Lord Zardoz
Explorer
Barbarians are naturally focused
The reason that Barbarians seem to dominate is because the class is much more focused on its niche than the other classes are.
If someone decides to play a Barbarian, they are looking to play a character that deals out scary amounts of damage in melee. If you did a survey on how many poeple have played in a game that had a 20 Str Half Orc Barbarian weilding a 2 handed weapon, the yes votes would overwhelm the no votes.
Now, if you take a look at how many people play fighters, the character diversity would be very high.
- Plate wearing tanks weilding 2 handed weapons.
- Sword and Shield builds
- 2 weapon fighting builds
- Archery builds
- High dex figthers using weapon finesse
- Fighters aiming for frequent critical hits
- Fighters focused on Sunder or Disarm or Trip
Also, if you compare to 2nd Edition campaigns, the Cannonical 20 Str Barbarian can dominate combat to a degree unheard of in 2nd Edition. Such a Barbarian can kill most CR appropriate monsters in one hit. The low AC is not a big deal against Orcs and Goblins. And the HP and bonus HP from Rage will offset the AC against Gnolls or Bugbears. Most DMs, myself included, do not throw low level casters at the players.
As you observed, a well focused Fighter build is equally dominant at low levels. Given say, 14 Dex and 16 Str, and going with Chain mail and a heavy shield, a low level fighter can hit AC 19 with not too much difficulty, and still put out plenty of damage. And there is nothing preventing one from making a 20 Str Half Orc Fighter. He wont get the same damage output as a raging barbarian, but with the better AC, you simply cannot touch him.
In 3rd Ed, low level warrior types are much more effective than pretty much every other class against Orc calibre monsters. They can dish out plenty of punishment and stand up against most opponents.
But make no mistake, Barbarians simply are not as dominant as you think. Try throwing them up against Hobgoblins using bows and keeping at medium range. If they stay spread out and do the shoot + half move away thing, the barbarian will kill a few, but he will be taking alot of hits due to low AC. The players with better AC will rule in this sort of encounter, and the most effective player will be the one with a high Dex bonus answering to the ranged attacks in kind.
END COMMUNICATION
The reason that Barbarians seem to dominate is because the class is much more focused on its niche than the other classes are.
If someone decides to play a Barbarian, they are looking to play a character that deals out scary amounts of damage in melee. If you did a survey on how many poeple have played in a game that had a 20 Str Half Orc Barbarian weilding a 2 handed weapon, the yes votes would overwhelm the no votes.
Now, if you take a look at how many people play fighters, the character diversity would be very high.
- Plate wearing tanks weilding 2 handed weapons.
- Sword and Shield builds
- 2 weapon fighting builds
- Archery builds
- High dex figthers using weapon finesse
- Fighters aiming for frequent critical hits
- Fighters focused on Sunder or Disarm or Trip
Also, if you compare to 2nd Edition campaigns, the Cannonical 20 Str Barbarian can dominate combat to a degree unheard of in 2nd Edition. Such a Barbarian can kill most CR appropriate monsters in one hit. The low AC is not a big deal against Orcs and Goblins. And the HP and bonus HP from Rage will offset the AC against Gnolls or Bugbears. Most DMs, myself included, do not throw low level casters at the players.
As you observed, a well focused Fighter build is equally dominant at low levels. Given say, 14 Dex and 16 Str, and going with Chain mail and a heavy shield, a low level fighter can hit AC 19 with not too much difficulty, and still put out plenty of damage. And there is nothing preventing one from making a 20 Str Half Orc Fighter. He wont get the same damage output as a raging barbarian, but with the better AC, you simply cannot touch him.
In 3rd Ed, low level warrior types are much more effective than pretty much every other class against Orc calibre monsters. They can dish out plenty of punishment and stand up against most opponents.
But make no mistake, Barbarians simply are not as dominant as you think. Try throwing them up against Hobgoblins using bows and keeping at medium range. If they stay spread out and do the shoot + half move away thing, the barbarian will kill a few, but he will be taking alot of hits due to low AC. The players with better AC will rule in this sort of encounter, and the most effective player will be the one with a high Dex bonus answering to the ranged attacks in kind.
END COMMUNICATION