Barbarian
Rage consumes you in battle. You delight in wreaking havoc and using powerful weapons to carve through your enemies, relying on astonishing durability without needing complicated techniques or rigid training. Your rages draw upon a vicious Instinct, which you might associate with an animal, a spirit, or some part of yourself. To many barbarians, brute force is a hammer and every problem looks like a nail, whereas others try to hold back the storm of emotions inside them and Release their rage only when it matters most.
Key Ability: Strength
At 1st level, your class gives you an ability bonus to Strength
Hit Points: plus your Constitution modifier
You increase your maximum number of HP by this number at 1st level and every level thereafter.
Roleplaying the Barbarian
DURING COMBAT ENCOUNTERS...
You summon your rage and rush to the front lines to smash your way through. Offense is your best defense - you'll need to drop foes before they can exploit your relatively low defenses.
DURING SOCIAL ENCOUNTERS...
You use intimidation to get what you need, especially when gentler persuasion can't get the job done.
WHILE EXPLORING...
You look out for danger, ready to rush headfirst into battle in an instant. You climb the challenging rock wall and drop a rope for others to follow, and you wade into the risky currents to reach the hidden switch beneath the water's surface. If something needs breaking, you're up to the task!
IN DOWNTIME...
You might head to a tavern to carouse, build up the fearsome legend of your mighty deeds, or recruit followers to become a warlord in your own right.
YOU MIGHT...
- Have a deep-seated well of anger, hatred, or frustration.
- Prefer a straightforward approach to one requiring patience and tedium.
- Engage in a regimen of intense physical fitness - and punch anyone who says this conflicts with your distaste for patience and tedium.
OTHERS PROBABLY...
- Rely on your courage and your strength, and trust that you can hold your own in a fight.
- See you as uncivilized or a boorish lout unfit for high [skill|society|society].
- Believe that you are loyal to your friends and allies and will never relent until the fight is done.
INITIAL PROFICIENCIES
At 1st level, you gain the listed proficiency ranks in the following statistics. You are untrained in anything not listed unless you gain a better proficiency rank in some other way.
PERCEPTION
Expert in PerceptionSAVING THROWS
- Expert in Fortitude
- Trained in Reflex
- Expert in Will
SKILLS
- Trained in Athletics
- Trained in a number of additional skills equal to 3 plus your Intelligence modifier
ATTACKS
- Trained in simple weapons
- Trained in martial weapons
- Trained in unarmed attacks
DEFENSES
- Trained in light armor
- Trained in medium armor
- Trained in unarmored defense
Class DC
- Trained in barbarian class DC
CLASS FEATURES
You gain these features as an . Abilities gained at higher levels list the levels at which you gain them next to the features' names.
Ancestry and Backgrounds
In addition to the abilities provided by your class at 1st level, you have the benefits of your selected ancestry and background, as described here.
Initial Proficiencies
At 1st level, you gain a number of proficiencies that represent your basic training. These proficiencies are noted at the start of this class.
Barbarian Feats
At 1st level and every even-numbered level thereafter, you gain a barbarian class feat.
You’ll see the following key terms in many barbarian class features.
Flourish: Flourish actions are techniques that require too much exertion to perform a large number in a row. You can use only 1 action with the flourish trait per turn.
Instinct: Instinct abilities require a specific instinct; you lose access if you perform acts anathema to your instinct.
Open: These maneuvers work only as your first salvo on your turn. You can use an open action only if you haven’t used an action with the attack or open trait yet this turn.
Rage: You must be raging to use abilities with the rage trait, and they end automatically when you stop raging.
Instinct
Your rage wells up from a dominant instinct—one you learned from a tradition or that comes naturally to you. Your instinct gives you an ability, requires you to avoid certain behaviors, grants you increased damage and resistances at higher levels, and allows you to select feats tied to your instinct.
Rage
You gain the Rage action, which lets you fly into a frenzy.
Rage
Barbarian Concentrate Emotion Mental
Requirements You aren't Fatigued or Raging.
You tap into your inner fury and begin raging. You gain a number of temporary Hit Points equal to your level plus your Constitution modifier. This frenzy lasts for 1 minute, until there are no enemies you can perceive, or until you fall unconscious, whichever comes first. You can't voluntarily stop raging. While you are raging:
- You deal 2 additional damage with melee Strikes. This additional damage is halved if your weapon or unarmed attack is agile.
- You take a '1 penalty to AC.
- You can't use actions with the concentrate trait unless they also have the rage trait. You can Seek while raging.
After you stop raging, you lose any remaining temporary Hit Points from Rage, and you can't Rage again for 1 minute.
Source Core Rulebook pg. 84
Skill featsLevel 2
At 2nd level and every 2 levels thereafter, you gain a skill feat. Skill feats appear in Chapter 5 and have the skill trait. You must be trained or better in the corresponding skill to select a skill feat.
Deny AdvantageLevel 3
Your foes struggle to pass your defenses. You aren’t flat-footed to hidden, undetected, or flanking creatures of your level or lower, or creatures of your level or lower using surprise attack. However, they can still help their allies flank.
General FeatsLevel 3
At 3rd level and every 4 levels thereafter, you gain a general feat.
Skill IncreasesLevel 3
At 3rd level and every 2 levels thereafter, you gain a skill increase. You can use this increase either to increase your proficiency rank to trained in one skill you’re untrained in, or to increase your proficiency rank in one skill in which you’re already trained to expert.
At 7th level, you can use skill increases to increase your proficiency rank to master in a skill in which you’re already an expert, and at 15th level, you can use them to increase your proficiency rank to legendary in a skill in which you’re already a master.
Ability BoostsLevel 5
At 5th level and every 5 levels thereafter, you boost four different ability scores. You can use these ability boosts to increase your ability scores above 18. Boosting an ability score increases it by 1 if it’s already 18 or above, or by 2 if it starts below 18.
Ancestry FeatsLevel 5
In addition to the ancestry feat you started with, you gain an ancestry feat at 5th level and every 4 levels thereafter. The list of ancestry feats available to you can be found in your ancestry’s entry in Chapter 2.
BrutalityLevel 5
Your fury makes your weapons lethal. Your proficiency ranks for simple weapons, martial weapons, and unarmed attacks increase to expert. While raging, you gain access to the critical specialization effects for melee weapons and unarmed attacks.
JuggernautLevel 7
Your body is accustomed to physical hardship and resistant to ailments. Your proficiency rank for Fortitude saves increases to master. When you roll a success on a Fortitude save, you get a critical success instead.
Weapon SpecializationLevel 7
Your rage helps you hit harder. You deal an additional 2 damage with weapons and unarmed attacks in which you have expert proficiency. This damage increases to 3 if you’re a master, and 4 if you’re legendary. You gain your instinct’s specialization ability.
Lightning ReflexesLevel 9
Your reflexes are lightning fast. Your proficiency rank for Reflex saves increases to expert.
Raging ResistanceLevel 9
Repeated exposure and toughened skin allow you to fend off harm. While raging, you gain resistance equal to 3 + your Constitution modifier to damage types based on your instinct.
Mighty RageLevel 11
Your rage intensifies and lets you burst into action. Your proficiency rank for your barbarian class DC increases to expert. You gain the Mighty Rage free action.
Mighty Rage
Barbarian
Trigger You use the Rage action on your turn.
Use an action that has the Rage trait. Alternatively, you can increase the actions of the triggering Rage to 2 to instead use a 2-action activity with the rage trait.
Source Core Rulebook pg. 85
Greater JuggernautLevel 13
You have a stalwart physiology. Your proficiency rank for Fortitude saves increases to legendary. When you roll a critical failure on a Fortitude save, you get a failure instead. When you roll a failure on a Fortitude save against an effect that deals damage, you halve the damage you take.
Medium Armor ExpertiseLevel 13
You’ve learned to defend yourself better against attacks. Your proficiency ranks for light armor, medium armor, and unarmored defense increase to expert.
Weapon FuryLevel 13
Your rage makes you even more effective with the weapons you wield. Your proficiency ranks for simple weapons, martial weapons, and unarmed attacks increase to master.
Greater Weapon SpecializationLevel 15
The weapons you’ve mastered become truly fearsome in your hands. Your damage from weapon specialization increases to 4 with weapons and unarmed attacks in which you’re an expert, 6 if you’re a master, and 8 if you’re legendary. You gain a greater benefit from your instinct’s specialization ability.
Indomitable WillLevel 15
Your rage makes it difficult to control you. Your proficiency rank for Will saves increases to master. When you roll a success on a Will save, you get a critical success instead.
Heightened SensesLevel 17
Your instinct heightens each of your senses further. Your proficiency rank for Perception increases to master.
Quick RageLevel 17
You recover from your Rage quickly, and are soon ready to begin anew. After you spend a full turn without raging, you can Rage again without needing to wait 1 minute.
Armor of FuryLevel 19
Your training and rage deepen your connection to your armor. Your proficiency ranks for light armor, medium armor, and unarmored defense increase to master.
DevastatorLevel 19
Your Strikes are so devastating that you hardly care about resistance, and your barbarian abilities are unparalleled. Your proficiency rank for your barbarian class DC increases to master. Your melee Strikes ignore 10 points of a creature’s resistance to their physical damage.
INSTINCTS
You channel your rage through an instinct. You decide what your instinct means to you. It could be a creature or symbol beloved by your clan, or a purely internal source or filter of your rage, such as a belief, curse, heritage, or state of mind. Each instinct grants an instinct ability, plus more abilities you can gain via instinct feats. It also determines what damage you resist with raging resistance and, at higher levels, increases the additional damage you deal when you Rage.
Each instinct lists acts that are anathema to it. Whenever you perform such acts, you lose the instinct’s abilities and any instinct feats until you spend 1 day of downtime re-centering yourself, though you keep all of your other barbarian abilities.
Animal Instinct
The fury of a wild predator fills you when you rage, granting you ferocious unarmed attacks. Cultures that revere vicious animals (such as apes or bears) give rise to barbarians with this instinct. You might also be at war with an uncontrollable, animalistic side of your personality, or you might be a descendant of a werewolf or another werecreature. Select an animal from Table 3–3: Animal Instincts that best matches your chosen animal.
Animal Instincts| Animal | Attack | Damage | Traits |
| Ape | Fist | 1d10 B | Grapple, unarmed |
| Bear | Jaws | 1d10 P | Unarmed |
| Claw | 1d6 S | Agile, unarmed | |
| Bull | Horn | 1d10 P | Shove, unarmed |
| Cat | Jaws | 1d10 P | Unarmed |
| Claw | 1d6 S | Agile, unarmed | |
| Deer | Antler | 1d10 P | Grapple, unarmed |
| Frog | Jaws | 1d10 B | Unarmed |
| Tongue | 1d4 B | Agile, unarmed | |
| Shark | Jaws | 1d10 P | Grapple, unarmed |
| Snake | Fangs | 1d10 P | Grapple, unarmed |
| Wolf | Jaws | 1d10 P | Trip, unarmed |
Anathema and Instinct Ability
Flagrantly disrespecting an animal of your chosen kind is anathema to your Instinct, as is using weapons while Raging.
Specialization Ability
Increase the damage die size for the unarmed attacks granted by your chosen animal by one step, and increase the additional damage from Rage from 2 to 5 for your chosen animal's unarmed attacks. The frog's tongue attack and deer's antler attack gain reach 10 feet. If you have greater weapon specialization, increase the damage from Rage from 5 to 12 for your chosen animal's unarmed attacks.
Raging Resistance
You resist piercing and slashing damage.
Source: Core Rulebook pg. 86 1.1
Dragon Instinct
You summon the fury of a mighty dragon and manifest incredible abilities. Perhaps your culture reveres draconic majesty, or you gained your connection by drinking or bathing in dragon’s blood or after watching a marauding wyrm burn your village. Select a type of dragon from Table 3–4: Dragon Instincts to be your instinct’s dragon type. Chromatic dragons tend to be evil, and metallic dragons tend to be good.
| Dragon | Type | Breath Weapon |
| Black | Chromatic | Line of acid |
| Blue | Chromatic | Line of electricity |
| Green | Chromatic | Cone of poison |
| Red | Chromatic | Cone of fire |
| White | Chromatic | Cone of Cold |
| Brass | Metallic | Line of fire |
| Bronze | Metallic | Line of electricity |
| Copper | Metallic | Line of acid |
| Gold | Metallic | Cone of fire |
| Silver | Metallic | Cone of Cold |
Anathema and Instinct Ability
Letting a personal insult against you slide is anathema to your Instinct. Choose whether your character respects or abhors your dragon type. If you respect it, defying such a dragon is anathema, and if you abhor it, failing to defeat such a dragon you come across is anathema.
Specialization Ability
When you use draconic Rage, you increase the additional damage from Rage from 4 to 8. If you have greater weapon specialization, instead increase the damage from Rage when using draconic rage from 8 to 16.
Raging Resistance
You resist piercing damage and the damage type of your dragon's breath weapon.
Source: Core Rulebook pg. 86 1.1
Fury Instinct
Your Rage comes from a deep and purely personal well within you. You use your rage as you choose.
Anathema and Instinct Ability
You don't have an anathema or an Instinct ability. Instead, you gain an additional 1st-level barbarian feat.
Specialization Ability
Increase the additional damage from Rage from 2 to 6. If you have greater weapon specialization, instead increase the additional damage from Rage to 12.
Raging Resistance
You resist physical weapon damage, but not physical damage from other sources (such as unarmed attacks).
Source: Core Rulebook pg. 87 1.1
Giant Instinct
Your Rage gives you the raw power and size of a giant. This doesn't necessarily mean you revere giants - you might scoff at them or even aspire to slay them! You could instead seem like a giant to other people due to your exceptional strength or larger-than-life emotions and ego.
Anathema and Instinct Ability
Failing to face a personal challenge of strength is anathema.
Specialization Ability
Increase the damage from Rage when using a larger weapon from 6 to 10; if you have greater weapon specialization, increase it from 10 to 18.
Raging Resistance
You resist bludgeoning damage and your choice of cold, electricity, or fire, chosen when you gain Raging Resistance.
Source: Core Rulebook pg. 87 1.1
Spirit Instinct
Whether you are emotionally sensitive to the spirits around you; worship ancestors or apparitions; or are haunted by the specter of an ancestor, relative, friend, or foe, your Rage takes the form of a spiritual possession.
Anathema and Instinct Ability
Disrespecting corpses or spirits is anathema to your Instinct; defending yourself against undead creatures is not.
Specialization Ability
When using spirit Rage, increase the damage from Rage from 3 to 7. If you have greater weapon specialization, instead increase the damage when using spirit rage to 13.
Raging Resistance
You resist negative damage, as well as damage dealt by the attacks and abilities of undead creatures, regardless of the damage type.
Source: Core Rulebook pg. 87 1.1
Superstitious Instinct
A deep distrust of magic drives you to forgo and counter the metaphysical nonsense of spellcasters. Whether you're a member of a superstitious family or culture that distrusts magic, a warrior in constant battle against wizards and witches, a survivor of a magical accident that instilled an intense aversion in your mind and body, or a scion of a Bloodline known for its magic resistance, your Rage is inimical to magic. This makes you an excellent Mage Hunter but slow to trust practitioners of magical arts. Your extremely restrictive anathema grants you powers beyond those of other instincts.
Anathema and Instinct Ability
Willingly accepting the effects of magic spells (including from scrolls, wands, and the like), even from your allies, is anathema to your Instinct. You can still drink potions and invest and activate most magic items you find, though items that cast spells are subject to the same restrictions as all other spells. If an ally insists on using magic on you despite your unwillingness, and you have no reason to believe they will stop, continuing to travel with that ally of your own free will counts as willingly accepting their spells (as do similar circumstances) and thus is also anathema to your instinct.
Specialization Ability
Increase the damage from Rage from 4 to 8 against creatures that can cast spells. If you have greater Raging specialization, instead increase the damage from Rage to 12 against creatures with spells and 8 against other creatures.
Raging Resistance
Choose two associated magical traditions: arcane and occult, arcane and primal, divine and occult, or divine and primal. The resistance from your Raging Resistance class feature applies against all damage you take from spells cast with these two traditions of magic, regardless of the type of damage dealt by the spell.
Source: Advanced Player's Guide pg. 108
Every level at which you gain a feat, select one of the following feats. You must satisfy any prerequisites before taking the feat.