Reading Dark Matter 4.2: Path of the Dreadnought (Barbarian)
A kind of cross between all the big heavy hitters you might recognise from various media with Mandalorian mercenaries from Star Wars.
The main feature of this subclass is the helm. It’s a sort of conduit that enhances rage but also puts some limitations on it. It transforms rage into what I remember from playing Pathfinder, not a number of rages but a number of rounds of rage. I just don’t like the number of half level + con. We can probably get something similarly balanced with less math. I would go with just level or maybe 2x Proficiency Bonus. Level will feel better for a player.
Fearless, at 6th level, gives you advantage vs charmed or frightened, super advantage if you’re raging. That is quite thematic, especially for this subclass, and just about powerful enough for 6th level. 👍
At 10th level, we get Unstoppable Charge, which is kind of like the Charger feat except you get advantage on the attack and not bonus damage. Considering the power difference and you can get Charger at 4th level (1st for Humans), this is quite underwhelming for a 10th level feature.
For a 14th level feature, we have Focused Rage, which gives you a reason to attack one target (of your choice) because you get bonus damage. It’s a nice bonus but I still think it’s underwhelming for 14th level and definitely quite bland.
Overall, it’s a cool idea but quite annoyingly implemented. Most features are underwhelming and in the theme of it, they stressed the importance of the helmet but it’s touched in one feature and that’s it. Later features should build on previous features to build a cohesive mechanical whole that implements the intended theme.
Posted in No Category, Role-Playing, Thinking Out Loud and tagged Dark Matter by Eran with comments disabled.