I am trying to translate the Fiery Faith passive from Vermintide 2 for a players Barbarian Zealot. As the passive states it should be a high risk high reward kind of thing.
The most simple 1-on-1 conversion imo would be:
"For each 1/4th (rounded down) missing from your max health you gain a +1 bonus to attacks."
Which sounds the most fitting and true to it's original intent, but it might be a tad too strong. Maybe a more hardset table of tresholds would be better; something like "at 30 health gain +1 to hit, at 15 health gain +2 to hit and at 5 health gain +1 to damage and +2 to hit".
Two other ideas came to mind:
- As a bonus action, deal yourself 'x' damage to get a bonus on your next attack.
- When getting attacked, forego your AC and take the hit. Take a dice closest to the amount of damage you took (rounded down) and add it to your next attack as bonus damage.
These could work in their own way, but I feel that they don't really hit the high risk high reward side that the original passive has: keeping your health as low as possible to deal as much as possible damage.
What do you guys think? Any advice to get it as close to the original passive but keeping it balanced? Or maybe a different idea? Would love to hear your thoughts!
P.s.: typed on phone, please excuse any typos!
Can I get more info? How does the player gain this benefit? Is it a magic item? If so, what rarity does it have? Or is it an additional feature tied to the subclass?
Regardless, I don’t think the "high risk, high reward" mentality translates well into 5e, considering how different the system is compared to Vermintide or other video games.
A barbarian doesn’t have reliable ways to attract enemy attacks (aggro) or redirect damage toward themselves. They also lack built-in healing outside of potions and other magic items.
Even if we set that aside, being at low health isn’t truly a "risk" in 5e — In fact, it’s often the optimal way to play: there’s no difference between having 1 HP or 100 HP, and healing tends to be a waste of an action since enemies usually deal more damage than a player can recover. Rather than spending a turn healing, it’s almost always better to eliminate the source of damage instead.
That doesn’t mean your proposed feature is ineffective! It would significantly boost the player's damage output. However, it wouldn’t reinforce the "high risk, high reward" mentality you’re aiming to recreate from the original source.
I see two possible approaches to accomplish your goal:
The first is to provide a way to aggro enemies or redirect attacks.
This method gives the player a choice to take more damage, reinforcing the desired play style—increasing personal risk for the team's benefit.
Then, I’d introduce a weapon that improves damage rolls (not attack rolls) based on how much health the player has lost.
Here are some ideas:
The second option would be to give the player a cursed weapon with powerful benefits and a corresponding drawback.
This approach allows the player to choose whether to wield a cursed item that enhances their damage but increases the risk factor. Unlike simply "taking more damage in combat by playing as intended", this creates a risk beyond normal gameplay mechanics.
An example:
The last option would be to simply give the player an existing magic item of your choice. Again, I don't think any of them promote the "high risk, high reward" flavour that you are trying to accomplish, but they are effective.
An example would be either the Bloodrage Greataxe , a Berserker Axe, or the Groveltrash
Thanks for your well thought out answer! You brought up some good points and I really like the "being a human shield" angle and I might just use it all together!
To answer your first question: at first it would be an extra subclass feat. But having an extra bonus on top of the rage damage bonus and the extra "1d6 + half of barbarian level" would be a bit too much bonus damage.
Today at work I came up with a different approach: the Devine Fury feature will be replaced with the bonus damage on missing health. It would follow a table with hard set tresholds. Something like the cantrip intervals:
What are your thoughts on this? I think it feels a bit better balancing wise, but the bonus difference between the tresholds does seem a bit flat: being at 25% health and only getting 2 potentional damage more is not that great of a tradeoff.
Ah, my apology, I somehow missed that the character in question is a Zealot Barbarian. I agree with you that the increased damage output is hardly needed, especially at lower levels.
First of all, I would suggest avoiding the multiple thresholds and only sticking to the 50% one (if you're playing the 2024 edition, it's codified in the game as the Bloodied condition). The math is easier, and I can guarantee you that the player will forget to change the damage calculations at different thresholds.
Second, have you talked with your player about this? Because it's a clear downgrade of the original feature, and they may not like it. As a DM, I would generally avoid altering a player's features in such a way. I think the player would feel a lot better if they gained those features, instead of having them forced on them by replacing existing features that they actually chose (especialy because the subclass is, like, the only meaningful choice the player does at character creation).
For example, the extra damage at lower health can and should be achieved by giving the character a Bloodrage Greataxe. It's an uncommon item that the Barbarian should be able to loot or buy in the first tier of play (1-4).
The same can be said about the Interpose feature: either allow the Barbarian to gain it as a magic item, or by paying a combat teacher, giving them a way to spend their hard-earned money. I would suggest handing one feature at the lowest tier, and the other with the second tier of play (5-10).
This will increase the overall power of the character, of course, so the usual suggestions apply: (1) handle wondrous items and other power ups equally to all party members. It doesn't need to happen in the same session, but if a character gains an item, it's a fair expectation that the others should also gain one during the same tier of play. (2) As the power level increases, consider treating your party as 1-3 levels above their actual level for the purpose of balancing encounters.
About wondrous items, RpgBot has a useful guide. Please keep in mind that they are suggestions and you, as the DM, are the sole arbiter of your campaign. You can grant your players as many (or as little) magic items as you want, but generally speaking, they are cool and make players happy, so don't refrain too much from distributing them! Just do so in a manner that's fair to all participants and balanced with the difficulty curve of your encounters.
Again, great points and thank you! I have not talked to the player yet; I wanted to have some suggestions first.
I think I'll skip the Devine Fury replacement and propose the magic axe and interpose feature. I believe it makes for more interesting combat scenarios than just "keep smashing untill they stop moving".
This is a good one! Will remember this with future encounters.
If you need any more advice, just hit me up :)