D&D 5E Bare chested battle rager: the shield-using Barbarian

I've seen a few Barbarian builds exploring TWF and two-handed weapons, but not any with shields. Which surprises me, since a shield-wielding Barbarian is pretty sweet: high AC, high damage, and fun battlefield control. Build below for a Viking-style berserker.

Key Features:

• High AC and high survivability (saves and HP).
• No need for armor. You're at full AC even if woken at night, at a social setting, or other situation where everyone is out of their armor.
• Decent damage.
• Self-buff and party buff by knocking down foes.
• Battlefield control by shoving foes.
• The usual Rage benefits (+2 dam, DR, adv on Str checks).

That last bullet is the key, and the impetus for the build: What can I do with Adv on strength checks, in combat? The answer is: shove. The Shield Master feat lets you attempt a shove as a bonus action. This is a Str check vs the target's Str or Dex check--check, not save. If you win, the target is knocked prone or pushed. Attacks on prone targets are made with Advantage, which helps you and your party, and restricts the target's options. This is a fun way to begin your turn in any fight, but it gets very good when you're raging and can make your check with Advantage.

I've played this character at D&D Encounters sessions and it's a lot of fun. Move up, bounce the guy with your shield, then whale on him while he's down.

Human (feat variant, +1 to Str and Dex)

Level 1 (Barbarian 1)
Stats: Str 16 (+3), Dex 14 (+2), Con 16 (+3), Int 8 (-1), W 10 (0), Cha 8 (-1)
AC: 17 (bare-chested + shield)
Prof: +2
Skills Profs: Athletics (Sailor), Intimidation (Barbarian), Perception (Sailor), Survival (Barbarian)
Tool Profs: Navigator's Tools, vehicles (water)
Feat: Shield Master
Special: Rage, Unarmored Defense
ATK/Damage: +5/1d8+3 (1d8+5 raging)

Level 2 (Fighter 1)
Fighting Style: Duelist (+2 dam when wielding one weapon)
Special: Second Wind
ATK/Damage: +5/1d8+5 (1d8+7 raging)

Level 3 (Fighter 2)
Special: Action Surge

Level 4 (Fighter 3)
Battle Master
Maneuvers: Menacing Attack (because Frightened creatures have disadvantage on ability checks, making them easier to shove), Precision Attack (sometimes you NEED to hit), Riposte (off-turn attacks are good)

Level 5 (Fighter 4)
Prof +3
+2 Str
ATK/Damage: +7/1d8+6 (1d8+9 raging)

Level 6 (Fighter 5)
Special: Extra Attack
ATK/Damage: +7/1d8+6 & +7/1d8+6 (1d8+8 & 1d8+8 while raging)

And just keep going Fighter after that. 6th level bump goes to Str to get that to 20, then buff Con for HP + AC.

This is a fighter build. 1 lvl of barbarian.

The shield master premise is interesting using a raging barbarian concept just the title is a bit misleading.

Yeah, this is a Fighter build...

I do really like Shield Barbarians, so I'll point out that Barb 2 gets you Danger Sense for advantage on Dex saves (perfect for Shield Master), Barb 3 gets you Bear totem (resistance to all but psychic), and then you might as well go for Barb 5 for an extra Rage use and earlier second attack.

After that point you can pick up Fighter levels if you want the Duelist damage, self-heal and Battlemaster maneuvers, as staying pure Barb would just get a useless totem feature, extra Rage use, and adv to initiative rolls for the same levels.

Also, since you'll be getting advantage to most Str rolls anyway, increasing Str may not be as crucial as to most classes and their main stats, so if you want to pick up funnier feats (like Magic Initiate or Lucky), you are more free to do so.

I definitely like the idea, theres some nice synergy there but I think the issue with bbn splashes is running out of rages per long rest. Keep in mind that all that good stuff that bbns get is mostly contingent on raging. Once you run out of rages, bbns effectiveness goes down sharply and with 1 level you only get 2 minutes. 2 fights and you basically have to have a long rest. I would go For 5 levels as juriel says, or 6 for the extra Rage. Thats 4 rages per long rest which is much more manageable.

Im not that keen on mixing bbn with ftr since one of the strengths of fighter is heavy armor, which you cant wear while raging. So you either settle for med armor + shield AC or pour your resources into dex and con, which is questionable on a bbn imo.