Roleplaying tips...

[atemu1234]

My DM for the past three years has decided we all play basically the same characters. To break type, he had us all do a class we hadn't ever used before. I'm usually a bookish sort- archivist, wizard, that sort. Now he's having me play a barbarian with two levels of fighter. In other words, not my type. Now, this doesn't seem like a bad idea, but unfortunately I'm clueless on how to roleplay it. Any tips?

[Gildedragon]

Look up the Thogaturge. It ought solve your role playing woes

Edit: here he is in all his glory (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?195049-Help-Me-Be-Annoying-with-a-Barbarian-Wizard)
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Also ask if you can use other martial classes... It is kinda sketch that the DM strong arms you into a role (though fair enough, he wants some diversity) let alone a class/build.

[PersonMan]

My tip would be to get an idea of what your character is like, either going inside to outside or the other way around. Outside to inside would be to make a bunch of traits, quirks, personality stuff, then deciding why he (if it's a guy) is like that. The other way is to describe his core attributes (i.e. "was always honest, hated deception") and consider how that would develop into externally visible things. This results in you having a character that's more than 'melee fighter dude with big muscles'.

[FidgetySquirrel]

My first martial character was an orc barbarian. He had dreadful INT and WIS, 5 each, to be exact. I played him like a dim-witted maniac whose solution to all problems was to hit it. For example, there was once a boulder blocking the entrance to a cave, so I grabbed the biggest rock I could and started smashing. The fun part was RPing his total lack of language skills.

If your character isn't that dumb, you could always go for an arrogant warrior who mercilessly berates your adversaries while beating the crap out of them. Perhaps, if your mentals are high enough, you could go for a 'warrior sage' sort of character. You could do a disillusioned war veteran, or even the old drunken dwarf fighter stereotype. You get bonus points if you name him Fistbeard Beardfist!

[John Longarrow]

Watch Conan seven times.
Start talking with a thick, Austrian accent.
Grade everything on one of three categories; You kill people with it, you sleep with it, you eat it.

Yes, your ideal treasure would be a cloak of twinkies that has a bladed edge.

[Gildedragon]

Watch Conan seven times.
Start talking with a thick, Austrian accent.
Grade everything on one of three categories; You kill people with it, you sleep with it, you eat it.

Yes, your ideal treasure would be a cloak of twinkies that has a bladed edge.

You are missing "you kill it" as a category
Proper counting scheme is "per finger" as te concept of numbers eludes a proper barbarian

Eat
Sleep
Kill
Kill with
... (Still have a finger left)
Combo!

Int gets dumped to 4, bump wis and Cha decently. Charming, self-sure and perceptive

[Coidzor]

You can roleplay your barbarian as the majority of any warrior-types you've encountered in fiction, for starters.

So unless you only ever read fiction about bookish sorts(in which case, yeah, you really need to branch out a bit), you should have resources to draw upon that you've not yet realized.

So what kinda stories and **** you like? You ever watched any Shounen Anime or read any shounen manga? Because you've run into tons of examples of characters that give an example of the kinds of personalities that mundanes can have. Or if you've read basically any fantasy novel ever. Or even science fiction novels that involve people that are athletic or violent or warriors or soldiers or what have you.

Or, hell, Professional Wrassling. IIRC, Spoony had some decent stuff on American Wrestling culture that'd help get you familiar with it. And there's parody reviews of movies starring pro wrestlers who weren't able to make the Dwayne Johnson transition that'll give you the highlights.

Mucha Lucha has examples, even.

Wolverine from the X-Men in almost any of his incarnations. Possibly All of them.

[Arbane]

However you want, really. Barbarians are just like everyone else.... aside from being able to fly into an inane rage where they ignore pain and wreck everything in front of them.

If you mostly play caster types, just remember - try the direct approach first. When that fails, get your wimpier comrades to bail you out. Don't be afraid to get hit, as it's unavoidable.

And remember the maxim of Barbarian Nietzsche: "That which does not kill me, DIES HORRIBLY."

[John Longarrow]

For great fun, play ANY John Wayne character from any western. Tough as nails, chews boot leather because he likes it, gets the crap beat out of him but keeps coming.

[Red Fel]

Really, all of the suggestions offered so far are good ones. It depends entirely on what kind of imagery you want to evoke, what kind of concept captures your imagination.

I always start with a core concept, something springing from there. For example, say I wanted to play the exact opposite of a bookish sort. Savage, brutal, instinctive. Okay, Barbarian/Fighter. What would I do with that?

Well, first off, I'd give him the Spirit Lion Totem ACF, both because it's mechanically great and because it fits the fluff of being savage. But now I have a dilemma - why does he have it? And why Fighter levels? And here's where I go into character development.

Mind you, I'm writing all of this as I come up with it. Let's say he starts with Fighter. So he was civilized once. Bit brutish, not too bright, joins the town guard and learns a few tricks with a sword. Joins up with a militia group setting out to stop a nearby Orc incursion. Wanders into the jungle, takes a blow to the head. Wakes up, his allies are gone, enemies are gone, he's alone and lost. Spends the next few years alone in the woods, learning, adapting, basically a human beast. Maybe put some wacky vision quest bit in there where he communes with the spirit of the lion (aha, mechanics justified!) or something. Make arrangements with another player that they basically found him, half-feral, and brought him back to civilization. Which explains both his leveling progression and his presence in the party.

All that I got, starting from three words - savage, brutal, instinctive. This is a jungle animal with weapon proficiencies and thumbs. This is less a warrior and more a predator. And he's just waiting to be let off his leash.

And you can do it with any concept, really. Want to play a holy berserker? Righteous Wrath feat. You now channel the spiritual ferocity of condemning angels. Want to be a crafty combatant with weapon instincts? Take Wolf Totem and Whirling Frenzy ACFs, grab the Knock-Down feat and a weapon with a trip-disarm bonus, and be the guy who doesn't get mad - he gets smart. And so forth. Go with what moves you.

[RSSwizard]

You need to think Tactically. Which guys need to be taken down first. How can you position yourself to move in easily. How can you bottleneck the bad guys or cut off their escape routes. How can you most likely avoid becoming a fireball target. Stuff like that.

Especially look for Charge routes, and always go for flanking to help your party members.

This is all about positioning.

If you're a Barbarian you need to write down the stats for your Rage on a scrap piece of paper, its a hairy number of mathematics to keep track of for a dumb bashing character.

If you're a Fighter I suggest getting full plate and a tower shield, getting shield proficiencies (if we're talking Pathfinder here). I had a PF Fighter who had AC over 30 before 10th level. These guys become fireball magnets though.

Secondarily . . .

When it comes to Melee Attacks forget Dice Codes for damage and focus on Damage Bonuses.

Statistically 2d8 or 3d6 might sound nice but thats only 9-10 points on average . . . in exchange for how many feats or whatever (or even picking up a Large size race) you had to take in order to get it.

I would even say doing the Monkeygrip thing to get a huge weapon isn't even worth it, since you will always take that penalty, and there is probably something else better you can get in exchange for that Feat.

This is why the Bastrd Sword is never a good idea, its a Greatsword that does 1d10 instead of 2d6. And the regular 1d8 longsword is just as effective since you'd have to burn a Feat to use the B. Sword one handed (so for 1 feat you get in exchange . . . +1 damage with only one weapon. At least Weapon Specialization gives +2 damage).

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Longspear is amazing . . . its 1d8 and has Reach. And yeah if you're Large that means the reach is 20 feet, and its damage goes up to a healthy 2d6, and as a two handed weapon you get better strength bonus on it with damage (and with power attack). Remember the Cave Troll in moria from Lord Of The Rings?

If you're worried about the weakness it has, then just strike at someone else if the dude you're whittling on gets too close. One of your friends will probably take that one out.

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Locked Gauntlet is nice for your weapon too. Make it a +1 Ghost Touch item.

Why? Because the price for that is 8000 compared to trying to stack it on a weapon that might already be 8K or 18K (it is probably the cheapest way to get ghost touch for spare, unless you can have someone cast it on your weapon).

Since the weapon is already drawn (its on your hand) you don't have to draw it, and you don't have to put the sword away either because its locked in the gauntlet.

. . . Then not only are you not going to drop your weapon in the event of being stunned, if you need to Punch a Ghost/Shadow in the Face, you can do that.

Gauntlet also does Bludgeon damage (alot of undead dont like that) and is generally underestimated. Most of your damage is coming from damage bonuses and those apply 100% to Gauntlets (though not the extra for two handed). Heck you can even power attack with a gauntlet.

The added functionality of it is going to make up for the 1d3 or 1d4 damage it does. Even if you get a normal slam attack that does 1d6+ its still better because it can be Enchanted (and your bony fist cant). I think Monks can get gloves that allow their unarmed strikes to be though.

And any magic item that is a "gauntlet" is also a gauntlet, and you can put magic weapon stuff on top of whatever else its doing (like +1 Ghost Touch for +8000gp).

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Also look into getting a Lance.
Double Damage on a Charge attack.
And I think it has reach too.
(dont look at me, I didnt make up their rules)

So if you're up to something like 1d8+15 (and thats LOW) thats gonna be 2d8+30. Notice that +30 right there?

If you're Hasted you can back up the truck with a move action then Charge again in the same round (since you get 2 standard actions).

[NecessaryWeevil]

How about a bookish berserker? I'm only half joking. Some of the most interesting characters can result from mashing two disparate concepts. Then you get to tell an interesting story about the unusual combination. Maybe the berserk fury is part of some familial curse (or blessing!) and he'd otherwise be a bookish nerd but his path was determined by this.

I'm currently playing a backwater half-orc who wants to become a Knight Templar of the Silver Flame, for example, and I'm in love with the idea of a Kobold Barbarian.

[NecessaryWeevil]

If you're Hasted you can back up the truck with a move action then Charge again in the same round (since you get 2 standard actions).

Unfortunately that's not how Haste works.

[Arael666]

Look up the Thogaturge. It ought solve your role playing woes

Edit: here he is in all his glory (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?195049-Help-Me-Be-Annoying-with-a-Barbarian-Wizard)
---
Also ask if you can use other martial classes... It is kinda sketch that the DM strong arms you into a role (though fair enough, he wants some diversity) let alone a class/build.

OMG that spellbook!

http://1-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/board/tg/image/1353/97/1353979079924.jpg

[RSSwizard]

Unfortunately that's not how Haste works.

Actually you're right, sorry about that. Still even if you cant charge 2 times per round, you can charge then hit them normally, then use the move action to reset it again for next round. Since the Lance has reach you may not even provoke attacks of opportunity by leaving if they didnt also have reach.

[Zweisteine]

Look up the Thogaturge. It ought solve your role playing woes.

I second this. It would be really funny to see in action.

I also agree that a DM forcing you into a certain build is Not Nice. He should at least let you be a Warblade or something... Or a straight Barbarian... Or a Knight... Or a Samurai...

[Phelix-Mu]

Alright, here is what I usually toss my players when they are in this same kind of situation.

1.) Character Origin: If they really need help, I point to the back of PHB2, which has a decent sort of summary of a bunch of archetypal origin stories. Basically, what kind of culture did your character originate from? What class/social role did his/her family fill? Was it a happy home-life, or a tormented youth? Big family, or only child? Rich or poor? How did the character decide to do what the character does? The normal choices are things like heritage, apprenticeship, explorer, outcast/outlier, and so forth.

2.) Character Outlook: This is more individualized. I usually suggest that, if there is any big influence from #1, that the player take that influence, let's say growing up poor/forced to live off the land, and build that into part of the character's outlook and personality. Someone that is forced to make do with little or nothing usually ends up preoccupied with acquiring the essentials throughout their lives. This can lead to hoarding, or materialism, or a kind of mercenary, self-centered outlook, constantly trying to make sure that they themselves are provided for. Or, if the character also had a family to provide for, this may lead to a pack-leader mentality where the character is hypervigilant and protective of group members, trying to make sure everyone has a place and that things work smoothly (subconsciously attaching their survival to the functioning of the group).

A similar process can be done for almost anything. Forced to marry early, felt trapped by circumstances? Enter a rolling stone, always avoiding getting tied down, hating the suffocating feeling of those relationships, in which the character originally had no choice. Sole survivor of a massacre? Enter the revenge-obsessed vigilante, training day and night as part of a personal crusade to get even. Rich child of privilege, but whose family lost everything as a teen? A gloomy doomspeaker who doubts the existence of anything safe or permanent, always convinced of the cloud behind every silver lining.

3.) Party Connection/Reason for Adventuring: This may be covered by #2, but I usually try to have the character have a justification for engaging in whatever the premise of the campaign is. Life as an adventurer is a series of quasi-suicidal, world-spanning mishaps, and it helps if the player knows how the character would approach these occurrences from a role play perspective. Willing participant? Greedy pillager? Mercenary? Happy-go-lucky waif just tagging along for the ride? This is a more immediate/reactive take on the issues of #2, more focused on the recent past and present than the formative events of the character's life.

Alright. So, here is my idea.

1.) A barbarian. Hmm. Well, Conan is a well-worn archetype. Lemme suggest something more along the lines of an aboriginal spirit-seeker, part of a tribal culture that has mystical practices tied to the land (seeking for water or following some iconic animal food source like bison or wildebeest). This guy has weird tattoos, speaks solemnly and uses unusual metaphors tied to nature and spirit animals.

2.) The barbarian has fighter levels. Well, I guess the man of the wild had to leave his tribe and seek professional training. Let's go for the lone survivor, but instead of the typical revenge motif, let's say he survived some natural disaster/cataclysm. A year of wild fires that scoured his homeland down to the subsoil, killing or scattering all of his tribe outright. He can't get revenge against nature, so he wanders, rootless, a proverbial leaf on the ruthless winds of life. Seeking a place in the world, he arrives at a city, and he learns that his native ways and living off the land have made him strong and tough compared to these soft people and their easy lives. He gets involved in security work or some kind of enforcement, or maybe pit-fighting. Whatever it is, he pursues a more professional training regime, learning to use weapons and armor beyond the spears and bows of his native people.

3.) Where from here? Well, life has been brutal to our hero. He used to have a life; maybe a wife and kids, even (ratchet the angst up or down as desired). Then life took it all away, and his world turned to ash (literally). Now, he can only try to find a meaning behind his survival. Life scorned him? Well, now he scorns life. He tests his strength against the worst he can find, symbolically spitting in the face of the world that once robbed him of his meaning, his culture, his purpose. This may make him grim and dark to others, but he remembers well the value of all that he lost, and may yet find a reason to forge new connections to fill the void in his heart.

See? Not so hard. The main thing about this kind of spitballing is just to get the process moving, get some creative seed that you like and then follow that thread (and that seriously mixed metaphor!) until you find a fully formed character before you.