Barbarian Guide - Classes in Dungeons and Dragons 5e
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- Опубліковано 29 чер 2024
- MONSTERS OF DRAKKENHEIM is 300+ pages of eldritch horror inspired monsters for 5e by the Dungeon Dudes! Coming to Kickstarter March 26th, 2024: www.kickstarter.com/projects/... Welcome to our in-depth video guide to the Barbarian class in Dungeons and Dragons 5e!
We cover everything you need to know to create your Barbarian. We’ll help you choose the ability scores, skills, feats, and other build options which will make sure your barbarian is ready to take on the world. We’ll also look at famous examples of barbarians from myths, movies, novels, and more to inspire your next character, and as well as roleplaying ideas to help develop your barbarian’s background and personality.
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Violence is never the answer.
Its the question.
The answer is always YES
Half Orc Circle of the Moon Druid + Totemic Barbarian.....
RAGING GRIZZLORD, side note, resistant to damn near everything...
Violence is always the answer whether its physical or verbal it's still the answer
"When in doubt, wipe em out"
-- Every Marine I ever met
Reminds me of the slogan of Torgue from the Borderlands series: "I HAVE JUST ONE QUESTION FOR YOU: EXPLOSIONS?!"
Isaac Graff kalashtar barbarian
I don't know why, but when he said barbarian with a sailor background, my brain went to Donald Duck. Now i want to make a Kenku barbarian that no one can understand when he gets mad.
Wow
This is beautiful
And it has to be called “Dah’Nuld”!
Perfection
😂😂😂 I love this.
Violence solves every problem.
If violence doesn't solve your problem, you're simply not using enough of it!
Barbarian logic, checks out!
"But, doesnt violence always cause more violence?"
Of course! That way, everybody get's some
Apply ax to problem. Repeat as necessary.
@@Sordorack Well to be fair the solution to your problem might be the cause of someone else's problem... In short you not having any problems can be a problem for other people and as pointed out above violence can solve ANY problems, even problems caused by you solving your problems...
@@isaacgraff8288 or any preferred weapon
“Do you want us to arrest you, Wrex?”
“I want you to TRY.”
Urdnot Wrex from Mass Effect is one of the greatest Barbarians. Grunt’s ok too.
More of an eldritch knight
I know this is a necro post, but I couldn't agree more.
@@aqueousconch1103 how is wrex an ek?
@@lightningandodinify Wrex combines powerful biotic abilities (magic) with the more mundane weapons
@@aqueousconch1103 this seems luke a technicality, nuch like how there can be smart barbarians that or angry fighters. Wrex's personality and values seem much more representative of a barbarian
I played DnD for the first time tonight, I played a Goliath Barbarian, I rolled a natural 20 to pick up a tree that an ogre just threw at the group. I threw it 45 feet, over my rogues head, and up a cliff face knocking the ogre over. On it's next turn it tried to rip a rock out of the cliff and throw it at me, the DM rolled a 1 and the rock fell on it's head knocking it out. I think I'm hooked
Bro lucky
I played a Half Orc Druid, In a bar, Some Tiefling called me a pig so I threw a dagger at her, rolled a 12 for accuracy, missed and hit the barkeep.
This was my first session, we were 5 minutes in. And I was already half dead. For a first game you're lucky my guy xD
This is gold 🤣😂😂😂
I once played a barbarian who absolutely loved animals for their 'honesty'. Humans and such frustrated him with their deceptions, and he had a really hard time not losing his sh*t in 'civilized' environments. He was of fairly average intelligence and wisdom, and in his element, he often behaved very peacefully. He did not like lying of any type and came to distrust and even dislike most of his allies. People disappointed him, and he always felt the outsider. This fuelled his rage, but when calm, he often felt regret over the scale of his violence. He was a tortured soul and so much fun to roleplay. He admired and was often envious of Druids, who, back in the day, were always neutrally aligned. They seemed to have everything he desired, particularly their supernatural connection to nature. He sometimes dabbled in herbalism and natural medicines, and my DM even home-brewed me a Recipe Book of natural components. This gave me something to do when avoiding social situations, and he found some peace in this pursuit. His moment of glory came when he found himself the only one standing following a brutal battle with a well-organized and armed band of gnolls. He used his concoctions to revive the cleric, who managed to revive 2 more of their companions. With half the party dead, we decided as a group to wrap it up for those characters, and we did a mini-session of aftermaths to close it out. He 'retired' to the deep woods, still in search of the peace which had always eluded him.
The tone of the Hulk TV show was very inspirational to my portrayal of him, and I even had my buddy play the end theme of the show on his keyboard as I described poor Nalag wandering off to be alone.
Your mention of the Hulk in this video brought his whole story back to me. Thanks so much for that, and as ever, thanks for the great vids.
"Honesty" is such a GREAT trigger for anger and rage... and I think the "quest for peace" is a great motivator for a barbarian. I love this concept!
You were describing me until you got to ‘average intelligence and wisdom’. Damnit! I’m just a dumb barbarian.
Great roleplaying man
Totem Warrior gets some nature communing spells :D Love this idea!
Wow, that's a really heartfelt way to shape a barbarian. But it kinda seems a bit short of a backstory. I'm currently campaigning with a Mountain Dwarf barbarian, and it is awesome being able to smash some heads and split some skulls. His backstory was a pretty tragic one, as well. He's the current king of a small city in the mountains near a much larger city, and he's currently around 225 years old. 75 years ago, his kingdom was stuck in the middle of a war over magic. During this battle, his clan fought against the elves who were invading the mountains to take all of the ore laying there. He could not let his ores be stolen, for it was sacrificing it to his ancient gods that he gained his rage powers. However, during this battle, the elves had some high folk on their side and launched repeated fireballs at his people. One struck his brother, and in his last moments, he flailed around in the enemy ranks, killing as many as possible before he burned up. After my character saw that, he went into a fury that no one had seen before and that not even the gods thought possible. Then he took his axe and cleaved the entire army with one swing. Soon after, the gods told him that he had taken too much power from them, and stripped him of all raging powers. It took 65 years of ruling to realize that in order to regain the gods' favor, he needed to adventure for 10 years. He was 9 years into his journey before he was teleported to a different plane, and the adventure began.
Now I want to make a barbarian sage. Seems awesome to play. Big bare chest dude with a massive axe suddenly saying to the Wizard: "Well, actually according to The Principles of Magic by professor William Johnathon, this is a magic teleportation circle. It just looks different because it is according to the Armetian tradition of magic".
Or have a very charismatic barbarian, similar to characters like Reinhardt who are very outgoing and happy, yet kick all kinds of ass
L.o.l!
I just started playing one and I surprised everyone by identifying a wand that our sorcerer found. It's a nice little surprise to throw out there
@@dolphinvenom2779 You guys should check out the spellcaster barbarian subclass from Xanathar's Lost Notes to Everything Else. They get a special rage feature that enhances their spellcasting ability instead of removing it. Of course there's also the storm subclass from Xanathar's Guide to Everything which could fit the concept of someone who studied magic even though he doesn't directly use it.
@@BigBoi237 ua-cam.com/video/VuJTqmpBnI0/v-deo.html or if you don't wana be a nice guy with high charisma...
I think another really good example of a barbarian would be Kratos from God of War.
We rambled on about Kratos (and MANY other Barbarians) for about 15 minutes in the original cut of this episode, so we had to cut it out for length :/
BOooY!!!
God Of War 2018
A lot of my barbarians personality is based on kratos. But hes currently having a personality arc where hes learning to open up and accept help and work with his team
@@DungeonDudes where can we see that? i'd gladly do!!
I Would Like TO RAGE!!! - Grog Strongjaw
RECKLESSGREATWEAPONMASTER!
RAGE
Ale!- Grog Strongjaw
@@ericmeehan725 And Women. Though also Ale.- Grog Strongjaw
Half-orc Barbarian path of Zealot.... F*&^ing won't DIE. I was the DM and reduced his health to 4 times.... and it didn't work.
I was really surprised that Achilles wasn't mentioned when talking about inspirations. He's the oldest recorded example of the archetype and his legend and myth set a lot of the tropes about barbarians. He was a massive, unstoppable force of destruction in battle that dammed a river with the corpses of his victims, and even though he was wounded and bled in the Illiad, the myth that his skin was invincible is still told today. The opening stanza of the Illiad even declares it to be a 'song about the rage of Achilles.' I can't think of a better example lol
Skynyrd Jesus that’s... a very good point, actually. He was mostly known as the greatest warrior of the Greek, but I could see a great potential for a totem or berserker barbarian/ champion fighter multi-class
He went with the Irish version instead, CuChulain
Boudica didn't fight Julius Caesar. Her uprising was during Nero's reign, about a century after Caesar died. But good Barbarian history otherwise :D
D'oh! We're going to throw our writer/historian in front of a Barbarian horde :P
I heard that, and it made my eye twitch. Thank you for saying something! Dan Carlin is shaking his head.
I think the celtic peoples were more civilized than people give them credit for. The term barbarian from a Western culture point of view comes from Rome. Everyone, other than the Greeks, were considered barbaric to the Romans.
@@mata6669 it actually goes back to the Greeks, who used the term to describe foreigners, because they couldn’t understand what the foreigners were saying, just hearing “bar bar bar”
Boudicca had a big boudi
The Leroy Jenkins of D&D
that'd be a palladin
@@TheAirak with barbarian multiclass
27:58 at first, I thought you meant "rock", instead of "Roc". I almost died with the fun role-playing opportunities that would give!
King: *points at belt pouch full of gravel* What creature did you slay to earn that trophy? *scoffs*
Barbarian: A far more worthy opponent than you could ever hope to be...
Too exhausted to do my usual puzzler-type character, so went with a Warforged Path of the Beast Noble. Went with a female aspect this go around --her being a tree spirit-- and her "tail" is a bussell of blackberry vines she uses to shred her foes while she twirls and spins. Going to be an uphill build (what I'm known for), but a dip into druid for thornwhip (and access to eldritch adept the level after) is going to bring out a fun, visual character.
I had a Barbarian named Brute, a half-orc meatshield who just wanted to kill big monsters. He wasnt stupid, since I rolled and 12 on int and wis respectively. He loved his party, and would only rage when his friends would get threatened. One party member was a gnome wizard, which he allowed to ride on his back in order to ensure his safety(facetank). He once told the druid, a rather squishy party member to "Stay behind me. Always." in order to protect them.
In town, Brute would always try to bring the party to the pub, and loved a good barfight, since locals tended to pick fights with the foreign half-orc that bought drinks for anyone who chatted with him. He was a happy-go-lucky kinda guy, who understood people just didn't like him, and chose to stay quiet, because he knew his charisma sucked shit(6 cha, what is that -2 mod) He was literally the moral compass of the group, always advising NOT killing the people in front of him, even being distressed when the party decided to murderhobo guards and inconvenient townspeople.
His Dex and Con were lower than your recommended score, but he still did good as a naked meatshield/
I saw that you guys liked this, so I might have more for you guys to like. Brute once started a bar brawl via a failed charisma roll, and beat the fuck out of four racist humans, while the party just drank silently at the other end of the bar. After whuppin some major ass, four dudes were on the ground, half knocked out, Brute then spent the last of his copper buying them a round of drinks, and partying it up with them.
Later in the campaign we needed a boat to get to MacGuffin island. The party tried to get past some dock guards and failed their persuasion checks. Brute unilaterally decided to simply throw the two human guards into the water(without killing them) into the water, and steal a boat. He decided that he was the captain, because he's "always wanted a boat."
He once tried taming a VERY aggressive random encounter wolf(I'm not a minmaxer, and chose animal handling and speak with animals, because totems) by grappling said wolf, and whispering softly into its ear. My DM didn't fall for that one. Brute has tried several times to gain knowledge from birds, squirrels, and other forest animals along his adventures, to varrying success and annoyance on the DM's behalf.
@@RovingTroll Wow this is so cool, what an adventure your barbarian was having. I think I would have liked him in real life. He also sounds a bit like my barb that I had some time ago. He was cool too !
-12 int and wis
-stupid
pick one
Twelve doesn't mean you're stupid just average. If you get a negative modifier then you're stupid. Edit: six is a -3 mod.
If your axe swing doesn't solve the problem, then just keep swinging. It'll sort itself out after a while.
If they don't answer your questions, just "axe" them again!
Hilarious ;)
Nathaniel Jernigan have to escort a king through dangerous territory? Just hit him with your axe.
Stone in your boot? Just hit it with your axe until it stops hurting.
Annoyed your other weapons keep breaking? Just axe them till they work.
An infallible strategy!!!
Axe, apply directly to source of problem, repeat as needed.
Especially if you're an orc.
I can't say he fits perfectly, but I think it adds to the "might makes right" of the barbarian king trend. Beowulf.
He was a renowned Geat warrior who always achieved victory with unstoppable brutality. He killed Grendel without any weapons, he killed Grendel's mother in a fit of rage when his sword failed to harm her, he returned to Geatland and became king, and in his old age killed a dragon at the cost of his own life.
We love the story of Beowulf, and it's essential reading as far as we're concerned. I think we mentioned him in the Figure Guide, but there are definitely elements of the character that make him out as more of a Barbarian
I love Beowulf. 💖
Just watched this together with my girlfriend, she actually just had her first session as a Half-Orc Barbarian in our new campaign :) Really great timing!
Fantastic! What Primal Path does she want to play?
She's a Level 3 Storm Herald Barbarian. Sadly the least discussed option in the video, haha.
But I want to use this moment to tell you that I really like your channel and your content! You're both really sympathetic and informative. I was kinda surprised when I checked your subscriber count, you deserve a lot more. Easily in my top 3 D&D content creators!
Cheers from two of your fans in germany :)
I had a barbarian in a game i DMed a while ago that is awesome enough that he still shows up as an npc in some other campaigns (with the player’s permission of course):
He rolled really well for his stats, so he was not smart or dumb, but he put his highest rolls into strength, constitution, and charisma. He rolled up a dragonborn totem warrior of the bear with folk hero as his background and proficiency in brewers tools. Afterwards, he used all of his asi’s to increase str, con, and cha, except for gettin tavern brawler at the first chance in order to use improvised weapons. Now that you have a mechanical understanding of this guy...
First of all, anytime the party made camp at somewhere there might possibly be bears nearby, he used the speak with animals ritual, and went out to find new friends. He befriended and recruited bears who would not fight him but followed him around and eventually pulled his mobile brewery (later a movile, and later a MOBILE INN, in the form of a caravan train), that he built with a couple of other players with virtually all of their shares of the treasure. In small towns he acted a lot like a regular barbarian, but in bigger cities he dressed up in fine clothes, acted as a playboy, and went looking for pretty girls... some he just seduced (a girl in every port... and bar, and trading post, etc.), some he convinced to invest in the inn, and a couple he actually recruited to go with them in the caravan, and help him out in his kitchen. He loved his friends, including cooking and brewing for them, but eventually, he sort of “soft retired” and never went on actual dungeons with them... instead they travelled together from town to town on the caravan, and he watched over their base when they went of on missions. Many were the fools that tried to rob the caravan once all the big, scary adventurers had ridden out to the orc camp, or the dragon’s lair.... and found out that the chef was a high level barbarian who was just as handy with dual hand axes as he was with knife and spatula... or could just as easily use those to murder them
When you are the DM you don't need permission for anything. It is your game. It is your version of that character, not the true.
@@redfaux74 but it is common decency to ask before you borrow an idea.
@@StarShadow9009- If you were getting paid I would agree. Your own personal game? I would say no. But you do you. Have fun.
@@redfaux74 look, it's not about money or laws. It is just about respect and friendship. People get attached to their characters. They put in a lot of effort into them and are usually very protective of them. If you want to use them then you better earn their trust first or prepare to possibly lose some friends or for them to treat you like dirt.
@@StarShadow9009 - I get it. I played for 20 years. But if you lose a friend over ANY game, they're not your friend.
This is about YOUR mind creating an adventure for others. It's fantasy. It's not a recorded event in granite. No one should take it personal. Your NPC in your game, despite similarities to another person's PC, should cause trauma. It's a game, just Yatzhee with a story. The story creates the fun.
Many of my games had plot twists. Doppelgangers, Wolfweres, mages using illusions, many things create likenesses. They should be flattered, not insulted.
I remember one of my friends once told me about a funny dwarven barbarian that he played that took the old phrase 'dumb as a bag of hammers' too literally and had a literal bag of smith's hammers (light hammers) that he would throw at his enemies. I asked him what it looked like in game, and he told me "think of that one scene from dodgeball where they were dodging wrenches. Basically that."
I also like to think that Tormund Giantsbane is a great example of a barbarian-esque character that handles out of combat interactions with simplicity that isn't necessarily comedic all the time. He views the world simply but isn't a moron. He judges people by their goodness and treats them accordingly. He recognizes when things are beyond his scope and defers to other characters but always does his best to play a part of be a helpful hand even when something was out of his league.
One of my favorite characters that I've run was a barbarian. It was back in 3.5, but could EASILY be reskinned for 5e.
His name was Lacey and he was a happy go lucky guy that kept finding himself in trouble. I was running him as a DMPC. And the party LOVED him. One of my members was a ranger named Tequios, but Lacey just called him Teqie (tech-ee).
Near the end of our cliche, collect the weapons of power to take down the Dark Lord campaign, just as the party got the last weapon, Lacey betrayed them. But not without resentment. Because he genuinely loved his friends, but the "Dark Lord is reeeeeeeaaaaaaally scary, Teqie." And so at the end they had to fight him. Our wizard was a dice junkie. He was playing the game with the intention to roll as much damage as he could with spellcasting and announced early on that he was just wanting to give dnd a try. So if his character died, he would probably step away from the game, no hard feelings. Well, Lacey had been with the party since day one and knew the party's tactics. So he went for the wizard first. The paladin and fighter both intercepted him, but not well enough. Two of my player characters had chosen to start trying to persuade Lacey instead of fighting, our shadow dancer rogue and Teqie. Well, when it became apparent that the wizard was about to be minced, our shadow dancer had a change of heart. She had a magic item that allowed her to shadow dance at the beginning and end of her turn. She shadow danced to Lacey.....and crit.
When she shadow danced back she did so with tears in her eyes (both the character AND the player). The ending went a little something like this.
Lacey presses his hands over the fresh wound, unable to stop the bleeding. He looks up at the party with a fear stricken face. "I'm sorry, I'm glad you're all okay." He falls to his knees and raises one bloodied hand towards teqie as he begins to rock back and forth. "Teqie..........owie." Lacey falls to the ground and moves no more.
At this point, Teqies player put her head down on the table and began balling. It was one of my most shameful and proudest moments as a DM that I had created this person that was having such a profound effect on the party.
And I couldn't have done it without my barbarian.
Live long and rage often.
This is a great story of using an awesome and engaging NPC within the party for dramatic effect!
This made me tear up too...
Was he mentally challenged?
The best time I ever had was when my DM gave my Barb a ring that would sacrifice Int points to increase his Str (temporarily). I ended up having to roleplay an entire session at 1 int, because my barb decided to max out the ring's ability and was left too stupid to know why they were stupid. All my in character interaction with the world was reduced to what we likened to the Feeblemind spell, so I basically only communicated with grunts and shouts. It was mighty fun playing what essentially was an animal for an entire session, where I could just hit it and leave the thinking to others.
Most of the time, a dropped int score really ends up meaning you have to find a way to roleplay that "idiot savant" part if you're significantly smarter than your character. Which is mighty annoying when you are e.g. stuck at a riddle-door or investigating a murder mystery. Recommendation: don't dump all three mental stats. Go with the fool-hearted Barbarian; the Simpleton from the next village, who's still lovable and ends up always trying to do his best for others. Really opens up a lot in terms of roleplaying.
I haven’t finished the video yet so idk if you’ll mention him, but Achilles was totally a barbarian. He was known to fly into intense rage when things didn’t go his way, especially in battle.
I would think he would be a fighter/barbarian muliticlass. Just because he was a trained fighter as well but he probably should have been mentioned
It’s funny because Achilles was Greek and barbarian literally means Not Greek 😂. I’d say def fighter with rage ability.
"Let teachers and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content."
Robert E. Howard, author of Conan the Barbarian, excerpt from Queen of the Black Coast.
Yah, a lot people forget or don't know that Conan is actually a very intelligent person. I remember in one story where Conan had be a king for several years and one of the first things we see him do is updating the maps of his kingdom.
@@Phil-dp9iq The Serpent and the Ring
I love the Jekyll and Hyde aproach for my Barbarian, i lowered my priority on Str. and made Int my highest stat for a ccomplete focus on medicine and arcana. Nobody expects the Barbarian to be the smartest person in the room and the human var. gives you the bonus feat to get more Con. or Str. in this way + it gives you more cool abillitys.
justin credible agreed! great concept! I have to use this very soon! This will help a new girl in my party who doesnt know how role play a barbarian.
Raphael Always happy to be of help to new and veteran players, let us all enjoy this great game together.
I find it very amusing when a player breaks the mold with his character.
Although Medicine is not a WIS related skill?
We continue our class guides with the Barbarian, we'd love to hear your feedback on how they are going! We're aiming to finish them ALL by the end of the summer. The Druid is coming next week! Please let us know if you have questions about the Cleric, Bard, Monk, Paladin, and Warlock!
PS Apologies in advance for any butchered pronunciations of Cú Chulainn and other historical figures in this video!
Dungeon Dudes love this series of videos! You don’t list a Druid guide as something that is coming up. Is that because they’re not popular choices? From the POV of a newbie they seem a bit underpowered but looks like it might be heaps of fun to role play
The Druid Guide isn't listed because we shot it already (so can't include any questions!) and it's coming out next week :)
Hey, I’ve been looking into warlocks spell casting but I don’t get how the spell slots work. Could you clear it up a bit?
Hey guys, I think what your doing is great but just a small suggestion, take it or leave it. Aesthetically it looks a little odd from the angle that you sit at, have you ever considered sitting on different sides of the table that way you don't have to look all the way over at each other and then back at the camera. I think it would be easier for you guys and a more engaging feel for the audience. I don't know how much room your working with but it is just an idea. Other than that keep up the good work, and stay on the grind!
@@tommusic6522 If you mean the pact magic slots, warlocks have a limited number of slots (from 1 to 4 depending on level) that are unique and totally separate from the spell slots of other casting classes. Those slots have levels fixed by your warlock level and come back after every short or long rest. As I read it, a warlock/caster multiclass would have the normal slots of a caster of that level, in addition to those given by the warlock class (potentially giving you more spell slots of a given level than a higher level caster). This is unlike the normal multi-class caster rules where you add up your total "caster level" to determine your slots but learn spells as if single-classed at that class level.
I conceptualized a Tiefling Barbarian Urchin, who rages at seeing people afraid of her, people who see her as a "monster". This is an interesting way of explaining the initial level low limits to rages as being afraid of her rages, and as she levels, she gains connection to her party, so she's more willing to rage when her friends are in danger.
One character I liked running was a bear totem barbarian noble with shieldmaster feat and low str/high dex. I couldn't really utilize him for damage since rage doesn't help finesse attacks but he became the ultimate tank when armed with a shield and shieldmaster. He could take so much damage and defend those around him better than most of my characters. Dressed in fine clothes and a bearskin cape, he was a knight-in-unusual-armor for his subjects
how come nobody ever mentions the best part of the berserker path? the fact that at level 6 it gets immunity to charm and fear effects while raging? any other barbarian can be mind controlled into attacking the party but not the berserker.
Yes this is an often overlooked feature that I COMPLETELY missed in my first 5e campaign with a barbarian, and was very surprised when the dragon tried to use Suggestion on the barbarian...
Imagine being so fuckshit pissed you could actually die from exertion if you don't chill and can't be convinced to not smashfuckkill whatever is in your way, but still managing to hold on enough to not murder your friends.
This is why wood elf is my favorite race for a totem barbarian. Dex helps unarmored AC. Combine the mask of the wild with barbarian level 6 wolf totem option to move in stealth at a normal pace. I can now hide in most situations and still move a normal pace. And above all I have resistance to charms so I can’t be used against the party, which combined with trance to become an amazing night watch while the party sleeps makes me a force to be feared! I can’t recommend playing an elven barbarian enough. Plus your basically just an anime character.
Yep I am playing a lizardman berserker now and it is great
@@Lionhartless in one of my campaigns a freind of mine played a shadar'kai barbarian named Mori. She was a cheery, if not charismatic, murder machine. The character was raised by orcs and it showed, they were probably more savage than most orcs really, and crushed on the vampire mage, who she referred to as "pretty lady". She was... interesting.
Actually rage still halves damage from magical sources of bludgeoning, piercing and slashing.
Yep that's true
High charisma face barbarian: "Let me play you the song of my people"
A Bardbarian.
@@simonesaccardi2139 You beautiful person, that's amazing!
Barbarian is by far my favorite class, and definitely has a ton of room for flavor!
My favorite D&D character thus far has been my Half-Orc, Krol. Krol was born into a loving family, where an orc and a human made it work. The townsfolk didnt like this, of course, but Krol was a good person who was eager to prove himself. He joined the regional lord's army, hoping to protect his lands from all threats. Eventually he met a human woman and fell in love, and on their wedding night conceived a child. Once it became apparent that his wife was pregnant, the townsfolk decided that they would allow no more Half-Orcs (or 1/4 in this case) to be born into their town. The soldiers in Krol's unit kept him distracted and far from home. A friend of Krol's named Tristan ran (marathon style) to let him know that he overheard the captain talking about how Krol's wife was being put to the sword. When he tried to leave, the other soldiers attempted to stop him, but Krol and Tristan fought their way through and rode back to Krol's home in haste. Upon seeing his home burning and his pregnant wife hanging from a tree branch, he saw red. For the first time, he was unable to control himself, and let the anger and hate flow through his body. He hunted down and killed everyone who took part in that tragedy, then fled into another land hoping for a new life.
In our current campaign, he has taken up arms with Tristan, who fled with him, and several other adventurers. Having a deep appreciation for nature, Krol took the path of the Bear totem warrior, and began to worship Eldath in the Hope's of finding inner peace. In battle, Krol rages and charges headfirst into battle, his rage being the only thing keeping the thoughts of his dead wife at bay. He also vowed never to let another parson he cares about be killed, and so he is very protective of every member of his group. This also plays into his polearm master / sentinel feat choice.
One day, he will know inner peace.
As someone who loves Barbarians, this might be one of the best backstories and lore for a barbar I have ever heard, far superior to any of my own. Reading that almost brought tears to my eyes, and it made me reevaluate how diverse I could truly make a character. Thank you for this my friend, I hope Krol eventually finds his peace.
@@countkingpen thank you! A friend of mine playing tristan, the human fighter, managed to keep the roleplay going for almost a year, the duration of our campaign! In the end, he was able to remarry and have two children, and live out the rest of his days on a small farm that he managed to scrounge up enough gold to put a downpayment on.
He is as close to finding true peace as is possible for him, but that said he has never been happier :)
Anthony Lanzaro that is wonderful to hear! Thanks for the update.
What about Tarzan the Ape Man, a barbarian/ranger or druid multiclass with a high intelligence & the noble background.
Absolutely!
One of the characters I've recently brought to the table is a variant human bear totem barbarian with the ritual caster feat at level 1. It's made for a really interesting extra dimension to the big guy with the big axe, all the sudden you cast detect magic and everyone has to rethink your role. Also I love that it has the potential to keep scaling.
Sounds like a really cool character! The magical abilities of the Totem barbarian are a lot of fun, and augmenting it with ritual caster is a great concept
One of my friends recently made a Kalashtar fighter for one of our games, and as soon as I read the race features I just thought about how ridiculous a Kalashtar Bear Totem Barbarian would be. While raging you have resistance to ALL damage, as the Kalashtar have a natural psychic damage resistance. Not only that but the ability to use your reaction to gain advantage on wisdom saves to resist spells like Hold Person or Dominate Person is fantastic. The Kalashtar also are the prime example of playing a 'Bruce Banner' character. It might just be me but I would love to try this combination out.
I played a barbarian (totem) crossed with a circle of moon Druid with an affinity for bears, who was cursed with werewolf blood before birth, giving him a primal magic infused into his blood, cursing his appearance to be vaguely animalistic in nature. Raging into a wild shape of primal energy. At level 18, he got bit by a werebear in a fight against the tribe the cursed him, turning him into a werebear.
So, in short, he was a werebear bar-bear-ian.
Out of curiosity, what was your level spread at lvl 18?
I thought lycantropes are chaotic evil when they change and u lose control of yr character and become and npc for the changes duration.
@@Jyeoi depends on the beast, and whether or not you embrace it
Jyeoi were bears are good aligned, I believe
One of the things I enjoy about the barbarian is that it's both a great class for newbies (mechanically simple - just point them in the direction of the bad guys and let them roll a d20) but also can present deep roleplaying opportunities for experienced players (I've played the "highly intelligent outsider from a primitive culture/fish out of water" barbarian and it was one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had in tabletop gaming)
We completely agree!
I want to play a Strongheart Hafling Barbarian called the Tiny Terror. Not gonna be %100 optimized, but man I could do some fun role-play with that.
No kneecap is safe :P
I have a high elf for a barbarian , you dont need to be optimized
necogreendragon Our party Barbarian is a strong heart Halfling, and he is the cornerstone of our front line and a FRIGHTENING damage dealer. Barbarians don’t need to be Half Orcs, Humans, or Dwarves to be an effective damage dealer.
I've recently made a halfling (stout subtype) barbarian for Eberron - because, really, why WOULDN'T you want to play a barbarian who rides dinosaurs? I cosmetically reskinned her totems to reflect the dinosaurs local to her area (e.g. hammertail/ankylosaur instead of bear; same stats, just a different cosmetic description). She uses a shield and a warhammer, so she isn't the most horrific damage dealer (still respectable, with a Str of 16) - but that halfling Dex is a huge boon to Unarmoured defence. With an AC of 19 at level 3, resistance to everything except psychic damage while raging and good bonuses on Dex saves vs. area effect spells, her tanking ability is absurd! She's one scary little brick - and I haven't even got her first feat/attribute boost yet.
All gnome and halfling warriors / barbs are so incredibly fun to play. Just the war cry is enough to make a fun day. Yes, KNEEEEEEESS is perfectly acceptable
You guys are Great! The best class guides i have found hands down. Keep up the good work
I just recently started playing as a Storm Herald Barbarian. I like to think of his rage as something fueled by his strong protective instincts, as well as his sense of loyalty and justice. In this sense, there is less of a "negative" element to his rage being tied to anger, and more of a proactive aspect to it - it's more like a frenzy that drives him to put himself in the front lines to do all it takes to protect his friends, maim his enemies, and have a bloody good time doing it. It's an interpretation of Rage that some people may find too far removed from its original definition, but it works for him and it makes sense in the context of our campaign.
All of this to say that there are many ways to make it make sense if you're willing to get creative (provided of course you have in depth conversations about this with your DM)!
Don't think I've seen anyone say it, but the Barbarian rage feature doesn't specify that the damage reduced from bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage is only from non-magical weapons, unlike some other features (such as the Heavy Armor Master feat). Therefore barbarian rage would reduce the damage from magical weapons as well.
Unless maybe I missed something?
Either way, great video, keep up the quality content
It does indeed reduce the damage from magical weapons.
Fun Barbarian ideas:
Totem barbarian with magic initiate (druid) feat, who is posing as a defender of the wilds.
Warforged berserker barbarian going into overdrive/overheat mode, heating itself like hell-hot furnace.
Drow barbarian who goes into shadowwalk when he "rages". It explains the resistance. Back it up with some feats/multiclass.
What are yours fun barbarian builds?
Honestly, it's a little Cliche but I love the Half-Orc Barb
Well, I don't know if this counts, but I'm running a Barb 1/Moon Druid X (currently 3) lizard man right now. He doesn't get angry, what with his reptilian emotional range. He does, however, get Hungry. As in alligator-esque feeding frenzy hungry. He's in TOA/Chult, so he tends to end up a raging, ravenous Deinonychus. I play him somewhat sub-optimally. If he rages and hits with his lizard man feeding-frenzy bite, the next round he wildshapes and eats his enemies.
Great video guys! very thorough. Love barbarians in my game. Make for great roleplay and by far my favorite marshal character
Dudes! I love your content, I’m working my way through your catalogue. These ideas for how to RP the barbarian are amazing! So inspired, now I just don’t know which one I want to build next, but it’s definitely gonna be a Tortle
In the Conan stories, he never really got nervous, or grew edgy when he wasn't killing. He just relaxed and enjoyed his life, because he knew that at any time, Crom would ask him for his life.
I’ve been playing a Half-Orc Barbarian named Throkk for the last two years! I had him come from a gladiatorial slave background, and for well over a year I had him be a totem warrior. While becoming more in tune with the totem beasts and nature, he became more calm and reserved in social settings. Throkk has the chance (as granted by the DM) to achieve his life goal of revenge, and was able to retcon into an Ancestral Guardian! This has made him even more of a protector for the party, while bringing honor and glory to his ancestors :D
Loved this. Been looking for a fresh DnD UA-cam group. Wish I’d found you sooner. Great vid on my favorite class. I’m rocking the Totem Barbarian/Paladin multiclass. It’s ridiculous. Lolz
Thanks for all the pointers. Just started playing a barbarian and this really helps. I was really up in the air as to my future path when I level up. Now i have some better insight to my options. Great video!
I have yet to play a single campaign but my first character will be a Barbarian. I already have a backstory fleshed out. I wish my work schedule allowed me time to find a group to rp with.
Same.
FYI Goliaths were available in Version 3.5 (Races of Stone)
Guys i really love ur content. Thank u so very much. U are such honest and humble guys it really is dam fun watching u
thats an amazing review of this class... great video, dudes!
I prefer using smuckers jam as my weapon. Nobody can resist. Not even a barbarian. They cannot resist the charm of the sweet sticky jam.
Despite the minor irritation I mentioned below, loved the vid. I'm currently playing a half dwarf/half dragonborn (calling it a Dragonforged Dwarf) Outlander barbarian (only level 2 but will either go totem or storm herald). Kind of going the Ferdinand the bull angle of him being a big burly scary looking thing but is super timid and peaceful, loves animals, etc. but raging lets out the beast.
Already had a bit where while in the woods he wrestled a bear and was the lost kid at the mall when we got to town later in the day. (I also got a nat 20 on my viol performance check at the tavern)
(if you're curious how stats and racial abilities work with that. what me and my dm agreed on is +2 con from dwarf along with the base dwarf racial abilities, then a +1 to str and breath weapon from dragonborn { no dragon elemental resistance} also 1 dragonborn specific feat, I picked dragon hide for the +1 to str again and claws. so basically like a dragony subrace for dwarves. summery: +2 str +2 con, Darkvision, Dwarven resilience, Tool proficiency, Stonecunning, Breath weapon, Dragon hide.) (proficient in survival, animal handling, intimidation, and athletics)
(rolled really well on stats, with racial +'s they are)
Str: 19
Dex: 13
Con: 18
Int: 11
Wis: 14
Cha: 8
Max HP @ lvl 2: 30
Great perspectives. You’ve given me some fun ideas on how to make my character more rounded. Fun!
Love it dudes. Very helpful and thoughtful content creation.
Thank you so much :)
Slight correction in your history. Julius Caesar had been dead for about 100 years when Boudica rebelled. Nero was Emperor in her time.
Whoops! We'll have to set the barbarians upon our resident historian and writer :)
Love your class guides! Druid in the works, mayhaps? :)
Should be coming next week, in fact :)
Fantastic!
I love looking back on this video to see how much everyone has changed and how much they've stayed the same.
They have built one hell of a channel!
Absolutely love this guide. Well done guys. Also, idk if this was mention further in the comments but it was officially clarified that the resistances given from the barbarian’s rage ability provide resistance even from magical weapons.
One of my favorite renditions of the Barbarian is Lgoan Nine-FIngers from Joe Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy. SO GOOD.
My thoughts exactly
I rolled a Dwarven Barbarian with the Outlander BG with a Flaw of enamored by ale. Be a blast to play and oddly enough rolls better when he drinks..lol
i really wish you guys would have made this video 2 months ago. It would have really helped me make my first D&D character back story so much more interesting, but it gives me much more options for my character going forward. thanks guys looking froward to your next video.
Your character can always develop and grow! In fact, the best D&D characters evolve and change during their adventures, so go for it! You decide how your character responds, and if you have some new ideas, it's never too late to bring your character in a different direction.
Hey Dungeon Dudes,
great list of videos. Thanks for the class guides. Would you mind doing one about the Mystic?
Great video, just in time, one of my players is using a bear totem barbarian and if it's giving me a hard time, I know he is using it right now. It's hard to balance encounters...
Anyway I love your videos, and just subscribed!
Fantastic! We hope you enjoy our other videos :)
Physic damage is easy to give just have a bandit have a scroll that deals Physic damage. Just an idea.
@@jaredmurray8454 Psychic damage, I'm sure you mean. It's not really as easy as that, though, is it? You can't have every enemy using psychic damage, that ends up being repetitive and boring, not to mention killing suspension of disbelief. There are a lot more tools in the arsenal for DM's in regards to barbarians, mostly any spell that affects Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. Hold Person is a really good one for neutralizing a barbarian, as an example.
@@Hawkwinter01 no i mean rocks
Everyone always goes Great Axe and Great Weapon Master but I've seen a Berzerker with Dual Wield and battle axes. At lvl 3 you're at 3 attacks (with a Variant Human) for 1D8 each plus bonuses. I also love the Zealot coupled with a Half-Orc because you're almost impossible to kill in a single round while raging.
Duelweilding hurts your frenzy ability though. Not that you should be denying often.
22:46 I love the mental image of a frenzied barbarian using their polearm to literally rake in gravy : ) Great work again - Barbarian is another class I'd never really considered, and am now mulling over...
Great video! I would like to watch u guys making a series about the different races and some build ideas as well as some roleplaying ideas! Maybe some ideas on how to sound like an half-orc or a Dragonborn and stuff like that
I like the Zealot with polearm master and sentinel with maybe a 3 level dip into Paladin for smite and lay on hands for if the rage ends and a two level dip into fighter just to action surge. It is basically a wall in a hallway or if you go 6 into Paladin you get auras to help the party
Very, very cool multiclass combination. Taking 2-3 levels of Barbarian is a very strong dip.
I'm a big fan of guts as an iconic barbarian thatvis not dumb but just socially awkward when not dealing with soldiers or combat
Guts is honestly one of the best examples for a barbarian ever
Hear hear
Fantastic stuff!
Great video guys.
Ii've actually just played a campaing as a half orc monk barbarian and it was awesome trying to balance my rage with my eaner peace
I think a halfling zealot barbarian would probably last even longer than a half orc with that luck. They can also move through people's spaces to get right at the enemy. 👍
I play lots of barbarians. I've got two that really break mold, but both are multi-class
1) Protection Aasamar Eagle Totem Barbarian/Battlemaster Fighter wears Half-Plate and welds two shortswords. And he started as a bounty hunter and has during the course of the campaign has become the lawman of a fishing village.
2) Human, Druid/Barbarian/Paladin. Shapeshift and smite
I've recently made a Minotaur totem barbarian. He's is very in tune with nature and very friendly. He gets his rage simply from the inmate rage that minotaur have. He was raised by priests and druids from the emerald enclave after being found as a calf. I'm having alot of fun in and out of battle with this guy.
Currently playing an Aasimar Scourge of Tempus with the Zealot path. Used the cannibal headhunter background from Kobald Press. After watching this I might look into dual classing as a Paladin. Great video guys!
What do you guys think about an elf barbarian?
Do you want to hear more of it?
Yes! Wild or Wood Elf barbarians are a really fascinating concept. Did you play one?
Dungeon Dudes
oh no my friends
Hes a high elf
Raised by your savage pack of goliaths, orcs and goblins, he never cared about his past , content with his life and whenever he had a question, had no real answers
Why was he different?
Why does everyone thinks hes "small" and "weak"?Hes strong!
Why did everyone crumble with time?
His mother sensed his incredible magical potential only seen by.... no, how would they fail to protect their child?...
She would raise this child to something great
He was having a normal day until, the dead of night he was kidnapped by a hag , kept unconscious my her magics the magical power in his veins simply astounded by it , she started preping her oven and ... shoved...him...in...
UNTIL AN EXPLOSION CAME KNOCKING THE HAG BLASTING HER TO CINDERS
And there he stood
With a shining mark on his chest
The mark of the bear
Thats the back story of my 22 year old high elf barbarian totem of the bear
His form is bulky (think jason momoa)
And he is unnaturally hardy of body due to his incredibe magical power, which is the reason for his bear totem
And anything the elves are, he is not
Just looked at the race details and whent NOPE
Grace , literally a barbarian
Sleek names and bodys, jagged name and his name miiiight be a curse in elven (which he does not know)
And his one cantrip is dancing light, cause he thought it was to dark one night (this is the pure magical essence )
In case it hasnt been said.....
Goliaths have been around for a while. Tey were in 3.5 and I think were before as well
This is an amazing video! It's amusing to think that most people assume that barbarians are unintelligent, yes they are "axe to face" but they could have a decent int score.
Great videos! Can't wait to see the Paladin guide.
Both Kelly and I have played Paladins and they've featured in many campaigns. We're looking forward to shooting it too :)
Just as a point of historical accuracy: Boudicca fought against Nero, who was the emperor after Claudius, who was not even born, yet, when Julius Caesar was in power.
She was, however, TOTALLY AWESOME!!!! She made ONE tactical mistake (bringing the families along with the army, and then encamping them too close to the battle for that last battle) that was her downfall. Before that, though, she had the entire British Roman Legion on the run. And all because Nero refused to honor the agreement that his predecessor/uncle/father Claudius made with her and her husband, had her beat and her daughters raped, and robbed her people. She would NOT take that lying down. And it wasn't even a situation where women were considered to be just as great warriors as men, in that culture. NOPE! She was saying to the men, "You men may want to surrender, but I, a womam, am NOT going to accept this, and I WILL FIGHT! Follow me, if you don't want to come across as wimps who have less strength and courage than a woman!" She really used that whole "I'm only a woman. Are you gonna be out-classed by a woman?!" to great effect in whipping her men up into a fighting frenzy. She used it to become truly terrifying. Especially against Romans who hadn't really seen a lot of female fighters, anyway.
I think that's one reason she was known to have her long curly hair hanging down loose and wild, whipped by the wind, rather than braided and tidy, like most women of the time. It just added to her terrifying persona.
I love Boudicca.
- "You can't go around intimidating people in a civilized country!"
Nat 20 intimidation roll.
- "Bold words for someone in melee range"
"Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing."
Conan
By Robert E. Howard
Just started watching your videos love them keep them up. :P(I would love to see a Monk class guide.)
Yup! It's in the pipeline. We're hoping to get all the class guides done this summer!
2nd Edition; The Complete Barbarian's Handbook - I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to really explore the personalities of Barbarian.
You're confusing Boudica with Vercingetorix. Julius Caesar fought against Vercingetorix. Nero would have been emperor during Boudica's uprising.
Just a note, Cuchulainn is pronounced more like : Ku-Kul-ann.
Scrolled the comments for this! I had no idea how to pronounce his name. But I did read The Tain. And holy shit. I’m convinced Akira toriyama got saiyans from that story.
In smite we call him Choo-Chootrain
First time player here, this helped me so much
Thank you for making these guides, Dudes, they are fun, informative and well made :D And yeah, Barbarians are my main, so to speak.
Great vid, but that was the worst butchering of the name Cú Chulainn I've ever heard. Coo-Kull-an
Yikes! Thanks for the help! I "inherited" the pronunciation from my uncle who first told me the story (an Ulster native) -- and I don't think I've ever heard two people say it the same way -- everyone seems to say everyone else is saying it wrong!
Yeah, it is an odd name. Especially for people who don't know how a fadá affects the pronunciation of it. But I've never heard it said another way in Ireland.
Really? you don't even mention Kratos as inspiration point. The very definition of a barbarian there. Btw think about it, a lot of God's from Greek and Norse myth can be used as barbarian template right. Give them a good magic weapon and armor and you are pretty much set.
I also have some fun when I reflavor my human female barbarian rage ability. She doesn't charge into a battle because of rage, she does that because she is addicted to battle. Combat gives her the same pleasure as sex. So she literally loses her mind in the ecstacy of battle. I use Rory Mercury from GATE as the inspiration for making her.
Haha! In the original cut of the video we rambled on about Kratos (and many other barbarians) for far too long. We had to cut it down otherwise the episode would have been an hour long. We LOVE talking about iconic heroes, but we are learning that we have to pick only a few otherwise the videos get too long :/
Dungeon Dudes, you guys should post two vids. Regular Edition (this vid) & Directors Cut (with the supposed rambling. Some movies are three hours, and there’s a lot of hour long tv shows. If you post it, they will watch. )
Damn guys, your content is crazy good! Keep the good stuff coming, really awesome! =)
I made a dexterity barbarian, and it was a super rewarding experience. With the ancestral Guardian path and a couple feats I was able to turn him into one hell of a tank.
If your barbarian isn't flying already at level 14... cheers.
Eagle totem all the way
Great guide videos fellas, new sub here
I plan on playing an intelligent Barbarian at some point. He would wear glasses and get angry at stupid things. Whenever he would rage he would take the glasses off. Carefully fold and put them away and RAGE
Great show. Feel like playing a barbarian now. Did miss Logen Ninefingers as an example: "still alive"
Really liked this video. Was struggling and un-enthused creating a barbarian character for our campaign but got inspiration from your talk of a sailor barbarian and not having to play the dumb character
When I play a barbarian I really enjoy wearing medium armor, but using the higher unarmored defense AC, because those moments where an attack would hit through the armor, but is turned away by the sheer force of manliness underneath are both hilarious and seriously badass.
Goliaths were introduced in 3.5 with races of stone. I play a barbarian in my current campaign, sword and shield, path of the viking. She's our party cook and navigator in addition to secondary tank.
Thx alot! Me and some friends started dnd and played it twice now I made a half orc barb with extreme lucky 20 str roll, so far ive been giving the dungeon master a hard time critting bosses and monsters! I came here for tips/path to choose on lvl 3 and this was quite helpfull cheers