THE DREADNAUGHT

V3.0 of an agressive martial class for those who want to burn

hitpoints and focus down foes.
Dreanought Creating a Dreadnought
When creating your Dreadnought Character, think
A human, encased in what some might call a coffin of about his/her/their place in the game world, talk to your
mecahnized steel. Stands alone in a gap before a mass DM about potential militaries that might utilize
of undead, slowly; they heft their masive mace and Dreadnoughts, places of technological renown that
prepare to fight. might field them, or where your character may have
An indistinguashable blur lances through the battlefield, learned to build this mecahnism they now inhabit. Did
venting heat and flame from itself as it does so. you escape the servitude of some military dictatorship?
Slashing, leaping, and dashing faster than many can Did you choose to be enclosed within your machine? Or
see. have you built it for yourself and are you seeking to go
beyond the constraints of the flesh?
Screaming in exertion, an elf, trapped within a machine What led to you taking up the Adventuring life? Was it
of her own creation; holds the line for her teammates the promise of Freedom? Danger? Or are you seeking
against the endless surge around them. an answer or to further some other goal? Were you
These are Dreadnaughts. individuals who have given up deployed on mission and never able to return? Or were
their humanity so others may keep their own, they are you discharged and did you yearn for the excitement of
pilots and creators of their own destiny. Wether they be combat once again? Perhaps you escaped, or were
warforged, or the driving force of their own machine. outcast from your community because of your machine.
Some Dreadnoughts seek to make themselves into pure Quick Build
machines of war, to remove themselves entirely from
the flesh and blood that constrains them. Others create You can make a Dreadnought Quickly by following these
suggustions: First, put your highest ability score in Strength
complex and devastating machines that they themselves or Dexterity, followed by Constitution. Second, choose the
are the driving force of. For each Dreadnought, the end Soldier background.
goal is different, but the path to that goal is the same.
Machines of War
Dreadnoughts often shut themselves off from the
greater world. They devote themselves to developing a
machine, wether it be themselves or an external one.
This machine is their source of power, their font of
strength. It is in this iron shell, this mechanized coffin
that they fight.
Some Dreadnoughts fashion a suit of walking armor for
themselves, one that they can easily enter and exit;
others build the armor to their own flesh and bone.
Implanting within themselves machinery and fusing
themselves to thier creations to all the more become a
machine of war.
Not all Dreadnoughts choose this way, some were
forced into it. Placed within a web of steel and rivited
iron and told to fight to the bitter end, some
dreadnaughts did not choose this life, but must exist
within it nontheless.
Even in Death
Dreadnoughts fight to the bitter end. It is in their
creation to do so. They are an unceasing force of will, a
force that weaker people can rally behind.
As adventurers, Dreadnoughts take the forfront. They
most commonly serve in Militaries across Illvicta, so the
constant motion and danger fraught life of an
Adventurer is no stranger to them.
The Dreadnought
Level Proficiency Bonus Features Overcharge Bonus
1st +2 Iron Shell, Overcharge 1
2nd +2 Fighting Style, Thermastatic Generators 1
3rd +2 Dreadnaught Crest 1
4th +2 Ability Score Improvement 1
5th +3 Extra Attack (1) 1
6th +3 Crest Feature 2
7th +3 Synaptic Backfire, Ground Superiority 2
8th +3 Ability Score Improvement 2
9th +4 Barrage Tactics 2
10th +4 Crest Feature 2
11th +4 Unyeilding Power 3
12th +4 Ability Score Improvement 3
13th +5 Dauntless 3
14th +5 Crest Feature 3
15th +5 Target Reaquisition 3
16th +5 Ability Score Improvement 4
17th +6 Perpetuum Engine 4
18th +6 Indistinct Destruction 4
19th +6 Ability Score Improvement 4
20th +6 Dreadnaught 4

Class Features
As a Dreadnought, you gain the following features
Hit Points
Hit Dice:1d12 per Dreadnought level
12 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at 1st Level:
Hit Points at Higher Levels:1d12 (or 8) + your
Constitution modifier per Dreadnaught level after 1st
Proficiencies
Armor: Light Armor, Medium Armor, Heavy Armor,
Shields
Weapons: Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons
Tools: Blacksmiths Tools, Tinkers Tools
Saving Throws: Strength, Constitution
Skills: Choose two from Athletics, Survival,
Intimidation, Investigation, Persuasion
Dreadnought Save DC
Dreadnaught save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus +
your Strength modifier
Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to
the equipment granted by your background:
(a) a martial weapon and a shield or (b) two martial
weapons
(a) five javelins or (b) any simple melee weapon
Chain Mail or Studded Leather Armor
(a) an Adventurers or (b) a Dungeoneers pack
Iron Shell At 2nd level, You adopt a particular style of fighting as
At 1st level, you gain an iron shell. This is effectively your specialty. Choose one of the following options.
your new skin; it is the mechanical carapace your
character will call home and exist inside of. You gain the Defense
While you are wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to
following benefits from your iron shell. AC.
The time to equip suits of armour is halved
You no longer need to sleep and can complete a long Dueling
When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand
rest in 4 hours. and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage
As long as you are not trying to be silent, you emit a rolls with that weapon.
quiet hum, growl, or some other sound from your
internal engine. Mechanical, Magical, Biological, or Great Weapon Fighting
otherwise. When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack
On a long rest you recover all hit dice. you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding
Your hit point maximum increases by 1 for every with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the
level in this class you take. new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon
must have the two-handed or versatile property for you
Jolt
At 1st level, whether through a surge of electricity, to gain this benefit.
overheating your engines or bio-organic adrenaline Protection
surging through your veins you gain the ability to jolt When a creature you can see attacks a target other than
your system. When you jolt, it has no effect on its own, you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your
however it may be done as part of another ability, such reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll. You
as overcharging. must be wielding a shield.
When you jolt, you take fire damage equal to your
level, this cannot be mitigated apart from with certain Two-Weapon Fighting
skills in this class. When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add
your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.
Overcharge
At 1st level you gain the ability to overheat your engines Thermastatic Generators
for additional power. At the start of each of your turns, if Additionally at 2nd level, you gain the ability to change
you are conscious you can decide to Overcharge (no the damage type of the bonus damage granted by
action required). Overcharge, when you Overcharge you can pick one of
the following damage types for your overcharge damage
If you decide to Overcharge, you take fire damage equal dice.
to your level. This damage cannot be reduced or
resisted in any way. You also gain the following benefits, Overcharge Bonus Damage Types
which last until the start of your next turn: Damage
You gain a +5 feet of Movement speed Cold

You gain a +1 to your Attack and Damage rolls Fire

You gain 1d4 additional fire damage on each weapon Lightning

attack you make. Thunder

At certain levels, the benifits granted by your Dreadnaught Crest

At 3rd level, you choose a Dreadnaught Crest. A
overcharge increase. As shown on the Overcharge philosophy of combat that directs your goal and focus
Bonus collum on the class table. for example, at 5th on the battlefield. Your choice grants you features at 3rd
level when you Overcharged, you would gain a +2 to level and again at 6th, 10th, and 14th levels.
attack and damage rolls, and 10 additional feet of
movement speed, caculated by taking 5 and Ability Score Improvement
multiplying it by the Bonus number. When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th,
At certain levels, the additional damage dice value and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of
and number granted by Overcharge goes up. At 6th your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores
level the extra damage increases to 2d4, at 11th of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an
level, 3d4, and at 16th level, 4d4 ability score above 20 using this feature.
Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this
feature to take a feat of your choice instead.
Fighting Style
Extra Attack Target Reaquisition
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of At 15th level, you have larned to be able to quickly
once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn. switch targets to face the more pressing threat.
Synaptic Backfire As a bonus action, you can choose to switch the target
At 7th level, through superior instincts, or a primal of your Barrage Tactics, as long as the target you are
attunement in your armour, getting the drop on a switching to is within your attack range.
dreadnought is never easy.
Perpetuum Engine
When entering initiative, or when targeted by a At 17th level, the first time you activate overcharge
surprise attack you may jolt. during combat, you take no damage.
If you choose to do so, you gain advantage on your
initiative roll. You cannot be surprised, and creatures
do not gain advantage on attack rolls against you as Indistinct Destruction
a result of being unseen by you. At 18th level, when a creature you have marked with
Barrage Tactics Dies, you regain your use of Barrage
Ground Superiority Tactics.
Also at 7th level, the field of combat is now yours to
control. You can regain Barrage Tactics only once per long rest.
Whilst overcharged, the ground within 10 feet of you Dreadnaught
is difficult terrain for your enemies. At 20th level, the extra damage granted by your
When you fail a saving throw, you can use your Overcharge and Barrage Tactics Features is increased
reaction to jolt and reroll the saving throw. You must in dice value to a d8.
use the new roll.
Additionally, while you are overcharged and are
subjected to an effect that would cause you to make a
Constitution or Strength Saving Throw, you can treat
any a d20 roll of 9 or lower as 10.
Barrage Tactics
At 9th level, you have learned to jolt your systems to
mark opponents hit by your attacks.
When you hit an enemy while overcharged, you may jolt
again. The enemy targeted by this attack is now targeted
by barrage tactics. When an enemy is targeted by
barrage tactics, each time you hit them while
overcharged you deal an extra 1d4 weapon damage, to a
maximum of 10d4. The barrage resets when you attack
another target and you must use another jolt to target
an enemy again.
Persistant Overcharge
At level 11, if you are reduced to 0 hit points while
overcharged, but not killed outright, you can make a
constitution saving throw with a DC of 10 or half the
damage you took (whichever is higher). On a success,
you drop to 1 hit point instead. The DC for this saving
throw increases by +2 after each success. This resets
back to 10 on a short or long rest.
Dauntless
At 13th level, you have learned to shut out the exterior
world.
While you are overcharged, you are immune to effects
that would frighten or charm you.
Crest of the Desolator
‘There are many things in this world, many strong
willed people. But even the strongest of will cannot
stand over one thousand degrees of themral energy
being vented straight into their chest cavity.’ ~ Valtra
Dureva

The Crest of the Desolator is the crest of perserverance,

they will fight to the bitter end, no other Dreadnaught
fights with such fury and raw heat as the Desolator.
They are machines of war and only war, sworn to a code
of destruction, and victory at all costs.
Afterburn
At 3rd level when you choose this subclass, you gain
resistance to jolt damage only when it is used to
overcharge.
Destroyer
Additionally at 3rd level when you choose this subclass,
you gain an additional bonus to weapon damage equal
to your proficiency bonus when you overcharge.
Heat sink
At 6th level, as long as you have overcharged in this
combat, on your turn you may jolt to activate your heat
sink, with no action required. This effect lasts for 1
minute from activation. When activated, all creatures
within 5 feet of you take damage equal to half of your
jolt damage. Creatures that start their turn within 5 feet
of you over the course of the 1 minute take half of your
jolt damage (rounded down). You may deactivate this as
a free action.
Desolator Shell
At 10th level, your appearance and the noise of your
Internal Engines can cause panic in less confident
enemies. Each time you Overcharge in combat any
creatures within 10 feet of you must make a Wisdom
Saving throw or be frightened of you for 1 minute.
Creatures frightened by this ability may repeat the
saving throw at the end of their turn to overcome the
effect.
Creatures that succeed the initial saving throw are
immune to this effect for 24 hours.
Total Annihilatior Engine
At 14th level, when you critically hit an enemy that is
targeted by Barrage Tactics, you may immediately Jolt
to roll the maximum amount of Barrage Tactics dice.
After doing you, your Barrage Tactics resets to 1.
Crest of the Seeker
‘The greatest element is the element of surprise, that’s
not an element but my point still stands. But how do you
achieve surprise? You go so fast they cannot possibly
see you coming, then you punch them really, really hard
in the face.’ ~ Hradi ‘Whistler’ Agtaray

The Crest of the Seeker prioritizes speed and

manuverability above all else, they are blitz fighters,
charging directly into combat and wreaking utter havoc
wherever they stride.
Gear Charge
At 3rd level when you take this subclass, whenever you
take the dash action you can pass through 1 enemy
occupied space. When you do so, the enemy must
succeed a Dexterity save or be knocked prone.
Engine Spool
Additionally At 3rd level when you choose this subclass,
while you are overcharged, as a bonus action before you
would use an action to Dash, you can Spool your
internal engines to increase your movement speed.
When you spool your engines this way and dash, your
movement speed increases by 30 feet, you can move
over difficult terrain without any movement penalty, and
no attacks of oppourtunity can be made agaisnt you.
Ramjet
At 6th level, when you use the dash action; you can
choose to tackle one creature of a size equal or lesser
than yours as a part of the action.
To tackle a creature, you must first grapple the creature,
once the creature is grappled it moves with you. While
you have a creatured tackled, it changes direction to
always be facing the direction you are moving. While a
creature is grappled this way, if you end your movement
by moving into a hard surface, such as a tree, wall, or
large boulder, the creature takes damage.
The creature takes a number of d10 bludgeoning equal
to your strength modifier. After a creature is rammed
into a hard surface it must make a dexterity saving
throw against your Dreadnaught save DC or be knocked
prone and stunned until the end of your next turn. On a
sucessful save the creature is not stunned but is
knocked prone.
Speed Demon
At 10th level, you can make 1 Melee Weapon attack as a
free action after you take the Dash action on your turn.
Barrier Break
At 14th level, you have learned to move faster than
sound itself. The First Time you overcharge in combat,
double your movement speed.
Crest of the Indomitable wall as long as they are within 10 feet of you.
‘Some have said the best offense is a good defense. This Energy Loop
is a lie, the best offense is a good offense, the best You can consume uses of your Energy Pallisade to grant
defense is a good defense. I am a good defense.’ ~ yourself or allies you can touch temporary hitpoints
Eerak-3, the Bulwark equal to half of the hitpoints of your Energy Pallisade as
an action.
The Crest of the Indomitable is the ideals of Defense
consolidated into a combat philosophy. The Indomitable
hold lines against overwhelming odds, and assist their
team through battlefield control.
Taunt
At 3rd level when you choose this subclass, you gain the
Taunt action.
You can use an action to Taunt one target of your choice
within 30 feet of you. The target must make a Wisdom
saving throw equal to your Dreadnaught Save DC, on a
failed save the target must attack you on its next turn,
on a sucessful save nothing happens.
Energy Pallisade
Additionally at 3rd level, you gain the ability to project a
protective wall of energy in front of you as an action
while Overcharged. This wall lasts until its hitpoints
reach 0 or until you dismiss it as an action. You can
summon this wall an amount of times per long rest
equal to your Proficiency bonus
This wall is 15 feet wide by 10 feet tall, and is a barrier
of magical force with a scaling AC and Hitpoint total.
You can orient this Wall to be facing any direction, as
long as it is perpendicular to where you are facing, and
you are at the center of the wall.
Any ranged attack or spell that would first pass through
the wall hits the wall, any melee attack made while
facing the wall also hits the wall. Creatures cannot pass
through the wall.
Energy Pallisade Armor Class and
Hitpoints
Dreadnought Level Armor Class Hitpoints
3 12 20
6 14 35
10 16 55
14 18 80
18 20 110

Defensive Field
At 6th level, you gain the ability to emit a defensive field
while Overcharged. The first time you overcharge in a
combat encounter, allies within 10 feet of you gain
Temporary hitpoints equal to your level.
Agressive Defense
At 10th level, you can make melee weapon attacks
through your wall. And allies can shoot through your
Crest of the Siege Titan
Tectonic Stomp
wreck the ground
Seige Engine
Go dig under the ground
Battlefield Engineer
You can now yeet the terrain to your advantage
Seige Titan
All of a sudden, you are big.
War Engine
You can now yeet terrain VERY well
Art Credit
Citations
Misc Art:
Cover Art: Han SaKwang - VULCAN:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/bab2GG
Crest of the Destroyer: Peter Balogh - XH-62 Reaper:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/byzPk
Crest of the Seeker: Puppeteer Lee - Navi:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/QgqNr
Crest of the Indomitable: Personal Work - bae yamile:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ZZL3N
Changelog
v3.0 (08/14/24)
Special thanks to u/SirMorrigan for helping Develop V3
of the Dreadnaught!
Core features

Added Jolt feature to allow for more ribbon features,

removed damage from Overcharge and made it a
requirement to Jolt in over to Overcharge. (Credit:
SirMorrigan)
Added Synaptic Backfire, which is an initiative bump
(credit: SirMorrigan)
Updated Ground Superiority to be useful (credit:
SirMorrigan)
Updated Barrage Tactics to require Jolt and allows
for mulitple uses (Credit: SirMorrigan)
Reworked Unyeilding to be Persistant Overcharge,
survivability feature
Reworked Target Reaquisition
Reqorked Perpetuum engine
Reworked Indistinct Destruction
Subclass features

Reworked Desolator Crest completely (thank you

SirMorrigan)
Reworked Afterburn to give you resistance to Jolt
damage while overcharged
Reworked heat sink to be area damage
Updated Desolator shell to be more useful
Added Extreme Heat feature
Misc

Fixed my terrible spelling of ‘Dreadnaught’ to

‘Dreadnought’… seriously nobody could’ve pointed
this out?
Started dying inside because I realized how much
actually needed fixed
I should really get back to work. But I don’t work
tomorrow so I can sleep in so ya girl is
procrastinating.