Barbarian Totems....pick 'n' mix?

[Motorskills]

So in the past couple of weeks, I learned to my surprise that Barbarian PCs that choose the Path of the Totem are not restricted to one spirit animal, and thus can have different ones at L3, L6, L14. A choice of five from PHB and/or SCAG.

Mechanically, that's not difficult on the brain. But thematically....how is that supposed to work? The tribes described in SCAG and SKT are very clearly aligned to a specific spirit animal.


Am I alone in thinking this feels...wrong, somehow?

[Bahamut7]

I see it more as any hero that is animal themed. Speed of the Cheetah, Strength of the Bear, agility of the Squirrel! Looking it as one who is mimicking a specific totem's traits for one ability could make a more flavorful character.

[Honest Tiefling]

I'd fluff it as people having different ideas about creatures, or they have completely different totems. I mean, in East Asian mythology, wolves and foxes are associated with grain, which doesn't translate to all cultures. Why would EVERY SINGLE tiger totem spirit be the same?

And in the SCAG, the Sky Pony, Thunderbeast, and Tree Ghost are mix and matching totems. Tree Ghost even changes one just to suit it.

[tsuyoshikentsu]

Your totem pole is four animals high. The animals don't all have to be the same.

[Honest Tiefling]

Or you could just have a chimera totem animal. Hippogriff should totally get you access to tiger/elk/lion powers, since the elk is the closest thing to a horse.

[Addaran]

So in the past couple of weeks, I learned to my surprise that Barbarian PCs that choose the Path of the Totem are not restricted to one spirit animal, and thus can have different ones at L3, L6, L14. A choice of five from PHB and/or SCAG.

Mechanically, that's not difficult on the brain. But thematically....how is that supposed to work? The tribes described in SCAG and SKT are very clearly aligned to a specific spirit animal.


Am I alone in thinking this feels...wrong, somehow?

The tribes in the SCAG are the Uthgardt in particular. There's a lot of other barbarians in the realms or in other setting. You could have a tribe who value the aspect of different animals (bull's str, cat's grace, etc) and the barbarian learn some of those ability, based on his preference and style. So like tsuyoshikentsu said, going for a totem pole.

Or if you play an eagle totem but really want the extra weight capacity, you could just pretend your totem gave you only two abilities and that the L6 is just part of being a barbarian and weight-lifting a lot.

Weird hybrid like the Sky Pony also work wells. There's enough monsters in D&D, you can probably find one with the mix of abilities you want. (want resistance, great eye-sight and flying while you rage? could be a dragon totem!)

[RedMage125]

I see it more as any hero that is animal themed. Speed of the Cheetah, Strength of the Bear, agility of the Squirrel! Looking it as one who is mimicking a specific totem's traits for one ability could make a more flavorful character.


Or you could just have a chimera totem animal. Hippogriff should totally get you access to tiger/elk/lion powers, since the elk is the closest thing to a horse.

These are both brilliant answers to the OP.

[The Vanishing Hitchhiker]

Huh, one of my characters is a barbarian's daughter. I may have to go tweak her backstory now.

[Finback]

Speed of the Cheetah, Strength of the Bear, agility of the Squirrel!

That was the weirdest episode of Bravestarr ever!

[Kane0]

Your totem pole is four animals high. The animals don't all have to be the same.

You sir get my internet cookie for today.

[Deleted]

I see it more as any hero that is animal themed. Speed of the Cheetah, Strength of the Bear, agility of the Squirrel! Looking it as one who is mimicking a specific totem's traits for one ability could make a more flavorful character.

Strength of Bear?

Pshaw, Squirrel Girl took out Doctor Doom with nothing but Squirrels.

Squirrel > Bear any day

Edit

Personally I hope Squirrel Girl gets her own movie and kicks the crap out of Thanos, again, and the rest of the marvel superheroes show up and are all like "whaaaa"...

http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/8454/how-did-squirrel-girl-defeat-dr-doom

[Bahamut7]

Strength of Bear?

Pshaw, Squirrel Girl took out Doctor Doom with nothing but Squirrels.

Squirrel > Bear any day

Edit

Personally I hope Squirrel Girl gets her own movie and kicks the crap out of Thanos, again, and the rest of the marvel superheroes show up and are all like "whaaaa"...

http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/8454/how-did-squirrel-girl-defeat-dr-doom

I am familiar with the story line, I mainly picked Squirrel as an example, because most people would assume Cat...but I find squirrels to be far more agile...and well...squirrelly.

[Chaosmancer]

Or you could just have a chimera totem animal. Hippogriff should totally get you access to tiger/elk/lion powers, since the elk is the closest thing to a horse.

One of my favorite characters I've built for my convention game stable is a totem barbarian of the owlbear.

I wanted bear resistance and eagle sight, and owlbears fit the bill.

With the added bonus of being able to say "I have an orc owlbear barbarian"

Another trick is looking at the abilities and figuring how they could apply to a different animal. Wolves are well known for marathon running, so the elk overland travel ability fits really well if you wanted to.

[djreynolds]

I see it more as any hero that is animal themed. Speed of the Cheetah, Strength of the Bear, agility of the Squirrel! Looking it as one who is mimicking a specific totem's traits for one ability could make a more flavorful character.

Now I have to go home and watch "Hot Rod"

[Arkhios]

IIRC, the iconic American Indian Totem Poles actually depicted, more often than not, numerous different animals. Maybe that's where you should draw inspiration? Making your character as a member of tribe that reveres not only one type of animal, but many. Once you've come up which animals your assumed tribe might have revered, it's easier to pick the totem features at L3, L6, and L14.

[Motorskills]

IIRC, the iconic American Indian Totem Poles actually depicted, more often than not, numerous different animals. Maybe that's where you should draw inspiration? Making your character as a member of tribe that reveres not only one type of animal, but many. Once you've come up which animals your assumed tribe might have revered, it's easier to pick the totem features at L3, L6, and L14.

Thanks everyone for your answers, they have helped a lot.

I will revisit the Uthgardts for my campaign and "theme them up" accordingly. :)

[Steampunkette]

Strength of Bear?

Pshaw, Squirrel Girl took out Doctor Doom with nothing but Squirrels.

Squirrel > Bear any day

Edit

Personally I hope Squirrel Girl gets her own movie and kicks the crap out of Thanos, again, and the rest of the marvel superheroes show up and are all like "whaaaa"...

http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/8454/how-did-squirrel-girl-defeat-dr-doom

Worth Noting: In some parts of Georgia, Squirrels are referred to as "Tree Bears"

[Kane0]

Not to be confused with Drop Bears, which are found much further south.

[Squibsallotl]

So in the past couple of weeks, I learned to my surprise that Barbarian PCs that choose the Path of the Totem are not restricted to one spirit animal, and thus can have different ones at L3, L6, L14.

Wait, what? They can?

/goes to start re-assessing the Barbarian

[Sigreid]

I'm genuinely surprised that people are surprised.

Some real world cultures teach that a person has 7 totem animals.

[RedMage125]

I'm genuinely surprised that people are surprised.

Some real world cultures teach that a person has 7 totem animals.

I, to, am surprised, especially because the PHB explicitly states "you can choose the same animal as you chose at 3rd level or a different one" in plain text.

Which cultures do you speak of, btw? I'm only familiar with Celtic and Native American, which usually say just one personal totem.

[Sigreid]

I, to, am surprised, especially because the PHB explicitly states "you can choose the same animal as you chose at 3rd level or a different one" in plain text.

Which cultures do you speak of, btw? I'm only familiar with Celtic and Native American, which usually say just one personal totem.

I've read that one of the Native American tribes did/does. I don't remember which one, and not being from that tribes culture I could easily be falling for some anthropologist's misunderstanding.

[Quoxis]

I'm genuinely surprised that people are surprised.

I on the other hand am surprised you're surprised people are surprised. You can't expect people to actually read what they're playing!

[Motorskills]

I on the other hand am surprised you're surprised people are surprised. You can't expect people to actually read what they're playing!

Well as a DM I am less familiar with player options to begin with. But that aside, I reckon I learn / re-learn a new (old!) rule pretty much every session.

Beyond that, seeing "understood" rules being applied in different (legitimate) ways is fascinating as well. The greatest tool for that is simply playing with different folks from time to time, AL Conventions are excellent for that.