Barbarian: Path of the Battlerager
Unarmed Grappler Build
The Character:
Thuth Ironthew stared across the vacuous void and for once it stared back. Finally, a challenge. The red eyes of a drow army blinked through that inky dark, and Thuth's armor thirsted for their dirty elven blood.
A battle cry split the silent, eternal night of the Underdark and Thuth charged with his duergar comrades. The cowards armed themselves with spiked shields and serrated axes. Thuth charged forward with only empty hands and hungry armor. His embrace was one of death, and his punch one that ripped out throats. He was the barbed devil in the dark, the harnessed rage that kept those dark denizens at bay. He was a battlerager.
The Concept: Build, Story, Backgrounds
After several conversations with my and others' players, as well as glancing at polls and statistics, I was surprised to find that the Battlerager is not held in high esteem. Perhaps it's just the dwarf-lover in me coming through, but the Battlerager is one of my absolute favorite Barbarian subclasses and its unique abilities allow for a type of gameplay many other classes can't pull off: the unarmed grappler. This is a Strength based build, with two necessary feats (Grappler and Tavern Brawler), that focuses on immobilizing enemies and gaining/granting advantage on strikes.
The character is a duergar, grey dwarf, from the Underdark, and a member of a distorted facsimile of the gold and shield dwarves' Order of Battleragers. The Battleragers specialize in wearing bulky, spiked armor and throwing themselves into combat, striking with their body itself and giving themselves over to the fury of battle. Most "surface" dwarves are sane, but years exposed to the dangers of the Underdark have corrupted the duergar, and their battle rage is less of a tactic and more of a symptom.
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| Duergar capturing an adventuring party |
The Race: Grey Dwarf (Duergar)
The Battlerager subclass does have a dwarf-only restriction. So, for the sake of players' whose DM will not lift said restriction, I made my choice from the three dwarf subraces. Why not mountain dwarf, the astute player might ask. They grant +2 to Strength, rather than the duergar's +1. Yes, this is true; however, there is something absolutely invaluable that the grey dwarf offers for this build: Duergar Magic. Specifically, the ability to cast the Enlarge/Reduce spell on themselves once per day is absolutely crucial to this grappler build.
As the rules state that a grapple can be attempted on creatures one size larger than the player, casting Enlarge on oneself as a Medium creature, making them effectively Large, allows for the grappling of Huge sized creatures (and smaller). This includes all adult dragons, several dinosaurs, most demons and devils (including pit fiends and balors), all giants, treants, etc. Something about being able to immobilize a dragon by putting it in a spiky headlock is just so appealing, and that +1d4 damage to the Battlerager Armor feature is nothing to sneeze at.
Some might site the Sunlight Sensitivity trait as a detriment, but this can be counteracted by the Reckless Attack Barbarian feature, which turns those disadvantaged strikes into just straight rolls, though it does grant enemies advantage to attack the Battlerager. Hopefully, though, the player has a DM like me, so the Battlerager might have some magical sun-blocking goggles as loot from an early dungeon to counteract this negative. Alternatively, if the DM is opposed to removing this detriment early on, this character can be saved for an Underdark campaign.
And let's not forget the advantage on saves against illusions, charm and paralysis the grey dwarf receives. This is ultimately a better version of the Path of the Berserker Barbarian's Mindless Rage feature with the additional advantage of not having to Rage to use it.
As the rules state that a grapple can be attempted on creatures one size larger than the player, casting Enlarge on oneself as a Medium creature, making them effectively Large, allows for the grappling of Huge sized creatures (and smaller). This includes all adult dragons, several dinosaurs, most demons and devils (including pit fiends and balors), all giants, treants, etc. Something about being able to immobilize a dragon by putting it in a spiky headlock is just so appealing, and that +1d4 damage to the Battlerager Armor feature is nothing to sneeze at.
Some might site the Sunlight Sensitivity trait as a detriment, but this can be counteracted by the Reckless Attack Barbarian feature, which turns those disadvantaged strikes into just straight rolls, though it does grant enemies advantage to attack the Battlerager. Hopefully, though, the player has a DM like me, so the Battlerager might have some magical sun-blocking goggles as loot from an early dungeon to counteract this negative. Alternatively, if the DM is opposed to removing this detriment early on, this character can be saved for an Underdark campaign.
And let's not forget the advantage on saves against illusions, charm and paralysis the grey dwarf receives. This is ultimately a better version of the Path of the Berserker Barbarian's Mindless Rage feature with the additional advantage of not having to Rage to use it.
The Stat Spread (Standard Array):
STR 16 (+3), CON 16 (+3), DEX 13 (+1), INT 12 (+1), WIS 10 (+0), CHA 8 (-1)
The Strength score is integral to our build here, as it controls both our damage and our Athletics skill checks for grappling opponents. Once the Battlerager gets their two feats that form the crux of the build, discussed later under the Feats section, they will want to focus their Ability Score Improvements exclusively on boosting Strength.
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| Thibbledorf Pwent, Battlerager, mid-charge |
The Class: Notable Features
here: Spike Armor. It may have the same functional stats as scale mail, but oh is it so much more. The ability to bonus action strike with with a gauntleted, spiky fist is nice, but really what we're eyeing is the feature's final ability: "when [the Battlerager] use[s] the Attack action to grapple a creature, the target takes 3 piercing damage if [their] grapple check succeeds" (SCAG, pg.121). So, if immobilizing the Battlerager's opponent and attacking them isn't enough, just being in their grasp deals damage. Not to mention, attempting a grapple will always be done at advantage thanks to the Barbarian's Rage feature.
Reckless Abandon: This feature is useful for this build, but also useful for counteracting the Sunlight Sensitivity trait of the duergar. The player is incentivized to make use of the Barbarian's Reckless Attack feature as with each use they gain their CON mod in temporary HP. This counteracts the advantage enemies gain on strikes against the Battlerager for using this feature, as it provides an extra cushion to soften, if not nullify, their blow. Also, each attempt to grapple an opponent will now grant temporary HP for the attempt. The Battlerager has life-giving, bloody hugs of death -- excellent.
Spiked Retribution: Suffice it to say, the subject of the Battlerager's grapple will try to either break free with a contested check (though with the Battlerager's bonuses to these that's highly unlikely) or attack the Battlerager so that they'll drop to 0 HP and free them. This feature is a counter to the latter. Should they choose to attack the Battlerager to free themselves, now they take an additional 3 piercing damage with each attack. Should others try to attack the Battlerager to assist their grappled ally, they will suffer the same. Nothing penetrates the spiky fortress that is the Battlerager.
Feats: The Crux of the Build
As stated earlier in the Stat Spread section, these feats are absolutely crucial to the effectiveness of the build. The Battlerager's strength stat beginning at 16 is good enough to last until level 12, as the level 4 and 8 Ability Score Improvements should be used to acquire these feats in the order presented here.Tavern Brawler: It could be argued that using a one-handed weapon with this build would be far more effective for damage output, and yes, this is true, but we're not focused on damage output. We're focused on rushing down foes and immobilizing them, either to take them out of the fight or to make it easier for allies to take them out. So, the +1 to strength is nice. The unarmed strike damage now equaling 1d4+strength mod is nice. The proficiency with improvised weapons is nice. But, what we're really taking this feat for, and the reason the Battlerager will prefer unarmed attacks, is this feat's final ability: "when [the Battlerager] hit[s] a creature with an unarmed strike or an improvised weapon on [their] turn, [they] can use a bonus action to attempt to grapple the target." (PHB, pg.170).
Yes, that's correct. So, the Battlerager can now begin battle with a Reckless Attack, gain temporary HP from the Reckless Abandon feature, make their two unarmed strikes with their spiky fists, and then grapple the target, all at advantage. Pair this with the Grappler feature, and the build gets even more insane.
Grappler: So, the Battlerager has successfully grappled their opponent . . . now what? Well, without this feature, now the opponent's speed is zero, and that's it. With this feature, well, the fun is just beginning. Now, while the Battlerager has a foe trapped in their grapple, every attack they make against them is at advantage. This removes the necessity for the Battlerager to use the Reckless Attack feature which stops others from gaining advantage on attacks against them in turn. Very useful. What might be even more useful though is the secondary ability of this feat: pinning.
With this feat, the Battlerager can use their action to make another contested grapple check (at advantage thanks to Rage) and restrain their opponent as well as themselves. Here's what that means: attack rolls made at the immobilized creatures (the Battlerager and their grappled opponent) are now at advantage, the restrained creatures have disadvantage on attack rolls, and they make dexterity saving throws at disadvantage. This is fantastic. If the pin succeeds, the Battlerager grants every party member advantage against the pinned foe until they win a contested Athletics check, and with this build's advantages for said check, the foe may be stuck for quite a while.
Other feats that can be useful, though I would say less useful then just pumping points into the strength stat, are Charger (paired with the Battlerager Charge feature, this allows for a double dash during one turn and an attack with +5 to hit, not bad), Lucky (three additional rerolls for those athletics checks that even with advantage roll less than the Battlerager would like), Sentinel (if all else fails and the opponent escapes a grapple, an opportunity attack can prevent them from getting out of range of another grapple attempt) and Tough (the Battlerager will be taking a lot of punishment being entwined so frequently with the enemy, so extra HP never hurt anybody).
Play Style: Rushing Down & Creating Advantage
Early Battle: This is where the rushdown tactics start. Battleragers should pinpoint the most dangerous opponent and attempt to immobilize them with a grapple. If they are sized Huge, the Battlerager should use their Duergar Magic's Enlarge/Reduce spell and grow to an appropriate size. Once the opponent is apprehended, the Battlerager should use their advantage on strikes against grappled foes from the Grappler feat to take them down while keeping them away from the other party members. Rinse and repeat in descending order of enemy threat level.
Mid-Late Battle: If the battle somehow lasts longer than a few rounds with this award-winning strategy, it's time to pin. This is definitely a last resort, as it makes the Battlerager more vulnerable along with their foe, but hopefully the full round of advantage against the pinned foe will be enough to allow the Battlerager's allies to finish the fight.
Roleplay: Dark Denizen
Thuth Ironthew has lived his life, regardless of specific background, in the dangerous realm of the Underdark. His origin lies with the grey dwarves' ill reflection of their surface cousins' Order of the Battlerager. Those honorable dwarves harness full control of their emotions, unleashing it only in the screaming fury of battle. The duergar have no such control over their emotions, rather, they relish in eviscerating their foes with the pent up fear and anger of being banished to the land beneath mountains.The duergar hate elves, specifically the drow. The two races consistently wage war with one another in the voidish chasms of their dark sunken homes. Thuth, whether it was as a member of the city guard of a duergar city, a pirate that sailed the subterranean lakes, a mercenary hired by shady surface dwellers merchants that wished to traverse the Underdark and gain access to its black markets, or a soldier in the wars waged against the dark elves, has killed his fair share of drow, and shares in his people's hatred of them.
Whether he is Lawful Neutral, self-centered but not out for the world's end, or Lawful Evil, as selfish and cruel as the society that raised him, Thuth is a strong, viscous, capable fighter that lives a structured life save for when he enters the frenzy of battle. His motivation is dependent on alignment and campaign, but the one thing that binds the possibilities are his connection to his people's ancient tradition of Battleraging. Does he hate the grey dwarves' twisted copy of the ancient art, embrace it, or even seek to use it to destroy it? This much is up to the player.
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