Berserker
Berserkers are the wild and often unpredictable warriors of more rural or even primitive communities. Normally, they are less focused on discipline and tactics than more civilized combatants, and emphasize the importance of personal prowess and ferocity. Many Berserkers are little more than brutes who man-age to keep their rage under minimal control and turn it into a weapon; others do not control their rage, but are controlled by it. Individually, Berserkers are formidable warriors, but as a military force, their bad temperedness and lack of discipline their have significant weaknesses. Examples for archetypical Berserkers are quite common in fantasy literature, characters like Conan or many berserkers or einherjars from Norse legends fits into this class.
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The berserker is a class for men. Manly men, with hairy chests and a large battle axe. There is nothing subtle about the Berserker - Give him a weapon, see how he kills things with it. He has a bad temper (and not this "I am a bit angry if I want to" feature of his barbarian progenitor - this is full-fledged "Don't provoke me or I eat your face" wrath), and he is also tough in a fight (which is helpful, as he is less likely to have access to heavy armor, his defense is good, but not excellent and suffers while raging, while shields may be an odd choice for a Berserker).
The Berserker can be a problem for his group, especially when one of the player decides to play one of those very annoying (and very fragile) kender-style thiefs. But the Berserker is also the most aggressive fighter around and a very capable, if self-destructive fighter.
Hit Points at 1st Level: 24 + Con modifier
Hit Points at Each Additional Level: 5 + Con modifier
Class Skills
The barbarian’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (2xDex), Climb (Str+Dex), Craft (Int+?), Handle Animal (Wis+Cha), Heal (Wis+Cha), Intimidate (Str+Cha), Jump (2xStr), Knowl-edge (geography) (2xInt), Knowledge (nature) (2xInt), Listen (Wis+Con), Perform (percussion instru-ments) (Cha+Str), Profession (Wis+?), Ride (Dex+Cha), Spot (Wis+Con), Survival (Wis+Con), and Swim (Str+Con).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (5 + Int modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 5 + Int modifier.
{table=head]Level|BAB|BDB|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special
1st|+1
|+0
|+3
|+1
|+2
|Fast movement, Rage (basic)
2nd|+2
|+1
|+4
|+1
|+3
|Uncanny dodge
3rd|+3
|+2
|+5
|+2
|+3
|simple Art of War
4th|+4
|+3
|+5
|+2
|+4
|Fast Frenzy
5th|+5
|+3
|+6
|+3
|+4
|Improved uncanny dodge
6th|+6/+1
|+4
|+7
|+3
|+5
|art of war, simple
7th|+7/+2
|+5
|+7
|+3
|+5
|Damage reduction 1/—
8th|+8/+3
|+6
|+8
|+4
|+6
|Tame the Beast
9th|+9/+4
|+6
|+9
|+4
|+6
|art of war, advanced
10th|+10/+5
|+7
|+9
|+5
|+7
|Damage reduction 2/—
11th|+11/+6/+1
|+8
|+10
|+5
|+7
|Greater rage
12th|+12/+7/+2
|+9
|+11
|+6
|+8
|art of war, advanced
13th|+13/+8/+3
|+9
|+11
|+6
|+8
|Damage reduction 3/—
14th|+14/+9/+4
|+10
|+12
|+6
|+9
|Indomitable will
15th|+15/+10/+5
|+11
|+13
|+7
|+9
|art of war, complex
16th|+16/+11/+6/+1
|+12
|+13
|+7
|+10
|Damage reduction 4/—
17th|+17/+12/+7/+2
|+12
|+14
|+8
|+10
|Tireless rage
18th|+18/+13/+8/+3
|+13
|+15
|+8
|+11
|art of war, complex
19th|+19/+14/+9/+4
|+14
|+15
|+9
|+11
|Damage reduction 5/-
20th|+20/+15/+10/+5
|+15
|+16
|+9
|+12
|Mighty rage[/table]
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A berserker is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields).
Fast Movement (Ex): A barbarian’s base speed is faster than the norm for his race by +10 feet. This benefit applies only when he is wearing no armor, light armor, or medium armor and not carrying a heavy load. Apply this bonus before modifying the barbarian’s speed because of any load carried or armor worn.
Rage (Ex): A Berserker can fly into a rage, both willingly and out of stress and pain. Doing so requires a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. The Berserker can also enter the Rage involuntarily when he or a close ally (e.g. another PC) is hurt. Whenever the Berserker or one of his allies is hurt for the first time in a battle, the berserker must make a Will Save (DC is the dealt damage). If he fails, the Berserker enters the Rage.
In a fit of Rage, a Berserker temporarily gains a +4 bonus to Strength, a +4 bonus to Constitution, and a +2 morale bonus on Will saves, but he takes a -2 penalty to Defense and is immune against any form of fear attacks or effects.
The increase in Constitution increases the barbarian’s hit points by 2 points per level, but these hit points go away at the end of the rage when his Constitution score drops back to normal. (These extra hit points are not lost first the way temporary hit points are.) While raging, a berserker cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except for Balance, Escape Artist, Intimidate, and Ride), the Concentration skill, or any abilities that require patience or concentration, nor can he cast spells or activate magic items that require a command word, a spell trigger (such as a wand), or spell completion (such as a scroll) to function. He can use any feat he has except Combat Expertise, item creation feats, and metamagic feats. A fit of rage lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the character’s (newly im-proved) Constitution modifier. At the end of the rage, the berserker loses the rage modifiers and restric-tions and becomes fatigued (-2 penalty to Strength, -2 penalty to Dexterity, can’t charge or run) for the duration of the current encounter (unless he is a 17th-level barbarian, at which point this limitation no longer applies).
When in a Rage, the Berserker can lose the control over his Attacks and viciously attacks anything that moves. When all enemies are slain while the berserker is still raging, he must make a Will Save (DC 15 or attack the next innocent bystander or even ally. Berserkers are dangerous enemies, but sometimes they are just as dangerous as allies.
A berserker can fly into a rage only once per encounter.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 2nd level, a berserker retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, he still loses his Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. If a berserker already has uncanny dodge from a different class, he automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead.
Art of War: at level 3, and every three level after that, the Berserker gains a special ability from the appropriate list of Arts of War. No ability may be taken more than once. If an Art of War ability has other such abilities as prerequisites, a Berserker must possess the prerequisite abilities to take the ability in question.
Fast Frenzy (Ex): Starting at 4th level, the Berserker can enter a Rage as a free action instead of a stan-dard action, but he can do it only during his action, not in response to someone else’s action.
Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 5th level and higher, a berserker can no longer be flanked. This defense denies a rogue the ability to sneak attack the berserker by flanking him, unless the attacker has at least four more rogue levels than the target has berserker levels. If a character already has uncanny dodge from a second class, the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead, and the levels from the classes that grant uncanny dodge stack to determine the minimum level a thief or assassin must be to flank the character.
Damage Reduction (Ex): At 7th level, a berserker gains Damage Reduction. Subtract 1 from the dam-age the berserker takes each time he is dealt damage from a weapon or a natural attack. At 10th level, and every three berserker levels thereafter (13th, 16th, and 19th level), this damage reduction rises by 1 point. Damage reduction can reduce damage to 0 but not below 0.
Tame the Beast (ex): A Berserker who survives his temper long enough to reach 8th level gains a stronger control over his rage. From now on, he can make a Will save (DC 15) every turn to voluntarily end a Rage.
Greater Rage (Ex): At 11th level, a barbarian’s bonuses to Strength and Constitution during his rage each increase to +6, and his morale bonus on Will saves increases to +3. The penalty to Defense re-mains at -2.
Indomitable Will (Ex): While in a rage, a berserker of 14th level or higher gains a +4 bonus on Will saves to resist enchantment spells. This bonus stacks with all other modifiers, including the morale bo-nus on Will saves he also receives during his rage.
Tireless Rage (Ex): At 17th level and higher, a berserker no longer becomes fatigued at the end of his rage.
Mighty Rage (Ex): At 20th level, a berserker’s bonuses to Strength and Constitution during his rage each increase to +8, and his morale bonus on Will saves increases to +4. The penalty to Defense re-mains at -2.
Variant: Steppe Raider
Steppe Raiders are the warriors of the nomadic horse people. They do not get the Fast Movement ability and are not proficient with medium armor, but they gain the Mounted Warrior and Saddleback feats at 1st level.
often, Steppe Raiders also use the Fevered Frenzy trait instead of the standard berserker rage.
Variant: Urban Thug
While the majority of Berserkers come from so-called barbarian societies, which put more praise on the ferocity of the Berserker, there are also brutal thugs in the back alleys and slums of the large cities. An urban thug Berserker does not gain Handle Animal, Knowledge (Nature), Ride and Survival as class skills, instead they gain Gather Information, Knowledge (local), Sense Motive and Tumble.
Variant: Wolf of the Sea
You are a sea rider, a viking and a pirate who plunders the coastal areas and rich merchantmen.
Berserkers of this variety are not proficient with medium armor but get the Skill Focus (Swim) and Skill Focus (Profession: Sailor) Feats at 1st level.
Variant: Fevered Frenzy
This is a special form of Rage, which is not as destructive but more focused on speed and Whirling Attacks. A Berserker with this variant form of rage doesn't gain the normal bonuses when he enters a rage. Instead, he temporarily gains a +4 bonus to Strength and a +2 dodge bonus to Defense and on Reflex saves. While in a frenzy, the Berserker may make one extra attack in a round at his highest base attack bonus, but this attack takes a -2 penalty, as does each other attack made that round. This penalty applies for 1 round, so it also affects attacks of opportunity the Berserker might make before his next action.
Otherwise, Fevered Frenzy is identical to the standard rage in all other ways. At 11th level , the Strength bonus increases to +6, and the dodge bonus to Defense and on Reflex saves increases to +3. At 20th level, the Strength bonus increases to +8, and the dodge bonus to Defense and on Reflex saves increases to +4.
A barbarian using this variant doesn't gain indomitable will at 14th level. Instead, he gains the Pounce, but only while in a whirling frenzy.
Other than other varieties, the fevered frenzy can be combined with any other Berserker variant.
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