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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ccs" data-source="post: 7406403" data-attributes="member: 6803664">I end up playing something that's fun, memorable, & has rules attached that help me express the character I'm envisioning.Current 5e character:1/2ling (lightfoot) barbarian (Ancestral Guardian), Folk Hero.  Str.14  Took the Healer feat at 4th lv.  Generally uses a hand axe, sometimes two.  Wears a breastplate & shield. ALWAYS recklessly attacks.I do not envision increasing this characters strength come 8th lv.  Or at 12th, or at.... (soon, at 8th lv I'll probably pick up the Linguist feat as that'll fit the story) Does any of that character fit the hive-minds idea of what the optimized Barbarian is?If I were to believe folks online:* Starting, current, & future Str.14 - I'm a fool for not A) Placing my highest starting stat in Str.  B) Not increasing it, let alone maxing it out to 20.  Not maxing out the hive-minds idea of what my primary stat should be is like the ultimate blasphemy of how to make a character.  Especially something as simple as a barbarian....*1/2ling (lightfoot) - I'm missing out on the beginning Str bonuses of other races - 1/2orc, goliath, mountain dwarf, human, whatever.I'm missing out on 1/2orc features that make for very effective barbarians.As a 1/2ling I'm missing out on darkvision.As a 1/2ling (small) I'm at disadvantage if I use a heavy weapon.As a 1/2ling (small) I'm also at a great disadvantage in general - I'm only 3'3" tall!  Do you have any idea of how many things are out of reach etc??  Granted, there's no exact rules penalty for this, but it IS a Roleplaying game.  Ex: In the last session we encountered a stone stairway we had to ascend who's steps were 2' high.  Not terribly hindering to the rest of the party....  But each step was 2/3s of my height.  And there were 200 of them! As a Lightfoot I don't get the Stouts advantage vs poison.* Ancestral Guardian.  You ever hear anything said about this path?  No.   Clearly not the hive-minds pick.* Folk HeroSo many other backgrounds grant features more useful than Rustic Hospitality.And virtually none of them fit the actual character I made better than Folk Hero.* FeatsHealer doesn't aid me in dealing damage - how DARE a barbarian not do as much DPR as possible.  Since I'm as prone to using two hand axes as often axe/shield one would assume that Duel Wielder would've been my 4th lv pick.  But the character is not actually trained/skilled at fighting so....And mechanically Healer is not the best feat for a character who's got a negative on Wis based skills.But it's a RP thing.  This character comes from a family who's got a natural affinity for healing (established in previous campaigns).  They're not as good at it as their mother, or sister, but it's still there.At 8th lv, like I sad, I'll probably take Linguist.  The party is stranded in the Desert of Desolation & will be for two more modules.  Learning some D&D Arabic/Eqyptian & getting better at deciphering hieroglyphs/runes seems natural. This will not help me kill things.  But it will aid in the social/exploration segments of the game.  And it'll get a relative new player more engaged in the game as I'll turn to their Wizard to help me learn this stuffWhat!???  A barbarian doing things other than damage???* Always recklessly attacks.  Mechanically I don't HAVE to do this.  I do this because RP.  The character lacks training.  They don't fight smart.* Weapons & Equipment.Mechanically there's no reason not to use the best non-heavy weapons on the list.  I don't because of aesthetics.  Especially when I built the miniature.  It just looked silly to see a 1/2ling wielding oversized weapons.  And it doesn't fit the character I made.  So hand axe it is for general purposes.Wears a breastplate - once again, something I do because of the aesthetics.  It's what looked best when I built the character.  So even if I later up Dex/Con I'll keep the armor.  (right now my unarmored defense + shiled is the same as what the breastplate + shield +dex gives)What ill effects has my poor hopelessly non-optimized barbarian had on the party?1) We need a light source.2) We need to carry more food (1/2ling...)3) Sometimes the party has to help me deal with physical obstacles.4) Maybe it takes us a round or two longer to kill something.5) Since poor judgment is my characters defining characteristic (low Wis) sometimes we have to deal with the problems that causes.  I'm (indirectly)responsible for releasing an Efreeti who intends to destroy the land/world.  Oops.  I sold the info of where to find it's lamp & how to bypass its wards to some traders a few sessions ago.  This will become important in the next two modules of the Desert of Desolation series.</blockquote>

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