Barbarian With More Than One Dimension?

[LordGraz'zt]

I understand that most Barbarians do one thing very well - charge in and hit stuff hard.

Out of combat though is there much you can do with them?

With no "adventure skills" like Stealth or Thievery and no "face skills" like Diplomacy or Bluff they seem like they might be a bit boring to play between combats.

 

[Droogie128]

Replied to you on the WoTC forums, but I'll do it again. Thaneborns can actually make a good party face. They're Str/Cha.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

A big old Barbarian "body guard" with training in Intimidate might add a nice counterpoint to your actual "face" character's Diplomacy attempts. And isn't there a feat that lets you use Strength instead of Charisma for Intimidate?

Admittedly, there aren't a lot of choices. My Barbarian does very well at things like pulling on ropes and holding doors closed, but otherwise not so much.

 

[fba827]

With no "adventure skills" like Stealth or Thievery and no "face skills" like Diplomacy or Bluff they seem like they might be a bit boring to play between combats.

If your group uses backgrounds, you could swap a skill in to train for it if there is something like stealth or thievery or whatever if you want. (or skill training would accomplish the same thing if there is a skill you feel is important to make you feel useful outside of combat)

but all that aside, i (personally) find it is more about how well your PC (regardless of class) relates to the plot(s) at hand in order to feel involved and useful.

 

[Rechan]

I think you just described the plight of the skill selection for any class whose meant to hit things really hard in the face with strength.

 

[Aulirophile]

Actually a Rageblood Barbarian is better off going 16 Con (after Racial) 14 Dex, 18 Str (after Racial) and bumping Dex after the HAE nerf. So just grab a background for stealth of thievery. Their riders aren't that impressive.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

Some character classes have a much more strongly defined role than others. Barbarian is one of those. If you want to tweak your Barbarian for a stronger out of combat role though, it can be done.

- Chose a background that gives you access to the Social skills, and train up in one of them at character creation.
- Use Feats to acquire skill training.
- Use Skill based utility powers to gain powers that are more useful outside of combat.

Of course, all of these things will result in your character being less optimized for combat.

Also keep in mind that it is possible to be outside of combat and not in a social situation. How often and how engaging these situations are will be highly dependent on how well and how often your DM creates skill challenges.

Without any modification, a Barbarian gets choose 3 trained skills at 1st level from this list:

Class Skills:
Acrobatics (Dex),
Athletics (Str),
Endurance (Con),
Heal (Wis),
Intimidate (Cha),
Nature (Wis),
Perception (Wis).


Assuming access to some combination to that skillset, I would presume that when a Barbarian is not making things die by way of hitting them, he can be doing the following.
- Running down / pursuing someone who is trying to get away.
- Surviving in very hostile environments.
- Leaping and climbing over obstacles
- Seeing anything potentially suspicious / finding clues
- Amazing bystanders with feats of physical prowess.
- Conducting negotiations via threat of violence.

I will concede that other than intimidation, a Barbarian does not have much to offer when it comes to NPC interaction.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Boy Genius]

I think you may have fallen into a common trap and not realized it.

Who says you need "face" skills like bluff at all? Excessive reliance on skill rolling hurts what the game is all about: role playing!

If you're in character, intimidate is much more effective than bluff for a barbarian, and if you don't have this skill either your DM should be able to recognize and reward your role playing and either a) give you a bonus on a skill roll or preferably b) ignore rolling altogether since it actually helps the story!

It seems like such a "I coulda had a V8!" moment, but man stuff like this happens to every player ( and a lot of DM's for that matter.)

Possibly my biggest critcism of 4e is that the design seems to favor this "less role-ing, more rolling" style of play.

But seriously, don't give up on your Barbarian. Work with your DM and your other party members for that matter, and role play your way through these skill-deprived areas. I think everyone will enjoy the game more.

 

[keterys]

If you plan on Intimidating with your character... actually learn to Intimidate. That's not really a role vs. roll thing, so much as a "get out of your character what you put into it" thing.

That said, you can totally participate in any scene without needing to have max <special skill>, or any skill at all. Just get involved.

If you do have to make rolls, Barbarians can take some Wis skills like Nature or Perception, and only be a few points behind someone more heavily invested in it (Just means you'll fail occasionally instead of acing every time), in addition to Cha-based options given (break the mold, be a thaneborn). Whirling Slayers are also good at Dex skills, in general. Even if you are full Str/Con... just play, oh no, you'll fail the occasional roll.

 

[Mengu]

Yeah backgrounds and multiclass are your answers. I have a Thaneborn Barbarian from Waterdeep, multiclassed Bard, who gets to contribute reasonably well to social encounters. I play him as the dumb but likable brute.

Depending on your build there are options. A Storm Genasi Thundarian, could keep AC up with intelligence, put a minimal 13 into wisdom, multiclass Avenger for a decent Religion, pick up Nature as class skill to stack with the racial bonus, pick a background for a bonus to Religion, and play it like one who knows and understands the primordials.

If you want to go the stealthy and perceptive scout, you could play an elf whirler, pick up stealth bonus from background, and multiclass ranger for stealth training.

And for Rageblood, you could try Dragonborn, pick up fighter multiclass for Streetwise (not to mention a decent paragon path), Intimidate as a class skill, and a background bonus to streetwise, to play a barbarian turned street smart, but still carries the attitude of his home.