Guide to the Barbarian
In this series I'm hoping to provide players with information on how to build and play a barbarian and help you realise what it's mechanical strengths are. I'm also trying to help Dungeon Masters realise how to play to the class' strengths or show them their weaknesses. As a DM you need to know when you should build up or break down your players and the best ways to achieve that.
The Barbarian Class can be found on page 46 of the Player's Handbook, it gives a thematic idea of what the class is and then you'll find the quick build options and then some maths and skills. The maths part determines your character's hit points or how resilient you are, the Barbarian is the only class to have the d12 hit die and as such is the most resilient of all the classes! The barbarian's abilities are based upon Strength, Constitution and to a lesser extent Dexterity so these are the statistics that you put your highest ability scores in.
Grog Strongjaw from Critical Role.
There are some races that lend themselves to being Barbarians. The most synergistic is the Mountain Dwarf as they have a +2 to both Strength and Constitution. Next up there are three races that have +2 to Strength and +1 to Constitution; they are the Half-Orc, Goliath and Orc. Finally the Dragonborn, Firbolg, Triton and Bugbear have some synergy but not as much as the others. Remember that you don't have to optimise your character 100% but a weak or sickly Barbarian is useless and is an annoyance to the rest of the party.
Your main skill is to rage. You enter a rage state as a bonus action, it lasts for one minute (10 turns) and gain several benefits. You do increased damage depending on your level, you have resistance to bludgeoning, slashing and piercing damage and you have advantage on strength checks and saving throws. This is your special skill and shows you what your role is within the party; you are a melee damage sponge and you hit things...HARD. Magic is not really in your wheelhouse as you can only perform simple tasks while raging and concentration isn't possible.
At level three you'll choose your Barbarian Path, this is a specialisation of skills from the broad skill set of the Barbarian. There are five different paths that you can make and each has its own strengths and weaknesses.
Berserker (PHB pg 49)
Totem Warrior (PHB pg 50)
Ancestral Guardian (XGtE pg 9)
Storm Herald (XGtE pg 10)
Zealot (XGtE pg 11)
The Path of the Berserker gives you the Frenzied Rage option. Your are trading exhaustion to attack as a bonus action on your turns. It is the sub-class that hones in on the rage and enables you to become the terrifying presence on the battlefield that you always wanted to be! At higher levels you will be immune to being charmed while raging, make people run in fear from you and also retaliate if you are hit by someone.
The Path of the Totem Warrior has a Native American or Aboriginal flavour to it as your rages are connected to a spirit animal. You gain some magical ritual spells and you adopt an animal path. There are three paths: Bear, Eagle or Wolf and they each offer improvements at levels 3, 6 and 14. The Bear is a strong and enduring path, the Eagle is a nimble and perceptive path and the Wolf is a leadership and hunter path.
The Path of the Ancestral Guardian calls forth the power of your ancestors to aid you in battle. Your ancestors will wrong foot your enemies that are trying to hit you, shield your allies for harm and at higher levels strike back at those enemies. This spiritual path allows you to consult your ancestors in ritual spell casting.
The Path of the Storm Herald gives you a powerful aura when you rage based on which of the three environments you choose: Desert, Sea or Tundra. Desert deals fire damage to anyone in your aura and gives you resistance to fire damage. Sea deals with Lightning damage and can allow you to breathe underwater. Tundra is more of a utility subclass and gives out temporary hit points, gives you resistance to cold damage and can freeze an enemy in place for a turn.
The Path of the Zealot is fuelled by divine power. When you choose this path you can strike with a little of your deity's power and you deal extra damage on your first strike while raging. You can have this be either necrotic or radiant depending on whether your god is positive or negative so you don't necessarily have to be good to choose this path! Your deity can help you as you get to higher levels with a saving throw, pushing your allies on in battle or keeping you on you feet if you are unconscious!
Dungeon Masters: you should put in challenges that require brawn to overcome such as lifting heavy objects or create combat scenarios that make the character feel epic. Line up a horde of Goblins and let the Barbarian cut them to pieces, showering the battlefield in blood and viscera! If you want to knock them down a little then attack with a type of damage that isn't resisted when they rage, the best for this is psychic damage. Barbarians will be on the back foot in social situations as they tend to use either Charisma or Intelligence as their dump stat (Grog has and Int score of 3 in Critical Role!) and are often not from civilised areas. As for loot, Barbarians can't really do complicated things while raging so magic is not good for them, even activating items could be tricky. They also tend to go without armour as they have Natural Defense so special armour isn't for them either, if they do wear armour it won't be Heavy armour. Consult you player's sheet to gauge their armour class and then find appropriate leather or hide armour for them. What most barbarian players want is something big and pointy that they can plunge into their enemies! Improved and magical weapons always go down well along with magic items that play to the class' strengths like Bracers of Defense, Cloak of Dispacement, Belt of Giant Strength, the Periapt of Wound Closure or a Ring of Protection to name but a few.
Let me know if this helped you or share your advice in the comments section below.
May you RAGE well!
