Barbarian for Strahd: What Path?

[jaappleton]

Long story short, my party members and I are like 95% positive that we’re staring at a TPK right now. We ended off staring at 6 Werewolves and 3 Wolves, and we are level 3.

So.... Like I said, likely TPK. :smalltongue:

Now, I’m thinking of bringing back my first 5E character. A big, dumb, lumbering Half Orc Barbarian that hit like a truck and took a hit like a boss.

However, it’s been awhile. Some new books have come out. As a result, the Barbarian Path for my character is up for debate.

We’re playing Curse of Strahd.

Do I go Totem and pick Bear to mitigate nearly all damage? Wolf to help melee allies?
Perhaps Ancestor Guardian to help mitigate damage my allies might take, or Zealot as a source of Radiance in such a dark hellscape?

[Sigreid]

Zealot was made for CoS. But any of them should do well.

[ToastyTobasco]

In the middle of a CoS game right now. Zealot will be a hell of a choice for the radiant damage per turn alone and that level 9 ability can be life-saving. Lots of undead regenerate unless you give em a good dose of radiance. The no-cost rez is a double edge sword with the little catch for getting rezzed in Barovia.

Choices for damage mitigation are definitely worth considering as this module is designed to make you fight on your heels. 1 point of damage not taken can literally be the key to an encounter.

I would actually consider at least taking a look at Storm Herald, depending on your party comp. I've never really stopped to look at this but holy cow the versatility this offers would have helped us a bit in some nasty encounters we have had. However my group has been a level or two lower than recommended for the fights we have gotten in, so your experience may vary.

[sophontteks]

Unfortunately storm heralds are terrible. There isn't much to say about it. They just don't offer much, even with all those choices.

A zealot is pretty optimized for CoS and totem barbarians are always good with their mobility options. Your party will love you if you go eagle and break all enemy reactions on a bonus action dash.

[Waazraath]

Haven't played 5e Strahd, but in an earlier edition's version the charm / fear immunity while raging from Berserker subclass would have been very good.

As for storm herald's: they aren't that customizable, are they? You need to level before you can change between the different class abilities. That said, I'm not as negative on the subclass as sophontteks is (cause tundra is imo quite decent, temp hp work really nice with resistance, and it buffs the rest of the party as well) - but it doesn't add anything against undead as far as I can see, so I would skip it for CoS.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Berserker might actually work out better than usual. At least in my experience, a lot of the areas have wound up as one big set piece (partially because of the party's choices, and partially because, well... there's really only one thing that matters in, say, Berez.)

Otherwise,I 'd say Zealot if your party is low on damage, Ancestral Guardian if it looks squishy, and Bear Totem if it's otherwise balanced. Also holy geez run from those werewolves and hope your gm cooperates, that is an absurdly brutal random encounter.

[GlenSmash!]

Methinks there are Vampires in CoS. Methinks Radiant damage is good against Vampires. Me further thinks that Zealots get Radiant damage.

But methinks you shouldn't trust me thinks. Me am simple barbarian after all.

[Ganymede]

Long story short, my party members and I are like 95% positive that we’re staring at a TPK right now. We ended off staring at 6 Werewolves and 3 Wolves, and we are level 3.

Well... you're clearly outclassed in combat. They're also faster than you, so you won't be able to run away if they're determined to chase you.

On the other hand, unless your party has been making some colossally bad decisions up to this point and this encounter is the natural consequence of those bad decisions, I doubt this is meant to be a TPK. After all, why would the DM simply choose to end your campaign in such an unceremonious and unfun way?

What is way more likely is that this is designed as a setback in some other way. Perhaps your party is going to be captured so you can have a fun evening escaping from their lair. Or maybe the one-sided combat is meant to humiliate the party rather than destroy them. Maybe, this isn't even a combat encounter; you could try your luck at parlaying with these furry beasties.

[jaappleton]

Well... you're clearly outclassed in combat. They're also faster than you, so you won't be able to run away if they're determined to chase you.

On the other hand, unless your party has been making some colossally bad decisions up to this point and this encounter is the natural consequence of those bad decisions, I doubt this is meant to be a TPK. After all, why would the DM simply choose to end your campaign in such an unceremonious and unfun way?

What is way more likely is that this is designed as a setback in some other way. Perhaps your party is going to be captured so you can have a fun evening escaping from their lair. Or maybe the one-sided combat is meant to humiliate the party rather than destroy them. Maybe, this isn't even a combat encounter; you could try your luck at parlaying with these furry beasties.


CoS Spoilers
We're en route to the winery, and this was a random encounter in the night. We couldn't find horses to get there sooner and were told it was about a day and a half journey. We knew we would have to rest overnight at some point. This was the result.

So... I mean, maybe. I have the feeling its a random encounter. I doubt they're here to chat.

And I don't think we've done anything yet to...

More Possible Spoilers
get Strahd's attention, so I don't think they are here to demand some hair or blood or something else that can be used as a tool to scry on us with.

[Ganymede]

Not every random encounter is meant to be a combat.

Heck, you could even engage in some creative intimidation. "You clearly have us outclassed and outnumbered. We'll be torn to pieces if we fight. Oh, but I can guarantee you 100% that you will die, too *points to the leader*. Can you kill us all before we kill you?"

[NRSASD]

As a DM running Curse of Strahd right now: Choose any path you want! It won't save you

In all seriousness though, there's a lot of good advice already in this thread. But more radiant damage is never a bad thing

[tmjr6]

Having played a zealot barbarian in Curse of Strahd, it was a lot of fun. Especially since I went down a grappling route, it really helped me put the hurt on the undead.

[jaappleton]

Going to go with Zealot. It makes sense, looks solid. Seems fun. Can't go wrong with Radiance.

[jaappleton]

.......we lived.

We actually lived. One person was knocked unconscious but we all lived.

The Sharpshooter rolled 3 crits, I crit one with Guiding Bolt, and then maximized Shatter and there wasn’t too much left after that.

Then we found a cart near a tower..... nobody checked for traps.... >_>

The Ranger took so much damage that even from full health, he’s dead outright. Just gone. Three others, myself included, made our saves to be still kickin’.

So no Barbarian.... Yet.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Then we found a cart near a tower..... nobody checked for traps.... >_>
Oh. Oh, man. That one's mean.

[jaappleton]

Oh. Oh, man. That one's mean.

Can confirm.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Can confirm.
On the plus side, you now have a RAW example to point to when your DM says you can't make a bomb out of alchemist's fire...

[Ganymede]

The funniest part is when you find out the attention that this explosion attracts.

[Keravath]

CoS Spoilers
We're en route to the winery, and this was a random encounter in the night. We couldn't find horses to get there sooner and were told it was about a day and a half journey. We knew we would have to rest overnight at some point. This was the result.

So... I mean, maybe. I have the feeling its a random encounter. I doubt they're here to chat.

And I don't think we've done anything yet to...

More Possible Spoilers
get Strahd's attention, so I don't think they are here to demand some hair or blood or something else that can be used as a tool to scry on us with.

Maybe they are just looking for new recruits? Personally, if I was DMing, random encounters should not lead to TPKs because that is just a pointless waste of time unless the players don't really like their characters or the module. Why derail a campaign for a dice roll?

Anyway, if I was running it ... the werewolves might be looking for recruits or perhaps they need a task completed which they can not do on their own so they find some minions to do it for them.

P.S. I just read the follow up (serves me right for not reading the whole thread). Congrats on surviving the werewolves! You didn't mention you were so well equipped with magical bows/silvered arrows and other magical weapons. I'd have thought the pack tactics and knockdowns from the wolves would have been enough to make life difficult never mind the multi-attack from the werewolves.

[sophontteks]

Maybe they are just looking for new recruits? Personally, if I was DMing, random encounters should not lead to TPKs because that is just a pointless waste of time unless the players don't really like their characters or the module. Why derail a campaign for a dice roll?

Anyway, if I was running it ... the werewolves might be looking for recruits or perhaps they need a task completed which they can not do on their own so they find some minions to do it for them.
Oh my sweet summer Child. This is CoS.:smallwink:

[Keravath]

Oh my sweet summer Child. This is CoS.:smallwink:

So I gather :) ... I haven't played it but it is on my list since it sounds like a very good hardcover.