This right here. There are no issues of balance if there's no one else on the other side of the scale.What does the rest of the party look like? Some things that might be unbalanced can become "okay" if nobody's toes are being stepped on. A lot of balance issues are relative to what the other party members are doing - if they are playing characters in the same space, or might feel overshadowed.
Fair question.What does the rest of the party look like? Some things that might be unbalanced can become "okay" if nobody's toes are being stepped on. A lot of balance issues are relative to what the other party members are doing - if they are playing characters in the same space, or might feel overshadowed.
Then a DEX barbarian will be perfectly fine. And you don't even need to restrict them to "light" weapons... your standard 1d8 Finesse weapon in their hands will be perfectly acceptable. (And if the flavor of the "rapier" is an issue, then just change that 1d8 Finesse weapon to a "cutlass" or "sabre" or "falchion" or whatnot. It's all fine.)Fair question.
Wizard, warlock, warlord (the Kibblestasty one), and one undecided at this point, possibly paladin.
It will be fine. Balance within the party is more important. The barbarian won’t be “too” tanky. The AC will still be lower than a full plate and shield paladin, especially if anyone ever gets magic armor. Too Tanky comes up really when someone’s AC gets past 21, or someone gets a +1 Shield. If the barbarian is hard to take down, just hit them again. Or knock him prone with that low strength. Or any number of other solutions.Fair question.
Wizard, warlock, warlord (the Kibblestasty one), and one undecided at this point, possibly paladin.
One of my main balance concerns is if i houserule to make Dex attacks work with rage etc, the barbarian might end up TOO tanky, and to seriously threaten them I'd have to use enemies that would squish the rest of the party like bugs. But consensus here seems to be that a houserule like that is unnecessary.
I don't think it is a good idea to use houserules like that. 1. The fighter does bot get +3 AC for switching to dex.Then a DEX barbarian will be perfectly fine. And you don't even need to restrict them to "light" weapons... your standard 1d8 Finesse weapon in their hands will be perfectly acceptable. (And if the flavor of the "rapier" is an issue, then just change that 1d8 Finesse weapon to a "cutlass" or "sabre" or "falchion" or whatnot. It's all fine.)
Con 16 + dex 20 and a shield +1 at level 8 easily gets you to AC 21. Add half damage from melee attacks and advantage on reflex saves and good luck bringing this barbarian down. If they also have top damage, I would root for the barbarian...It will be fine. Balance within the party is more important. The barbarian won’t be “too” tanky. The AC will still be lower than a full plate and shield paladin, especially if anyone ever gets magic armor. Too Tanky comes up really when someone’s AC gets past 21, or someone gets a +1 Shield. If the barbarian is hard to take down, just hit them again. Or knock him prone with that low strength. Or any number of other solutions.
The paladin is the too tanky potential.![]()
That was my impression. And the DMsGuild subclass I linked in the OP has a 6th-level ability that costs an action to apply disadvantage against all incoming attacks for 1 minute - I have some definite balance concerns about that one.Con 16 + dex 20 and a shield +1 at level 8 easily gets you to AC 21. Add half damage from melee attacks and advantage on reflex saves and good luck bringing this barbarian down. If they also have top damage, I would root for the barbarian...
Yes. And the dual woelder path works perfectly fine with either str or dex first, the other one third or second.That was my impression. And the DMsGuild subclass I linked in the OP has a 6th-level ability that costs an action to apply disadvantage against all incoming attacks for 1 minute - I have some definite balance concerns about that one.
Still, I think the player is fairly intent on playing a two-weapon barbarian though, so they probably won't max out the AC with a shield. Dual Wielder feat will probably show up, but that's only +1 to AC.