D&D 5E Making a Kobold Barbarian!

[TheNoremac42]

The kobold should ride on the shoulders of a bigger party member. That way he always has pack tactics and can bite off people's noses

 

[Caliban]

If I was the DM and this was my campaign, I'd probably try to work out a custom "Dragon Totem" sub-class for the character that let's them sub dex for strength for Barbarian class abilities as one of it's features, or lets them act as if they were a larger creature so they can use heavy weapons.

(I did post a T-Rex Totem barbarian path awhile back with halflings in mind.)

 

[Soul Stigma]

You're doing the right thing: Come up with a character concept, make it fun, then build it under the rules. Don't worry about the optimality.

If you find the character to be underpowered, give the DM a hint that Gauntlets of Ogre Power would be a nice thing to find...

This. If I were your DM, the sheer "funny as hell" concept of a kobold barbarian would trump all. My interest would not be in exploiting suboptimal builds!


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[FrogReaver]

Hey there folks!

I'm currently trying to see if i can make something decent out of this character concept: a melee-focused kobold warrior.

I know it's probably not the finest choice for it, since kobolds get a strength penalty and only a +2 at dex, but they do have a nice advantage: Pack tactics. this basically make them almost always attack on advantage, as long as there's another ally close to the target.

So, i've been trying to figure out which melee class would be most viable, useful (to the group) and funnier to play with. The group consists of a paladin, a fighter, and 2 mages (plus my character). Our group is currently using ONLY the vanilla books, so please no fancy-smancy stuff! ... the GM was already kind enough to allow a kobold!

I've considered either a rogue, a fighter, or a barbarian... and i think the barbarian, specifically the wolf-totem barbarian, is the most useful one for the rest of the group, since it'd give allies that are close to me advantage in their attacks. Also, being a barbarian would make up for the lack of AC in the character, due to the nice HP and resistances while raging... however, it wouldn't be able to receive major aspects of the class, such as the bonus damage, since i wouldn't be using STR to make my attacks.

The character i've build is something like this:

Wolf-Totem Barbarian LVL 5

10 STR, 18 DEX, 14 CON, 10 INT, 14 WIS, 8 CHA

2+1 attacks (2x (rapier+dex bonus) + 1 Scimitar (offhand: 1d6) --> 20,5 avarage damage per turn

Hit: +7 bonus
AC: 17 (half-plate (15) + 2 DEX)

So i was thinking... in your guys' opinion, would it be better to drop the bonus attack and use a shield (increasing my AC to 19), or to stick with dual wielding, which would slightly increase the damage output? Or should i consider another class entirely?

The concept has a lot of potential! Good out of combat scouting ability! Good enough in combat even if you wanted to dual wield short swords (I hate rapiers) or if you wanted to go with the shield either way is fine.

Only other thing I'd advise to consider is monk for the character. Monks with stunning strike or knocking enemies prone have much the same effect as a wolf pack totem barbarian. The little karate ninja hoping around like yoda could be entertaining too. Your stats are really perfect for a monk as well

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Wolf totem barbarian is nices as all allies adjacebt to you also gain advantage on attacks. A great benefit.
I would not dump strength though, as your barbarian rage bonus is only working with strength based attacks.

Start with 13 strength 16 dex and 13 constitution and then raise con and strength at lvl 4 and the only pump strength and become the strongest kobold out there...
Or stick to your plan.

 

[Shareazu Huss]

Hey everyone, thank you all for answering, and for your opinions!


We (my group) ended up finding the kobold as per Monster Manual 'too strong' as a player character (having advantage on basically every attack and such)... so i, unfortunately, ended up giving up on the original concept of the kobold barbarian, jumping with the fury of a thousand baboons in the middle of the enemies... the DM, however, did allow me to basically pick a halfling and 're-skin' it as a kobold, since it was simpler... i ended up not doing a barbarian though, since i heard about the new and revised UA ranger, and decided to give it a try.

That being said, just how viable is a halfling barbarian, then? which would be better, the lightfoot or stout one?

 

[CTurbo]

My Goliath Barbarian has a pet feral Halfling Berserker Barbarian that he found and rescued. His stats are 12 Str, 18 Dex, 18 Con, 4 Int, 10 Wis, and 6 Char at level 5 with the Mobile feat. We keep it 2 levels behind the rest of the party. It's supposed to be more of a supporting character and not equal to the others. It's tough as nails though with a 19AC (naked + ring of protection) and resistance to melee damage. Spends most of it's time riding on the Goliath(it gets extra long rests this way too haha) and can move 45ft per round. It's an extremely fun character. It starts out timid in battle choosing to hit and run back behind the Goliath, but if/when it does get hit, it spazzes out and attacks relentlessly often climbing the enemy and repeatedly stabbing it with a dagger. Although it also likes to use a light hammer and sometimes a Short Sword using 2 hands.

I think if you're gonna go with Barbarian, you have to stick with a weapon that fits the theme. A Rapier is not one of those weapons. I would probably go with a TWF Ranger or Fighter if I were you.

 

[Keaerin]

That's unfortunate, but it should be noted that with sunlight sensitive you don't always have advantage.

 

[rgoodbb]

I played a Stout Dex Barbarian in a Strahd campaign and he was Tough as heck. Great AC and HP. Damage wasn't the best until he hit 5th level. I also went Wolf totem to give everyone advantage who wanted it. Halfling Lucky is very, very good.

 

[Soul Stigma]

Hey everyone, thank you all for answering, and for your opinions!


We (my group) ended up finding the kobold as per Monster Manual 'too strong' as a player character (having advantage on basically every attack and such)... so i, unfortunately, ended up giving up on the original concept of the kobold barbarian, jumping with the fury of a thousand baboons in the middle of the enemies... the DM, however, did allow me to basically pick a halfling and 're-skin' it as a kobold, since it was simpler... i ended up not doing a barbarian though, since i heard about the new and revised UA ranger, and decided to give it a try.

That being said, just how viable is a halfling barbarian, then? which would be better, the lightfoot or stout one?

I kinda assumed certain kobold properties would change - trading strengths for weaknesses, in a sense. I pictured a kobold among other races long enough that Pack Tactics no longer apply (other races the kobold would be associating with now don't use those tactics), but neither would Sunlight Sensitivity (time among other races above ground caused the kobold to adapt). Dark vision need not be lost in the process, though.

Anyway, you may have inspired an NPC for my group now, so thanks for posting the idea in the first place!


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