Tanker (5e Class)

Tanker

An elven wizard raises his staff and traces glyphs in the air, preparing to cast a spell against a terrifying giant ahead. The giant grasp his maul and darts forward, charging towards the caster with surprising speed, swinging his hammer towards his head before the spell can be finished. Suddenly, a shield is raised, preventing the strike from connecting with the arcanist, as the iron-clad dwarven tank leaps in front of the attack, blocking it just in time. With a powerful swing of his axe, he manages to create an opening, and buy time for the wizard to finishes his spell, slaying the giant.

A horde prepares to invade the elvish woods. The orc warband moves slowly, but steadily surrounding a solitary guardian, the half-elf warrior standing in the woods clearing. They launch a few arrows against it, that hit uselessly on his wooden plate armor, causing them to advance, axes in hand. When all of them are inside the clearing, but just distant enough of the elf, he raises one of his hands, causing vines and roots shot up from the ground, ensnaring and trapping these orcs. With a grin, he lift his spear, and prepare for the slaughter, as the orcs try desperately to free themselves from the nature's grasp.

Tankers can have a plethora of different techniques and styles, but are united by their herculean endurance and powerful defensive capabilities, guarding their allies, friends and homes from their enemies with their own lives if necessary.

An Indomitable Warden

When a tanker put itself between his protegee and an attacker, he forms a defensive barrier that almost impossible to break without his death - and killing a Tanker is no easy task. Only extremely powerful creatures or magic can break this protection. Despite their common huge size and apparent slowness due to the heavy armor they tend to use, they are known to react fast whenever an ally is in danger, and they always keep a vigilant gaze on their surroundings.

Creating a Tanker

Tanker by hyunjoong

When creating your tanker, ask yourself a few questions; how did you become a tanker? Have you been trained by a knightly order, and was trained in the way of combat to serve a kingdom? Were your abilities acquired through experience, as you survived many combats, in which you willingly put yourself in harms way to protect your allies? Have you learned to defend yourself and others due to a necessity of protecting a friend, parent or loved one?

Tankers are generally very dedicated to the protection of a specific thing, such as a location, a less physically enduring individuals, or even an ideal, those who are the focus of the defensive capabilities they learn. Tankers trained by orders and institutions will often have protegees in the form of nobles and royalty, acting as bodyguards for magic users or guardians for fortress and other restrict sites. Is your object of protection an individual, a place or something more abstract, such a realm? Do you still hold this loyalty? Have you been successful, or have you failed to protect your first protegee.

Quick Build

You can make a Tanker quickly by following the first suggestions: Strength and Constitution should be your highest ability scores, with Wisdom being an important third. Second, choose the Soldier background. Finally, choose the chain mail, a shield, a melee martial weapon, two handaxes and an explorer's pack.

Class Features

As a Tanker you gain the following class features.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d12 per Tanker level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 12 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d12 (or 7) + Constitution modifier per Tanker level after 1st

Proficiencies

Armor: All armor, shields
Weapons: Simple and Martial weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Strength, Constitution
Skills: Choose two from Athletics, Intimidation, Perception, Survival

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• Scale Mail and a shield
• (a) two handaxes or (b) five javelins
• (a) explorer's pack or (b) dungeoneer's pack
• any martial weapon
• If you are using starting wealth, you have 5d4×10 gp in funds.

Table: The Tanker

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Features
1st	+2	Defender's Resilience, Herculean Athleticism
2nd	+2	Tanker's Mark, Fighting Style, Defensive Surge
3rd	+2	Tanker Archetype, Poison Endurance
4th	+2	Ability Score Improvement
5th	+3	Defensive Strike
6th	+3	Battle Roar
7th	+3	Archetype Feature
8th	+3	Ability Score Improvement
9th	+4	Empowered Scream
10th	+4	Archetype Feature
11th	+4	Reactive
12th	+4	Ability Score Improvement
13th	+5	Steel Mountain
14th	+5	Defensive Vengeance
15th	+5	Archetype FeatureBody of Steel
16th	+5	Ability Score Improvement
17th	+6	Miraculous Rescue
18th	+6	Archetype Feature
19th	+6	Ability Score Improvement
20th	+6	Restless Guardian

Defender's Resilience

Starting at 1st level, you draw your defensive abilities from your resilience, that is represented by your Resilience pool. This pool has a number of points equal to 5 + your Constitution modifier, for each level you have in the Tanker class.

Resilience Protection

When you or a creature within 5 feet of you take damage from an attack or failed Dexterity saving throw, you can use your reaction to cause the attack to target the resilience pool instead.

You must take this reaction before the damage is rolled.

Regenerating Resilience

When your resilience pool is reduced to 0, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest. In addition, whenever you roll hit dice to recover hit points, you regain resilience equal to 5 + your Constitution modifier per dice rolled.

Spending your hit dice is the only way to restore your Resilience Pool hit points.

Broken Resilience

Although the limits of endurance for the tanker are higher than those for a common individual, losing your resilience can take a heavy toll on you. If your resilience reaches 0, you suffer 1 level of exhaustion.

In addition, you become unable to regain your full hit points during a long rest until your Resilience Pool is restored to its maximum.

Resilience Save DC

Some tanker features require your target to make a saving throw. The resilience save DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier.

Herculean Athleticism

Aside from giving you an extreme endurance, your resilience also grant you a legendary athletic prowess. While you have half your resilience points or more remaining, you gain the following benefits:

• Your unarmored AC equals 10 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier, if it is lower.
• You have advantage on checks and saves to avoid the effects of exhaustion or stunned.
• Swimming and climbing don't cost you extra movement.
• You can make powerful leaps. Your standing jumps don't reduce the distance covered by the jump. Moving 10 feet before your jump doubles your jump distance.
• You add your proficiency bonus to your Strength (Athletics) checks, Initiative rolls and Constitution checks. If you already add your proficiency bonus to those, the proficiency is doubled.

Fighting Style

At 2nd level, you adopt a style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can't take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.

Blind Fighting

You have blindsight with a range of 10 feet. Within that range, you can effectively see anything that isn't behind total cover, even if you're blinded or in darkness. Moreover, you can see an invisible creature within that range, unless the creature successfully hides from you.

Defense

While you are wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.

Dueling

When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.

Great Weapon Fighting

When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.

Interception

When a creature you can see hits a target, other than you, within 5 feet of you with an attack, you can use your reaction to reduce the damage the target takes by 1d10 + your proficiency bonus (to a minimum of 0 damage). You must be wielding a shield or a simple or martial weapon to use this reaction.

Protection

When a creature you can see attacks a target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll. You must be wielding a shield.

Unarmed Fighting

Your unarmed strikes can deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier on a hit. If you aren't wielding any weapons or a shield when you make the attack roll, the d6 becomes a d8.

At the start of each of your turns, you can deal 1d4 bludgeoning damage to one creature grappled by you.

Tanker's Mark

At 2nd level, you are always ready to protect your allies at time's a notice. On your turn, you can mark a creature of your choice other than yourself, within 5 feet of you, without taking an action.

The next time that creature takes damage from an attack until the end of your turn, you reduce the damage by an amount equal to 1d6 + your Constitution modifier.

The mark ends when you reduce damage done to that creature with it, or when the creature is no longer within 5 feet.

You can't use this feature if you have no Resilience left.

Defensive Surge

At 2nd level, you can furiously defend your allies, leaping into action with sudden ferocity. You gain the ability to use Defensive Surges, special reactions that can be used to protect your allies or restrict your enemies in some way. You can use these surges a number of times equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum of once). You regain any expended uses when it finishes a short or long rest.

Vengeful Strike

When a creature cause damage to the target of your tanker mark, you can force that creature to make a Dexterity saving throw, or take damage equal to your Tanker level, as you make a swift strike against it. This attack causes the damage of a weapon you are wielding, or bludgeoning if you are unarmed. If your weapon is magical, the damage is also considered magical.

Shield Bash

As a reaction when a creature moves within 5 feet of you or of your target from your tanker mark, if you are within range, you can make a melee weapon attack against that creature. On a hit, you hit the target with your shield, causing bludgeoning damage equal to your Strength modifier and pushing the target up to 10 feet back.

Defender's Lock

You can use your reaction to make harder for enemies to distance themselves from you. The area within 10 feet of you becomes difficult terrain to hostile creatures.

Tanker Archetype

At 3rd level, you can choose to follow an archetype, that will shape your defensive style. Your chosen archetype give you features at 3rd level, and again at 7th, 10th, 15th and 18th levels.

Your archetype options are described at the end of this class description.

Ability Score Increase

When you reach the 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.

Poison Endurance

When you reach the 3rd level, as long as you have 1 resilience point left, you are immune to poison damage or the poisoned condition.

Defensive Strike

Starting at 5th level, whenever a creature within 5 feet makes an attack against you or against a friendly creature within 5 feet, you can use your reaction to make an attack or shove attempt against that creature.

Your attack hit before the creature's attack. The attack of the creature fails if your attack reduces the creature to 0 hit points, or if it is pushed outside the reach of its attack.

A creature knocked prone by this feature must reroll the attack, choosing the lowest result.

Battle Roar

Starting at 6th level, you can unleash a emboldening, taunting or dreadful roar, to influence your enemies or help your allies in the battlefield.

Challenging Roar

As an action, you can choose any amount of creatures within a 20-foot radius to make a Wisdom saving throw against your resilience save DC. On a failed save, creatures are challenged by you for 1 minute.

While challenged, the creature can't willingly move away from the radius of this feature, and whenever it start its turn away from the radius, it must move towards it.

In addition, any attacks made by that creature against targets other than you have disadvantage. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of their turns, ending the effect on a success.

The radius increases to 30-foot at 10th level and 45-foot at 14th level.

Dreadful Roar

As an action, you can choose any amount of creatures within a 20-foot radius to make a Wisdom saving throw against your resilience save DC. On a failed save, creatures are frightened of you for 1 minute. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of their turns, ending the effect on a success.

The radius increases to 30-foot at 10th level and 45-foot at 14th level.

Emboldening Roar

As an action, you restore the courage in the hearts of your allies. You can reduce your resilience in any amount of hit points, up to a maximum equal to your Constitution score.

You gain a number of temporary hit points equal to twice the resilience lost, that can be split between any amount of friendly creatures of your choice in a 15-foot radius. While a creature have temporary hit points gained in this manner, it is also immune to the frightened condition. If the creature is already frightened, the condition end on that creature.

The radius increases to 20-foot at 10th level and 30-foot at 14th level.

Empowered Scream

At 9th level, you can intensify the effects of your roar. As an action, you can unleash a terrifying or empowering scream. Any hostile creature in the area of the terrifying scream and affected by your Challenging or Dreadful roar take 6d6 psychic damage and have disadvantage on its next saving throw made against the effect of your Battle Roar.

In addition, any friendly creature that has at least 1 temporary hit point from your Emboldening roar regain a number of hit points equal to 1d4 + your Constitution modifier.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

Reactive

At 11th level, you can take two reactions, rather than one, in each of your rounds. In addition, you can use your Bonus Action on your turn to give you a third reaction, that must be used until the start of your next turn.

Steel Mountain

At 13th level, you become a defensive tower of metal. While wearing heavy armor, you are considered one size larger than your normal size.

In addition, any creature marked by you have advantage on all its saving throws.

Defensive Vengeance

At 14th level, you retaliate aggressors with furious anger. When your Tanker's Mark to reduce damage taken by an ally, you can make an attack against the attacker as a reaction, if the attacker is within reach or range.

Miraculous Rescue

At 17th level, you can save a creature from certain doom. Whenever you or a marked creature fail a saving throw, you can turn that failure into a success.

Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you complete a long rest.

Restless Guardian

At 20th level, your hit points become part of your resilience. You can use your hit points for any feature that requires resilience, and as long as you have at least 1 hit point, you benefit from features that require you to have at least 1 resilience.

Archetypes

Bodyguard

Bodyguards are the archetypal tanker, focused on using their abilities to defend their protegees. These tankers are martial masters, and are trained on mundane - but effective - combat techniques, that allows them to protect both their allies and themselves with the same efficiency.

Sentinel Awareness

At 3rd level, you are ever vigilant, ever prepare to protect your allies. You can add your Wisdom, rather than your Dexterity modifier, to your initiative rolls.

Additionally, as long as you can see a creature, that creature don't gain advantage on attack rolls against one of your allies you are also able to see, due to being unseen by your ally.

Oppressive Presence

Starting at 3rd level, when you are close to an enemy, you instantly become the biggest threat to him. When you are within 5 feet of a hostile creature, the creature has disadvantage on attack rolls that doesn't target you.

Additionally, when a hostile creature moves within 5 feet of you, you can attempt to grapple or shove that creature using your reaction.

Warding Stance

Starting at 7th level, if you are within 5 feet of a friendly creature you are able to see, you can take the Attack action and forgo one of your attacks to protect it.

Until the start of your next turn, or until the creature is no longer within range (whichever happens first) the chosen creature has the benefits of the Dodge action.

Rook Swap

Starting at 10th level, you can spend 5 feet of movement to trade places with a friendly and willing creature. This movement doesn't provoke opportunity attacks.

In addition, if a friendly creature within 5 feet is hit by an attack, you can use rook swap to cause that attack to hit you instead, as a reaction.

Violent Rebuke

Starting at 15th level, you can fiercely stop the advance of your enemies. Whenever a hostile within reach hits you or a friendly creature with a melee weapon attack, you can make an opportunity attack against it.

Hampering Blows

Starting at 18th level, whenever you damage a creature with a melee weapon attack, that creature's movement is reduced to 0 until the end of its next turn.

Arcane Defender

As an Arcane Defender, you specialize in finding and countering magic. Maybe you have a grudge against a wizard, perhaps you don't like spell casters, or dispelling curses is your job. Either way, you slay mages and protect your allies from nasty spells.

Arcane Defender Spellcasting

Tanker Level	Cantrips Known	Spells Known	—Spell Slots per Spell Level—
			1st	2nd	3rd	4th
3rd	2	3	2	—	—	—
4th	2	4	3	—	—	—
5th	2	4	3	—	—	—
6th	2	4	3	—	—	—
7th	2	5	4	2	—	—
8th	2	6	4	2	—	—
9th	2	6	4	2	—	—
10th	3	7	4	3	—	—
11th	3	8	4	3	—	—
12th	3	8	4	3	—	—
13th	3	9	4	3	2	—
14th	3	10	4	3	2	—
15th	3	10	4	3	2	—
16th	3	11	4	3	3	—
17th	3	11	4	3	3	—
18th	3	11	4	3	3	—
19th	3	12	4	3	3	1
20th	3	13	4	3	3	1

Spellcasting

When you reach 3rd level, you augment your martial prowess with the ability to cast spells.

Cantrips

You learn two cantrips of your choice from the wizard spell list. You learn an additional wizard cantrip of your choice at 10th level.

Spell Slots

The Arcane Defender Spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your wizard spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

For example, if you know the 1st-level spell Shield and have a 1st-level and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast Shield using either slot.

Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher

You know three 1st-level spells of your choice from any spell list. Any chosen spell must be from the abjuration school.

The Spells Known column of the Arcane Defender Spellcasting table shows when you learn more spells of 1st level or higher. Each of these spells must be an abjuration spell of your choice, and must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For instance, when you reach 7th level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level.

Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of the spells you know with another spell of your choice from the abjuration school. The new spell must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

Spellcasting Ability

Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your wizard spells, since you learn your spells through study and memorization. You use your Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a wizard spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

Arcane Ward

At 3rd level, whenever you cast a spell of 1st level or higher from the abjuration school, you can weave magical energy to create a magical ward, protecting yourself or a creature within 30 feet. The chosen creature gain 3 temporary hit points per level of the spell slot used.

Magical Escape

At 7th level, when you use your action to cast a spell from the abjuration school, if the target of the spell can see you, it can use its reaction to move up to half its speed without provoking attacks of opportunity.

Empowered Defenses

Beginning at 10th level, whenever a creature is under the effect of an spell from the abjuration school you have cast, that creature gain a bonus of +1 to its AC.

Mass Ward

At 15th level, when you create your arcane ward, you can choose up to four creatures within 10 feet of your target. The chosen creatures gain temporary hit points equal to the level of the spell slot.

Superior Emboldening

When you reach the 18th level, the area of effect of your Emboldening Roar increases to 60 feet. In addition, for the same cost in Resilience, the amount of temporary hit points gained is doubled.

Juggernaut

Offense is the best defense - this is the motto of juggernauts. Instead of standing guard, waiting to block attacks made against their allies, Juggernauts rush to combat with fury and speed, downing enemies before they have a chance of posing a threat to their allies.

Juggernaut Rage

At 3rd level, as a bonus action, you can enter in a furious state that lasts for 1 minute. While in your juggernaut rage, you ignore any difficult terrain, and you can't be restrained or grappled.

In addition, as a reaction on your turn, you can charge, moving 5 feet without provoking opportunity attacks. If you end your movement within 5 feet of a hostile creature, that creature must succeed on a Strength saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength saving throw) or be pushed 10 feet back, and take bludgeoning damage equal to half your Tanker level (rounded up), or twice this damage against non-magical structures and objects.

Once you rage, you can't do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

Overwhelming Might

Beginning at 7th level, you can move 10 feet without provoking opportunity attacks while in your Juggernaut Rage. When you reach 15th level, the radius of the light increases to 15 feet.

In addition, the bludgeoning damage caused by the charge ignore resistance and immunity to bludgeoning damage (magical or otherwise).

Irresistible Charge

Beginning at 10th level, your movement is unstoppable. have advantage on ability checks and saving throws to avoid being knocked prone, grappled, restrained, or otherwise moved against your will.

In addition, while raging, you gain resistance to bludgeoning damage.

Unstoppable Rush

Starting at 15th level, when you reduce a creature to 0 hit points using your charge during your Juggernaut Rage, you can make another charge as part of the same reaction, against another creature within 15 feet.

Inexpugnable Defense

At 18th level, your defensive capabilities are incomparable. You gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from non-magical weapons.

In addition, you gain a damage threshold of 5 + your Constitution modifier. You apply the damage threshold before any damage is taken.

Warden

Not all tankers are found inside walled cities, fortress and castles, protecting man made structures in civilized settlements. Wardens replace the stone walls by bushes and trees; instead of being the shield of the royalty and nobility, they protect the wild life, and those who attune to it, such as druids and nature clerics. Wardens use the force of nature to protect ancient natural sites, sacred grooves and the wild areas in general, wielding the savagery of nature as a weapon and shield.

Primordial Resilience

Starting at 3rd level, when you finish a long rest, you can replace your poison resistance granted by resilience for acid, cold, fire, lightning or thunder, lasting until the end of your next rest.

In addition, as long as you have 1 resilience left, you are immune to poisons.

Verdant Field

Also at 3rd level, you can conjure the power of nature, allowing you to control the environment to your will. As a bonus action, you can cause an area on the ground of a 15-foot radius around you to grow with plants and vines, that acts as difficult terrain to hostile creatures. If there's a wall or ceiling inside the area, that area is also covered in plants.

This area lasts for 1 minute. While inside this area, once per turn, you can move yourself or any creature you mark to another point inside the area. This movement doesn't provoke opportunity attacks. You can also walk on any wall or ceiling covered by these plants, as if you was under the effects of spider climb spell.

You can expend additional uses of this feature to increase the area of plants created by 15 feet per use spent. If you move further than 120 feet from the area, the plants wither and die.

You have a number of uses of this feature equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1), and regain all uses when you finish a long rest.

Nature's Grasp

Beginning at 7th level, when a creature fails its saving throw against your Battle Roar, it is ensnared by vines that grow from the ground beneath it for 1 minute. During that time, the creature is restrained. The target can make a Strength saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Nature's Veil

Starting at 10th level, you draw on the powers of nature to hide yourself from view briefly. As a bonus action, you can magically become invisible, along with any equipment you are wearing or carrying, until the start of your next turn.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Verdant Heart

At 15th level, whenever you roll initiative and have no uses of your Verdant Field left, you regain one use.

In addition, you can spend one use of your Verdant Field to cast entangle, two uses to cast grasping vine, three uses to cast plant growth, or four uses to cast spike growth, without spending spell slots or material components.

Fury of Nature

At 18th level, you can unleash the elemental rage or the forests wrath upon your enemies. Once you use this feature, in any of its uses, you can't do it again until you finish a long rest.

Elemental Rage. You can force all creatures of your choice in a 30-foot radius to make a Constitution saving throw (DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier), or take 10d10 damage and are pushed 15 feet back. On a successful saving throw, creatures take half as much damage and aren't pushed. The damage type is one of the following: acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison or thunder damage.

Forest's Wrath. You can cast wrath of nature once, without spending as spell slot.

Multiclassing

Prerequisites. To qualify for multiclassing into the Tanker class, you must meet these prerequisites: 13 Strength, 13 Constitution.

Proficiencies. When you multiclass into the Tanker class, you gain the following proficiencies: Simple weapons, martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, shields.

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