A lot of folks on these boards have voiced that Barbarians are the weakest or one of the weakest classes in the game and that the Rage Powers are a bit of a joke. I agree to an extent and have long thought that the bloodlines for Sorcerers, while a cool idea would be even sweeter on a non-spellcaster. Barbarians seem the prime candidates for this, and I think you could justify it with the fluff for them as well. Obviously the Barbarian Bloodlines would do different things for a melee character than for a spellcaster and I think a few new bloodlines would even be feasible. What do you guys and gals think and if it seems viable, do any of you have any ideas for new bloodlines or abilities that existing bloodlines could give to a Barbarian?
A few Bloodline ideas:
Berserker: You are descended from the legendary Berserkers and your fury is beyond the rage of normal Barbarians.
Golem: Your bloodline has been magically infused with that of a magical construct. Your blows strike as though infused with iron or stone.
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Already been done, for the most part, here.
It's from Unearthed Arcana, which is 3.5, but they'll work fine.
Already been done, for the most part, here.
It's from Unearthed Arcana, which is 3.5, but they'll work fine.
*Looks it over* Nice... not great, but nice. That's hardly even close to what Sorcerers get though and the benefits for those Totem Barbarians only go to level 5. I'm talking about a major class feature, not a minor perk or two.
Nothing? Really? I thought this was a pretty good idea. Oh well...
Ummm...You want more ideas?
Titan: You grow one size larger when raging. When you get to Mighty Rage, you grow 2 sizes larger. Various other titan-related powers. Maybe instead of DR/- you get a larger DR, but overcome by Law.
Aberration: Immune to criticals while raging, extended reach.
Elemental Stone: Str and Con go up when raging, Dex goes down, but you gain a bonus to Natural Armor so that there is a net gain to AC, but touch AC lower. Also, you move slower.
If you want more ideas, I'm happy to brainstorm with you, just let me know.
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I was thinking about barbarian tweaks in my fantasy setting and one of the tweaks was making the rage powers a bit stronger. I agree with the fact that most of them are laughable and I want to make barbarians bad asses again. At many points now it seems like fighters can pull of the job of a barbarian in heavier armor. I also started to add new rage power abilities for the barbarians such as a whirlwind attack while moving. I also thought about giving them fast healing equal to their damage reduction while raging. So far, I'm trying to make them awesome without completely destroying other classes in power.
P.S. - I do have to say Barbarians are still beastly with their rage, especially at low levels.
Why not instead of adding "bloodlines", why don't you just add totem spirits? There are a TON of variant barbarians. Just employ that!
Well I did a real quick and dirty conversion:
Link to Content
I like Totems better than bloodlines for barbarians, makes more sense.
GP