Barbarian: Path of the magpie - An improvised fighting barbarian ( i.imgur.com )

A friend of mine wanted to play an improvised weapon-wielding barbarian. He was using a homebrew subclass he found online, but frankly speaking, it was terrible, so I reworked it. This is the result of 2 hours of rushed brainstorming and development. I'm not a barb main, so I'm not really familiar with how they work, but I'm satisfied with the result.

While creating the subclass, I tried to satisfy the following demands:

  • Allow the player to use unarmed strikes and improvised weapons, obviously.
  • Try to make improvised weapons unique and not just "reflavoured martial weapons" (achieved with the random roll and additional effects to unarmed stirkes and attacks with improvised weapons, I hope).
  • More choices during combat. The person who was going to play this doesn't like how shallow and same-y most martials in 5e play (hence the "Barbarian Exploits" feature at 6th level).

Any kind of feedback is very much appreciated!

Aielman15 OP , (edited )
@Aielman15@lemmy.world avatar

All you wonderful people have provided some very good advice, so I made some quick changes to the brew.

Path of the Magpie v2

  • Buff: Decoupled the unarmed strike bonus action from the attack action.
  • Buff: To increase the flavour of the magpie name, I moved the proficiency in investigation at 3rd level, and added expertise in investigation at 10th level. It's still a mostly ribbon feature since Barbarians usually dump INT, but it will be nice investigating something once in a while.
  • Buff: 14th level feature now deals additional damage when breaking a weapon as part of an attack.
  • Added a custom magic item as a substitute for +1/+2/+3 weapons that lets the magpie barbarian bypass resistance to physical damage. It also has a bunch of other cool effects to further customize the character.

Path of the Magpie v3

  • Nerf: Creatures who succeed on the save for Terror Display are immune to the effect for 24 hours.

This will probably be the final version of the subclass, as included in my Tavern Tales compendium. Click on the link to read the wondrous item related to the subclass, as well.

owenfromcanada Mod ,
@owenfromcanada@lemmy.world avatar

Love it! The flavor is great, and it makes improv weapons feel like their own thing. A couple suggestions:

  1. It looks like improv weapon damage doesn't add your STR modifier, which means it'll wane in relevance mechanically. I'd probably add your STR mod to improv weapon attacks.

  2. The level 14 feature is okay mechanically, but it doesn't have the same feel as the others to me. Instead of having improv weapons not break, I recommend you have them deal additional damage when they break. Either double the damage dice (tripling them on a crit), or something along those lines. Feels like this would be more in the spirit of the crazy barb breaking chairs over people.

My recommendation: instead of having weapons not break, give an extra damage bonus for shattering an improv weapon (deals an extra

Aielman15 OP ,
@Aielman15@lemmy.world avatar

I'm pretty sure that all melee weapons add your STR modifier by default, so there's no reason to explicitly add that to the feature, as it would be redundant.

I really appreciate your second point though, I've taken it into account for the new version. Thanks a lot!

dylanmorgan ,

I like the random table for improv weapons, but I think it makes sense to give the player or DM the option to base the available weapons on an existing scene that has been set.

Has a fight broken out at a banquet the party is attending? I’d give the player the choice of grabbing some plates (light, thrown) or a chair (heavy, two handed) rather than insisting on a d12 roll.

junderwood ,

Haaaaaahaha, I love it. That looks fun as heck to play.

troyunrau ,
@troyunrau@lemmy.ca avatar

Homebrew content, on my Lemmy! Huzzah!

Looks great. I also really like the name. Magpies are really clever though (corvid adjacent). If you're leaning into the magpie name, add a ribbon (situational flavour feature) that ties in to cleverness somehow.

Dagnet ,

It's really cool but, unless I missed it, it needs a way to make attacks magical after a certain level (maybe a homebrew gloves item that turns any improvised weapons you hold into +1 weapons?)

Aielman15 OP , (edited )
@Aielman15@lemmy.world avatar

Good call. While writing it, I decided to stick with the subclass and not dabble any further into homebrew feats/magic items, but you're correct, at higher levels the DM should give the Magpie Barbarian a way to bypass resistance or immunity to nonmagical physical damage.

The Battle Standard of Infernal Power kind of works:

While you hold the banner, your weapon attacks and those of all creatures within 300 feet of you count as magical the purposes of overcoming damage immunities and resistances.

But it's limited to weapon attacks only, so no luck for the unarmed strikes. I would probably homebrew a similar item, limit it to the wearer/wielder, and make it work with unarmed strikes and improvised weapons.

Alternatively, a feat would work too. For example:

Unfettered Pugilist
Either your training, your experience, or perhaps your raw and unorthodox fighting style allow you to overcome the defenses of your foes. Your unarmed strikes and attacks you make with improvised weapons ignore resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning damage, and treat immunity as resistance.
Additionally, increase your Strength or Dexterity by 1.

Maybe I should just add it to the 6th level feature, though.

Dagnet ,

I think a feat is bad because you are making them 'pay' for something is usually 'free'. Most martial classes get magical items naturally by adventuring. You could just add it to Savage Warrior something like "Starting at level X, your unarmed attacks and attacks made with improvised weapons count as magical bla bla" which is how monks do it I think.

EDIT: I do like the gloves tho cause he could eventually upgrade it to +3 since, unlike monks, his damage dice doesn't increase naturally.

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