[5e] Help me make a Gnome Barbarian (with rolled stats)

[TheBirba]

Hello everyone,

I'm going to start a new home-brew campaign soon and after seeing (and ordering) this miniature model
http://static1.paizo.com/image/product/catalog/RPR/RPR14487_500.jpeg
and rolling very good stats I decided to make a gnome barbarian, and I would love some insight.

The campaign focuses on a massive war on which we are part of an army, we start at lvl 1.
My rolled stats are 8 18 13 17 17 12.

I am unsure whether I want it to be a Forest gnome (Str 18, Dex 18, Con 17) or a Rock gnome (Str 18, 17 Dex, Con 18) at this point. The choice is completely RP-dependant, but since I will choose the (bear) Totem archetype I believe the forest sub race fits it most.

So far I was thinking of the char as a member of an elite and secluded tribe of gnome barbarians that live in the wilderness, who is sent as contribution to the cause for political reasons.

A couple of quirks that I came up with are:
- He speaks of himself in third person;
- He cannot bring himself to sleep under a roof (another reason to choose Forest over Rock);
- He has cute aggression for cats.

As far as mechanics are concerned, I would love to play it as a brawler/grappler, dualweilding fist weapons (reflavoured mace), however there is always the good ol' snb style.

The fist weapon path would lead me to take the Tavern Brawler feat (which is underwhelming and would screw the bonus attack from DW) and the Sword n' Board path to take Shield Master instead, and maybe a level in Rogue for expertise.

So, what would be your suggestions for both character development as level progresses and character personality? Particularly interested in quirk ideas (bonus points for silly quirks)!

[MasterMercury]

AC isn't that important for a barb, so personally I would go with the dual wielding style, since you can't use heavy weapons.

For quirks, maybe he's really sensitive about his size, and his anger flares up when anyone mentions it.

[kladams707]

AC isn't that important for a barb, so personally I would go with the dual wielding style, since you can't use heavy weapons.

For quirks, maybe he's really sensitive about his size, and his anger flares up when anyone mentions it.

That's kind of cliche. I think he should be sensitive about taller people's sizes.

"It must be terrible for rain to hit you first."

"That must be quite the burden to avoid hitting the tops of doorways"

"I'm sorry I'm not tall enough for you to hide behind."

And best of all, he's actually sincere about his sympathy for them, though not everyone may think so.

[chando]

Def Forest twf. Maybe a few figther/ revisões ranger levels after barb 5 for the figthingstyle. I would take the dual feat at lvl4 for more damage and AC, them round up con 18 and wis 14 at figther/ranger 4(lvl9) for more naked AC, from there more barbarian or If you went ranger migth want to keep going for the spell(but you cant use them while raging), rogue also fits and makes you much more stealthy and always add steady damage, so that's good. Ranger Hunter can give you hordebreaker that really fits a barbarian. You can always use a spell or two before raging to hinder some enemies before closing in(but no concentration as you cant keep It)

Otherwise have fun, cant really Go wrong with those stats 😁

[kladams707]

Forest gnome works fine, especially with your flavor.

I'm pretty neutral on sword and board vs dual wielding on the barbarian since you're going totem. Either works fine. Probably not the most optimal, but I've imagined both on totem (haven't played them yet, though I did design a dual wielding bearbarian with some rogue for a player of mine. He's been doing pretty well). A splash of fighter won't hurt for fighting style and action surge (dualing for sword & board and two weapon fighting for the other)

I would suggest either

Barbarian 8/Fighter 2/Rogue 10 (thief or assassin)
Barbarian 8/Fighter 4 (champion or battlemaster)/Rogue 8 (thief or assassion)

Both get you 5 ASI's/feats, evasion, danger sense, and feral instinct. Consider Alert as one of your feats as well as resilient. Dual Wielder is OK if you want a tiny bit more AC, less annoyance in drawing weapons, and slightly more DPR potential, but it really isn't necessary. But you can easily replace rogue/fighter with levels of hunter ranger. Just be aware you won't be able to use spells while raging (including ones you were concentrating on), but it can offer a bit more flexibility.

[ThurlRavenscrof]

Totally agree with being a forest gnome - really cool to be a totem barbarian who can talk to small animals.
I think your stats are high enough that you don't need to worry about optimizing... If dw sounds more fun to you, go with that. I really like the flavor of the fist maces on your gnome

[TheBirba]

Thanks everyone for the replies - the forums have been down for a few days for me, I couldn't see them before.

Unfortunately the DM has decided to go back to point-buy so I might have to not use this char after all... 😕