Berserker
Berserker.png

Berserkers are indomitable warriors with boundless reservoirs of endurance and unmatched destructive potential.

Practitioners of the Berserker sphere gain the Adrenaline and Batter abilities, as well as an (adrenaline) talent of your choice.

Adrenaline

At the start of your turn, you can choose to take a -2 penalty to AC to gain the benefits of an (adrenaline) talent you possess until the start of your next turn.

Batter

Your powerful blows can throw enemies off-balance, allowing you to exploit their openings. As a special attack, you can make a melee or thrown weapon attack that marks the target if you deal damage to it. A target that has been marked through this ability is referred to as ‘battered.’

Some talents are marked (exertion). You may apply one (exertion) talent when using the batter special attack.

Optional Rule: Mark

When a creature makes a melee attack, it can also mark its target. Until the end of the attacker’s next turn, any opportunity attack it makes against the marked target has advantage. The opportunity attack doesn’t expend the attacker’s reaction, but the attacker can’t make the attack if anything, such as the incapacitated condition or the shocking grasp spell, is preventing it from taking reactions. The attacker is limited to one opportunity attack per turn.

Note: Unlike many rules for optional actions, mark is not actually an action; it is simply something the GM can decide all characters can do or all characters can’t do. If the GM is allowing all characters to mark targets, batter instead allows a combatant to mark a second creature within reach in addition to the mark left on the target they damage

Berserker Basic Talents

Adrenaline Talents

Berserk (adrenaline)

All damage you take is reduced by an amount equal to your proficiency bonus. This is applied before resistance.

Dreadnought (adrenaline)

You gain advantage on all ability checks and saving throws made to resist the grappled, paralyzed, petrified, prone, restrained, or stunned conditions.

Executioner (adrenaline)

You can expend your martial focus to reroll a missed weapon attack roll.

Juggernaut (adrenaline)

You are not affected by difficult terrain and cannot have your movement speed reduced, such as with a slow spell.

Marauder (adrenaline)

Your land speed increases by 5 ft., increasing by 5 ft. at 5th level (10 ft.), 11th level (15 ft.), and 17th level (20 ft.).

Exertion Talents

Bell-Ringer (exertion)

Creatures damaged by this attack have disadvantage on Intelligence saving throws and checks to maintain concentration for 1 round, including any check made as a result of this attack.

Bone-Breaker (exertion)

If you deal damage to a creature with this attack, it subtracts 1d4 from all attack rolls it makes for 1 round.

Heavy Swing (exertion)

If you deal damage to a creature with this attack, they must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be unable to take bonus actions or reactions for 1 round. If the target is already battered, it is also stunned until the start of your next turn if it fails this saving throw.

Leg-Smasher (exertion)

If you deal damage to a creature with this attack, its movement speeds are reduced by half (minimum 5 feet) for 1 round. If they are already battered, they must succeed on a Strength saving throw or fall prone.

Reapers Momentum (exertion)

You may give yourself a -5 penalty to this attack roll. If your attack hits, you may make an additional attack, also with a -5 penalty, against a different creature within reach. If this attack hits as well, you may make a third attack with a similar penalty against a creature you did not attack with your first or second attacks. This may continue to repeat so long as your attacks keep hitting and there are new creatures within reach you have not yet attacked.

Shatter Earth (exertion)

If you attack the ground instead of a creature, you may expend your martial focus to shatter it. The ground must be stone or a softer material. This affects either all spaces within 5 feet of you, a 10-foot cone, or a 15-foot line. This area becomes difficult terrain, and targets within this area must pass a Strength or Dexterity saving throw (their choice) or fall prone.

A 5-foot square of difficult terrain can be cleared as an action or with a spell such as mending.

Other Talents

Advancing Carnage

Whenever you score a critical hit with a melee weapon or reduce a creature to 0 hit points with one, you can make one melee attack as a bonus action.

Beat Down

When you batter a target, they are marked for two rounds instead of one. (Exertion) talent effects with a duration of one round instead last for two rounds.

Bloody Counter

As a reaction, when a creature targets you with a melee attack before the attack roll is made you may allow the attack to automatically strike you (although the roll is still made to determine if the attack is a critical hit). After the damage is determined, you may make a melee attack against that creature, which may be augmented by an (exertion) talent. If the creature attacking you is battered, you may resolve the attack prior to their attack being resolved.

Brutal Strike

When battering a target, you can choose to take a -5 penalty to the attack roll. If you do so and the attack hits, it deals +10 damage.

Deathless

You have advantage on all death saving throws, and you may multiply your maximum hit points by 3 when determining if you die from massive damage. If you are stable, you regain 1 hit point after 1d4 minutes instead of 1d4 hours.

Extended Exertion

You may spend a bonus action or expend martial focus to apply two (exertion) talents to an attack instead of just one.

Great Destroyer

So long as you have martial focus, you deal double damage when making melee weapon attacks against objects and have advantage on any check made to break an object.

Sanguine Invigoration

Whenever you reduce a creature to 0 hit points with a melee or thrown weapon attack, you gain temporary hit points equal to your level until the start of your next turn. The creature must have a CR of at least half your character level (rounded down, minimum 1/2).

Savage

Whenever you reduce a creature to 0 hit points with a melee or thrown weapon attack, you may spend a bonus action to regain martial focus. The creature must have a CR of at least half your character level (rounded down, minimum 1/2).

Berserker Legendary Talents

Alter Terrain

Prerequisites: Berserker sphere (Shatter Earth), 7th level or higher.

When using the Shatter Earth talent, you may create a 5-foot deep hole in the ground in the affected squares. If you so choose, you also raise the terrain by 5 feet in all squares adjacent to the affected squares.

Atavism (adrenaline)

Prerequisites: Berserker sphere

Whenever you would be affected by a spell, effect, or other ability, you can choose to count as either your original creature type or as a beast whenever it would be advantageous to you (such as being immune to a hold person spell, treating yourself as a beast, or receiving an enlarge person spell, treating yourself as a humanoid).

Rift Strike

Prerequisites: Berserker sphere, 11 level or higher.

As an action that provokes attacks of opportunity, you unleash a powerful roar and swing a weapon with such extreme ferocity that you tear the very fabric of space and time, opening up a rift to another location. This teleports you, your carried items, and up to one willing Medium or smaller creature and their gear per three levels to a location that can be up to 100 miles per level away. Large creatures count as two Medium creatures, a Huge creature counts as two Large creatures, etc.. All creatures to be transported must be in contact with one another, and at least one of those creatures must be in contact with you.

You must have some clear idea of the destination’s location and layout; if you have not been to the desired destination before then you do not arrive at the exact location, instead creating a rift to a location within 1d20 miles of the desired point.

Your exhaustion level increases by 1 after using this ability. You incur this penalty even if you are immune to the exhausted condition. If your current exhaustion level is greater than 1, you incur a 50% chance that the ability fails to work and your exhaustion level still increases by 1. This is a magical effect.

Ruinous Tread

Prerequisites: Berserker sphere (Shatter Earth).

You may choose to break the ground as you move. Whenever you leave a square, you may choose to make that square difficult terrain. This difficult terrain remains until it is cleared as an action (clearing 1 square within the creature’s reach) or repaired with a spell or effect such as the mending spell.

Sever

Prerequisites: Berserker sphere, 11th level or higher.

When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon, you may expend martial focus. The target must pass a Constitution saving throw or have one limb severed. The target takes 1d6 points of necrotic damage from the wound each round at the beginning of its turn until it receives at least 1 point of healing or the bleeding is stopped by a DC10 Wisdom (Medicine) check.

Losing a limb halves any movement speed dependent on that limb and removes any attacks and abilities dependent on that limb. Creatures with all legs removed are prone and have a walking speed of 5 feet unless possessing other forms of movement.

Spell Sunder (exertion)

Prerequisites: Berserker sphere, 5th level or higher.

You may attempt to break an ongoing spell effect on the target. You can choose an effect you are aware of, but otherwise this targets the lowest-level magical effect. If the damage from the batter exceeds a DC of 10 + the spell’s level, the magic effect is suppressed for a number of rounds equal to your proficiency bonus. If your damage exceeds the DC by 5 or more, it is instead dispelled entirely. You may use this to target a magic effect on an area.

Variants

Calmness

You do not gain the adrenaline ability and the bonus (adrenaline) talent. If you ever buy off this variant, you gain both the adrenaline ability and the bonus (adrenaline) talent. You gain Extended Exertion as a bonus talent.

Unbattered

You cannot batter targets. You gain Sanguine Invigoration as a bonus talent.

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