Barbarian Race Options?

[SMac8988]

So a friend is making a new campaign, amd it will be my girlfriends first game. Initally I was going to play a darker character, going more rouge with a dark motive. But she has asked me to play something that can keep her safe, so i decided I'll play a bear totem barbarian.

Now my idea would be to get sentinel at level 4, then great weapon master at v 12. Doing stat buffs the rest of the way, excluding situation.

My question is what races does everyone prefer for a defensive barbarian.

Mainly looking at half orc, Goliath or minotaur.

And if minotaur i may take charger feat. The idea being charge, attack, then bonus action to shove with horns. Thinking attack would get rage damage, great weapon damage, charge damage and grest axe damage.

So suggestions, comments or other ideas would be awesome! !!!!

[Aurthur]

The most common answers are goliath and half-orc. Half-orc gets brutal critical and the resilient when reduced to 0 ability... goliath get much more 'big man on campus' flavor text and the short rest-refreshable stone-skin.

I love my goliath bear totem barbarian, personally.

[Alerad]

If your girlfriend wants you to keep her safe, consider Paladin with the Protection fighting style. High AC, disadvantage on attack against her once/round, Lay on Hands. Barbarian doesn't bring any of these to the table.

If you want to play barbarian, the options are:
Half-orc - decent barbarian, your racial abilities enhance your barbarian abilities. Decent choice, but not a protector. That will be my second choice.
Goliath - You can reduce damage by 1d12 + Con once/rest. Again, only works on yourself. That will be my last choice.
Minotaur - while mechanically not as strong barbarian as the other two, you can shove creatures 5 ft away as a bonus action. As a protector that would be my first choice.

Again, consider the following: Minotaur Paladin with shield, Protector fighting mastery and weapon. Your weapon doesn't matter - you'll be attacking with your horns which deal 1d10 damage, more than any one-handed weapon. Give disadvantage to attackers as a reaction, shove them away as a bonus action, Lay on Hands, aura of protection.

[JumboWheat01]

I'd like to make a point for the Hill Dwarf. Sure, you don't get any strength bonus, but you will have more health than any other barbarian. Throw that on top of the bear totem's resistance to all non-psychic damage, and you are simply a meat shield of very solid meatiness.

Sure, not the most useful, but it is in your standard PHB, so it's more welcomed if you ever want to bring him/her to more official games.

[HoarsHalberd]

Half-Orc or Goliath from official sources. Minotaur is hilariously awesome from UA.

[JumboWheat01]

Half-Orc or Goliath from official sources. Minotaur is hilariously awesome from UA.

I call Half-orc more offensive instead of defensive, and Goliath has the misfortune of being from the Elemental Evil pack. If you use an Elemental Evil option, you can't use a SCAG option (and vice-versa,) if you get into Adventurer's League stuff.

[SMac8988]

If your girlfriend wants you to keep her safe, consider Paladin with the Protection fighting style. High AC, disadvantage on attack against her once/round, Lay on Hands. Barbarian doesn't bring any of these to the table.

If you want to play barbarian, the options are:
Half-orc - decent barbarian, your racial abilities enhance your barbarian abilities. Decent choice, but not a protector. That will be my second choice.
Goliath - You can reduce damage by 1d12 + Con once/rest. Again, only works on yourself. That will be my last choice.
Minotaur - while mechanically not as strong barbarian as the other two, you can shove creatures 5 ft away as a bonus action. As a protector that would be my first choice.

Again, consider the following: Minotaur Paladin with shield, Protector fighting mastery and weapon. Your weapon doesn't matter - you'll be attacking with your horns which deal 1d10 damage, more than any one-handed weapon. Give disadvantage to attackers as a reaction, shove them away as a bonus action, Lay on Hands, aura of protection.

I know barb isnt the best protector but our group also needs a melee dps, and she is playing an archer. My idea is to go in, but stay close enough i can dash if needed, and take my advantage as often as possible to draw attacks to me. I was thinking the minotaur as well, possible attack of oppertunities with the shove and charge. See how much agro i can pull like that!

I am open to the other races, but felt those are the big three

[SMac8988]

I'd like to make a point for the Hill Dwarf. Sure, you don't get any strength bonus, but you will have more health than any other barbarian. Throw that on top of the bear totem's resistance to all non-psychic damage, and you are simply a meat shield of very solid meatiness.

Sure, not the most useful, but it is in your standard PHB, so it's more welcomed if you ever want to bring him/her to more official games.

I didnt even think of them honestly.... lol

[HoarsHalberd]

I know barb isnt the best protector but our group also needs a melee dps, and she is playing an archer. My idea is to go in, but stay close enough i can dash if needed, and take my advantage as often as possible to draw attacks to me. I was thinking the minotaur as well, possible attack of oppertunities with the shove and charge. See how much agro i can pull like that!

I am open to the other races, but felt those are the big three

No OAs from shove or charge, has to use their movement. Sorry.

[SMac8988]

Them moving back to attack though? Or am i super confused? Like if they move to attack my allie

[HoarsHalberd]

Them moving back to attack though? Or am i super confused? Like if they move to attack my allie

If they leave your reach to go to attack your allies then yes, but otherwise no. They don't get OAs from entering your reach though.

[SMac8988]

If they leave your reach to go to attack your allies then yes, but otherwise no. They don't get OAs from entering your reach though.

Ah i see. Would losing the +4 and breaking the stat max be worth a 3 level fighter dip for great weapon style, action surge, and improving my crit range? Then go half orc for the damage boast?

[ShikomeKidoMi]

If they leave your reach to go to attack your allies then yes, but otherwise no. They don't get OAs from entering your reach though.

Not unless you take Polearm Master, anyway, which is extremely strong when combined with Sentinel. In fact, I would consider taking Polearm Master+Sentinel, instead of Great Weapon Fighting+Sentinel, unless you know you're going to be using your bonus action for something else. Or all three if you can spare the feats.

[SpawnOfMorbo]

So a friend is making a new campaign, amd it will be my girlfriends first game. Initally I was going to play a darker character, going more rouge with a dark motive. But she has asked me to play something that can keep her safe, so i decided I'll play a bear totem barbarian.

Now my idea would be to get sentinel at level 4, then great weapon master at v 12. Doing stat buffs the rest of the way, excluding situation.

My question is what races does everyone prefer for a defensive barbarian.

Mainly looking at half orc, Goliath or minotaur.

And if minotaur i may take charger feat. The idea being charge, attack, then bonus action to shove with horns. Thinking attack would get rage damage, great weapon damage, charge damage and grest axe damage.

So suggestions, comments or other ideas would be awesome! !!!!


For a defensive barbarian I would go Sword n Board Air Genasi.

First level might make you a bit less accurate but you can always make up for that 2nd level with reckless attack...

14, 16, 16, 8, 12, 8

No armor = 16 AC, +2 Shield (barbarian can use a shield with their unarmored armor class... I think). For a total of 18 AC.

Go wolf or bear totem barbarian, for this build I like wolf. Bear is more defensive but wolf allows you to let allies have advantage.

What's cool is that you never run out of breath for your rage screaming and you can cast levitate on yourself 1/day.

Level 4: +2 Str
Level 8: Mobile
Level 12: +2 Str


Weapon of choice?

Lets get weird and go with Morningstar as your main weapon, a longsword, and a warhammer.

So you are a naked air Genasi that can continuously yell, can levitate, and swings a freaking Morningstar.

Edit

OP said defensive barbarian, not defender barbarian.

[SMac8988]

For a defensive barbarian I would go Sword n Board Air Genasi.

First level might make you a bit less accurate but you can always make up for that 2nd level with reckless attack...

14, 16, 16, 8, 12, 8

No armor = 16 AC, +2 Shield (barbarian can use a shield with their unarmored armor class... I think). For a total of 18 AC.

Go wolf or bear totem barbarian, for this build I like wolf. Bear is more defensive but wolf allows you to let allies have advantage.

What's cool is that you never run out of breath for your rage screaming and you can cast levitate on yourself 1/day.

Level 4: +2 Str
Level 8: Mobile
Level 12: +2 Str


Weapon of choice?

Lets get weird and go with Morningstar as your main weapon, a longsword, and a warhammer.

So you are a naked air Genasi that can continuously tell, can levitate, and swings a freaking Morningstar.

Edit

OP said defensive barbarian, not defender barbarian.

That looks like a really cool build. I dont know the genasi so ill definitely look into them now.

[Douche]

I don't really get the big deal over charging. Two of my games have druids that constantly shapeshift into tigers and use their "chargey" pounce attack... once. Then the rest of the enemies swarm them and they can't move without disengaging or taking AoO, just so they can charge again on the next turn.

Can't you just take the shield master feat and achieve the same thing, more often, without running around bashing stuff with your head like a dunce?

[JellyPooga]

If the remit is "a Rogues best friend" then Barbarian is definitely the way to go, but not Bear...Eagle.

At 3rd; Dash as a bonus action and enemy disadvantage on OA's against you means you are always where you need to be (i.e. wherever the Rogue is when she's in trouble). It also means you can keep pace with the Rogue herself when she Dashes as a bonus action and still be useful.

At 6th; your Rogue is an Archer, right? With Eagle Aspect, you're now her "spotter". If you don't know how important this is go watch the film Jarhead or any other film about snipers that has any grounding in reality. Also (and probably more relevantly) the increased visual acuity in the dark is great for not being surprised.

As for Race:
- The three you mention are all great Barbarian Races. Of the three, I'd probably go with Half-Orc; solid Stat bonuses, Racial abilities that stack with Barbarian Class Features and Darkvision. Perfect
- Dwarves also make excellent Barbarians. I think someone already mentioned Hill Dwarves having a ludicrous number of HP.
- Stout Halflings are surprisingly good candidates for Barbarian. Fearless, Lucky and Resistant to Poison as well as having ability score bonuses to your two AC stats makes Halfling Barbarians remarkably hard to put down. Only downside is lack of big weapon damage, but Rage makes up for that somewhat.

[SpawnOfMorbo]

I don't really get the big deal over charging. Two of my games have druids that constantly shapeshift into tigers and use their "chargey" pounce attack... once. Then the rest of the enemies swarm them and they can't move without disengaging or taking AoO, just so they can charge again on the next turn.

Can't you just take the shield master feat and achieve the same thing, more often, without running around bashing stuff with your head like a dunce?

Charging is both iconic (inside/outside of D&D) and cool. People lime to emulate iconic cool stuff. Especially if that stuff comes from books or movies.

As someone who played 4e, charging was very very fun. Being able to have free charges made you feel awesome.

Kill a thing? Charge a different thing.
Charge a thing? Do moar damage.
Charging a thing? You don't provoke (or have a higher defense against provoking).

5e has taken a huge chunk of that away from the barbarian, fighter, and rouge from the 3e/4e days. And that's sad.

It would be cool to see a subclass that revolved around charging. Give it some utility abilities that don't just revolve around damage (high level non-magical jump ability that works like the barbarian eagle leap).

If it was just iconic or cool within D&D I would say yeah, just take the shield master feat... But because it is iconic and cool outside the game, that is why we should have it.

[Douche]

Kill a thing? Charge a different thing.
Charge a thing? Do moar damage.
Charging a thing? You don't provoke (or have a higher defense against provoking).

5e has taken a huge chunk of that away from the barbarian, fighter, and rouge from the 3e/4e days. And that's sad.

It would be cool to see a subclass that revolved around charging. Give it some utility abilities that don't just revolve around damage (high level non-magical jump ability that works like the barbarian eagle leap).

If it was just iconic or cool within D&D I would say yeah, just take the shield master feat... But because it is iconic and cool outside the game, that is why we should have it.

That's just the thing, though. In my experience, the PCs cluster together for safety & focus fire... Resulting in all the enemies filling in the gaps and causing there to be nowhere to charge.

Just be a shield master and say you were "chargin'" (your lazer) when you do get a 20 foot move beforehand. Then be more effective overall cuz you don't actually need to run 20 feet with your head held down like a mongoloid just to knock someone back

[SpawnOfMorbo]

That's just the thing, though. In my experience, the PCs cluster together for safety & focus fire... Resulting in all the enemies filling in the gaps and causing there to be nowhere to charge.

Just be a shield master and say you were "chargin'" (your lazer) when you do get a 20 foot move beforehand. Then be more effective overall cuz you don't actually need to run 20 feet with your head held down like a mongoloid just to knock someone back

They cluster because that is the best option for them. Give them more options and they won't be so predictable.

5e is made in such a way to make PCs more predictable. Feature or bug, that's for each group to decide. I, as a DM and Player, find it to be a huge bug.

A lot of chargers didn't use shields. Shields are for wussies that need to defend themselves. Charging is for the strong, the determined, the little bit crazy... You can't hold a maul while you use a shield.

[Douche]

They cluster because that is the best option for them. Give them more options and they won't be so predictable.

5e is made in such a way to make PCs more predictable. Feature or bug, that's for each group to decide. I, as a DM and Player, find it to be a huge bug.

A lot of chargers didn't use shields. Shields are for wussies that need to defend themselves. Charging is for the strong, the determined, the little bit crazy... You can't hold a maul while you use a shield.

It's cool if you want to roleplay that... I know that chargin' around the battlefield as a warrior in WoW is hella awesome (especially when you use it on someone who's got an escape of their own, but you have 2 charges [and heroic leap on top of that] so they think they escape and you just gap close them again :smalltongue:). I'm just saying it's kind suboptimal in this game, unless maybe you took rogue levels for cunning action

[SpawnOfMorbo]

It's cool if you want to roleplay that... I know that chargin' around the battlefield as a warrior in WoW is hella awesome (especially when you use it on someone who's got an escape of their own, but you have 2 charges [and heroic leap on top of that] so they think they escape and you just gap close them again :smalltongue:). I'm just saying it's kind suboptimal in this game, unless maybe you took rogue levels for cunning action

That's the thing. A charger would get features that worked like Cunning Action: Disengage.

Or features that boosted defenses or have Temp HP when you charge.

Barbarian/Fighter subclass based around charging could have...

You have resistance to damage during a charge attack. This resistance ends at the end of your turn.

Or

Whenever you charge you may use a bonus action to disengage.

Or

Whenever you charge (at least 10') you may use the dash action to jump the rest of the distance to your target.

Of course martials are pretty screwed from the get go and as it looks now WotC will never fix the core issues so anything we get will have the same problems. Yeah, they can do damage but meh, everyone can do that reliably.

Guess I need to wait for 5.5 or 6.0 to see martials back to being half way decent.

Edit

It isn't just that there isn't chargers in the game, just that martials are so damn lackluster even when we get new options (like the fighter subclasses) they are an absolute joke.

[gfishfunk]

Charger + Mobile is pretty good.

Charge! Attack! And awwwwwaaaaaaayyyy!!!!

[SpawnOfMorbo]

Charger + Mobile is pretty good.

Charge! Attack! And awwwwwaaaaaaayyyy!!!!

Yeah, sadly it takes 8 levels to pull itnoff, or if you like being forced into a specific race, 4 levels. And lose out on ASIs...

This is just down right sad. :(

[eastmabl]

Stout halfling is a fun race which helps push up one's Unarmored Defense. I use TWF while not raging, and for raging, I use the battleaxe two-handed. I also have received a Belt of Giant Strength.

It's not the most optimal, it's not subpar either.

Plus, a raging shirtless halfling in a kilt who occasionally plays bagpipes is RP gold.

[SMac8988]

Idk my idea right now is a minotaur, start 3 levels as fighter so I can take great weapon fighting style, get action surge and the crit range increase. Then go full barb from there, getting bear totem and seeing if my dm will let me take alternating ones, get eagle as second and finish with bear or wolf.

Use a great sword as my weapon, and wear heavy armor till I switch to barb and my stats should be good to switch to unarmored.

how does that sound?