This article is the first in a series of guides to building characters in D&D 5E. The plan is to get into some wackier character concepts further down the line, but we’re going to start with something simple (and, conveniently, right at the front of the Player’s Handbook): creating the most durable barbarian possible.
When the wild tangle of battle has ended, the winner isn’t the person who dealt the most damage or delivered the best one-liner, but the one who’s still standing. And barbarians can be very, very good at winning.
[h=3]The Basics[/h] Barbarians are naturally tough characters. They gain more hit points per level than any other class, while their unarmoured defence trait encourages players to pump up constitution scores as high as possible, giving them even more health.
The fact that they take half-damage from most conventional attacks while raging - and they will almost always be raging during combat - solidifies this raw survivability even further.
However, the massive health pool of the barbarian is usually countered by the fact that they aren’t that hard to hit. Well-oiled pecs and a winning smile may be the iconic barbarian look, but they can’t quite match a half-inch of steel when it comes to stopping arrows. If we want to boost their staying power in battle, we need to find a way to increase these defences.
[h=3]Early Choices[/h] The two most important stats for any barbarian are strength and constitution, so ideally we want to start with a race that starts with bonuses to both. Fortunately, that makes for a pretty long list.
Half-orcs and goliaths make for solid barbarian, and both gain abilities that boost their endurance in one way or another. However, these powers have limited uses so you may want to look at two choices that can offer benefits that are always online, though you’ll probably want to ask your DM before running them at the table.
First up are the duergar, a sub-species of dwarves that hail from the deep tunnels of the underdark. Not only do they have access to the excellent stat boosts and poison resistance common to all dwarves, they also have advantage on saving throws against illusions and charms - both common tools that sneaky DM’s can use to exploit barbarians’ weak mental defences. This bonus is countered by a crippling weakness in full sunlight, however, as well a tendency towards evil that can make them hard to roleplay.
Finally we have warforged, the wonderful mechanical marvels introduced in the recent Eberron releases. These guys have integrated armour that can let your barbarian match the chainmail-clad fighter for AC, and it only gets better as you level up. The only real problem is that despite appearing in The Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron the current rules for warforged are considered playtest material, and as such are subject to change.
[h=3]Assessing Archetypes[/h] For the first few years of 5E there was only one real choice of archetype when you were building a rock-hard barbarian. The Path of the Totem Warrior gave you access to the Bear Totem Spirit at third level, upgrading your raging damage resistance to include every type of damage other than psychic.
This is incredibly powerful and means Totem Warrior is still the go-to archetype for boosting your own survivability, but when Xanathar’s Guide to Everything introduced the Path of the Ancestral Guardian it gave players the chance to create something that more closely resembles an MMO tank - a warrior that intentionally draws their enemy’s attacks away from weaker party members. Their most powerful ability penalises one enemy for attacking anybody but them, and though it’s not ideal against hordes it works wonders when confronting a handful of powerful foes.
[h=3]Gearing Up[/h] The iconic image of the typical barbarian involves a huge weapon and very little in the way of clothing, let alone armour. If your aim is to build a super-tough barbarian, however, you may have to tweak that image a bit.
For a start, the greatsword or greataxe is replaced by a one-handed weapon and a shield, while the exposed flesh is covered up with medium armour, ideally half-plate, unless you’re rocking a warforged chassis. It is possible for a barbarian’s natural defences to outmatch any armour eventually, but that requires you to either roll incredible stats at the start of the game or reduce damage output by boosting dexterity over strength.
On the subject of damage, the switch from a two-handed weapon to something like a battleaxe or warhammer is going to cost you around two damage per hit, but the extra AC provided by a shield can help you stay alive in tricky situations.
It’s hard to plan for magic items in the world of 5E, but a Ring of Protection is always a nice find, as it not only provides another little boost for AC but also adds to saving throws. Similarly, a Mantle of Spell Resistance helps you to shrug off both fireballs and defeat the “mind control the murderous barbarian” strategy that so many evil wizards are fond of.
This article was contributed by Richard Jansen-Parkes (Winghorn) as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program. We are always on the lookout for freelance columnists! If you have a pitch, please contact us!
When the wild tangle of battle has ended, the winner isn’t the person who dealt the most damage or delivered the best one-liner, but the one who’s still standing. And barbarians can be very, very good at winning.
[h=3]The Basics[/h] Barbarians are naturally tough characters. They gain more hit points per level than any other class, while their unarmoured defence trait encourages players to pump up constitution scores as high as possible, giving them even more health.
The fact that they take half-damage from most conventional attacks while raging - and they will almost always be raging during combat - solidifies this raw survivability even further.
However, the massive health pool of the barbarian is usually countered by the fact that they aren’t that hard to hit. Well-oiled pecs and a winning smile may be the iconic barbarian look, but they can’t quite match a half-inch of steel when it comes to stopping arrows. If we want to boost their staying power in battle, we need to find a way to increase these defences.
[h=3]Early Choices[/h] The two most important stats for any barbarian are strength and constitution, so ideally we want to start with a race that starts with bonuses to both. Fortunately, that makes for a pretty long list.
Half-orcs and goliaths make for solid barbarian, and both gain abilities that boost their endurance in one way or another. However, these powers have limited uses so you may want to look at two choices that can offer benefits that are always online, though you’ll probably want to ask your DM before running them at the table.
First up are the duergar, a sub-species of dwarves that hail from the deep tunnels of the underdark. Not only do they have access to the excellent stat boosts and poison resistance common to all dwarves, they also have advantage on saving throws against illusions and charms - both common tools that sneaky DM’s can use to exploit barbarians’ weak mental defences. This bonus is countered by a crippling weakness in full sunlight, however, as well a tendency towards evil that can make them hard to roleplay.
Finally we have warforged, the wonderful mechanical marvels introduced in the recent Eberron releases. These guys have integrated armour that can let your barbarian match the chainmail-clad fighter for AC, and it only gets better as you level up. The only real problem is that despite appearing in The Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron the current rules for warforged are considered playtest material, and as such are subject to change.
[h=3]Assessing Archetypes[/h] For the first few years of 5E there was only one real choice of archetype when you were building a rock-hard barbarian. The Path of the Totem Warrior gave you access to the Bear Totem Spirit at third level, upgrading your raging damage resistance to include every type of damage other than psychic.
This is incredibly powerful and means Totem Warrior is still the go-to archetype for boosting your own survivability, but when Xanathar’s Guide to Everything introduced the Path of the Ancestral Guardian it gave players the chance to create something that more closely resembles an MMO tank - a warrior that intentionally draws their enemy’s attacks away from weaker party members. Their most powerful ability penalises one enemy for attacking anybody but them, and though it’s not ideal against hordes it works wonders when confronting a handful of powerful foes.
[h=3]Gearing Up[/h] The iconic image of the typical barbarian involves a huge weapon and very little in the way of clothing, let alone armour. If your aim is to build a super-tough barbarian, however, you may have to tweak that image a bit.
For a start, the greatsword or greataxe is replaced by a one-handed weapon and a shield, while the exposed flesh is covered up with medium armour, ideally half-plate, unless you’re rocking a warforged chassis. It is possible for a barbarian’s natural defences to outmatch any armour eventually, but that requires you to either roll incredible stats at the start of the game or reduce damage output by boosting dexterity over strength.
On the subject of damage, the switch from a two-handed weapon to something like a battleaxe or warhammer is going to cost you around two damage per hit, but the extra AC provided by a shield can help you stay alive in tricky situations.
It’s hard to plan for magic items in the world of 5E, but a Ring of Protection is always a nice find, as it not only provides another little boost for AC but also adds to saving throws. Similarly, a Mantle of Spell Resistance helps you to shrug off both fireballs and defeat the “mind control the murderous barbarian” strategy that so many evil wizards are fond of.
This article was contributed by Richard Jansen-Parkes (Winghorn) as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program. We are always on the lookout for freelance columnists! If you have a pitch, please contact us!
