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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BookBarbarian" data-source="post: 6789642" data-attributes="member: 6802553">If I was trying to build a character like Conan from Robert E Howard's stories (ignoring other versions of the character) in 5e I would use barbarian. There is a Conan story where he briefly wears Plate armor, but finds it uncomfortable. In the next scene he is back in mail and leather. This is about the best narrative description I've seen for being proficient in Medium armor but not in Heavy. I think d12 hit dice suits Conan better that d10. Damage reduction suits him quite well too. In the Phoenix on the Sword Conan fights a score of enemies in one fight. It mentions specifically that a man who was civilized would not have survived the encounter. And there are many other examples of his surviving encounters that would kill other men not because he was better trained or a better fighter, but because of his nature. He is a wildman trampling civilizations and ancient horrors both under his sandaled feet.How can I word it best? Conan did not learn skills in the training yard. He learned them by surviving in the wilderness of Cimmeria. a Cimmerian was not considered men until they could snap a bullocks neck with one twist of his bare hands.As far as Rage goes I think Conan has it, but not like a normal man has anger. It's more like the rage of a bear or Tiger fighting for survival. Pure survival instinct. So a totem warrior would work fine, just remove the animal spirit fluff and leave behind the animal prowess.Berserker would work to but the fluff is also wrong. Conan never really loses his mind. That's bad for survival, but the idea of him getting a bonus action attack because he is able to swing his weapon faster than normal men works fine. Retaliation is a good fit for Conan as well. I'm not sure about mindless rage. I can't remember Conan having his mind taken over in any of the Howard stories. I do remember a Sorceress mucking with it in one of the Robert Jordan novels, but that was just to direct his infamous lust in her direction. The one Mechanical bit of Berserker that doesn't fit is the exhaustion from frenzy. Swinging a sword or axe does not tire Conan of Cimmeria.In summary I find the Barbarian to be the best base class to fit Conan, though no current subclass fits him well. The Champion Subclass on the Barbarian class would work well I think.As far as a rogue dip? there is little to gain there beyond some expertise. To my Knowledge, Conan never uses anything like thieves tools. No lockpicks, no trap probes etc. That he was a thief is not in doubt, but he accomplished this as a stealthy man of the wilds not a cat burglar.To pick up the extra skills and languages, just spend the 250 days of downtime necessary to learn one at a time. Conan's stories cover a lot of time in a lot of countries. For a head start the Outlander background has one extra language, and V human one extra skill (I'd go stealth) Tiger totem grants other relevant skill proficiency as well.I quite like Conan and would enjoy playing a character based on him. I'd probably go Vhuman outlander barbarian. Straight Tiger Totem abilities. Refluff the knowledge gained from the totem rituals as remembering encounters from your Cimmerian youth or wisdom from the Cimmerian elders. Lucky feat to start (Heroes from Novels are so damned lucky.) Max Str, Dex to 14, and a high Con. No negatives in any mental Stat, but mechanically they don't need to be super high. It would help to roll high stats (you probably can't survive a Cimmerian childhood without high stats). Then crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women.</blockquote>

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