Defender. <insert flavor text here>
Power Source: Martial. <insert flavor text here>
Key Abilities: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Charisma

Armor Proficiencies: Cloth, leather, hide
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple melee, military melee, simple ranged
Bonus to Defense: +2 Fortitude

Hit Points at 1st Level: 15 + Constitution Score.
Hit Points per Level Gained: 6
Healing Surges per Day: 9 + Constitution Modifier.

Trained Skills: From the class skills list below, choose three trained skills at 1st level.
Class Skills: Acrobatics (Dex), Athletics (Str), Endurance (Con), Intimidate (Cha), Perception (Wis).

Build Options: Brutish berserker, howling berserker
Class features: Adrenaline Surge, Battle Hardened, Stoking Rage, Tenacity

<insert class description here>

CREATING A BERSERKER

<insert advice here>

BRUTISH BERSERKER

<insert description here>

Suggested Feat: Power Attack (Human Feat: Toughness)
Suggested Skills: Athletics, Endurance, Intimidate
Suggested At-Will Powers: Awesome blow, brutal strike
Suggested Encounter Powers: Sudden pounce
Suggested Daily Powers: Skulllsplitter

HOWLING BERSERKER

<insert description here>

Suggested Feat: Defensive Mobility (Human Feat: Combat Reflexes)
Suggested Skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Perception
Suggested At-Will Powers: Lion's roar, whirlwind attack
Suggested Encounter Powers: Surrounded and outnumbered
Suggested Daily Powers: Furious howl

BERSERKER CLASS FEATURES

You have the following class features.

ADRENALINE SURGE

When you are bloodied, you gain regeneration equal to your Constitution modifier.

BATTLE HARDENED

You gain resistance 1 against weapon damage. At 11th level, this resistance increases to 3. At 21st level, this resistance increases to 5.

STOKING RAGE

Once per encounter, you can work yourself into a murderous frenzy. In this murderous frenzy, you attack relentlessly, abandoning all rationality and ignoring pain and other distractions.

TENACITY

When your hit points drop to 0 or below, you are not unconscious and prone. You remain conscious until you fail your first death saving throw, in which case you become unconscious and prone.

BERSERKER POWERS
Berserker powers are called exploits. In battle, Berserkers rely on their toughness and fury to win the day and slay their enemies.

CLASS FEATURES
The Berserker has one class feature that works like a power: Stoking Rage.

Stoking Rage Berserker Feature
You draw upon an inner savagery and unleash it upon your victims.
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Encounter * Martial
Minor Action Personal
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Effect: Until the end of your next turn, you receive a +3 power bonus on melee damage rolls. You can only make basic melee attacks.
Increase the power bonus to +6 at 11th level, and +9 at 21st level.
Sustain Minor: You must be adjacent to atleast one enemy.

LEVEL 1 AT-WILL EXPLOITS

Awesome Blow Berserker Attack 1
You hit your foe so hard that they fall back.
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At-Will * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Melee Weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
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Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage, and you push the target 1 square if it is your size, smaller than you, or one size category larger.
Increase damage to 2[W] + Strength modifier at 21st level.

Brutal Strike Berserker Attack 1
With a great heave you put forth incredible strength in your attack.
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At-Will * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Melee Weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength -2 vs. AC
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Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier damage.
Increase damage to 3[W] + Strength modifier at 21st level.

Lion's Roar Berserker Attack 1
You swing your weapon at your foe, letting loose a frightful howl as you do so. Your loud roar catches your opponent off guard, allowing you to strike him easier.
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At-Will * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Melee Weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
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Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage.
Increase damage to 2[W] + Strength modifier at 21st level.
Effect: The target gains a -1 penalty to it's AC until the beginning of your next turn.

Whirlwind Attack Berserker Attack 1
You spin in place and strike all your nearby enemies.
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At-Will * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Close Burst 1
Target: Each creature in burst you can see
Attack: Dexterity -2 vs. AC
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Hit: 1[W] damage.
Increase damage to 2[W] at 21st level.

LEVEL 1 ENCOUNTER EXPLOITS

Berserker Shout Berserker Attack 1
You summon might and power from deep inside you and you release it in a terrific shout of power.
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Encounter * Martial, Thunder
Standard Action Close Burst 1
Target: One creature in burst
Attack: Constitution vs. Fort
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Hit: 1d8 + Constitution modifier thunder damage and the target is dazed until the end of your next turn.
Miss: Half damage and the target is not dazed.

Lashing Out Berserker Attack 1
The sudden pain causes you to wildly attack your foe with abandon.
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Encounter * Martial, Weapon
Immediate Reaction Melee Weapon
Trigger: You become bloodied
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
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Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage.

Sudden Pounce Berserker Attack 1
With a powerful and sudden leap, you land on your foe and knock him down with a surprising attack.
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Encounter * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Melee Weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Special: Make a long jump. Determine the DC of the Athletics check as if you had a running start. You must land in the square occupied by your target.
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Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage, and you push the target 1 square if it is smaller, your size, or one size larger. The target is knocked prone.
Miss: Half damage and the target pushes you 1 square. You are knocked prone.

Surrounded and Outnumbered Berserker Attack 1
Where others would break under the duress of the horde, you thrive and fight even more valiantly against it.
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Encounter * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Close Burst 1
Target: Each enemy in a burst you can see
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Special: You receive a +1 bonus to your attack roll for each adjacent enemy.
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Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage.

LEVEL 1 DAILY EXPLOITS

Blood Splattering Finish Berserker Attack 1
Like a predator, you sniff out the weak prey and take them out.
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Encounter * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Melee Weapon
Target: One bloodied creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
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Hit: 3[W] + Strength modifier damage and if you drop the target to 0 hit points or below, you may spend a healing surge.

Furious Howl Berserker Attack 1
When you get angry, anyone who stands near you will be sorry.
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Encounter * Martial, Thunder
Standard Action Close Burst 1
Target: Each creature in burst
Attack: Constitution vs. Fort
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Hit: 2d8 + Constitution modifier thunder damage and the target is deafened (save ends).
Miss: Half damage and the target is not defeaned.

Power Throw Berserker Attack 1
With bulging muscles, you grab your opponent, lift him, break his bones against your mighty body, and toss him like a child's plaything.
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Encounter * Martial
Standard Action Melee touch
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. Reflex
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Hit: 2d6 + Strength modifier damage, and the target is thrown a number of squares equal to your Strength modifier and lands prone.

Skullsplitter Berserker Attack 1
The best way to divide enemy forces is by splitting their skulls in half.
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Encounter * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Melee Weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength -2 vs. AC
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Hit: 4[W] + Strength modifier damage.

LEVEL 2 UTILITY EXPLOITS

Brute Force Berserker Utility 2
You summon hidden reserves of strength to break stuff.
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Daily * Martial
Minor Action Personal
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Effect: You gain a +4 power bonus on Strength-based Ability checks until the end of the encounter.

Great Leap Berserker Utility 2
With a sudden spring you bound into the air.
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At-Will * Martial
Move Action Personal
Prerequisite: You must be trained in Athletics
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Effect: Make a high jump or a long jump. Determine the DC of the Athletics check as though you had a running start. The distance you jump can exceed your speed.

Menacing Visage Berserker Utility 2
You are the vision of unrestrained, savage fear.
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Encounter * Martial
Free Action Personal
Trigger: You roll an Intiimidate check and dislike the result.
Prerequisite: You must be trained in Intimidate.
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Effect: Reroll the Intiimidate check. You decide whether to make the reroll before the DM announces the result.

Shuffle the Mortal Coil Berserker Utility 2
You are tenacious and hold on to life viciously, even when slipping into the jaws of death.
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Daily * Martial
No Action Personal
Trigger: You roll your third failed death saving throw.
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Effect: Disregard all previous failed death saving throws. You are still dying and unconscious.

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Looks promising. I wonder why the rage class feature prevents it from using its powers though. I would have expected the defining feature to be the very source of its powers instead of a last resort. Perhaps I'll change my mind when I see what the powers are like. It's also interesting that you made it into a controller. I predict a lot of battleshouting and threatening reach.

Few quick comments- 20 HP seems unjustified- consider that no other class has this many in the PHB. I'm doubt wizards will release any classes with more HP than the fighter. An easy way round this would to be to give toughness as a class feature, but you'd have to sacrifice something else. Or you could make it 17HP, or some other reasonable figure- but the fact is, 20 HP is too much, as it's 5 points more than the two highest existing classes, a gap equal to the entire range of HP so far.

I see no justification for Bluff as a class skill, probably insight as well- not sure how you're envisioning this berserker to be more subtle and skillful than the fighter!

Stoking rage should be a minor action to activate rather than move, just because powers are rarely move activated, and it doesn't relate to movement particularly- you don't move as part of the action.

I actually agree about only making Melee basic attacks with rage, especially if you're sustaining it round to round. It has to scale properly then, unless you bring in the ability to use powers with it as part of a paragon path.

One more note- Your use of a bonus to both attack and damage goes against the grain of power design shown by wizards so far- off hand, I can't think of anything which gives a bonus to both. I suspect this should be a bonus to damage only.

Lauberfen said:

Few quick comments- 20 HP seems unjustified- consider that no other class has this many in the PHB. I'm doubt wizards will release any classes with more HP than the fighter. An easy way round this would to be to give toughness as a class feature, but you'd have to sacrifice something else. Or you could make it 17HP, or some other reasonable figure- but the fact is, 20 HP is too much, as it's 5 points more than the two highest existing classes, a gap equal to the entire range of HP so far.

Click to expand...

This is a controller who has access only to light armor and will be throwing himself in the thick of battle. If anything, 20 HP doesnt seem enough, but, without playtesting, there is no way to know.

Lauberfen said:

I see no justification for Bluff as a class skill, probably insight as well- not sure how you're envisioning this berserker to be more subtle and skillful than the fighter!

Click to expand...

This was my attempt to make it somewhat mechanically transparent to serve under multiple guises, but now that you brought it up and I thought about it, I went about it all wrong.

Lauberfen said:

Stoking rage should be a minor action to activate rather than move, just because powers are rarely move activated, and it doesn't relate to movement particularly- you don't move as part of the action.

Click to expand...

A holdover of 3rd edition design mindset; easily fixed.

Lauberfen said:

I actually agree about only making Melee basic attacks with rage, especially if you're sustaining it round to round. It has to scale properly then, unless you bring in the ability to use powers with it as part of a paragon path.

Click to expand...

Cool

Lauberfen said:

One more note- Your use of a bonus to both attack and damage goes against the grain of power design shown by wizards so far- off hand, I can't think of anything which gives a bonus to both. I suspect this should be a bonus to damage only.

Click to expand...

Another holdover of 3e design mindset, and also easily fixed.