Path of the Brawler

A Primal Path

Bar fights, street brawls, the riot at the docks; a brawler has been in more fights without a sword than with one, and that's taught them a few lessons about fighting close and personal. A brawler overpowers thier enemy with strength. Brawlers focus on grabbing, shoving and tossing foes to control the battlefield with raw might.

Path of the Brawler Features

Barbarian Level	Feature
3rd	Brawling Styles (1), Rough and Rowdy
6th	Brawling Styles (3), Eye for Trouble
10th	Brawling Styles (5), Overwhelm
14th	Brawling Styles (7), That All You Got?

Brawling Styles

Fightin' dirty is different than with sword and board. You haven't had the priveldge of always having a blade at your side, instead you mastered the many styles of kickin' ass, blended into a unique brawling style of your own.

Styles. When you reach 3rd level, you learn one style of your choice, which are detailed in the "Styles" section. Each style provides a passive benefit and special action, called a Style Move, which you can use once per rage. You have the benefits of all of the styles you know while raging.

You learn additional styles as you level up in this class. Each style adds on to your previous styles. You learn two additional styles at 6th level, 10th level, and 14th level. Each time you learn a new style, you can also replace one style you know with a different one.

Saving Throws. Some of your Style Moves require your target to make a saving throw to resist the style move's effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:

Style Move save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier

Rough and Rowdy

At 3rd level, whenever you win an ability check contest using Strength against a creature, or a creature fails a saving throw against one of your Style Moves, you may roll your Brawlin' Die and do that much damage. Your Brawlin' Die depends on your Strength modifier, as follows:

Strength Modifier	Brawlin' Die
+2 or less	1d4
+3	1d6
+4	1d8
+5	1d10
+6 or more	1d12

Additionally, if you use this ability to deal damage and the d20 roll for a Strength check is a 20, you may roll additional dice as if you rolled an attack critical.

Eye for Trouble

At 6th level, you've developed a sense for tension and conflict. You can size up a room, know who's going to start a fight, and who's going to win. This sense gives you advantage on Perception checks made to identify hidden threats on humanoids (such as a hidden blade) and Insight

.

checks to identify tension that might burst into violence.

Overwhelm

At 10th level, whenever you win a grapple or shove contest in which you have advantage, if you would have won using the lower of the two d20s, you can choose to both grapple then shove the target.

That All You Got?

At 14th level, you are pure grit. Nothing phases you. When you have all your hitpoints and are hit by a melee attack, you can use your reaction to mark the attacker until the end of your next turn.

You can use your action to silently stare down a marked creature, demonstrating the insignificance of their attack. You might also crack your knuckles or stretch your neck. When you do so, all hostile creatures within 10 feet of you make a Wisdom saving throw against your Style Move DC. Any creature that hit you with a melee attack makes this save at disadvantage. Any creature that fails the save is frightened of you for a minute or until the distance between you is more than twice your movement speed.

Styles

The styles are presented in alphabetical order.

Arm Wrestler

While raging, you can add your rage damage to the damage dealt by Rough and Rowdy.

Arm Wrestler's Comeback: Once per rage, when you lose an ability check contest using Strength while it isn't your turn, you can use your reaction to reroll one d20 and use the new result.

Bar Keeper

While raging, when you win a contest to shove a creature you are grappling, you can instead choose to push the creature up to 10 feet away and knock it prone.

Bar Keeper's Toss: Once per rage, when you successfully shove a creature this way, you can push the creature up to 15 feet and knock it prone. Then, each creature within 5 feet of the shoved creature make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is also knocked prone.

Bodyguard

While you are grappling an ally and raging, they gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage and you lose those resistances. Any damage they take counts as damage against you for the purpose of sustaining your rage. Additionally, your movement speed is not halved when grappling an ally.

Bodyguard's Extraction: Once per rage, when a friendly creature within 5 feet of you is hit with an attack, you can use your reaction to grapple the ally.

Doorman

While raging, you only need one free hand per two creatures if they are your size or smaller. Additionally, you can attempt to grapple creatures two sizes larger than you (instead of one).

Doorman's Lockdown: Once per rage, you can attempt to grapple as many creatures as you have free hands as a single grapple attempt. Make a single Strength (Athletics) check contested by each of the creatures, which can succeed or fail separately. The creatures must be within your reach, and you must have a free hand space for each grapple target, as normal.

Drunkard

Whenever you take damage when raging, you can choose to gain temporary hit points equal to your Constitution modifier until the end of the turn.

Drunkard's Outburst: When you enter your rage, you can make a single grapple or shove attempt against a target within 5 feet as part of the same action.

Henchman

When you grapple a creature while raging, you can prevent that creature from speaking or casting spells with verbal components.

Henchman's Choke Hold. Once per rage, you can use the Attack action to attempt to knock a grappled creature unconscious. When you do so, the grappled creature makes a Strength saving throw. If it fails, the creature is knocked unconscious for a minute or until it takes damage or someone uses an action wake it up. If you’re able to make

multiple attacks with the Attack action, this Attack replaces one of them.

Street Fighter

While raging, your unarmed strikes against grappled, prone opponents deal 1d12 damage plus your Strength modifier and rage damage, and benefit from Brutal Critical if you have that feature.

Street Fighter's Cheap Shot. Once per rage, you can use a bonus action to make a special unarmed strike against a prone creature. This attack score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.

Thug

While you are raging, you may have one creature you are grappling take the other half of any damage which you resist due to your rage.

Thug's Shield. Once per rage, you can use an action to use a grappled creature as a battering ram. When you do so, you move at your normal movement speed this turn and you can move through spaces occupied by opposing large or smaller creatures. Whenever you enter a creature's space, it make a Dexterity saving throw or is knocked prone.

Wrestler

Whenever you attempt to grapple or shove a creature, it can only contest you with a Strength (Athletics) check.

Wrestler's Takedown. Once per rage, you can use your action to move up to your movement speed then make a single grapple attack. If you succeed, both you and the target are also knocked prone.

Changelog (v1.4)

v1.4

• Added new abilities for levels 6,10, and 14. The core of the class is still intended to be in the Styles.
• Reworked Rough and Rowdy. Rolling dice is more fun than flat damage.
• Added Drunkard

v1.3

• Reworked Style Move for Bodyguard. No always a reaction.
• Reworked Wrestler's takedown. Functionally the same, I just built it into its own action instead of having it hacking on to the dash action.

v1.2

• Now gains 2 additional styles each sub-class level, instead of 1 at 6, 2 at 10 and 3 at 14.

Bodyguard

• Resistances gained by ally are lost by you.
• Style move now allows you to grapple an ally as a bonus action or a reaction.
• Style move previously prevented opportunity attacks against your ally and doubled your movement speed. Forced movement does not caused opportunity attacks, so this was basically just the dash action.

Street fighter

• now only hits prone opponents. Does 1d12. Style move is just a bonus attack (which is potentially very powerful).

v1.0

Arm Wrestler & Rough and Rowdy

• Rough and Rowdy now adds Str instead of Rage Dmg
• Arm Wrestler now adds Rage Dmg instead of Str

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Bar Keeper

• Buff: Shove can push 10 ft + prone. Previously 5 + prone or 10 ft.

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Street Fighter

• You are proficient in unarmed strikes, and may add your rage damage to your unarmed strikes. Previously: Unarmed strikes do 1d4/6/8 damage.
• Style Move: Bonus action unarmed strike against prone or grappled for 1d12 + str + rage + benefits from brutal critical. Previously: Single unarmed bonus attack.

Design Discussion

Originally, I imagined the Brawler as a Fighter sub-class, and honestly I would still prefer to design a fighter sub-class but I've been unable to solve a design flaw. That is, it is a sub-class that desperately craves multiclassing into Barbarian, Rogue or both. That felt like a damning flaw to me (I've got a grudge against multi-classing). Instead, I've designed a Path for the Barbarian, which fits nicely with the flavor. It probably still wants to multiclass into the Rogue, but at least there aren't TWO other classes that it wants to multi-class into.

The Brawler has problems against anyone that it can't grapple with...and that might be okay. I've thought about adding some styles with passives that are non-combat or at the very least not grappling, but I've yet to come up with an idea that I like.

Artwork Credit

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Page 1

Denis Pospelov - Orc Brawler

Paizo(?) - Tavern Brawl

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Page 2

Craig J Spearing/Paizo - Bar Fight

About Me & Additional Homebrews

I'm fascinated by ways that the flavor of playing a class or sub-class can express itself both in-game and out of game at the same time, bringing you closer to your character. I've brewed up an Artificer class that lets the player create inventions that cast spells, and the Gambler sub-class that allows the player to take risks on rolling dice, hoping to hit it big!

Other than that, I like to homebrew rules and whatever comes to mind. Brewing is a creative challenge - how to best fit cool ideas into the 5e System.

Reddit handle: u/sonaplayer

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Personal Credits

Special thanks to:

• The Homebrewery, for making homebrewing fun, visually appealing, and professional.
• r/UnearthedArcana for taking the time to read and review what I write.
• Anyone using my content! Thank you for making all this time even more worthwhile.

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