D&D 5E Halfling Barbarians-Finally a edition that lets the monster out of it's cage.

[Minsc]

One of my players has a mountain dwarf wizard. Only at 3rd level so far. It's fascinating how much like a fighter/wizard they end up being. Medium armor, battle axes, he has insanely good Str and Con... He only uses cantrip attacks in specific situations. Often, he just relies on the axe.

He's also a grumpy tomb raider who recovers lost relics to return to the people, and alongside the axe he carries a whip and a pistol-gripped wand as his focus.

He will fall behind any real warrior when they hit 5th level and the warriors get extra attacks. Cool character though!

 

[Minsc]

I don't really understand this - halfling barbarians were just as possible in the last 2 editions (ie not "optimal" but really functional) & didn't 1e have Dark Sun with cannibalistic halfling barbarians running around all over the place?

They fell behind power wise because they had smaller weapons.

Now, that's not an issue.

 

[Pickles JG]

Aha I had missed that! Thanks!

 

[MostlyDm]

He will fall behind any real warrior when they hit 5th level and the warriors get extra attacks. Cool character though!

Yeah, I pointed that out to him. I think he'll have picked up shocking grasp by then and still stick it out in melee most of the time, since he has great Con and medium armor. The high strength was mostly for athletics, I think. Gotta be able to jump pits and escape those rolling boulders.

Edit: or he'll learn more caution. That wizard's hit die is rough, and he's had at least one near death experience (on his last death save with no successes yet, and a baddie nearby who was likely to finish him off on his next turn. Saved only by party intervention.)

 

[Nergal Pendragon]

I played a drow barbarian during 3.5E days as part of an Eberron campaign. Tended to solve a lot of racism problems with a proper application of rage.

I also played a warforged psion. That was... interesting.

For 5E, I'm considering a drow wild mage.

 

[Staffan]

I don't really understand this - halfling barbarians were just as possible in the last 2 editions (ie not "optimal" but really functional) & didn't 1e have Dark Sun with cannibalistic halfling barbarians running around all over the place?

No. There was nothing cannibalistic about Dark Sun halflings - they specifically do not eat other halflings, and halfling tribes generally go to great lengths not to harm other halflings at all.

Now, if you're a human, elf, or dwarf, that's another matter. But that's not cannibalism.

(Also, Dark Sun was 2e, not 1e.)

 

[MostlyDm]

No. There was nothing cannibalistic about Dark Sun halflings - they specifically do not eat other halflings, and halfling tribes generally go to great lengths not to harm other halflings at all.

Now, if you're a human, elf, or dwarf, that's another matter. But that's not cannibalism.

(Also, Dark Sun was 2e, not 1e.)

It's true it's not literal cannibalism, but... killing and eating another sapient species is in the same moral area as human cannibalism. We don't have a commonly used word for such a practice, because it's not an issue in a world with only one sapient species.

So it's a little misleading to say there was "nothing cannibalistic" about them. Technically correct. But... they're basically cannibals.

 

[billd91]

3e was the first edition to really do this for us because there were no stat requirements. One player of mine started with an elven barbarian. I played a half-orc paladin, though that one really takes off in PF where the half-orc can put his +2 in Charisma. It is nice to ditch 3.5's weapon size issues with 5e halflings.

 

[Schmoe]

I can't wait to play a forest gnome paladin with the oath of the ancients. Not only is it a character concept I fell in love with years ago in a Planescape campaign, in 5E there is just so much synergy in the combination.

 

[Henry]

What does dual weapon style offer on a Staff Polemaster fighter, he's not dual weilding, he's still only using one weapon, and his attack stat still gets added to his bonus action attack?

Great Weapon Fighter makes more sense, all the staffs attacks reroll 1's, because it still can be used in two hands. Or Dualist if your only using it in one.

Y'know what? You're right! I picked dual-weapon so he gets strength bonus to damage, but since it's technically not "two weapon" it's a bonus melee attack, you get the strength damage anyway. Thanks! Looks a a case of "Pathfinder Bleed-over."