More well-rounded Barbarian build?

[Rajah]

I love 5th edition but the one thing that sometimes bugs me is that pure melee characters, like the barbarian, seem really limited in the number of combat and out of combat options.

I have no problem just swinging an axe all day in combat, but I want to have as many useful skills as possible so I can actually contribute more than just my sparkling personality out of combat.

I plan on playing Totem Warrior to give me some extra perks and even a little ritual magic.

As for skills, I don't need to be a bard, but I want to be as useful as I possibly can with trained skills.

Pleas advise me on:
Stat array
Race
Background

I don't want to sacrifice any combat ability, so I am shying away from feats. Need those stat bumps. If the feat is totally worth it, though, let me know. Also, I want to go straight barb, not multiclass.

I was thinking something like:
15, 15, 11, 10, 10 (won't be horrible even in untrained checks)
Half-elf (languages and skills)
Sage (is this the best skill monkey background? Not too sure.)

Anyway, please fire away with your suggestions. Thanks.

[KorvinStarmast]

I was thinking something like:
15, 15, 11, 10, 10 (won't be horrible even in untrained checks)
Half-elf (languages and skills)
Sage (is this the best skill monkey background? Not too sure.)

Anyway, please fire away with your suggestions. Thanks.
15, 15, 11, 10, 10
First of all, you need one more stat/ability. :smallbiggrin:

[Yorrin]

15, 15, 11, 10, 10 (won't be horrible even in untrained checks)
Half-elf (languages and skills)
Sage (is this the best skill monkey background? Not too sure.)

Barbarian is indeed the most straight-forward beatstick brute in 5e. Half Elf can certainly broaden your skills. And all backgrounds are mechanically equal, so seriously just pick whichever one fits your backstory.

In terms of feats- much utility lies that way. Magic Initiate might be fun for a "not a barbarian" feel. Something like Mage Hand + Minor Illusion + Find Familiar could suddenly completely change the feel of the character.

Or, if you're willing to give up Half Elf, Fire Genasi gets a Con based Produce Flame, which makes for an interesting "ranged" option on a barbarian build, as well as lots of fiery flavor. I've had a player who did this and it turned out quite well.

I guess it all depends on what type of utility you're looking for.

[Rajah]

15, 15, 11, 10, 10, 10. Apologies.

As for flavor, a spell option might be nice but even more important would be the ability to be able to be decent at social checks out and about in the world. I hate the idea of sitting in the back when we're in town and maybe intimidating someone every once in a while. I don't need to lead, but I'd at least like to do something. Based on the skills, dex is easiest I guess. So a way to train as many dex skills as I can?

[Rajah]

Also, magic initiate lets me take cantrips that don't really have an ability score tied to them, right? Pure fluff or out of combat utility?

[Joe the Rat]

MI lets you take cantrips, but they will rely on the caster ability score for the class you pick them from. But yes, you can take cantrips with no saves or spell attack rolls (prestidigitation, light, dancing lights, message, blade ward, guidance, friendship, booming blade...) and ignore the caster stat.

And speaking of half-elves, here's a build I did for AL:
Half elf, barbarian, "criminal" background:

16, 14, 16, 8, 10, 12, sword'n'board, aiming for wolf totem as a melee facilitator (AC 17, takes half damage raging... DMs love that). Picked up Insight and Intimidation from Half-elf (and swapped Deception for Persuasion: His flaw was having an tell when he lies, so I went all in on being a lousy liar). Plays the part of the swashbuckling highwayman (though not as charming as he necessarily thinks), a fair hand at B&E, who happens to go all Engine when he hits that fury point.

[Coyote81]

I've be saying this a lot lately, maybe it will catch on but give your Barbarian 13int and take 5 levels in Rune Scribe and welcome to a world of useful skills in and out of combat that can all be used while raging. I call this the Barbarian Shaman build.
V-Human Totem Barbarian6 Rune Scribe 5
Starting stats. (using points buy) 13,15(+1),15,12(+1),8,8 Level 4 ASI +2 Dex Rune Scribe 4 +2 Dex For a final of 13,20,15,13,8,8 at level 11
V-Human Skill - Stealth Feat - Ritual Caster-Wizard: Find Familiar, Identify
Using Short Spear(Rapier) and Shield Making your AC 20 at level 11
Ranged weapon is a Sling (For bonuses later)
At level 3 choose Bear totem and at 6 you choose Eagle for your totem path.

By the time you finish Rune Scribe you will have tons of awesome abilities, but here are just a few.
-Earthen Rune lets your 2 sling shots have a 25% chance each of auto-proning a target, if you using Fire on it as well it's 50%
-Wind Rune gives you a ranged knockback attack, it's ranged is as far as you can see, hello eagle totem. Flyign and featherfall like abilities are amazing, you can even increase the range on your sling.
-Fire rune just increases your average damage by allowing all your weapon attacks rerolls, and in a pinch the auto damage fire attack can be pumped to take out a heavy target
-Ice Rune has great utility to move across water, prevent all damage from 1 weapon attack, and lets you cast Sleet Storm, which can be a surprisingly powerful spell at the right time. Don't forget the ability to do cold damage and reduce an enemy's speed to 0.


There are so many more abilities as well, takes to long to list how versatile your barbarian will be. After reach this level I recommend finishing the build with 2 more levels in Barbarian for the ASI and 6 in fighter(Battle Master) for 2 more ASI and a ton of nice abilities. Lots of opportunities for feats(although if you take one you won't be able to get 20 CON, only 19)

[eastmabl]

I've be saying this a lot lately, maybe it will catch on but give your Barbarian 13int and take 5 levels in Rune Scribe and welcome to a world of useful skills in and out of combat that can all be used while raging. I call this the Barbarian Shaman build.
V-Human Totem Barbarian6 Rune Scribe 5
Starting stats. (using points buy) 13,15(+1),15,12(+1),8,8 Level 4 ASI +2 Dex Rune Scribe 4 +2 Dex For a final of 13,20,15,13,8,8 at level 11
V-Human Skill - Stealth Feat - Ritual Caster-Wizard: Find Familiar, Identify
Using Short Spear(Rapier) and Shield Making your AC 20 at level 11
Ranged weapon is a Sling (For bonuses later)
At level 3 choose Bear totem and at 6 you choose Eagle for your totem path.

By the time you finish Rune Scribe you will have tons of awesome abilities, but here are just a few.
-Earthen Rune lets your 2 sling shots have a 25% chance each of auto-proning a target, if you using Fire on it as well it's 50%
-Wind Rune gives you a ranged knockback attack, it's ranged is as far as you can see, hello eagle totem. Flyign and featherfall like abilities are amazing, you can even increase the range on your sling.
-Fire rune just increases your average damage by allowing all your weapon attacks rerolls, and in a pinch the auto damage fire attack can be pumped to take out a heavy target
-Ice Rune has great utility to move across water, prevent all damage from 1 weapon attack, and lets you cast Sleet Storm, which can be a surprisingly powerful spell at the right time. Don't forget the ability to do cold damage and reduce an enemy's speed to 0.


There are so many more abilities as well, takes to long to list how versatile your barbarian will be. After reach this level I recommend finishing the build with 2 more levels in Barbarian for the ASI and 6 in fighter(Battle Master) for 2 more ASI and a ton of nice abilities. Lots of opportunities for feats(although if you take one you won't be able to get 20 CON, only 19)

It should be noted that this Scribe Rune is from a recent Unearthed Arcana article. It's not legal for organized play, and probably requires DM approval for home games.

[Rajah]

Really good idea, but I'm trying not to multiclass. Keep the build as pure as possible.

[smcmike]

I love 5th edition but the one thing that sometimes bugs me is that pure melee characters, like the barbarian, seem really limited in the number of combat and out of combat options.

I have no problem just swinging an axe all day in combat, but I want to have as many useful skills as possible so I can actually contribute more than just my sparkling personality out of combat.


Funny, coming from 3.5, I find the straight melee classes of 5e to be almost insanely well-rounded in comparison. The 3.5 fighter, for instance, was effectively broken in terms of out of combat utility. Who ever heard of a fighter who isn't even good at standing guard? Not being locked into a tiny number of skills is so liberating.

Of course, your numbers are pretty rough for building a flexible character. I'd say that's your biggest hurdle. Half-elf opens up social options for you, so do that.

[Vogonjeltz]

I love 5th edition but the one thing that sometimes bugs me is that pure melee characters, like the barbarian, seem really limited in the number of combat and out of combat options.

I have no problem just swinging an axe all day in combat, but I want to have as many useful skills as possible so I can actually contribute more than just my sparkling personality out of combat.

Remember, contests are only limited by your imagination and Barbarians while raging have advantage on strength checks (which generally includes atheletics), which helps in pushing enemies around on the battlefield. You have many more options in and out of combat than the simple mechanical class abilities.

[Zman]

With that stat Array I would totally go Half Elf. You now have a 16 Str, 16Con, and 12 Cha. Half elf picks 2 Social skills like Persuasion and Deception, Barbarian gives you Intimidate and maybe Perception. And you've got two skill from your background yet. You'll have a +3 in all the Cha based skills that will get better with prof. Sure, you won't be as good as a Bard doing it, but it is damned functional levels of competence and gives you all social options effectively.

[djreynolds]

Guild Artisan or entertainer could give you an interesting backstory and good skills. Perhaps your barbarian tribe had ore deposits and your were taught to be a blacksmith. Or go Conan, and be forced to be a gladiator.

But you are a barbarian, you can forgo dex in medium armor and a shield to a 14 dexterity, but you will need str and con maxed.

[bid]

Late to the party, but: 16 14 14 10 10 10 as variant human is doable. I feel Con14 is more than enough with medium armor. Then you can dump Int for Wis12 or something

[Tanarii]

Some races, backgrounds and feats (mainly for v human) to look at. IMO Tool proficiencies are one of he best OoC things you can pick up.

Races: (I'll stick with ones that aren't small)
Dwarf: gives tool proficiency in Smith, Mason or Brewer
High Elf: free cantrip (Minor Illusion or Prestidigitation)
Human: variant gives feat and a skill
Half-elf: 2 skills

Backgrounds:
Charlatan: Disguise Kit, Forgery Kit, and False Identity feature (which also makes Forgery even better)
Criminal: thieves tools
Entertainer: disguise kit
Folk hero: artisans tools
Guild artisan: artisans tools
Outlander: wanderer feature
Sage: research feature
Sailor: vehicle (water), navigators tools, bad reputation variant feature.
Urchin: disguise kit, thieves tools, City Secrets feature.

For artisans tools I really like cartographers. Be the party map maker. Or cooks utensils, especially paired with a dwarven brewer. Otoh charlatan, Sailor and Urchin give the most bang for your buck.

cool Feats (mainly for v human): actor (speech mimic), dungeon delver, healer, keen mind (recall), linguist (ciphers), magic initiate (but remember no spells while raging), observant (read lips), ritual caster (req: Int or Wis 13)