First time D&D player. Human Barbarian

[southpaw328]

Hey, first post here and also first time playing D&D.

I'm playing a campaign with 3-4 other guys, 2 of them have played for 20 years and the rest of us are kind of new. I am brand new.

Anyway, I decided to be a 7 foot human barbarian named Blamm. Our story in interesting, Waterdeep has been completely destroyed and it feels like we might take off on a Spelljammer (5e) campaign. We are level 3 right now, I decided to go Totem Warrior Path of the Bear. We also were able to acquire a Bag of Holding and I even purchased a Great Sword of Lesser Life Stealing.

Anyway, my DM said that we shouldn't expect to find magical items very often b/c of 5e rules but said if we saw an item on the magical item list we really wanted, we should come up with a back story or something as to why our character might search and or stumble on the item down the road (no guarantees). The Berserker Axe caught my eye. I'm not too good at the roleplaying part of this game. I really enjoy the battles, but I struggle to interact with the environment and know when to search for things or try to do something with an enemy besides attack -- things that requires rolls.

Basically , just looking for some advice on a cool back story as to why my barbarian would seek the Berserker Axe. Also, tips on how to be more interactive in the surroundings besides just when I attack enemies.

I hope that all makes sense. Thanks everyone!

-Southpaw

[Tiadoppler]

Welcome to the forum, and to the great and terrible world of D&D.

Regarding backstory, I'd suggest that instead of seeking any Berserker Axe you are searching for a specific one (they aren't necessarily unique). Do you intend to use it? Destroy it? Why do you want it?

"My grandfather was fighting alongside his best friend, whom he had known since childhood. They were back to back, fending off dozens of foes, until a mighty foe appeared wielding a beautiful golden greataxe. Together, my grandfather and his friend defeated that great enemy, but then my grandfather's friend picked up the fallen greataxe. Instantly consumed by bloodlust, he slew my grandfather in a single blow. When he finally awoke, he was consumed with guilt and surrendered himself to be executed for his crime. The greataxe was lost upon the battlefield. It is my intent to find this accursed axe and destroy it so that my grandfather and his friend may finally be at peace."


Regarding acting in character: Try closing your eyes when a scene is being described, then ask yourself what your character would do in that situation, and say it out loud. It's easy to get distracted by what's happening at the table when you're trying to be in character. Maybe your character isn't that interested in the conversation with the NPC: say that you're going for a walk around to see if you see anything unusual. Maybe he wants to be part of the conversation. Ask questions in character. Talk to other PCs in-character.

Barbarians are very good at movement, especially making Athletics checks to climb/run/jump. Climb on top of things to look around, or jump from rooftop to rooftop. Pick a few character quirks and see what happens when you follow where they lead.
The Fighter at my table is an epicure who likes to try new foods, so he likes to find strange cuisine and new restaurants.

The Barbarian at my table is someone who clearly wants to be a Paladin but was never smart, wise, or forceful enough. He expects himself to act in an honorable and knightly manner at all times, but often fails or puts his foot in his mouth.

The Wizard has okay charisma, but is generally suspicious of humanoids and prefers to avoid talking to most people.

The Paladin likes to insult people and is often patronizing, coupled with unusually frequent natural 1s on persuasion checks.

The Monk is a fish out of water regarding any sort of technology or society. Money? Houses? Domesticated animals? Roads?

The Warlock is a coward on the run. He's paranoid and close to delusional regarding personal threats.

Write 1-3 sentences describing how your character behaves around other characters (PCs and NPCs), then try to stick to it.

[Gilrad]

Having made the jump from "piloting" a character to "playing a character" myself recently, here are a couple of tips that really helped me make the jump:

First, don't skimp on the backstory. "He's the son of an adventurer who wants to follow in his father's footsteps" doesn't lend itself to any character cues. Give him a minor adventure or two, maybe one where he royally messed up because of severe character flaws. Making flawed characters is fun, and being able to look in retrospect to how lucky your character is for even being alive is a great way to start off.

Example: I initially started my fighter with the folks hero template, where he managed to over throw a tyrant nobleman through sheer luck despite how stupid his plan was. Emboldened by how he somehow didn't fail horribly, he is now convinced he is a hero of the era.

Second, find flaws and traits that you can use often and organically rather than those that need setting up. I initially wrote in my fighter's flaws that he likes to use words he doesn't know the meaning of. While that's fun, there's only so many times you can inject 'cromulent' and 'embiggened' into a session, and each time it felt forced. It quickly became apparent after the first session a much more apt flaw would be "never shuts up, thinks he's an expert in everything". He sees an NPC with a horribly disfigured face melted from acid? First thing out of my mouth was "Oh God what happened to your face? I want to look away, but I just can't!". Boom, I'm now the target of the interaction instead of a spectator.

[JPicasso]

Sooo, just for the record, the Berserker Axe is a cursed item, and could put you at odds with your group when you fail to stop attacking the nearest target. (even allies)
However, you could ask your DM if he could come up with "The Axe of the Berserker" which could be any cool custom thing that would help you in battle.

Anyway, for back story, keep things vague but plenty of hooks. For instance, have legend told that your tribe used to be the caretakers of some <insert axe or powerful artifact here> and it was stolen by a band of raiders who came by galleon. Which is weird, b/c your tribe did not settle near any ocean nor sea. (possible spelljammer hook, or some other strangeness hook). It would be fortuitous if you happened to be of the correct bloodline to take advantage of all the powers of the object. Even better if you're not, and have trouble controlling its power.

Since the object was taken, your tribe was now vulnerable to <insert some race / monster / etc> and was constantly at war with them. (perhaps your artifct was a giant slayer, or a fiend cleaver)

Also, you already have a sword of life stealing? This seems like just the type of object that you would be searching for. Perhaps magic items won't be so rare after all.

However it works out, you're having fun!

[SirGraystone]

In the movie Conan the Barbarian (the first one with Arnold), the intro have his father making a steel sword and bandits coming to the village killing everyones but the children they took as slaves. The main part of the story is Conan looking for a symbol with two snakes and those who raided his home.