D&D 5E Berserker Barbarian good or needs fix? What Fix?

[N810]

" You Ignore any Effects from Exhaustion that would give Disadvantage"

You could have this replace our entire lvl 6 intimidation ability with this and I would be happy.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

I like the Intimidation ability. I sort of would like to see it with a rider that they can use a Strength check instead of Charisma, if they prefer. But if they change nothing, it's easily houseruled to how I like it.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Simulacrum.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

My DM made the simple fix,
that all exhaustion is cured after a long rest.
this seems to have fixed most of the problem with my Berserker.

This is a good idea on the surface (and shows your DM can spot problem areas) but it doesn't interact well with rules for hunger, thirst, environmental effects, etc. You shouldn't be able to starve yourself to death, have a meal every week or two, and be in ship shape.

Now, you can make special rules for how Exhaustion works with those conditions...but at that point it's turning into a lot of new rules and becoming its own mess.

ps. if you look carefully you will notice that the features from rage cancel out a lot of the penalties from first couple of levels of exhaustion.

Yes, they cancel them out and make you gain little benefit from your class features, because now you are functioning in those areas like someone who isn't a raging barbarian.

 

[SmokeyCriminal]

Ya I feel you lol. 3/4 of my post is more adjacent thoughts rather then answering the question specifically.

But I don't think getting rid of the Exhaustion is the right solution. It looks like some of the intent of the feature (Aside from giving Frenzy a cost) is to have a class that interacts with Exhaustion. To make the Exhaustion part of that characters everyday life. I think it's supposed to partly be a flag for the DM that a player that chooses the Berseker is a player that wants the Exhaustion mechanic to be a part of the game like the way a Rouge Thief with Expertise in Thieve's Tools can be a flag for a player that wants traps to be a regular part of the game. But it also seems like its intended to be a resource that's somewhere between spell slots for casters, and arrows for archers.

IDK, the Interaction between Frenzy and Exhaustion is really interesting and very unique, so to just sever it feels like your missing out on something cool.

Or I could just be reading too much into it and just saying it and severing it is probably the simplest and best solution lol idk

 

[Lanliss]

I am currently working on changing classes to Short Rests, and arrived at something I like for Barbarian. 1 rage per short rest, goes up to 2 at 6th and 3 at 12th.

More importantly, a short rest removes a single level of Exhaustion. This means that a Frenzy barb can frenzy at least once per short rest without being massively hindered.

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

My "fix":

Frenzy
While you are raging, your attacks are so frenzied and ferocious that you do not grant advantage to anyone you attack with Reckless Attacks.

Intimidating Presence
Beginning at 10th level, you can use a bonus action while raging to frighten an enemy. 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.

This effect ends if the creature ends its turn out of line of sight or more than 60 feet away from you, or you are no longer raging. If the creature succeeds on its saving throw, you can't use this feature on that creature again for 24 hours.

Once you have used this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.

 

[N810]

This is a good idea on the surface (and shows your DM can spot problem areas) but it doesn't interact well with rules for hunger, thirst, environmental effects, etc. You shouldn't be able to starve yourself to death, have a meal every week or two, and be in ship shape.

Now, you can make special rules for how Exhaustion works with those conditions...but at that point it's turning into a lot of new rules and becoming its own mess.


Yes, they cancel them out and make you gain little benefit from your class features, because now you are functioning in those areas like someone who isn't a raging barbarian.

Well our DM rarely worries about mundane things like food or encumbrance, unless it's important to the plot,
I think the rest of the party only had to worry about exhaustion a few times, it was ether during long chase scenes,
or during extreme weather (toxic black snow). After these events the whole party needed a long rest anyway.
So it all worked out. There was one epic fight with a black dragon where I was pretty much the last one standing where
I had to use my fourth frenzy, I epically defeated the dragon, but then had to be carried out of the dungeon afterwards.

 

[Horwath]

With entering rage, two weapon fighting, polearm mastery and greatweapon mastery extra attacks all using the same action, I dont see why not simply remove exhaustion from frenzy.