Warrior
A lone elf scales the top of the hill and gazes out at the smoking battlefield below. Beaten and worn, she pulls a lever on her massive crossbow and begins charging down the hill toward to single-handedly put an end to the fuming chaos below.
A dwarf clad in plate mail crashes through the lizardmen’s putrid lair. Their feeble weapons bounce off of his impenetrable armor as he swings his maul straight into the closet rib cage he can see.
A young swordsman clutches his first to his chest. Attuning himself to the rhythm of his heartbeat, he pulls on the threads of his bravery—light erupts from his hand and a glowing sword is sewn into existence.
Warriors train their body and mind to fight with vigor and elegance, while relying on their wit and fortitude to swing a fight in their favor. Unmatched with blade and bow alike—warriors are truly a sight to behold in the throes of battle.
Of Steel and Stamina
In lands where fearsome beasts run rampant—a fine blade and a stout heart is all one ever needs. Warriors live and breathe for the taste of martial adrenaline. Whether it’s a massive greatsword, a sharp rapier, a sturdy longbow, or a strapping iron shield—no one commands a fight like a warrior.
On the battlefield, a warrior is a menacing foe. No matter the form of cut or bruise, a warrior fights on. Indomitable, formidable, and ceaseless, a warrior draws upon a deep well of endurance and fortitude to ensure their victory—no matter the foe.
Forged in History
Since the beginning of time: there have been warriors. From desert plains, shadowed forests, and the stretching plains—all have birthed mighty and unshakeable champions. Whether those champions rallied their lands or crushed others beneath their heel; history has never been short its fill of magnificent heroes and horrendous villains—all of which have share the common call as fearsome warriors.
Not all warriors are mindless brutes or reckless
ruffians. The mark of a true warrior is displayed by
their mastery and command of their armaments;
a warrior’s weapon is their lifeline—their gift and
their muse. It is their first question and their final answer. True warriors also understand when their words can be sharper than their steel.
A Call To Arms
Not every sword-toting brigand can claim the title of a warrior.
Most souls who carry a weapon are relatively untrained soldiers with only the most basic combat knowledge. Unlike these armed individuals, a warrior lives and dies by the way of the blade.
For many warriors, adventuring comes second nature. The throes of haunted crypts, mysterious bogs, or seething dragon lairs provide ample opportunity for warriors to test their strength against.
Creating a Warrior
When creating your warrior, consider how your character learned the ways of combat and their martial prowess. Perhaps you enrolled in a school of warfare in a bustling kingdom metropolis, were taught by a private tutor on the edges of civilization, or were called out of necessity from your small village to help protect it from wandering monsters.
Whatever the cause, you aren’t just a random sellsword with a blade: as a warrior, your bow and your blade are your instruments—and you, their composer.
Quick Build
You can make a warrior quickly by following these suggestions. First, make Strength or Dexterity your highest ability score, followed by Constitution. If you plan on choosing the Arbalestion path, make Intelligence your third highest score. Then, choose the Folk Hero background.
Class Features
As a warrior, you gain the following class features
Hit Points
- Hit Dice: 1d10 per warrior level
- Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + your Constitution modifier
- Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per warrior level after 1st
Proficiencies
- Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields
- Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
- Tools: None
- Saving Throws: Strength, Constitution
- Skills: Choose two skills from Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Athletics, History, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, and Survival
Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- Leather armor, a longbow, and 20 arrows
- (a) a martial weapon and a shield or (b) two martial weapons
- (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) two handaxes
- (a) a dungeoneer's pack or (b) an explorer's pack
The Warrior
| Level | Proficiency Bonus | Features |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | +2 | Weapon Technique, Never Unarmed |
| 2nd | +2 | Warrior’s Stamina |
| 3rd | +2 | Battle Path |
| 4th | +2 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 5th | +3 | Extra Attack |
| 6th | +3 | Weapon Technique |
| 7th | +3 | Battle Path Feature |
| 8th | +3 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 9th | +4 | Greater Stamina |
| 10th | +4 | Battle Path Feature |
| 11th | +4 | Extra Attack (2) |
| 12th | +4 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 13th | +5 | Weapon Technique |
| 14th | +5 | Unending Stamina |
| 15th | +5 | Battle Path Feature |
| 16th | +5 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 17th | +6 | Weapon Technique |
| 18th | +6 | Battle Path Feature |
| 19th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 20th | +6 | Extra Attack (3) |
Weapon Technique
In your hands, the tools of combat become weapons of war. At 1st level, choose one of the following options. You choose one additional technique at 6th, 13th, and 17th level.
Assailant
You’re a terror in close combat. When you have advantage and hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, that creature takes an additional 1d6 damage.
Bloodletter
You’re exceptionally deadly with a blade. You gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with slashing weapons.
Heart Stopper
You know how to drive your weapons home. You gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls you make with piercing weapons.
Heavy Blows
You know how to maximize the heft and weight of your weapon to its full effect. Whenever you have advantage on a melee attack roll you make with a bludgeoning weapon and hit, you can knock the target prone if the lower of the two D20 rolls would also hit the target.
Sharp Eye
Your skill at eliminating your foes from range is unmatched. When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a ranged weapon, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the range property for you to gain this benefit.
Skull Cracker
Your shield is more than a defensive tool. As part of an Attack action, you can forgo using another drawn weapon to aggressively strike your opponent with your shield. This attack deals 1d4 + your Strength modifier bludgeoning damage. In addition, the next attack made against that same creature is made with advantage.
Spinning Ward
You can shield yourself from ranged attacks. When wielding a reach weapon, you can use your reaction to deflect the missile when you are hit by a ranged weapon attack. When you do so, the damage you take from the attack is reduced by 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your warrior level.
Twin Fang
When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you deal an additional 1d4 damage with your second attack. You don’t add any ability score modifiers to this damage.
Never Unarmed
At 1st level, you can roll a d4 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike. In addition, you can use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of your unarmed strikes.
Warrior’s Stamina
Starting at 2nd level, your fortitude in battle
surpasses that of a normal soldier. You have a
well of endurance like none other that fuels
your combat prowess to extraordinary heights.
Stamina Points
You have a number of stamina points equal to
your Constitution modifier. When you spend
a stamina point, it is unavailable until you
finish a short or long rest, at the end of
which you restore all expended
stamina points. You must spend at least
30 minutes of the rest unwinding to
regain your stamina points.
Combat Stunts
You can use your stamina points to perform special stunts in the heat of battle. You can spend any number of stamina points for a single effect up to your maximum.
Decisive Strike. You take advantage of your opponent’s lack of form. As a bonus action, you can spend 1 stamina point to add an extra 1d6 to your damage rolls made with weapons on your next attack. You can increase this damage by 1d6 for every additional stamina point you spend.
Rush. You charge forward in a burst of speed. As a bonus action, you can spend 1 stamina to move up to an extra 10 feet. In addition, you gain a +1 bonus to your next attack roll. Every additional point of stamina you spend in this way grants you another 5 feet of movement.
Fortitude. You shrug off an otherwise severe attack. As a reaction, you can spend 1 stamina point to reduce the amount of damage you receive by 1d6. You can reduce an additional 1d6 damage for every additional stamina point you spend.
Battle Path
At 3rd level, you display a mastery of certain styles and combat techniques. Choose Arbalestion, Armorist, or Soul Knight, all detailed at the end of the class description. The path you choose grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 10th, 15th, and 18th level.
Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn. The number of attacks increases to three when you reach 11th level in this class and to four when you reach 20th level in this class.
Greater Stamina
Beginning at 9th level, you’re able to better replenish your inner reserves of endurance. When you roll for initiative and have no stamina points remaining, you regain 1d4 stamina points.
Unending Stamina
Your physical perseverance has reached new heights. Beginning at 14th level, you can add your proficiency bonus to your maximum number of stamina points.
Battle Paths
Every warrior seeks to be the pinnacle of combat and seeks new ways to ensure their victory in a fight by pursuing a certain Battle Path. The path you choose emulates the means in which you decide to conquer your enemies.
Arbalestion
As an Arbalestion, you often believe that melee combat is a thing of the past. A modern thinker; you’ve mastered the use of crossbows to a deadly effect.
Boltslinger
Starting at 3rd level when you choose this Path, you become proficient with a special type of weapon: repeating crossbows.
In addition, you gain a +1 bonus on damage rolls made with any type of crossbow.
Magazine Quiver
Beginning at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with Woodcarver’s Tools. You can also carry a special component satchel that costs 30gp. This satchel is a watertight leather bag that has compartments to hold all the material components that you need to craft crossbow bolts.
During a short rest, you can make a DC 10 Intelligence check with your Woodcarver’s Tools to make 1d6 crossbow bolts, or 4d6 during a long rest. On a failed check, you only create 1d4-1 crossbow bolts.
In addition, you can recover an extra 2d6 pieces of ammunition when taking the Search action to recover ammunition after a battle.
Snap Shot
At 7th level, when a creature misses you with an attack, you can make a single ranged weapon attack as a reaction, provided you have sufficient ammunition. You may spend 1 stamina point to gain advantage on this attack.
Bull’s Eye
Beginning at 10th level, you gain the Sharpshooter feat.
Critical Bolt
Starting at 15th level, weapon attacks you make with crossbows score a critical hit on a roll of 19-20.
Ordnance
At 18th level, you can turn a regular crossbow bolt into a deadly explosive. This process consumes material components worth at least 500 gp, such as a ruby, dragon scales or the heart of a fire giant that explodes in a large area on impact. You can craft one of these bolts during a long rest by making a DC 15 Intelligence check with your Woodcarver’s Tools.
As an action, you can choose one creature or object with range and within your line of sight and fire your ordnance bolt. That creature or object and all creatures in a 40 foot radius must make a Dexterity saving throw equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity modifier with the original target having disadvantage on the saving throw. All creatures take 10d10 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Objects take double damage from this attack.
Armorist
While some warriors die by their weapons, others live by their armor. Armorists are the champions of iron—born to be walking juggernauts who careen through the battlefield like immovable mountains.
Second Skin
Starting at 3rd level when you choose this path, You gain proficiency with heavy armor and your mastery of armor allows you to navigate its wear with ease. You don and doff heavy and medium armor as if it were light armor, and you can don and doff shields as a bonus action, rather than an action, on your turn.
Additionally, while you are wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.
| Special Ranged Weapons | Cost | Damage | Weight | Properties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crossbow, Repeating Light | 150gp | 2d4 piercing | 6 lbs. | Ammunition (range 60/250), Reloading (4), Two-Handed |
| Crossbow, Repeating Heavy | 300gp | 3d4 piercing | 12 lbs. | Ammunition (range 100/400), Reloading (6), Two-Handed, Heavy |
Reloading
A weapon with this property has a magazine that holds up to its listed amount of bolts at once and doesn't require any sort of action to reload between attacks. Changing an empty magazine requires an action.
Staredown
As a bonus action, you can enter a staredown with a creature within 5 feet of you that you can see and that can see you. If the target provokes an opportunity attack from you before the beginning of your next turn, you have advantage and cause a critical hit on a successful attack roll.
Undead, constructs and creatures immune to being frightened are unaffected.
Armor Master
Beginning at 7th level, when wearing light armor, bludgeoning, slashing and piercing damage you take from non-magical weapons is reduced by 1. If you are wearing medium armor it is reduced by 2 and if you are wearing heavy armor it is reduced by 3.
If you receive this effect from wearing armor from another source (such as the Heavy Armor Master feat) these bonuses do not stack.
Silent Mountain
By 7th level, you have learned how to move in your armor with greater efficiency. You ignore the disadvantage penalty on Dexterity (Stealth) checks while wearing armor.
If you already receive this effect from another source (such as when wearing mightily armor), you gain advantage on Stealth checks instead.
Unmoving
You stand unwavering in the thick of danger. Beginning at 10th level, you can make a Constitution saving throw in place of a Dexterity saving throw.
Additionally, when you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.
Perfected Defense
You change the trajectory of your opponent’s strike moments before you’re struck with unparalleled skill. Starting at 15th level, when you are hit by an attack, you can use your reaction to spend 1 stamina point to force your opponent to roll an additional D20 and take the lower result.
Iron Tower
At 18th level, Your Constitution score increases by 4. Your maximum Constitution score is now 24. In addition, your AC can never be less than your Constitution score.
Soul Knight
Every warrior carries a deep drive for battle in their hearts. As a Soul Knight, you’ve learned to grasp this drive and pull it into the tangible realm of the Material Plane.
Soularm
You fight with a weapon born from the depths of your courage. Beginning at 3rd level, you can evoke a spectral and ethereal weapon from your hand that faintly shimmers and glows a certain color as an action. You can choose the form that this melee weapon takes each time you create it (see chapter 5 for weapon options).
You are proficient with it while you wield it. This weapon counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
Your soularm disappears if it is more than 5 feet away from you for 1 minute or more. It also disappears if you use this feature again, if you dismiss the weapon (no action required), or if you die.
You can absorb the properties of a magic weapon into your soularm by performing a special ritual while you hold the weapon. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. At the end of the ritual, you absorb the weapon’s magic properties and the weapon breaks.
You can't affect an artifact or a sentient weapon in this way and can’t absorb armor or other magic items besides weapons. Additionally, if a magic weapon is cursed, you must lift the curse before absorbing it.
When you create your soularm, you can bestow upon it any magic properties you have absorbed by this ritual as long as the form you choose for your soularm is similar to the weapon that held the original properties at your DM’s discretion.
You can only use the abilities of one magic item at a time. For example, you cannot create a soularm with the properties of both a sun blade and a sword of vengeance.
Bonuses bonus to attack and damage rolls from magic weapons do not stack onto your soularm. For example, if you transform a +1 longsword and a +2 maul, your soularm can be a +2 weapon at most. You cannot transform magic ammunition in this way.
Beacon
Starting at 3rd level, you can light the way with your soularm. You can cause the light from your soularm to expand to the effect of the light cantrip.
Powerful Spirit
You channel the strength of your soul into your soularm. Beginning at 7th level, your soularm’s damage die changes from a d4 to a d6, from a d6 to a d8, from a d8 to a d10, or from a d10 to a d12.
If your weapon has multiple damage dice, this feature increases only one of those dice. If the form you choose for your soularm already has a d12 for its damage die, you instead receive a +1 bonus to damage rolls when choosing that weapon form.
Soulful Resilience
Starting at 10th level, your soul has become infinitely more resilient and hardy, allowing you to keep fighting while suffering severe wounds.
When your hit points reach 0, you can make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. On a successful save, you regain hit point equal to your warrior level + your Constitution modifier.
Every time you succeed on this roll the save DC increases by 5.
Emanation
Beginning at 15th level, you can let the raw power of your soul seep out of your mortal body. You can cast the blur spell three times per day. You regain these uses after a long rest.
Soul Eruption
At 18th level, you’ve learned how to channel the full force of your spirit into a devastating strike with your soularm. If you are wielding your soularm as a melee weapon, as an action, you can choose one creature within reach and make a single weapon attack with your soularm. On a successful hit, the primal energy of your soul erupts in a pillar of violent energy all around your target. The target creature takes your normal weapon damage plus an additional 15d8 force damage and is stunned until the end of its next turn.
If you are wielding your soularm as a ranged weapon you can, as an action, create a beam of crackling soul energy that forms a line of 60 feet long and 5 feet wide that blasts out from you in a direction you choose. Each creature in the line must make a Dexterity saving throw. The DC for this saving throw is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity modifier. A creature takes 12d8 force damage on a failed save and is stunned until the end of its next turn, or half as much damage on a successful one and is not stunned.
Once you use this feature, you gain one level of exhaustion and you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
Art Credits
- Female warrior by Vesko81
- Female warrior background by Lee Barinme
- Arbalestion by Johnny Morrow
- Armorist by Dongjin Lee
- Soul Knight by Thomas Chistowski
Changelog
1.2
- Removed “You can deal this extra damage only once per turn.” from Assailant
- Grazing Blow changed to Armor Master and changed to a 7th level feature
- Added Staredown as a 3rd level Armorist feature
- Evasive Action replaced with Rush
1.1
- Flavor text updated
- Removed chain mail from starting gear
- Bone Crusher renamed to Heavy Blows
- Assailant changed to “When you have advantage and hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, that creature takes an additional 1d6 damage. You can deal this extra damage only once per turn."
- Sharp Eye changed to “When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a ranged weapon, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the range property for you to gain this benefit.”
- Evasive Action changed to “As a reaction, you can spend 1 stamina point to receive a +2 bonus to AC until the start of your next turn when you are hit by an attack, including against the triggering attack. You must declare the use of this feature after your opponent rolls the die, but before the outcome is determined.”
- Replaced Two-Weapon Fighting with Twin Fang
- Added ‘on your next attack’ to the Decisive Strike stunt
- Fixed typo in Greater Stamina
- Added the Spinning Ward Weapon Technique
- Added Woodcarver’s Tool proficiency and crafting time to Magazine Quiver
- Ordnance description reworded
- Grazing Blow changed to “when you are hit by an attack that causes bludgening, piercing, or slashing damage and are wearing armor, you can reduce the damage taken by 2.”
- Perfected Defense changed to “Starting at 15th level, when you are hit by an attack, you can use your reaction to spend 1 stamina point to force your opponent to roll an additional D20 and take the lower result.”
- Added level text to Iron Tower Soularm rewritten Reduced damage and added a stun effect to Soul Eruption
1.0
- First public release