Ravenloft Barbarian Build

[Raskaneil]

Good moving everyone,

I'm starting a new campaign with my group that I will be a PC in. We just finished doing OotA, which lasted a year, but are going to be starting over at level one for Ravenloft. The DM has admitted that he will be a little deadlier this go since only one or two of our original 7 characters died-died in OotA.

I previously did a Fighter/Rogue split and want to do something different. I still want to be in the front lines but with the new direction a one-shot this month showed I will need something survivable.

Right now I am shooting for Barbarian, putting highest stat in CON, then STR followed by DEX. I want to take advantage of a shield for +2 AC and will go Totem when I hit level three. I will be doing variant human, so I was thinking Resilient(Wis) to make up for already lower WIS and help against what I suspect will be a good amount of WIS saves or checks.

What are your thoughts or experiences with Ravenloft? Is my route going to lead to a swift death? All opinions are welcome, though I would like to stick with Human (variant) Barbarian because I have not played one and I like the starting Feat/class abilities.

Additional Details:

Using point-buy, so I am expecting my starting stats to be:
STR15+1 (Human)
DEX14
CON15+1 (Human)
INT8
WIS10+1 (Resilient)
CHA8

Will be buying equipment/weapons using 2D4x10 in PHB, plus whatever my undecided background gives.

[the_brazenburn]

Ravenloft is supposed to be deadly.

OTOH, we don't know your DM and can't give advice unless we have an idea of what sort of campaign is expected. Are you playing Curse of Strahd, or a homebrew adventure?

[Specter]

Unless Totem is set in stone, go Zealot. That gives you radiant damage, which is priceless here, and fits thematically too (an emissary of the gods sent to crush the undead).

[GlenSmash!]

It looks like a Solid defensive oriented Barbarian.

I also would personally go Zealot especially if there is a cleric in the party, but Totem is very good.

[Sigreid]

Unless Totem is set in stone, go Zealot. That gives you radiant damage, which is priceless here, and fits thematically too (an emissary of the gods sent to crush the undead).

Don't forget the no material components to rez bit.

[Ganymede]

If your DM is amenable to Dungeon Masters' Guild content, you should give the Path of the Gloambound a look. It has a theme that is very much in line with the deadly horror tenor of Ravenloft.


Aside from that, no, it is not a mistake to focus on making your character tough and resilient.

[Specter]

Don't forget the no material components to rez bit.

Oh yeah, screw diamonds!

[Spore]

Aside from that, no, it is not a mistake to focus on making your character tough and resilient.

Agreed. though I can support the Path of the Zealot idea, ideally someone else should wrestle the really supernatural phenomena. You can wrestle werewolves away from your wizard, you can crush a skeleton's bones under your boots. But starting with a witch or a mere vampire spawn you should start being cautious.

Remember that the dodge action exists. Remember that shove and grapple are very viable. Shut the opponent down because you cannot win horror adventure combat by brute force. If open combat starts you are already at an advantage. Have a good amount of Perception proficiency in your group. Have a caster able to deal with the incorporeal horrors. Have a party member support your group and maybe keep you together.

Then you can do your stuff. (Long story short: Choosing your build and Path depends on your party.)

[Grimace59]

Doing Strahd right now and biggesst advice is radiant dmg is huge in this setting. I'd advise the Zealot path for your subclass.

[jaappleton]

Oh yeah, screw diamonds!

Haven’t played Strahd but I hear Diamonds are quite a commodity in Ravenloft. So if your DM values material components, it’s an easy choice.

I did play a Half Orc Totem Barbarian (Bear) for awhile. He was a monster, he hit like a truck and was almost impossible to take down.

Theres two ways to view the Barbarian: Fully embrace the recklessness and go GWM and just rack up damage, or a wrong way :P (I kid, I kid)

Remember, for to keep Rage going, you have to get hit or attack. So you don’t want your AC to be TOO high.

We’re not kidding when we say Radiant damage is at a premium. You can deal Radiant all day as a Zealot, you’re not limited to a Paladins spell slots, or hoping to get the Sun Sword.