D&D 5E Dex barbarian

[DEFCON 1]

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.
2. You never know if at some point somone else will play a melee class and then you might find yourself in a bad spot: do you give the other person also some extra or do you live with disbalance and possible dissatisfaction from the other classes player.
3. The restriction prevents elven accuracy working with rage wgich might be too easy. At least you can't use it with GWM - 5/+10 on top as there is no heavy finesse weapon.

Overall changing such rules might have consequences lated that you did not forsee. Often one houserule leads to anontger and you wonder why the game fell apart.

I would never stop a player who is going to be in the game now from playing a character they want to play... on the off-chance someone later might want to play a character that could be similar. That is slapping the hand of the player you have just to please a player you don't have and might never have. That seems short-sighted to me.

The nice thing about houserules is that you can just tell your player "These are house rules I am putting in for you. Please bear in mind I reserve the right to adjust them as we go along if we find my eyeballed balance ends up being a little off." And I'm fairly certain the player will be fine with that caveat, as it means they are getting to play something they want that they ordinarily would not.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Early game they'll be about 10% harder to hit. Late game they'll be about as hard to hit as ever and almost entirely reliant on their resistance while doing slightly less damage than a Str-focused barbarian unless you homebrew some Elven Greatblade that hits like a greataxe while being finesseable.

I really don't see why they are as easy to hit as a str barb in late game...

Also dual wielding with str bonus does good enough. And noone says, they must dump str to 8. Keep it up at 13 or even 14 and enjoy the free +4 str at level 20 to bring you up to 17 or 18.

You might even have a feat to use as you wosh at level 19. So you can either take dual wielder or increase your str to 20.

 

[humble minion]

Also dual wielding with str bonus does good enough. And noone says, they must dump str to 8. Keep it up at 13 or even 14 and enjoy the free +4 str at level 20 to bring you up to 17 or 18.

You might even have a feat to use as you wosh at level 19. So you can either take dual wielder or increase your str to 20.

In general in D&D, and in this campaign in particular, I mostly view abilities at levels over about 14-15 as pretty much academic. 99% of campaigns won't get that far, and this one I certainly intend to be winding up in the low-mid teen level range.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I would never stop a player who is going to be in the game now from playing a character they want to play... on the off-chance someone later wants to play a character that might be similar. That is slapping the hand of the player you have to please a player you don't have and might never have. That seems short-sighted to me.

You can have that stance and it is fine.
But you can also just play by the rules. Changing them willy nilly can also end up short-sighted.
I have played monopoly and doppelkopf without houserules for a while now... and the games are actually better.
Maybe I should try Risk without houserules too...

The nice thing about houserules is that you can just tell your player "These are house rules I am putting in for you. Please bear in mind I reserve the right to adjust them as we go along if we find my eyeballed balance ends up being a little off." And I'm fairly certain the player will be fine with that caveat, as it means they are getting to play something they want that they ordinarily would not.

 

[DEFCON 1]

You can have that stance and it is fine.
But you can also just play by the rules. Changing them willy nilly can also end up short-sighted.
I have played monopoly and doppelkopf without houserules for a while now... and the games are actually better.
Maybe I should try Risk without houserules too...

There are no benefits for playing by the rules if the experience would be better by adjusting them. There is no trophy (general) you get for playing RAW.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

In general in D&D, and in this campaign in particular, I mostly view abilities at levels over about 14-15 as pretty much academic. 99% of campaigns won't get that far, and this one I certainly intend to be winding up in the low-mid teen level range.

I still see no reason to use a house rule there. The character still works fine without house rules.
Maybe start with str 13 or 14 and dex 16 and con 16 and start by increasing con to 18 and 20 at level 4 and 8. Dex 16 is ok as an attacl stat. Str 13 woth advantag also suffcies. If you use wolf totem or path of the ancients, there will be no way around you. Or storm herald or wild magic. The saving throw DC will be top notch and the player won't hate that they have lower weapon damage.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

There are no benefits for playing by the rules if the experience would be better by adjusting them. There is no trophy (general) you get for playing RAW.

There is also no benefit to catering to all wills as the satisfaction increase of one player might decrease the satisfaction of 4 others. Including the DM.

Why have rules if you don't use them?

 

[Steampunkette]

I really don't see why they are as easy to hit as a str barb in late game...

Also dual wielding with str bonus does good enough. And noone says, they must dump str to 8. Keep it up at 13 or even 14 and enjoy the free +4 str at level 20 to bring you up to 17 or 18.

You might even have a feat to use as you wosh at level 19. So you can either take dual wielder or increase your str to 20.

Str barb in late game is generally going to pump Str and Con, maybe aim for a 14 dex so they can wear Half Plate for a 17, get it +2 or even +3 if possible for a 19-20, slap on a ring or cloak of protection...

A Dex/Con barb can hit 20/20 around, what, 12th level? They'll have a 20 AC and with no ability to use shields, as I suggested, they're using the same Ring or Cloak as the other Barbarian.

Of course, the Dex barb -could- get bracers of defense for another +2... But they'll still be around as tough to hit. Especially if the Str barb picks up a shield.

You get the idea.

There is also no benefit to catering to all wills as the satisfaction increase of one player might decrease the satisfaction of 4 others. Including the DM.

Why have rules if you don't use them?

As a framework to make your own rules off of, obviously.

Though I do like the assertion that allowing a Dex-centric barbarian with minor changes to allow finesse weapons with rage damage will decrease everyone else's satisfaction. That's nifty.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I don't have to tell you that your calcualtions depend heavily on some assumptions.

Though I do like the assertion that allowing a Dex-centric barbarian with minor changes to allow finesse weapons with rage damage will decrease everyone else's satisfaction. That's nifty.

I have seen dissatisfaction in other players when houserules are only made for one player in the group.

I have struggled myself as a DM after some short sighted houserules which I had to take back later as the game/one character started to get totally out of hand.

Yes, giving rage bonus to finesse weapons for the only melee player in an otgerwise magic using group seems fine enough. So do as you please. But a rogue or ranger player might feel stepped on their toes...

Maybe the 3rd party class is finely balanced. So whatever.

Edit: I have read the subclass, and it definitely needs no additional help from rage bonus to dex based attacks. The subclass class does enough damage. Just don't dump str to 8.

 

[humble minion]

Edit: I have read the subclass, and it definitely needs no additional help from rage bonus to dex based attacks. The subclass class does enough damage. Just don't dump str to 8.

Oh yeah, definitely. The subclass is borderline overpowered on its own. I was never even considering allowing both it and rage bonus damage to Dex attacks on the same character.