Berserker

HP Per Level: 10. Keywords: Berserker, Martial.

A berserker is a warrior who fights not just with steel, but with their passion. They are reckless warriors whose fury and explosive attacks are as devastating as they are unexpected. They turn their bodies into weapons and their minds into storms, able to enter a heightened battle frenzy at a moment’s notice. While in this state they shrug off mortal wounds, swing with the power of 10 men, and gain the senses of a predatory beast. Dare you stand before the storm?

• Weapons
  • All Natural Attacks (Exceptional)
  • All Simple Weapons (Exceptional)
  • All Martial Weapons (Skilled)
• Defense: Skilled
  • Armors: Light
• Saves
  • Fortitude Save (Professional)
  • Reflex Save (Skilled)
  • Will Save (Skilled)
• Bonus Languages: None.

Note: Though a berserker is exceptional with all natural attacks they have they don’t, by default, start with any.

You are Professional at 2 of the following skills: Acrobatics, Animal Husbandry, Aquatic, Athletics, Investigation, or Intimidate.

You were born to the rage, able to whip yourself into a deeper frenzy than most.

Benefit: Your rage lasts for 6 rounds instead of 3.

Tapping into deep wells of storming emotion, you can whip yourself into a powerful frenzy.

Benefit: Take a “Transform” action to rage. While in this state you gain a bonus on damage rolls that rely on Strength equal to your level. While raging you become Off-Guard 3 (this reduces your AC by 3). This state lasts for 3 rounds. Once it ends you cannot enter it for 2 rounds.

While raging, you can’t take actions that require concentration or presence of mind, and your speech is limited to short answers and guttural grunts. Additionally, you cannot make use of anything technological* or that requires presence of mind to operate. Finally, you are prohibited from making skill checks that rely on Dexterity or Intelligence.

• Boost: You can spend 1 Hero Dice to cause a successful attack to deal Absolute damage with a Strength-based manufactured weapon or natural attack.

• Technological*: This is anything that has a Technological Lore requirement to use. This is often abbreviated as “Tech. Lore”.
• Spellcasting & Rage: If your other character class can cast spells, you can cast spells while in rage. However, you still can’t take other actions that require concentration or presence of mind.
• Curing “Off-Guard”: If a berserker uses a spell or ability to end the penalty, they end the benefit too and thus their rage would end prematurely. A case can be made in rare instances where it’s against the berserker’s will (such as an enemy casting a beneficial spell on the berserker) but even then they’d generally be entitled to a save against that effect.

Your steps are light and your movement as fleet as a deer.

Benefit: Your land speed improves by 20 feet.

When you get going in a fight, your sense of pain dulls.

Benefit: You gain Resist (all) equal to 5 + your level while raging.

You have a 6th sense about danger.

Benefit: You gain Detect (hostile) 10 feet. This allows you to “sense” the presence of a hostile creature within 10 feet of you, but can also be used to detect traps that are set to cause harm. You must state you are using this.

• Line of Effect: You need line of effect to any hostile creature or trap to detect it with this sense.

Sometimes, you’re just too angry to die.

Benefit: You are immune to death effects while raging.

• Boost: If you would be reduced below 1 HP while raging, as a free action you can spend a Hero Dice to remain at 1 HP.

Your rage is as endless as your thirst for violence.

Benefit: You can remain in your rage state indefinitely. When you cease to rage, you can start again instantly.

The following are “wild ways” that you can select as a berserker. These are (sometimes supernatural) effects brought on by the sheer rage and power of a berserker’s tremendous emotional energy. A wild way activates when you enter your rage and subside when your rage ends (unless otherwise noted). You can choose which wild ways to activate when you begin your rage. Once started, they cannot be changed until you start a new rage.

With sheer, unadulterated, physicality you can slam your fist (or head) against whatever incoming force and, if you’re strong enough, obliterate it before it can hit you (no matter how improbable).

Benefit: Once per long rest, while raging you can use your raw physicality to attempt to Counter a hostile action. You can roll your a d20 + your level + Strength against any of the following rolls to counter it as a reaction:

• Melee or ranged attack roll.
• A spell that allows a save or requires an attack roll.

• Area of Effects: If used successfully against an area of effect attack you negate the effect for you (it does not negate the full effect). However you are treated as a solid object blocking line of effect for others behind you (relative to the origin).

While raging you gain highly acidic spit!

Benefit: While raging you gain a ranged natural attack that doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity.

You have mastered the fine art of breaking your enemies' toys.

Benefit: While you are raging you deal double damage to objects and you ignore the Threshold of objects if it is 20 or less.

Your bad habit of leaping before you look has paid off and made you immune to many of the consequences of your actions.

Benefit: While raging you become immune to fear effects and poisons.

They won’t like you when you’re angry.

Benefit: You grow one size category, to a maximum size of Giant (3×3), while raging.

Throwing things; for when your enemy is too scared to fight you properly.

Benefit: While raging you gain the “hurler” common monster trait. Creatures with a hurler trait may use Strength instead of Dexterity as the relevant ability score modifier for thrown ranged attack rolls. Additionally, they add their Strength modifier to damage rolls with thrown weapons.

Some people say ‘headbutting a man until he coughs up blood is not a martial arts style’. Those people are wrong.

Benefit: You become Exceptional with the Iron Bull martial arts style (even while not raging). Once per round, when you hit with an iron bull martial arts attack while raging, you may make a sunder attempt against that target as a free action.

You’ve learned a bit of feral cunning, and learned to hunt like the greatest of beasts.

Prerequisites: Skilled in Stealth.

Benefit: You gain darkvision (even while not raging) and can use Dexterity-based skills while raging.

Your rage fuels your magic, replacing fine arcana with raw power.

Prerequisites: Spellcaster keyword

Benefit: While raging you can use your Strength in place of a mental ability modifier for spells. This does not affect your allotment of mana, only the DC and damage dealt by your spells.

Example: If a spell deals 1d4 damage + your highest mental ability modifier it would instead deal 1d4 damage + your Strength modifier.

“Against all the evil that the Storyteller can conjure, all the wickedness that we as a society can produce, we will send unto them… only you. Rip and tear, until it is done.”

Benefit: While raging, your fingers become sharpened claws or talons; you gain a claw attack.

Ever been so mad your blood literally boiled?

Benefit: Your rage causes you to literally combust, a great shield of flame engulfing you. While raging, you benefit from a fire shield> as an innate (Fortitude save) spell. When your rage ends, the spell’s effect ends too. While this innate spell is active, you may choose to have your strikes deal fire damage in place of their normal damage type.

Eschewing proper weapons, you’ve learned to fight with junk, detritus, and whatever comes to hand (even if that’s a chicken thigh).

Benefit: You become Exceptional with improvised weapons while raging. When you pick up a new improvised weapon you can designate an extra weapon quality appropriate to the weapon (with your GMs approval).

Dumb enough to walk through fire and tough enough to survive it.

Benefit: You gain 1 extra HP for each total character level you have (or gain). This stacks with other bonuses to HP. This does not require you to be raging.

When you rage you turn into an ATB- an All Terrain Berserker.

Benefit: You gain a climb and swim speed equal to your land speed while raging. In addition, you do not need to breathe while raging.