Class: Berserker
The Berserker
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| Level | BAB | FRC | SKL | Fort | Ref | Will | Det | Special | Max Rage | Max Maneuver Grade | Schools | Maneuvers Known |
| 1 | +1 | +0 | +0 | +1 | +1 | +0 | +1 | Provoke | 2 | Basic | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | +2 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +1 | +2 | Fury | 2 | Basic | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | +3 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +1 | +2 | 3 | Lesser | 1 | 7 | |
| 4 | +4 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +1 | +3 | Fury | 3 | Lesser | 1 | 8 |
| 5 | +5 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +2 | +3 | 4 | Lesser | 2 | 10 | |
| 6 | +6 | +3 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +2 | +4 | Fury | 4 | Lesser | 2 | 11 |
| 7 | +7 | +3 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +3 | +5 | 5 | Lesser | 2 | 12 | |
| 8 | +8 | +4 | +6 | +5 | +5 | +3 | +5 | Fury | 5 | Expert | 2 | 14 |
| 9 | +9 | +4 | +6 | +6 | +6 | +3 | +6 | 6 | Expert | 2 | 15 | |
| 10 | +10 | +5 | +7 | +6 | +6 | +4 | +6 | Berserker Talent | 6 | Expert | 2 | 16 |
| 11 | +11 | +5 | +8 | +7 | +7 | +4 | +7 | 7 | Expert | 3 | 18 | |
| 12 | +12 | +6 | +9 | +8 | +8 | +5 | +8 | Berserker Talent | 7 | Expert | 3 | 19 |
| 13 | +13 | +6 | +9 | +8 | +8 | +5 | +8 | 8 | Greater | 3 | 20 | |
| 14 | +14 | +7 | +10 | +9 | +9 | +5 | +9 | Berserker Talent | 8 | Greater | 3 | 22 |
| 15 | +15 | +7 | +11 | +9 | +9 | +6 | +9 | 9 | Greater | 3 | 23 | |
| 16 | +16 | +8 | +12 | +10 | +10 | +6 | +10 | Berserker Talent | 9 | Greater | 3 | 24 |
| 17 | +17 | +8 | +12 | +11 | +11 | +7 | +11 | 10 | Greater | 3 | 26 | |
| 18 | +18 | +9 | +13 | +11 | +11 | +7 | +11 | Berserker Talent | 10 | Master | 3 | 27 |
| 19 | +19 | +9 | +14 | +12 | +12 | +7 | +12 | 11 | Master | 3 | 28 | |
| 20 | +20 | +10 | +15 | +12 | +12 | +8 | +12 | Berserker Talent | 11 | Master | 3 | 30 |
Contents
Berserker
- "Go ahead, take the first swing. Make it count."
Fueled by rage and the thrill of combat, berserkers are incredibly dangerous melee combatants, able to give in to their instincts to become whirling engines of absolute destruction. They have little use for subtlety or finesse, putting everything they have - and then some - into every swing of their axe. The approach of the berserker is such that they do not fear pain or death, and in fact relish in the former, using the wounds inflicted upon them by their foes as impetus to bring them to greater heights of fury: after all, if you can actually put up a fight, that makes the exchange of blows all the more entertaining.
Sometimes associated with Chaos, due to their approach to combat, berserkers do not actually have a natural Force alignment, and their combat style can sometimes mask an eerie mental calm: for some berserkers, giving in to the beast within is a crucial mental exercise that allows them to maintain a level head in other situations. Among more learned students of the arts martial, it is said that a berserker whose face becomes a neutral mask and who makes no noise in combat is even more deadly than those who hoot and holler and revel in destruction, representing a focus on dealing death to their foes that allows them to bring expert precision to their exaggerated movements.
Berserkers come from several different schools of thought towards their approach to combat, though "schools" may be giving them too much credit: these approaches are more about how a given berserker channels his rage, and his general approach to combat. Some berserkers will intentionally put themselves in harm's way, seeking a good fight (and potentially a good death) - ironically, these berserkers make for excellent protectors of others, as their insistence that they be the one to make their enemies bleed often leads them to interject themselves between friend and foe. Others, however, are more stereotypical, simply bringing death and destruction to all who stand in their path.
Game Rule Information
Archers have the following game statistics.
Force Alignment: None.
Force Resistances: None.
Abilities: Strength, Constitution, and Bravery are all important to the berserker, though their relative importance depends upon which combat schools the berserker follows.
Hit Points at 1st Level: 25 + Con score.
Hit Points at Each Additional Level: 13 + Con modifier.
Healing Surges: 14 + Con modifier.
Starting Age: Simple.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the berserker.
Proficiencies
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Weapons: Axes, any three melee, any one ranged, any one.
Armor: Leather, Mail.
Implements: None.
Maneuvers
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Berserkers are warriors, and as such make use of maneuvers, specific attacks or other abilities attained through rigorous training.
To use maneuvers, berserkers must expend rage, which they gain through taking or dealing damage, and can sometimes gain in other ways.
Berserker Schools
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| School | Primary Ability | Description | Rage Descriptor |
| Berserk | Brv | You allow yourself to be overtaken by rage and fury on the battlefield, letting your actions become automatic. | Savage |
| Defiance | Con | You seek out blood and glory on the field, demanding challenges and goading your foes into attacking you. | Wrath |
| Deliverance | Str | You become an engine of destruction, letting anger guide your swings while keeping your head clear. | Abandon |
Maneuvers are almost universally completely physical in nature and have no Force components; they are expressions of the mortal body pushed to its limits. Maneuvers are divided into schools, which represent particular thoughts and approaches to combat, training, and martial abilities. The rage cost and minimum primary ability needed to use a maneuver are indicated on the table to the right.
Maneuver Stats by Grade
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| Grade | Minimum Primary Ability | Rage Cost |
| Basic | 10 | 1 |
| Lesser | 12 | 2 |
| Expert | 14 | 3 |
| Greater | 16 | 5 |
| Master | 18 | 8 |
The berserker has a maximum amount of rage, based upon his class level. You gain a bonus to this amount equal to the highest of your Strength, Constitution, and Bravery modifiers; this bonus is limited to half your class level, rounded down.
You gain one point of rage whenever you take or deal at least 1 point of damage from a single action (not a single attack), unless you spent rage to take that action or on a reaction to that action. Your current amount of rage cannot exceed your max.
Whenever you gain rage, you automatically become tired five minutes later. (A berserker with the tired status loses all rage and cannot gain rage until he takes a short rest.)
Each berserker school has a basic stance; whenever you gain access to a school, you automatically learn its basic stance. Unlike maneuvers, you do not need to expend rage to enter a stance.
To use a maneuver, you must expend some amount of rage; in addition, the rage you expend must have the descriptor that matches the maneuver's descriptor.
The berserker begins with four known maneuvers. He gains knowledge of additional maneuvers each level, as per the class table, above. At fourth level and every four levels after, he can trade out up to two maneuvers for new maneuvers from any school he can access, of any grade he can access.
If you would gain access to a school, you can choose to instead gain a bonus feat, which must be a feat for which you qualify. If you would gain access to a school and already have access to three schools, you gain a bonus feat instead.
The berserker's key ability for his physical attacks is dependent upon the weapon he wields; when using a maneuver, if his primary ability score for the maneuver's school is greater than the ability score he would use for his weapon, he can use that instead.
Provoke
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All berserkers are able to bring significant attention to themselves on the battlefield, and can goad their foes into attacking them.
As a swift action, you can give a creature within 60 feet of you the malice status for 1 round, with you as the target. (A creature with malice must resolve all attacks against the object of this status; if the creature makes an area attack, the object of this status must be included in the area. This status immediately ends if the object of this status gains unconscious or dead.)
Maneuvers
The following is the berserker maneuver list, ordered by school, then by grade.
Berserk School
Berserk Basic Stance
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| Maneuver Name | Action | Effect |
| Berserk | Free | You act automatically on instinct, dealing more damage and gaining resistance to many status effects; your rage gains the savage descriptor. |
Defiance School
Defiance Basic Stance
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| Maneuver Name | Action | Effect |
| Defiance | Free | You harm your foes in an aggravating fashion, dealing less damage but drawing attention to yourself; your rage gains the wrath descriptor. |
Deliverance School
Deliverance Basic Stance
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| Maneuver Name | Action | Effect |
| Deliverance | Free | Your blows are mighty, but you retain composure, increasing your damage; your rage gains the abandon descriptor. |
Design Notes
New class, t20 v3.
New approach to martial class design, I think that 9 levels of anything is a little much and a little too granular, especially given our changes to how weapon damage works: there really isn't room for "do +Xd6 damage" maneuvers anymore. I also like this school-based approach, I think we can make the martial classes a bit more versatile and increase differentiation between members of the same class, while still keeping the themes tight.
