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Appetite for Destruction: The Barbarian's Handbook (by lordduskblade)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nibelung" data-source="post: 6712003" data-attributes="member: 74499"><p><strong>Originally posted by lordduskblade:</strong></p><p></p><p>Power Source and Role: The Purpose of Destruction</p><p></p><p>Your power source is <strong>Primal</strong>, and your role is <strong>Striker</strong>. Overall, the Primal power source is characterized by being tougher than most other characters that share the same role as they do, and you are no exception. Additionally, you share a common theme in the Striker role in that you hit plenty hard. That said, that's not all the role entails. Let's see how you measure up in the categories Strikers are judged by:</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #00ccff"><strong>Burst/Nova/Spike Damage</strong></span> - Usually referred to as the largest amount of damage you can lay on a single target on short notice, and it's an area you're real darn good at, thanks to a combination of encounter-long buffs from your Rage Daily powers, additional attacks from class features, and some vicious multiattacking Encounter powers. While you may not always be able to control when your damage bursts occur, you're always a threat to split the encounter wide open. However, some builds of Barbarian trade some of this power punching ability for accuracy and consistency, and are thus <span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>not as good</strong></span> at this.</p><p></p><p><strong>Damage Per Round (DPR)</strong> - This is a bit of a blind spot for most Barbarians (literally - the reason why they're not all that good at it is quite simply accuracy issues): you either come in for massive damage, or you simply miss. However, certain builds have made it a point to increase their accuracy to the point where they're <span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>significantly better</strong></span> at this sort of thing; they usually pay for it in burst damage, though.</p><p></p><p><strong>Debilitating Effects</strong> - While a Barbarian has a solid collection of powers to inflict some of the more minor adverse effects (such as forced movement or knocking prone), you're not really going to see a large host of powers dedicating to crippling your opponent's ability to act; that's what your damage is for.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Survivability</strong></span> - As a Striker, and doubly so for a primarily Melee one, the ability to stay alive is important, because if you're down, you deal no damage. The Barbarian has more HP, healing surges, and AC than most other Strikers by default, and he supplements that with some nice features to allow him to absorb more hits. It's pretty easy to make a Barbarian who can hold his own in combat.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #00ccff"><strong>Targeting Capacity</strong></span> - The charge-happy bent that serves Barbarians so well, along with the fact that their extra damage is rolled right into their powers, means that you should have little to no problem in attacking the target that you want to attack full steam ahead.</p><p></p><p><strong>Secondary Role Effectiveness</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong>Controller</strong></span> - Given your rather tame array of status effects, coupled with a marked focus toward pounding through enemies with pure damage, most Barbarians are poor Controllers. Polearm Barbarians, however, <strong>are better at it</strong>, thanks to the combination effects of their weapon type.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Defender</strong></span> - The great majority of Barbarian builds are sturdy and attract plenty of attention (and the power list can even let them pick up the ability to mark, should it be needed), so you are a pretty good fill-in for a Defender.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong>Leader</strong></span> - Most of the Leader functions really just aren't there on the typical Barbarian, though a Thaneborn Barbarian (and his buffing/debuffing repertoire) is <strong>better</strong> at it than others of his kind.</p><p>[/sblock]</p><p></p><p><strong>Baseline Mechanics: The Mechanics of Destruction</strong></p><p></p><p>You stand with the majority of classes in 4th Edition D&D in that you're what is called an A-class, which means that you have a global primary ability score, and secondary scores that vary by the chosen build (and are usually build-specific, so other builds likely can't access them anyway).</p><p></p><p>Apart from that, your baseline mechanics show a few defensive upgrades over the stereotypical Striker chassis (though the stereotypical extra damage feature is rolled into your powers and thus absent here), as well as a nice extra damage feature in Rampage.</p><p></p><p><strong>Game Mechanics</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Hit Points</strong></span> - 15 + Con score at level 1, and 6 each level thereafter. Defender-caliber HP on a Striker is super sweet.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Healing Surges</strong></span> - 8 + Con modifier. You have some extra healing surges over the standard Striker fare, which is also nice.</p><p></p><p><strong>Defense Bonuses</strong> - +2 to Fortitude. A big boost to your strongest defense, though kind of one-dimensional.</p><p></p><p><strong>Proficiencies</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><strong>Armor </strong>- Hide armor and no shields is all you get, but you can work with that.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Weapons</strong></span> - Military melee is all you really need; simple ranged is icing.</p><p>[/sblock]</p><p>[/sblock]</p><p></p><p><strong>Class Features</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><span style="color: #00ccff"><strong>Barbarian Agility</strong></span> - An excellent defensive feature designed to keep you in light armor, it can combine with some Dexterity focus to give you a quite formidable AC value.</p><p></p><p><strong>Rage Strike</strong> - If you have rages left over, burn them up as part of a heavy-damage smash. That said, the only reason you should have rages left over is because the encounter workday was cut short for some reason, or you were able to recover one or more of them somehow.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Rampage</strong></span> - Extra attacks after a critical are nice to have, especially given that they're free.</p><p></p><p><strong>Feral Might</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Rageblood Vigor</span> (PHB 2)</strong> - This build is concerned with two things; allowing you to charge about via its associated power, and keeping you upright with extra THP. Given that these are two of the things Barbarians are best suited to, this makes for a very strong, if a bit specialized, route of Barbarian building. </p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Thaneborn Triumph</span> (PHB 2)</strong> - This build has a nice Leader-y bent to it, which allows you to buff allies and debuff enemies. The associated power and feature reflect this, and this is a very strong set of abilities to add to the Barbarian's offensive repertoire.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thunderborn Wrath (PrP)</strong> - This build's power line and effects seem to involve spreading out area damage, which can be nice for a Barbarian who gets bogged down in combat too much. That said, the encounter power associated with the build is kind of underwhelming, and I'm not that big a fan of the power line.</p><p></p><p><strong>Whirling Slayer (PrP)</strong> - The dual-wielding and AoE-centric focus of this build I feel takes away from what a Barbarian really does well, which is rush into combat for massive damage instead of hacking away at clusters of enemies, though having all your riders key off Dexterity is nice. It can work, but I'm not a fan.</p><p>[/sblock]</p><p>[/sblock]</p><p></p><p><strong>Skills: The Talents of Destruction</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p></p><p>You really got the short end of the stick here: 3 skills isn't exactly a deep repertoire, but at least your list is pretty nice and covers just about anything you'd actually want to take.</p><p></p><p><strong>Class Skills</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><strong>Acrobatics</strong> - While I highly recommend that you have a decent to good Dexterity score on your Barbarian, this skill is pretty redundant with Athletics for you, and you really don't have all that many skill slots available to you.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #00ccff"><strong>Athletics</strong></span> - It keys off your main ability score, and it has plenty of overall utility. A strong pick.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Endurance</strong></span> - This skill is usually involved in some pretty crucial checks, and when it comes up, you don't want it to be low. It also lets you fluff your character as a tough guy, which is always nice.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Heal</strong> - Rather redundant with Endurance, and odds are your Constitution will trump your Wisdom.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Intimidate</strong></span> - A great flavor skill on a Barbarian, and the Thaneborns in the audience can actually wring some use out of it.<strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Nature</strong> - A knowledge skill on a Barbarian? Blasphemy! That said, this can be a pretty solid pickup.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #00ccff"><strong>Perception</strong></span> - Arguably one of the most important skills in the game, and though your Wisdom is unlikely to rock anyone's socks off, this is still an excellent pickup.</p><p>[/sblock]</p><p></p><p><strong>Recommended Non-Class Skills</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><strong>Bluff</strong> - A Thaneborn Barbarian could make some use of this.</p><p></p><p><strong>Diplomacy</strong> - Arguably the most prevalent Charisma-based skill in the game. A solid, if rather odd, pickup.</p><p></p><p><strong>Stealth</strong> - Your Dexterity should allow to wring at least a bit of use out of this skill should you pick it up.</p><p>[/sblock]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nibelung, post: 6712003, member: 74499"] [b]Originally posted by lordduskblade:[/b] Power Source and Role: The Purpose of Destruction Your power source is [b]Primal[/b], and your role is [b]Striker[/b]. Overall, the Primal power source is characterized by being tougher than most other characters that share the same role as they do, and you are no exception. Additionally, you share a common theme in the Striker role in that you hit plenty hard. That said, that's not all the role entails. Let's see how you measure up in the categories Strikers are judged by: [COLOR=#00ccff][b]Burst/Nova/Spike Damage[/b][/COLOR] - Usually referred to as the largest amount of damage you can lay on a single target on short notice, and it's an area you're real darn good at, thanks to a combination of encounter-long buffs from your Rage Daily powers, additional attacks from class features, and some vicious multiattacking Encounter powers. While you may not always be able to control when your damage bursts occur, you're always a threat to split the encounter wide open. However, some builds of Barbarian trade some of this power punching ability for accuracy and consistency, and are thus [COLOR=#0000ff][b]not as good[/b][/COLOR] at this. [b]Damage Per Round (DPR)[/b] - This is a bit of a blind spot for most Barbarians (literally - the reason why they're not all that good at it is quite simply accuracy issues): you either come in for massive damage, or you simply miss. However, certain builds have made it a point to increase their accuracy to the point where they're [COLOR=#0000ff][b]significantly better[/b][/COLOR] at this sort of thing; they usually pay for it in burst damage, though. [b]Debilitating Effects[/b] - While a Barbarian has a solid collection of powers to inflict some of the more minor adverse effects (such as forced movement or knocking prone), you're not really going to see a large host of powers dedicating to crippling your opponent's ability to act; that's what your damage is for. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Survivability[/b][/COLOR] - As a Striker, and doubly so for a primarily Melee one, the ability to stay alive is important, because if you're down, you deal no damage. The Barbarian has more HP, healing surges, and AC than most other Strikers by default, and he supplements that with some nice features to allow him to absorb more hits. It's pretty easy to make a Barbarian who can hold his own in combat. [COLOR=#00ccff][b]Targeting Capacity[/b][/COLOR] - The charge-happy bent that serves Barbarians so well, along with the fact that their extra damage is rolled right into their powers, means that you should have little to no problem in attacking the target that you want to attack full steam ahead. [b]Secondary Role Effectiveness[/b] [sblock] [COLOR=#800080][b]Controller[/b][/COLOR] - Given your rather tame array of status effects, coupled with a marked focus toward pounding through enemies with pure damage, most Barbarians are poor Controllers. Polearm Barbarians, however, [b]are better at it[/b], thanks to the combination effects of their weapon type. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Defender[/b][/COLOR] - The great majority of Barbarian builds are sturdy and attract plenty of attention (and the power list can even let them pick up the ability to mark, should it be needed), so you are a pretty good fill-in for a Defender. [COLOR=#800080][b]Leader[/b][/COLOR] - Most of the Leader functions really just aren't there on the typical Barbarian, though a Thaneborn Barbarian (and his buffing/debuffing repertoire) is [b]better[/b] at it than others of his kind. [/sblock] [b]Baseline Mechanics: The Mechanics of Destruction[/b] You stand with the majority of classes in 4th Edition D&D in that you're what is called an A-class, which means that you have a global primary ability score, and secondary scores that vary by the chosen build (and are usually build-specific, so other builds likely can't access them anyway). Apart from that, your baseline mechanics show a few defensive upgrades over the stereotypical Striker chassis (though the stereotypical extra damage feature is rolled into your powers and thus absent here), as well as a nice extra damage feature in Rampage. [b]Game Mechanics[/b] [sblock] [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Hit Points[/b][/COLOR] - 15 + Con score at level 1, and 6 each level thereafter. Defender-caliber HP on a Striker is super sweet. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Healing Surges[/b][/COLOR] - 8 + Con modifier. You have some extra healing surges over the standard Striker fare, which is also nice. [b]Defense Bonuses[/b] - +2 to Fortitude. A big boost to your strongest defense, though kind of one-dimensional. [b]Proficiencies[/b] [sblock] [b]Armor [/b]- Hide armor and no shields is all you get, but you can work with that. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Weapons[/b][/COLOR] - Military melee is all you really need; simple ranged is icing. [/sblock] [/sblock] [b]Class Features[/b] [sblock] [COLOR=#00ccff][b]Barbarian Agility[/b][/COLOR] - An excellent defensive feature designed to keep you in light armor, it can combine with some Dexterity focus to give you a quite formidable AC value. [b]Rage Strike[/b] - If you have rages left over, burn them up as part of a heavy-damage smash. That said, the only reason you should have rages left over is because the encounter workday was cut short for some reason, or you were able to recover one or more of them somehow. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Rampage[/b][/COLOR] - Extra attacks after a critical are nice to have, especially given that they're free. [b]Feral Might[/b] [sblock] [b][COLOR=#0000ff]Rageblood Vigor[/COLOR] (PHB 2)[/b] - This build is concerned with two things; allowing you to charge about via its associated power, and keeping you upright with extra THP. Given that these are two of the things Barbarians are best suited to, this makes for a very strong, if a bit specialized, route of Barbarian building. [b][COLOR=#0000ff]Thaneborn Triumph[/COLOR] (PHB 2)[/b] - This build has a nice Leader-y bent to it, which allows you to buff allies and debuff enemies. The associated power and feature reflect this, and this is a very strong set of abilities to add to the Barbarian's offensive repertoire. [b]Thunderborn Wrath (PrP)[/b] - This build's power line and effects seem to involve spreading out area damage, which can be nice for a Barbarian who gets bogged down in combat too much. That said, the encounter power associated with the build is kind of underwhelming, and I'm not that big a fan of the power line. [b]Whirling Slayer (PrP)[/b] - The dual-wielding and AoE-centric focus of this build I feel takes away from what a Barbarian really does well, which is rush into combat for massive damage instead of hacking away at clusters of enemies, though having all your riders key off Dexterity is nice. It can work, but I'm not a fan. [/sblock] [/sblock] [b]Skills: The Talents of Destruction [/b] You really got the short end of the stick here: 3 skills isn't exactly a deep repertoire, but at least your list is pretty nice and covers just about anything you'd actually want to take. [b]Class Skills[/b] [sblock] [COLOR=#800080][b][/b][/COLOR][b]Acrobatics[/b] - While I highly recommend that you have a decent to good Dexterity score on your Barbarian, this skill is pretty redundant with Athletics for you, and you really don't have all that many skill slots available to you. [COLOR=#00ccff][b]Athletics[/b][/COLOR] - It keys off your main ability score, and it has plenty of overall utility. A strong pick. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Endurance[/b][/COLOR] - This skill is usually involved in some pretty crucial checks, and when it comes up, you don't want it to be low. It also lets you fluff your character as a tough guy, which is always nice. [COLOR=#800080][b][/b][/COLOR] [b]Heal[/b] - Rather redundant with Endurance, and odds are your Constitution will trump your Wisdom. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Intimidate[/b][/COLOR] - A great flavor skill on a Barbarian, and the Thaneborns in the audience can actually wring some use out of it.[b] Nature[/b] - A knowledge skill on a Barbarian? Blasphemy! That said, this can be a pretty solid pickup. [COLOR=#00ccff][b]Perception[/b][/COLOR] - Arguably one of the most important skills in the game, and though your Wisdom is unlikely to rock anyone's socks off, this is still an excellent pickup. [/sblock] [b]Recommended Non-Class Skills[/b] [sblock] [b]Bluff[/b] - A Thaneborn Barbarian could make some use of this. [b]Diplomacy[/b] - Arguably the most prevalent Charisma-based skill in the game. A solid, if rather odd, pickup. [b]Stealth[/b] - Your Dexterity should allow to wring at least a bit of use out of this skill should you pick it up. [/sblock] [/QUOTE]
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Appetite for Destruction: The Barbarian's Handbook (by lordduskblade)
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