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I had an idea that I wanted to discuss about a class with a different type of resource management. The idea is for a class similar to a Barbarian, but instead of a rage mechanic that last x number of rounds, the idea is a Fury mechanic similar to WoW or Diablo that increases and decreases throughout combat. Class would have good bab, good fort/ref, poor will, D12 hit die and light armor prof. Their main mechanic is:
Fury: Starting at level 1, a Berserker gains a Fury Pool equal to their Con. Mod. (Minimum one) + their level. A Berserker gains a point of Fury every time they hit an enemy with a melee or thrown weapon or whenever they are hit by an enemy. So long as a Berserker has a single point of Fury in their Fury Pool, they receive a +1 Morale bonus to Attack and Damage rolls. This bonus increases to +2 at level X (and so on and so forth). In addition, many of the Berserkers abilities are fueled by Fury. At the end of every round, the Berserker loses 1 point of Fury.
Ironhide: Starting at level 1, So long as the Berserker has a point of Fury in their Fury Pool, the Berserker gains Damage Reduction 1/-. This damage reduction increases by 1 at level 5 and every five levels after (to a max of DR 5/- at level 20).
Fury Powers: starting at level 2 and every even Berserker level afterwards, the Berserker selects a Fury Power. Fury Powers require Fury to use and many require you to spend points out of your Fury Pool.
(I only have a few ideas for Fury powers. Names obviously subject to change)
* Furious Strike - whenever you hit an enemy with a melee or thrown weapon, you may spend a point of Fury to add an additional weapon die to the damage. You may only spend one point per full attack.
** Furious Strike II - when using Furious Strike, you may instead spend one Fury per attack, rather than per full attack.
* Steelskin - your damage reduction from Ironhide increases by 1. You may take this per multiple times. It's effects stack.
**Steelskin II - whenever you are hit, you may spend any number Fury to increase your damage reduction by 2 for each Fury spent that attack.
*Howling Rage - You let out a horrifying scream and prepare yourself for battle. Once per day, as a move action, you gain a number of Fury Points equal to your Constitution modifier.
**Howling Rage II - You gain the Dazzling Display feat. In addition, when you use your Howling Rage power, you may also use your Dazzling Display feat as part of that action. You may use Howling Rage twice per day.
*Devastating Fury - so long as you have a number of Fury equal to or greater than your Constitution modifier, your Morale bonus from Fury are doubled.
**Devastating Fury II - if your Fury Pool is full, your Morale bonuses are instead Tripled.
Just a thought. I thought it would be interesting for a class that had a more interactive resource pool feeling their abilities and the idea came to me. The Berserker is obviously similar to the Barbarian, but I think different enough that they could share the same battlefield without being redundant. And I think that while that Barbarian is stronger (the Berserkers bonus would always be half of the barbarians at the same level) I would think a Berserker could potentially last longer because their power keeps going so long as the Berserker keeps fighting. So yeah, that is my idea.
I remember making a Berserker custom class for 3.5 D&D some years back. My approach was a bit different though. I made it have something similar to the Monk's flurry of blows ability, but with weapons. And Guerilla tactics type of abilities. The idea of a Berserker to me conjures up the image of a fighter who attacks faster than normal and uses unconventional tactics on the battlefield, much like Scottish or Celtic fighters were described.
The concept can work, but the economy of fury needs to be designed carefully. As it stands here, it fails the bag of rats test and encourages the PC to attack weak foes, which is probably not what you're looking for. Your other abilities are also too strong or have mechanical issues.
It would probably be better off as a barbarian archetype that replaces rage.
I really love the concept but I agree with Cyrad
You may wanna consider making this an alternate class if you feel that an archetype won't work