New player needs help with character idea...

[summitmonkee]

I would like to explore the viability of a DPS focused Half-Orc Barbarian/Fighter using mainly a glaive (or similar), utilizing both Polearm Master and Sentinel feats, choosing the Eagle as the totem animal and going with the Champion archetype to increase crit chance and the great weapon fighting style. Not sure of the number of levels in each class.

The goal is a reach/melee character who basically dances in and out of enemies, bobbing and weaving, laying waste with his glaive and stopping enemies in their tracks when he hits. Then dancing out of range again, forcing any melee mobs who want a piece to re-enter his range and provoke opportunity attacks. All of this is, of course, situationally dependent on the map/formations, etc. If forced to remain in place during melee, the bonus attack feature of the Polearm Master feat and the opportunity/reaction attacks from Sentinel would come into play. I actually thought about choosing bear as the totem animal for a more stationary/tanky combat build.

The character wouldn't really be able to wear heavy armor due to Barbarian ability limitations, so AC might be a concern?

Anyway, because I'm very new to the game and have a limited understanding of the combat mechanics, just wondering what the more experienced players/DMs think. Is this a viable combat method? What concerns would you have and how might those concerns be mitigated?

Just looking for a discussion and to learn from those with more experience and differing ideas than I.

A couple of questions up front for my own understanding:

Do the Half-Orc's Savage Attacks trait and the Barbarian's Brutal Critical abilities stack?

Similarly, how would the interaction work between the Half-Orc's Relentless Endurance and the Barbarian's Relentless Rage? Could you choose which ability you use or does one take precedence over the other?

Thanks in advance! Looking forward to learning more!

[Shining Wrath]

Your barbarian will be able to add Constitution modifier to armor class. That helps a bit as you'll want at least +3 there to begin and probably go for +5; this makes your AC as good as half plate, which is the best you can wear anyway. D12 HD + 5 HP/level allows you to ignore a lot of damage. There's quite a bit to be said for high dexterity in the barbarian, which means you dump all the PUNY MENTAL STATS OF CITY-BRED WEAKLINGS.

[Foxhound438]

That's a fairly decent build.

Your AC doesn't really matter if you have rage up, since the damage resistance basically becomes your defensive feature. All the things you want to stack do in fact stack, to include the two relentless features; how that would work is that once you drop to 0, you chose which one takes effect. The only thing I would warn you about is that you super shouldn't take any fighter levels until after you have the barbarian's extra attack.

[Mandragola]

The tricky thing for this build will be needing good stats and also two feats. Getting strength and con both up to 20 requires 4 ASIs (if you're using points buy, with both starting at 20) and then your two feats require two more. But you only get 5 ASIs in your character's career.

So the problem is that you're probably trying to be good at slightly too many things. The outcome of that is that your character will take a looong time to come on line properly.

There are ways around this. For instance a battlemaster fighter with PAM is a great option, able to replicate a lot of the character above through manouevres. Instead of taking sentinel to stop people when you get your attacks of opportunity you can frighten them, knock them over etc. - with much the same effect.

A battlemaster isn't such a good crit fisher as a champion/barbarian - though for that character I think I'd recommend going with Great weapon mastery instead of PAM and Sentinel. Why hit people with the back end of your halberd when you can hit them with the sharp end of your greataxe?

In any case, pick one class (fighter or barbarian) and take it to at least level 5 before multiclassing. Nothing, nothing at all, beats having a second attack. Don't delay that by even a single level. It's not exactly a hardship taking the ASI at 4th anyway.

[summitmonkee]

The tricky thing for this build will be needing good stats and also two feats. Getting strength and con both up to 20 requires 4 ASIs (if you're using points buy, with both starting at 20) and then your two feats require two more. But you only get 5 ASIs in your character's career.

So the problem is that you're probably trying to be good at slightly too many things. The outcome of that is that your character will take a looong time to come on line properly.

Why couldn't I take a feat at level 4 instead of the ASI? If I went straight to lvl5 barb and took a feat at lvl 4(prob Polearm Master, Sentinel would come later), my character would be well on his way. He'd have 50 movement per turn (100 if you count Dash, bonus action) would be ducking in and out of melee with Eagle Totem and would be dishing out opportunity attacks every time an enemy moved into range, in addition to his two attacks (possibly 3 with pole arm master bonus attack) fishing for crits all the time.

How important is it that STR and CON both be at 20? My thought process is that the higher number of opportunities to do damage (opportunity attacks and reactions in addition to regular attacks) will outshine an additional +1 to damage and +1 to hit from str modifier, basically the difference between a STR of 18 or a STR of 20.

That being said, I have never played a level 20 character or even anything close (yet). What benefits am I missing that a STR of 20 would give me over a STR of 18?


There are ways around this. For instance a battlemaster fighter with PAM is a great option, able to replicate a lot of the character above through manouevres. Instead of taking sentinel to stop people when you get your attacks of opportunity you can frighten them, knock them over etc. - with much the same effect.

A battlemaster isn't such a good crit fisher as a champion/barbarian - though for that character I think I'd recommend going with Great weapon mastery instead of PAM and Sentinel. Why hit people with the back end of your halberd when you can hit them with the sharp end of your greataxe?

A major advantage that I see for my build over the one you suggested is that with Battlemaster, my use of his maneuvers would be limited in number. It means I would have another finite resource to keep track of and that my usefulness would be limited to a number. With my build, none of those abilities are limited by a specific number of uses(except rage, of course). Instead, based on positioning and tactics, I could use them almost at will (in some/most situations). Combined with a party member that helps to control the battlefield (mainly regarding enemy movement), I see this Barbarian being a very effective mob killer, and possibly a decent ballroom dancer.

Also, for me, the draw of Polearm Master isn't the extra bonus attack, its the opportunity attacks when enemies enter my reach. The bonus attack would probably only be used when being forced to stay stationary in combat. It is secondary to the opportunity attacks gained, at least for this build.

[summitmonkee]

Also, I think its worth mentioning that the particular build I mentioned above would have far more utility against multiple opponents rather than against a single stronger opponent... At least, I think.

[Foxhound438]

18 strength is okay, but 20 is better (obv). Personally if I had to chose, I'd boost str to 20 and let con end up at 18. With a d12 hit die and damage resistance, the difference in HP is pretty minuscule.

[Specter]

Since you're a Half-Orc in need of two feats, I'd go Barb4/Champion 16 for the two extra ASI's. Otherwise, looks good.

[smcmike]

I like choosing feats over ASI's early, since feats are more fun. Sentinel + PAM, particularly, gives you a battlefield control ability that you wouldn't otherwise have, vastly increasing your tactical options (and therefore, hopefully, your fun).

That being said, you only get one reaction/OA per round, so the math may be with increasing strength.

Also, if you want active fun, Battlemaster makes more sense than Champ. Crits are fun too, but really that's just another numerical bonus, akin to pumping strength, as opposed to extra options.