Berzerker

Berserkers, different as they might be, are defined by their stim induced rage: unbridled, unquenchable, and unthinking fury. More than a mere emotion, their anger is the ferocity of a cornered predator, the unrelenting assault of a storm, the churning turmoil of the sea. For every berserker, rage is a power that fuels not just a battle frenzy but also uncanny reflexes, resilience, and feats of strength.

PRIMAL INSTINCT

People of towns and cities take pride in how their civilized ways set them apart from animals, as if denying one’s own nature was a mark of superiority. To a berserker, though, civilization is no virtue, but a sign of weakness. The strong embrace of a stim educing rage allows them to get keen instincts, primal physicality, and ferocious rage. Berserkers are uncomfortable when hedged in by walls and crowds. They thrive where the civilized don’t.
Berserkers come alive in the chaos of combat. They can enter a berserk state when they take a stim pack where rage takes over, giving them superhuman strength and resilience. A berserker can draw on this drug of fury only a few times without resting, but those few rages are usually sufficient to defeat whatever threats arise.

A LIFE OF DANGER

Not every person deemed “berserkers” by scions of civilized society has the berserker class. A true berserker among these people is as uncommon as a skilled fighter in a town, and he or she plays a similar role as a protector of the people and a leader in times of war. Life in the wild places of the world is fraught with peril: rival tribes, deadly weather, and terrifying monsters. Berserkers charge headlong into that danger so that their people don’t have to.
Their courage in the face of danger makes berserkers perfectly suited for adventuring. Wandering is often a way of life for their native tribes, and the rootless life of the adventurer is little hardship for a berserker. Some berserkers miss the close-knit family structures of the tribe, but eventually find them replaced by the bonds formed among the members of their adventuring parties.
When creating a berserker character, think about where your character comes from and his or her place in the world. Talk with your GM about an appropriate origin for your berserker. Did you come from a remote planet, making you a stranger in the area of the campaign? Or is the campaign set in a rough-and-tumble frontier where berserkers are common? What led you to take up the adventuring life? Were you lured to settled planets by the promise of riches? Did you join forces with soldiers of those lands to face a shared threat? Did monsters or an invading horde drive you out of your homeland, making you a rootless refugee? Perhaps you were a prisoner of war, brought in chains to "civilized" lands and only now able to win your freedom. Or you might have been cast out from your people because of a crime you committed, a taboo you violated, or a coup that removed you from a position of authority.

QUICK BUILD

You can make a berserker quickly by following these suggestions. First, put your highest ability score in Strength, followed by Constitution. Second, choose the mercenary background.

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Features	Rages	Rage Damage	Berserker Instincts
1	+2	Stim-Rage, Unarmored Defense	1	+2	-
2	+2	Reckless Attack, Berserker Instincts	1	+2	2
3	+2	Danger Sense, Berserker Approach	1	+2	2
4	+2	Ability Score Improvement	1	+2	2
5	+3	Extra Attack	2	+2	2
6	+3	Approach feature	2	+2	2
7	+3	Feral Impulse	2	+2	3
8	+3	Ability Score Improvement	2	+2	3
9	+4	Brutal Critical (one die)	2	+3	3
10	+4	Approach feature	3	+3	3
11	+4	Relentless Rage	3	+3	3
12	+4	Ability Score Improvement	3	+3	3
13	+5	Brutal Critical (two dice)	4	+4	4
14	+5	Approach feature	4	+4	4
15	+5	Persistent Rage	4	+4	4
16	+5	Ability Score Improvement	5	+4	4
17	+6	Brutal Critical (three dice)	5	+5	5
18	+6	Indomitable Might	5	+5	5
19	+6	Ability Score Improvement	6	+5	5
20	+6	Primal Champion	infinite	+5	5

HIT POINTS

Hit Dice: 1d12 per Berserker level Hit Points at 1st Level: 12 + your Constitution modifier Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d12 (or 7) + your Constitution modifier per berserker level after 1st

PROFICIENCIES

Armor: Light armor, medium armor Weapons: All vibroweapons, simple blasters Tools: None Saving Throws: Strength, Constitution Skills: Choose two from Animal Handling, Athletics, Intimidation, Nature, Perception, Survival EQUIPMENT You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background
(a) a vibroweapon and a light or medium physical shield or (b) two vibroweapons (a) two techaxes or (b) two vibrospears (a) a dungeoneer’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack

VARIANT: STARTING WEALTH

In lieu of the equipment granted by your class and background, you can elect to purchase your starting gear. If you do so, you receive no equipment from your class and background, and instead roll for your starting wealth using the criteria below:
Class Funds Berserker: 5d4 x 100 cr

Stim RAGE

Berserker: 1st level In battle, you fight with primal ferocity from a mix of stims you only know how to make. On your turn, you can enter a rage as a bonus action if you aren’t wearing heavy armor.
While raging, you gain the following benefits:
You have advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws. When you make a melee weapon attack using Strength, you gain a bonus to the damage roll that increases as you gain levels as a berserker, as shown in the Rage Damage column of the berserker table. You have resistance to kinetic and energy damage. If you are able to cast powers, you can’t cast them or concentrate on them while raging. You get disadvantage on wisdom saving throws as long as you are raging
Your rage lasts for 5 minutes. It ends early if you are knocked unconscious. You can also end your rage on your turn as a bonus action.
You can enter a rage a number of times as shown in the Rages column of the berserker table. You regain all expended uses when you complete a long rest.

UNARMORED DEFENSE

Berserker: 1st level While you are not wearing any armor, your Armor Class equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.

RECKLESS ATTACK

Berserker: 2nd level You can throw aside all concern for defense to attack with fierce desperation. When you make your first attack on your turn, you can decide to attack recklessly. Doing so gives you advantage on melee weapon attack rolls using Strength during this turn, but attack rolls against you have advantage until your next turn.

BERSERKER INSTINCTS

Berserker: 2nd level You’ve honed two instincts, as detailed at the end of the class description, and you hone more at higher levels, as shown in the Berserker Instincts column of the berserker table.

DANGER SENSE

Berserker: 3rd level You gain a small connection to the force gaining a sense of when things nearby aren’t as they should be, giving you an edge when you dodge away from danger. You have advantage on Dexterity saving throws against effects that you can see, such as traps and powers. To gain this benefit, you can’t be blinded, deafened, incapacitated or raging.

BERSERKER APPROACH

Berserker: 3rd, 6th, 10th, and 14th level You choose an approach that shapes the nature of your rage which is detailed at the end of the class description.

ABILITY SCORE IMPROVEMENT

Berserker: 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level You can increase one ability score by 2, or you can increase two ability scores by 1. You can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

EXTRA ATTACK

Berserker: 5th level You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

FERAL IMPULSE

Berserker: 7th level Your instincts are so honed that you have advantage on initiative checks.
Additionally, if you are surprised at the start of combat and aren’t incapacitated, you can act normally on your first turn, but only if you enter your rage before doing anything else on that turn.

BRUTAL CRITICAL

Berserker: 9th, 13th, and 17th level You can roll one additional weapon damage die when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with a melee attack.
This increases to two additional dice at 13th level and three additional dice at 17th level.

RELENTLESS RAGE

Berserker: 11th level Your rage can keep you fighting despite grievous wounds. If you drop to 0 hit points while you’re raging and don’t die outright, you can make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. If you succeed, you drop to 1 hit point instead. Each time you use this feature after the first, the DC increases by 5. When you finish a short or long rest, the DC resets to 10.

PERSISTENT RAGE

Berserker: 15th level Your rage is so fierce that it ends early only if you choose to end it.

INDOMITABLE MIGHT

Berserker: 18th level If your total for a Strength check is less than your Strength score, you can use that score in place of the total.

PRIMAL CHAMPION

Berserker: 20th level You embody the power of the wilds. Your Strength or Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 2. Your maximum for those scores increases by 2.
Additionally, you can enter rage an unlimited number of times, and entering rage no longer requires your bonus action on your turn.

BERSERKER INSTINCTS

The instincts are presented in alphabetical order.

ACKLAY’S INSTINCT

While raging, you have advantage on Constitution saving throws.

BANTHA’S INSTINCT

Prerequisite: 7th level Your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift doubles. If it would already double, it instead triples. Additionally, you have advantage on Strength checks made to push, pull, lift, or break objects.

BLURRG’S INSTINCT

Whether mounted or on foot, your travel pace is doubled, as is the travel pace of up to ten companions while they’re within 60 feet of you and you’re not incapacitated.

BOGGDO’S INSTINCT

Prerequisite: 13th level While raging you have a flying speed equal to your current walking speed, though you fall if you end your turn in the air and nothing else is holding you aloft.

CHIRODACTYL’S INSTINCT

Prerequisite: 7th level While raging, you have blindsight to a range of 30 feet, and you have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sound, as long as you aren’t deafened.

DEWBACK’S INSTINCT

Choose three damage types other than true damage. While raging, you have resistance to the chosen damage types.

FIGHTER’S INSTINCT

You adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the Fighting Style options, detailed in Chapter 6.

FYRNOCK’S INSTINCT

While raging, you can use your bonus action to leap up to 30 feet to an empty space you can see. When you land you deal kinetic damage equal to your Strength modifier to each creature within 5 feet of where you land. You can use this feature twice. You gain an additional use at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th level. You regain all expended uses when you complete a long rest.

HAWK’S INSTINCT

Prerequisite: 7th level You can see up to 1 mile away with no difficulty. You are able to discern even fine details as though looking at something no more than 100 feet away from you. Additionally, dim light doesn’t impose disadvantage on your Wisdom (Perception) checks.

KATARN’S INSTINCT

You gain a climbing speed equal to your movement speed.

LOTH-CAT’S INSTINCT

While you’re raging, other creatures have disadvantage on opportunity attack rolls against you, and you can take the Dash action as a bonus action on your turn.

PREDATOR’S INSTINCT

Your speed increases by 10 feet.

RANCOR’S Instinct

Prerequisite: 13th level While you’re raging any creature within 5 feet of you that’s hostile to you has disadvantage on attack rolls against targets other than you or another character with this feature. An enemy is immune to this effect if it can’t see or hear you or if it can’t be frightened.

TACTICIAN’S INSTINCT

When you use your Reckless Attack feature, you can choose to not have advantage on your attack rolls this turn. If you do so, friendly creatures within 5 feet of a hostile creature that is within 5 feet of you have advantage on attack rolls against that creature.

TRACKER’S INSTINCT

Prerequisite: 7th level You can track other creatures while traveling at a fast pace, and you can move stealthily while traveling at a normal pace.

TERENTATEK’S INSTINCT

Prerequisite: 13th level When you are forced to make a saving throw against a force power, you can immediately use your reaction to move up to half your speed towards the source power’s caster. If you end this movement within 5 feet of the target, you can immediately make one melee weapon attack against the target as a part of that reaction.

VARACTYL’S INSTINCT

Prerequisite: 13th level While raging, you have advantage on Dexterity checks, your attack rolls can’t suffer from disadvantage, and each slowed level only reduces your speed by 5 feet, unless it would reduce your speed to 0.

Career

Career Progression

Archetypes:

BALLISTIC APPROACH

For many, rushing an opponent with guns blazing is a last resort. For Berserkers of the Ballistic Approach, this isn’t a last resort; it’s the primary plan. Leading with a blaster and pure, unbridled rage, the berserker never lets an empty gun diminish their fury.

FIRESTORM

Ballistic Approach: 3rd level You gain proficiency in martial blasters with the burst or rapid property. Additionally, you’ve learned to use ranged weapons with untold fury. While wielding a blaster with which you are proficient, you gain the following benefits:  You can use your choice of Strength or Dexterity modifier for the attack and damage rolls of blaster weapons against targets within 30 feet of you. You must use the same modifier for both rolls. When you use a blaster as an improvised weapon, you are considered proficient with it.

EXPLOSIVE

Ballistic Approach: 3rd and 9th level While raging, you gain the following benefits:
Your blaster weapon damage rolls gain a minimum roll threshold, discussed in chapter 7. You add your rage damage to damage rolls from ranged weapon attacks using Strength. At 9th level, when a creature rolls a 1 on a saving throw against your burst or rapid property, you can add your Brutal Critical dice to the damage.

RAMPAGE

Ballistic Approach: 6th level While raging, when you deal damage with a blaster with which you are proficient, and you added your Strength modifier to the damage roll, you can use a bonus action to move up to half your speed towards your target. You must end this movement closer to your target than you started. If you end this movement within 5 feet of your target, you can make one melee weapon attack with your blaster as a part of this bonus action.

DOWN, NOT OUT

Ballistic Approach: 10th level When you are hit with an attack by a creature within 30 feet of you, you can use your reaction to make a single attack against that creature with a blaster with which you are proficient.

BRAWN

Ballistic Approach: 14th level When you use the burst property of a blaster with which are you proficient, you can apply your rage damage bonus to every target that takes damage, instead of just one. Additionally, when a Large or smaller creature fails the saving throw against your burst or rapid property while within 30 feet of you, it is knocked prone.

CYCLONE APPROACH

The Cyclone Approach empowers the berserker’s ability to fight with weapons in each hand. Followers of this approach learn to move quickly to avoid attacks and can become a whirlwind of fury and steel, cleaving through hordes of enemies.

DUAL WIELDER

Cyclone Approach: 3rd level When you engage in Two-Weapon Fighting, you can add your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice) to the damage of your Two-Weapon Fighting attack as long as it doesn’t already include that modifier.

DOUBLE SWING

Cyclone Approach: 3rd level Once on each of your turns when you miss with an attack while raging, you can immediately make a melee weapon attack with a weapon wielded in a different hand.

TWISTING WINDS

Cyclone Approach: 6th level Your unpredictable movement makes you harder to hit and pin down. When you make a saving throw or ability checks to avoid being knocked prone, pushed, grappled, or restrained, you can add your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice).

MIGHTY LEAP

Cyclone Approach: 10th level The distance you can jump is doubled, and you do not provoke attacks of opportunity if you leave a hostile creature’s reach while jumping.

TORNADO

Cyclone Approach: 14th and 17th level Once on each of your turns, you can become a tornado of attacks. When you take the Attack action on your turn, you can forgo one of your regular attacks to make a melee attack against any number of creatures within 5 feet of you, with a separate attack roll for each target. If you are wielding a separate melee weapon in each hand, each successful hit against a target deals damage equal to the damage dice of both weapons + your ability modifier + any other modifiers.
You can use this feature five times. You gain an additional use at 17th level. You regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.

JUGGERNAUT APPROACH

Certain berserkers find that the strongest offense is a good defense. Berserkers of the Juggernaut Approach wear the heaviest of armor not because they fear injury, but to strike fear in their hapless attackers.

ARMORED BRUTE

Juggernaut Approach: 3rd level You’ve learned to fight in the heaviest of armors, using your weight to your advantage. You gain proficiency in heavy armor, you can enter a rage while wearing heavy armor, and you can gain the benefits of your Rage feature while wearing heavy armor.

UNSTOPPABLE FORCE

Juggernaut Approach: 3rd level Your momentum makes you nigh unstoppable. While raging, you can move through a hostile creature’s space regardless of that creature’s size. When you do so, you must make a Strength (Athletics) check contested by the target’s Strength (Athletics) check. If you move at least 10 feet before moving through a hostile creature’s space, and that creature is your size or smaller, they have disadvantage on the check. If you succeed, you don’t treat the movement as difficult terrain, the creature is pushed 5 feet in a direction of your choice, and you don’t provoke opportunity attacks from that creature until the end of your turn.

RAGING BULWARK

Juggernaut Approach: 6th level Your imposing form acts as a shield for your allies. When a friendly creature you can see is the target of a ranged attack, or forced to make a Dexterity saving throw, and you can see the source of the effect, you can use your reaction to move up to half your speed towards the friendly creature. You must end this move closer to the ally than you started. If you end this movement between your ally and the source of the effect, you provide cover for the attack.
Additionally, you provide three-quarters cover, instead of half-cover, to creatures of the same size category, and you provide full cover, instead of three-quarters cover, to creatures one size smaller than you.

OVERWHELMING CLEAVE

Juggernaut Approach: 10th level When you successfully push a creature into a surface or another creature while raging, the pushed creature takes kinetic damage equal to your Rage Damage. Additionally, the first time you hit with a melee weapon attack using Strength each turn, you can attempt to damage another creature with the same attack. Choose another creature within 5 feet of the original target and within your reach. If the original attack roll would hit the second creature, it takes damage equal to your Strength modifier. The damage is of the same type dealt by the original attack.

RELENTLESS ASSAULT

Juggernaut Approach: 14th level You’re able to charge in unerring bursts. As an action, you can charge up to twice your speed in a straight line without provoking opportunity attacks. Each creature within 5 feet of your path must make a Strength or Dexterity saving throw (DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier, the target chooses the ability they use use). On a failed save, a creature takes damage equal to your Strength modifier + your Rage damage and, if it is no more than one size category larger than you, is pushed back 5 feet in a direction of your choice. Creatures smaller than you make this save with disadvantage. When you end this movement, if a creature is within 5 feet of you, you can make one melee weapon attack (no action required). On a hit, the creature takes additional damage equal to your berserker level.
Once you’ve used this feature, you must complete a short or long rest before you can use it again.

Notable Berzerkers:

Zath Thunderstrike the third 

Type

Military