Path of the Brutal Brawler (Barbarian)
Art Credit: https://www.deviantart.com/concept-art-house/art/Subduing-the-Violence-Regular-374646441
Continuing our theme of generic-yet-interesting subclasses, we have a new preview today of a barbarian subclass designed to fit right in with the basic subclasses of the 5th edition Player's Handbook. The Path of the Brutal Brawler, from the upcoming D&D Unleashed compendium, Legends of Prestige & Prowess, was envisioned for a barbarian who can fight with any kind of weapon and rampage across the battlefield. It fills the gap for players who don't identify with the bestial themes of the Totem Warrior subclass or the mindless rage of the Berserker subclass and don't want to connect their character with the specific themes of another barbarian subclass. The Brutal Brawler is also perfect for barbarians who want to multiclass into the rogue or monk classes, allowing them to combine barbarian attacks with sneak attack or flurry of blows in a balanced way. Archetypal examples of the Brutal Brawler subclass include Brock Samson from The Venture Brothers, Kagura from Gintama, and Holga Kilgore from the recent Dungeons and Dragons movie.
Our major goal for the Brutal Brawler was to design an interactive and interesting-to-play Barbarian subclass that felt thematically open and allowed players to build effective unarmed and strangely-armed warriors. As such, the Brutal Barbarian deals damage equivalent to a battleaxe or a greataxe with any weapon they use to attack. This means the Brutal Barbarian can more easily incorporate weapons with special properties, such as thrown weapons, finesse weapons, or monk weapons, without sacrificing as much damage in melee range.
The other pillar of the Brutal Brawler is its 3rd-level Brutal Rampage feature, which allows the barbarian to use their bonus action to add damage to an attack and cause an additional effect from a small list. This feature is intended to feel similar to the 3rd-level feature of the Open Hand monk subclass, but with a barbarian-themed slant. Using this feature, the barbarian can accomplish the feeling of smashing through a battlefield, throwing people around and cleaving through hordes. As they gain levels, they gain more options for this feature, including mobility options and one that can frighten their foes. At level 14, they can choose two options at once, allowing for creative combinations. You can push an enemy and then deal damage to the enemies it ends up near, throwing the foe into their allies. You can smash two foes together knock one of them onto the ground in the process. You can even charge across the battlefield and roar terror at the target of your pursuit.
Most barbarian subclasses offer an offensive or defensive benefit for raging, but not all of them require the use of an action or bonus action. The Brutal Rampage feature uses a bonus action for several reasons. The most important reason is to prevent overpowered combinations through multiclassing into the rogue or monk classes. Even with this limitation, brutal Brawler barbarians make extremely effective combinations with these classes. The bonus action is an important limiting factor, forcing a barbarian multiclassed into monk or rogue to choose between the battlefield control afforded by their Brutal Rampage, the single-target damage of Unarmed Strikes and Flurry of Blows, or the exceptional utility offered by Cunning Action. The bonus action cost also keeps the feature itself from being too powerful, since it can apply a variety of potent status effects onto enemies, and keeps it in-line with other similar features, like that of the Open Hand monk.
We hope you enjoy the Brutal Brawler barbarian subclass for 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons. Get out there and start smashing, roaring, leaping, cleaving, stabbing, punching, tossing, and raging!
