Barbarian Class Details
A tall human tribesman strides through a blizzard, draped in fur and hefting his axe. He laughs as he charges toward the frost giant who dared poach his people’s elk herd.
A half-orc snarls at the latest challenger to her authority over their tribe, ready to break his neck with her bare hands as she did to the last six rivals.
Frothing at the mouth, a dwarf slams his helmet into the face of his drow foe, then turns to drive his armored elbow into the gut of another.
These barbarians, different as they might be, are defined by their rage: unbridled, unquenchable, and unthinking fury. More than a mere emotion, their anger is the ferocity of a cornered predator, the unrelenting assault of a storm, the churning turmoil of the sea.
For some, their rage springs from a communion with fierce animal spirits. Others draw from a roiling reservoir of anger at a world full of pain. For every barbarian, rage is a power that fuels not just a battle frenzy but also uncanny reflexes, resilience, and feats of strength.
Primal Instinct
People of towns and cities take pride in their settled ways, as if denying one’s connection to nature were a mark of superiority. To a barbarian, though, a settled life is no virtue, but a sign of weakness. The strong embrace nature—valuing keen instincts, primal physicality, and ferocious rage. Barbarians are uncomfortable when hedged in by walls and crowds. They thrive in the wilds of their homelands: the tundra, jungle, or grasslands where their tribes live and hunt.
Barbarians come alive in the chaos of combat. They can enter a berserk state where rage takes over, giving them superhuman strength and resilience. A barbarian can draw on this reservoir of fury only a few times without resting, but those few rages are usually sufficient to defeat whatever threats arise.
A Life of Danger
A barbarian plays an important role as a protector of their people and a leader in times of war. Life in the wild places of the world is fraught with peril: rival tribes, deadly weather, and terrifying monsters. Barbarians charge headlong into that danger so that their people don’t have to.
Their courage in the face of danger makes barbarians perfectly suited for adventuring. Wandering is often a way of life for their native tribes, and the rootless life of the adventurer is little hardship for a barbarian. Some barbarians miss the close-knit family structures of the tribe, but eventually find them replaced by the bonds formed among the members of their adventuring parties.
Creating a Barbarian
When creating a barbarian character, think about where your character comes from and his or her place in the world. Talk with your DM about an appropriate origin for your barbarian. Did you come from a distant land, making you a stranger in the area of the campaign? Or is the campaign set in a rough-and-tumble frontier where barbarians are common?
What led you to take up the adventuring life? Were you lured to settled lands by the promise of riches? Did you join forces with soldiers of those lands to face a shared threat? Did monsters or an invading horde drive you out of your homeland, making you a rootless refugee? Perhaps you were a prisoner of war, brought in chains to another land and only now able to win your freedom. Or you might have been cast out from your people because of a crime you committed, a taboo you violated, or a coup that removed you from a position of authority.
QUICK BUILD
You can make a barbarian quickly by following these suggestions. First, put your highest ability score in Strength, followed by Constitution. Second, choose the outlander background.
The Barbarian Table
Level |
Proficiency |
Features |
Rages |
Rage |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st |
+2 |
2 |
+2 |
|
2nd |
+2 |
2 |
+2 |
|
3rd |
+2 |
3 |
+2 |
|
4th |
+2 |
3 |
+2 |
|
5th |
+3 |
3 |
+2 |
|
6th |
+3 |
4 |
+2 |
|
7th |
+3 |
4 |
+2 |
|
8th |
+3 |
4 |
+2 |
|
9th |
+4 |
Brutal Critical (1 die) |
4 |
+3 |
10th |
+4 |
4 |
+3 |
|
11th |
+4 |
4 |
+3 |
|
12th |
+4 |
5 |
+3 |
|
13th |
+5 |
Brutal Critical (2 dice) |
5 |
+3 |
14th |
+5 |
5 |
+3 |
|
15th |
+5 |
5 |
+3 |
|
16th |
+5 |
5 |
+4 |
|
17th |
+6 |
Brutal Critical (3 dice) |
6 |
+4 |
18th |
+6 |
6 |
+4 |
|
19th |
+6 |
6 |
+4 |
|
20th |
+6 |
Unlimited |
+4 |
Class Features
As a barbarian, you gain the following class features.
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d12 per barbarian level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 12 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d12 (or 7) + your Constitution modifier per barbarian level after 1st
Proficiencies
Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Strength, Constitution
Skills: Choose two from Animal Handling, Athletics, Intimidation, Nature, Perception, and Survival
Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- (a) a greataxe or (b) any martial melee weapon
- (a) two handaxes or (b) any simple weapon
- An explorer’s pack and four javelins
Rage
In battle, you fight with primal ferocity. On your turn, you can enter a rage as a bonus action.
While raging, you gain the following benefits if you aren’t wearing heavy armor:
- You have advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws.
- When you make a melee weapon attack using Strength, you gain a bonus to the damage roll that increases as you gain levels as a barbarian, as shown in the Rage Damage column of the Barbarian table.
- You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
If you are able to cast spells, you can’t cast them or concentrate on them while raging.
Your rage lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are knocked unconscious or if your turn ends and you haven’t attacked a hostile creature since your last turn or taken damage since then. You can also end your rage on your turn as a bonus action.
Once you have raged the number of times shown for your barbarian level in the Rages column of the Barbarian table, you must finish a long rest before you can rage again.
Unarmored Defense
While you are not wearing any armor, your Armor Class equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.
Reckless Attack
Starting at 2nd level, you can throw aside all concern for defense to attack with fierce desperation. When you make your first attack on your turn, you can decide to attack recklessly. Doing so gives you advantage on melee weapon attack rolls using Strength during this turn, but attack rolls against you have advantage until your next turn.
Danger Sense
At 2nd level, you gain an uncanny sense of when things nearby aren’t as they should be, giving you an edge when you dodge away from danger.
You have advantage on Dexterity saving throws against effects that you can see, such as traps and spells. To gain this benefit, you can’t be blinded, deafened, or incapacitated.
Primal Path
At 3rd level, you choose a path that shapes the nature of your rage. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 10th, and 14th levels.
Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 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.
Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.
Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Fast Movement
Starting at 5th level, your speed increases by 10 feet while you aren’t wearing heavy armor.
Feral Instinct
By 7th level, your instincts are so honed that you have advantage on initiative rolls.
Additionally, if you are surprised at the beginning of combat and aren’t incapacitated, you can act normally on your first turn, but only if you enter your rage before doing anything else on that turn.
Brutal Critical
Beginning at 9th level, you can roll one additional weapon damage die when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with a melee attack.
This increases to two additional dice at 13th level and three additional dice at 17th level.
Relentless Rage
Starting at 11th level, your rage can keep you fighting despite grievous wounds. If you drop to 0 hit points while you’re raging and don’t die outright, you can make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. If you succeed, you drop to 1 hit point instead.
Each time you use this feature after the first, the DC increases by 5. When you finish a short or long rest, the DC resets to 10.
Brutal Critical
At 13th level, you can roll two additional weapon damage dice when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with a melee attack.
This increases to three additional dice at 17th level.
Persistent Rage
Beginning at 15th level, your rage is so fierce that it ends early only if you fall unconscious or if you choose to end it.
Brutal Critical
At 17th level, you can roll three additional weapon damage dice when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with a melee attack.
Indomitable Might
Beginning at 18th level, if your total for a Strength check is less than your Strength score, you can use that score in place of the total.
Primal Champion
At 20th level, you embody the power of the wilds. Your Strength and Constitution scores increase by 4. Your maximum for those scores is now 24.
Primal Paths
Rage burns in every barbarian’s heart, a furnace that drives him or her toward greatness. Different barbarians attribute their rage to different sources, however. For some, it is an internal reservoir where pain, grief, and anger are forged into a fury hard as steel. Others see it as a spiritual blessing, a gift of a totem animal.
Path of the Berserker
For some barbarians, rage is a means to an end—that end being violence. The Path of the Berserker is a path of untrammeled fury, slick with blood. As you enter the berserker’s rage, you thrill in the chaos of battle, heedless of your own health or well-being.
Frenzy
Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you can go into a frenzy when you rage. If you do so, for the duration of your rage you can make a single melee weapon attack as a bonus action on each of your turns after this one. When your rage ends, you suffer one level of exhaustion.
Mindless Rage
Beginning at 6th level, you can’t be charmed or frightened while raging. If you are charmed or frightened when you enter your rage, the effect is suspended for the duration of the rage.
Intimidating Presence
Beginning at 10th level, you can use your action to frighten someone with your menacing presence. When you do so, choose one creature that you can see within 30 feet of you. If the creature can see or hear you, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier) or be frightened of you until the end of your next turn. On subsequent turns, you can use your action to extend the duration of this effect on the frightened creature until the end of your next turn. This effect ends if the creature ends its turn out of line of sight or more than 60 feet away from you.
If the creature succeeds on its saving throw, you can’t use this feature on that creature again for 24 hours.
Retaliation
Starting at 14th level, when you take damage from a creature that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack against that creature.
Ahh yes, 14 lvls just to get to "If I'm not knocked out I'll be fine." Sleep spell still gains you a one way trip to exhaustion during combat. Hell, even command since it's not charm. "Command, calm. Sleep. Mind you each only works for a action. But they once again stop rage and burning the use of it.
Is it better to go barbarian 17 and fighter 3 or fighter 17 and barbarian 3?
@reidine for your last point, take a look at 15th level ability persistent rage
If you give your mountain dwarf barbarian the tough feat then you can do whatever you want whenever you want and nobody can stop you, especially since you only take half damage from most weapons. Use your power wisely and remember: there is no longer such a thing as life and death.
that sounds scarier than you described it! I am now so interested, I want to try it out!
m
So, your plan is long rest after every rage? If not then you're gonna stack up exhaustion since you'll have more than one rage per active day.
And it's only one level per long rest, so if you rage twice it's 16 hours till you're back up to full and not taking negatives. Because even if you rage, you still have exhaustion if you were exhausted before hand.
Also.if your rage ends early in a fight you'll suck down even more exhaustion to start it up again. Which a smart enemy will take clear advantage of.
It ends early if you are knocked Unconscious or if Your Turn ends and you haven't attacked a Hostile creature since your last turn or taken damage since then.
You're one sleep spell, grease or similar away from no rage and one lvl of exhaustion. There are way better options even if don't select totem barbar.
You dont need to be hit to continue raging as long as you attack every turn. Read over "rage" again
Dude, exhaustion goes down by one level every long rest. I dont know what your talking about.
Engh, exhaustion is absolutely terrible to have. This is a death spiral mechanic and isn't something that goes away easily. This is by far the worst thing to have plopped on top of you if you're possibly doing back to back encounters. Skip the path charm and fear are easy enough to escape. And the frightful presence is bad for the level it's at compared to other paths.
I like the thought of using a path of the wild magic barb with a wild magic sorcerer. Cast a spell that misses, get mad, BA rage, roll on the wild magic table, then (if allowed) roll on the wild magic surge table. Or ancestral barb mixed with astral monk, kinda of like an Atla vibe. Better yet mix ancestral barb with echo knight fighter and flavor it in a way where you summon an ancestor to fight with you.
The point of being a barbarian is to get hit so you can keep rage going. A high AC means you won’t get hit and you’ll waste rage charges. If you want to be a tank with a high AC consider being a battle master fighter with heavy armor and a shield.
Try mixing the wild magic barbarian with order of the lycan blood hunter. It gets scary, especially, when your raging and at less than half health, you roll disadvantage for going into a bloodlust and potentially attacking your party. Gotta recognize the alpha.
One time I made a Mountain Dwarf barbarian, and I got a twenty because of a racial trait! I suggest a Mountain Dwarf barbarian for anyone who wants to be the tank of the party.
half elven zealot barbarian sounds fun, there wouldnt be many ways to kill him since magic cannot put them to sleep so they can rage all day long
Maybe I overexaggerated a bit. This build might not be foolproof, but it has quite a few benefits:
1. You can gain 40ft. in walking and climbing speed, and a swimming speed of 30.
2. Underwater breathing(6th level barbarian path of the storm herald feature)
3. Resistance to lightning damage(passive) and bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing(Rage triggered)
4. Simic hybrid gets +2 to Constitution and +1 of your choice
5. At level 5, Simic Hybrid can get a carapace that grants +1 to armor(Hypothetical situation: 20 in Dex and Con = 21 AC, 23 with a shield. What I'm saying is that you could be completely naked wielding a shield and have 23 Armor class.)
So it is not broken, but it does have quite a few benefits and with the Simic Hybrid being so versatile, it makes it good for most classes. Does that answer your question?
What is broken about this? You're good at underwater combat?
Is sharing a good build a bad thing? Should I refuse to give a good build to struggling players? I think not. The way you use Meta-Defining seems bad, but why are you so upset, Raijin?
Bro I can't believe you shared this build! This was going to be my ace in the hole for my next game!!! I swear, when people catch on, this is going to be META-DEFINING!!!!!
Does Ancestral Protectors work with a Dragonborn's breath weapon?