D&D (2024) Barbarian (Playtest 7)

[UngeheuerLich]

Wolf also works great with someone with elven accuracy, as they get even more of a boost.

It is also nice that you can retrain it every level now. So when things are starting to get nastier with elemental damage and you don't want to group up and people have more ways to get advantage, you can fall back to bear. But for the first 4 levels at least it will help tremendeously.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Even knowing your choice is not locked can help players try different possibilities. The change-when-you-level mechanism is good generally.

 

[Kinematics]

Overall Evaluation of the base class:

• Rage: No issues. UA 5 addressed minor rough edges, and UA 7 hasn't changed anything.
• Unarmored Defense: No real issues. It's not the most practical unless you roll stats, but is still generally viable for various situations.
• Weapon Mastery: As good as the weapon mastery feature itself is, which is pretty good. The number of weapon masteries available is fine, and the only minor quibble would be about matching the weapon you want to use with the mastery you want to use.
• Danger Sense: Always on (aside from incapacitated), and moved back to level 2. Pretty useful in the early levels. No complaints.
• Reckless Attack: Adjusted to give its benefit to reactions between turns (for opportunity attacks, retaliations, or held actions), which was the only real gripe about the original. No complaints.
• Primal Knowledge: Bumped up to level 3, which is fine. I have no issue with the skills affected, as the description has primal power giving a boost to agility and senses, and all the skills fall under those two areas.
• Extra Attack is Extra Attack.
• Fast Movement is the same as always. Still good.
• Feral Instinct: Advantage on initiative at level 7. Carried that part over from the PHB, while getting rid of the no-longer-used(?) surprise. Good enough, but you'll want something extra to go with it.
• Instinctive Pounce: An extra ½ speed movement when entering Rage, also at level 7. It pairs well with Feral Instinct, and makes level 7 decent.
• Brutal Critical: At level 9 you get an extra 1d12 damage on a crit, and more dice at higher levels. I have in the past gone multiple battles, and even multiple game sessions without rolling a crit, despite Reckless Attack. Compared to level 7, this feels incredibly anemic. Mathematically, an extra 1d12 is something like an extra 3%-5% damage, long-term. There's certainly more excitement value when it happens than that value would imply, though. I would say Brutal Critical itself is fine, but it needs something to complement it to make the level feel like it's actually of some real benefit. That is, something that will happen regularly, rather than something that you might go weeks without making use of. Same for levels 13 and 17. This is definitely not enough to be worth making those levels otherwise featureless.
• Relentless Rage: At level 11 it becomes hard to actually keep the barbarian down. This lets you get back up after dropping to 0 HP, with a not-too-difficult Con check. You also get twice your level in HP, rather than just 1 HP like in the PHB. A decent improvement, and 11th level is a nice place to have it, rather than the somewhat-too-high 15th level of UA5. I'm happy with this.
• Persistent Rage: You don't need to do anything to maintain Rage, and it lasts until you're unconscious. Even being incapacitated doesn't end it. You also gain a use of Rage if you have none when you roll initiative (formerly Rage Resurgence). This was level 15 in the PHB (no Resurgence), then dropped to 13 in UA 5 (with Resurgence at level 17), and is now back up to level 15. Just maintaining Rage feels like a level 13 feature at best, but the Resurgence aspect maybe bumps it up (and it's certainly nicer at 15 than 17). Taking both at once, I guess 15 works.
• Indomitable Might: This is kind of silly as a level 18 feature, even if mechanically it's fine. There's a huge gap in the later levels where not much is happening, and a slight boost to Primal Knowledge (you already have advantage), or a minimally useful boost to athletics outside of Rage is not exciting. At best, Str saves become generally auto-pass.
• Primal Champion: The level 20 capstone, returned to being +4 Str/+4 Con. Only problem is that it now potentially conflicts with level 19 ASIs, which can raise a stat to 22, which means that Primal Champion might only raise a stat by +2 instead of the full +4. Could be fixed by just raising the max to 26.

Random ideas to fill in the issues with Brutal Critical:

• Expand weapon mastery for a QOL feature at level 9 and allow brandishing your mastered weapon to give a boost to intimidation, carousing/performance, or persuasion (eg: "I swear on my axe!") checks.
• Grant some or all of the former benefits of the level 6 Totem subclass as level 9 QOL features (double carry/lift capacity, extended eyesight, move normally in stealth).
• Expand on the speed boosts barbarian gets at level 5 and 7, and at level 13 have something like, "The first attack made against you each round has disadvantage." (Instinctive Dodge?)
• Build on Indomitable Might (maybe put IM at 17 and this at 18, to flow properly), and have something like Ground Strike — something between Thunderwave and Destructive Wave. All creatures within 15' of you have to make a Con save or take damage and get knocked prone. Usable Str or Con times per long rest.

Mostly tried for things outside direct combat damage boosts. The Ground Strike just fits well with Indomitable Might, so feels like it makes sense to pair it with that feature if the feature is going to be at high levels anyway.

 

[Horwath]

Even Primal Knowledge + either Spider (stealth) or Owl (perception) seems perfectly fine to me. It's decently effective if you can use it during Rage's duration, but a rogue or ranger will still always be better as a full-time scout. Most exploration tends to take more than 10 minutes.

I have no problem with rage giving advantage to Athletics, Acrobatics, Perception, Stealth, Survival as it taps in to your primal instincts, but I do have a problem being based on STR,
What; I am so strong that I see more clearly?

Only thing I could see it happening is Intimidate, and that is a long shot.
Advantage is more than enough.

 

[Horwath]

So is medium armor proficiency.

Yeah I personally have a real problem with this. WOTC has made clear strides to ease up the restrictions on armor. You can now cast in it if your proficient, you can sleep in armor, it doesn't slow down your speed if your strength is high enough, etc.

If a barb is willing to invest in multiclassing or a feat to get heavy armor proficiency, than by gum let them use their abilities. A wizard can cast intricate spells in heavy armor, but a barbarian doesn't get a small rage bonus to their damage? Come on!

WotC is probably afraid the half damage then -3 from Heavy armor mastery.
which is ridiculous OFC, but their number crunchers gave us Twiligth cleric while determining that Hunters mark without Cons breaks the game, soo....

 

[UngeheuerLich]

WotC is probably afraid the half damage then -3 from Heavy armor mastery.
which is ridiculous OFC, but their number crunchers gave us Twiligth cleric while determining that Hunters mark without Cons breaks the game, soo....

Yeah they botched with twilight cleric. But comparing everything to that one subclass is not a good idea.

 

[mellored]

What; I am so strong that I see more clearly?

Thin normally eye muscles.

Vs buff barbarian eye muscles.

 

[Horwath]

Thin normally eye muscles.

Vs buff barbarian eye muscles.

Your oversized muscles have ripped apart your eye lens.

You have blinded condition.

Please see your local cleric if your health insurance covers self mutilation.

 

[Shadowedeyes]

It's pretty clear strength to those skills is an abstraction to allow Barbarians to be good at using those skills. Also, I guess I don't find it anymore jarring than Cha to attack (Looking at you Pact of the Blade).

 

[Stalker0]

Perception is fine to me, its more stealth the one that takes getting used to (BG3 does you no favors here either, with as loud as the barb gets when it goes into rage).

But yeah in my head I go with the old bravestart concept, I am focusing on the "eyes of the hawk" more than "I get real mad"