You mean the rage they get to do maybe 1/3 of the day?
D&D 5E (2014) [poll] Barbarian Satisfaction Survey
- Thread starter Sacrosanct
- Start date
Tales and Chronicles
Jewel of the North, formerly know as vincegetorix
Men, its just a personal appreciation thread, so this is my appreciation: Love the class, find it a little too safe at low level. End.
Its just that in my table experience, where my players are low level, dont have access to high end equipment or more than 1 or 2 feats, barbarian toughness tends to overshadow the fighter until you get to your 4th fight or so in a day. I'm not even saying its ''broken tough'', its just a little tough at beginner level and my fighter player often ask the question: ''why didnt I choose a barbarian again?''.
The Hierophant
Explorer
My main complaint is lack of things to do with the barbarian's bonus action. That's a whole part of the action economy the barbarian seems left out of.
There are also a few too many dead levels, where the barbarian doesn't get much compared to others. Increasing rage damage could fix that.
There are also a few too many dead levels, where the barbarian doesn't get much compared to others. Increasing rage damage could fix that.
Triumph_Fork
First Post
We have a Barbarian in the party I'm DMing and the player sure has lots of fun getting into character.
He does play the Berserker, and part of his character is that Exhaustion doesn't intimidate him. He'll force everyone to move forward and force march, even if he's exhausted! He also throws a fit into his rage while yelling draconic expletives at the enemies, causing a great distraction for the party to get a surprise round in!
My only complaint with the Barbarian is they're a little pigeon holed into melee. Like for example: The rage damage will not be applied to throwing a handaxe because it's not a melee attack. But it does make it more interesting because he has to figure out a way to get through the ranged attackers without losing too much HP before he actually gets to slice and dice.
And of course, they're very weak to other types of damage which I use frequently in game. So there's extra math involved for the player as he's taking damage, for Example: A poison tipped arrow could deal 7piercing and 6 poison damage/hit (that only amounts to 9 damage total/hit). However I definitely like that part of the Barbarian, showing he's more of a brute with normal weapons but when any magic damage comes into play he's pretty screwed!
He does play the Berserker, and part of his character is that Exhaustion doesn't intimidate him. He'll force everyone to move forward and force march, even if he's exhausted! He also throws a fit into his rage while yelling draconic expletives at the enemies, causing a great distraction for the party to get a surprise round in!
My only complaint with the Barbarian is they're a little pigeon holed into melee. Like for example: The rage damage will not be applied to throwing a handaxe because it's not a melee attack. But it does make it more interesting because he has to figure out a way to get through the ranged attackers without losing too much HP before he actually gets to slice and dice.
And of course, they're very weak to other types of damage which I use frequently in game. So there's extra math involved for the player as he's taking damage, for Example: A poison tipped arrow could deal 7piercing and 6 poison damage/hit (that only amounts to 9 damage total/hit). However I definitely like that part of the Barbarian, showing he's more of a brute with normal weapons but when any magic damage comes into play he's pretty screwed!
Mercule
Adventurer
Hate the Barbarian as a stand-alone class. Make the Berserker a Fighter sub-class. Toss the totem stuff to either Druid or Ranger (probably Ranger), depending on exact flavor desired -- some work may be needed to disentangle totem and rage, but they shouldn't have been related, to begin with. Hit delete on everything else.
That ignores reality though.
Especially the "Totem stuff" the Berserker hails back to the berserkerang.
It isn't just someone who gets mad, it's finding clarity and focus while in a battlefury.
Sacrosanct
Legend
I don't know. I think a fighter with a beserker subclass with an outlander background fits pretty well with historical references we use as beserkers, like Boudica's soldiers. Than again, I'm of the belief that "barbarian" is a cultural thing, not an occupation.
Mercule
Adventurer
Very well aware of that. I loved the Berserker class from the 2E "Complete Viking" book. One of my favorite characters, ever.
That's not what the 5E Barbarian (or the 3E Barbarian, before it) is, though. The totems aren't flavored as driving the rage or being a side effect of it. They're just abilities that get attached to the Barbarian because there'd otherwise be no reason to have the Berserker as a separate class, rather than a Fighter kit.
Really, there's probably a case to be made for creating a Warden (or similar) class that gathers together various "nature warrior" tropes. You could put Berserker here, but I still like it as a Fighter thing. Definitely put the totems as a Warden sub-class. De-emphasize the shape-shifting ability of Druids and give the Warden a shifter sub-class. Finally, remove beast master from Ranger and put it on the Warden.
That really just highlights the fact that all the nature/primal classes are a bit out of sync and need tweaked. Ranger is the best, after the latest UA update.
Odd, I would of gone the other way. Reinforce the animal aspect, make the rages literal (at least partially) transformations.
Mercule
Adventurer
I could probably be talked into going either way. My gut is to put with the Fighter, but that might just be because the current presentation in the Barbarian has them mechanically associated, but it feels forced.
