MARTIAL ARCHETYPE

GLADIATOR
A Martial Archetype for the Fighter Class
v1.0

by miguel angel espinoza

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, the dragon ampersand, and all other Wizards of the Coast
product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries.

This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission under
the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild.

All other original material in this work is copyright [2016] by Miguel Angel Espinoza and published under the Community Content
Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild.
Gladiator
Fighters who follow the gladiator archetype
especialize in the bloody sport of entertaining a
crowd of spectators.
They live for the glory of combat, the roar of
the crowd, and the fear in their opponents eyes.
Theirs is a brutal life, but if they live up to the
task, their names and victories will be the stuff of
legend!
“Ave, Imperator, morituri te salutant!”
Pit Fighter
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you
gain advantage in any grapple check you make.
Also, whenever an enemy tries to grapple you
and fails, you can use your reaction to try and
grapple the attacking creature back—make new
rolls for this attempt.
Additionally, you are well trained in fighting
with your bare hands, your unarmed strikes use a
d4 for damage. At 10th level, this dice turns into
d6. And at 18th level, it turns into d8.
Bloody Entertainer
Starting at 7th level, you gain proficiency in the
Performance and Intimidation skills.
In addition, you can try to sway the crowds or
distress a foe with flourishes, trash-talking and
fancy moves. You gain the following features.
Roar of the Crowd. As a bonus action, you can
make a Charisma (Performance) check, the DC is
determined by the DM according to the mood of
the crowd: 10 if the crowd loves you, 15 if the
crowd is neutral, and 20 if the crowd is hostile
towards you. If you succeed in the check, you get
a d8 confidence die. When you make an attack
roll against a creature, you can expend one
confidence die to add it to the roll. You can use
this die before or after making the attack roll, but
before any effects of the attack are applied.
Shrug off the Wimp. As a bonus action choose
a target enemy, you then make a Charisma
(Intimidation) check contested by the target
Wisdom (Insight) check. If your check succeeds,
you get a d8 intimidation die. When the target
enemy damages you with a melee attack, you can
use your reaction to expend your intimidation
die and shrug off some of the damage, reducing it
by the number you roll on your intimidation die
+ your Constitution modifier.
You can only have one confidence die and one
intimidation die at a time. At 10th level, your
confidence and intimidation dice turns to d10s.
And at 18th level, they turn into d12s.
Dirty Fighting
At 10th level, you’ve mastered dirty tricks and
cheats to make the best out of your strikes. Once
on each of your turns when you hit a creature
with a melee attack, you can use your bonus
action to impose one of the following effects on
that target:
 It must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or
be knocked prone.
 It must make a Strength saving throw. If it fails,
you can push it up to 15 feet away from you.
 It can’t take reactions until the end of your next
turn.
The saving throw DC for your Dirty Fighting
effects is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your
Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice).
Uncanny Dodge
Starting at 15th level, when an attacker that you
can see hits you with an attack, you can use your
reaction to halve the attack’s damage against you.
Death and Glory
When you reach 18th level, whenever you’re
close to death you get an adrenaline rush, excited
to go out of this world in the most glorious way!
Whenever you’re down to one quarter of your
maximum hit points (rounded down), you get
advantage in every attack roll you make. This
strenuous feat of combat causes your wounds to
bleed, you take 1d4 necrotic damage at the end of
each of your turns in which you used the attack
action.