Best common or uncommon item for my level 5 barbarian?

[RPGaddict28]

I'm starting a Tomb of Annihilation campaign at level 5, and I'm playing a Goliath Bear Totem Barbarian who'll presumably be the main tank. I rolled really well for stats and after racial and level adjustments, with 20 STR, 14 DEX, 17 CON, 11 INT, 13 WIS, and 12 CHA, and slightly below average HP, at 54 HP. The DM said we can also start with a free common or uncommon magic item, but I don't really know what's good. I could just start with a +1 item, but I feel like there may be better options. Any recommendations?

[Zhorn]

For Tomb of Annihilation; death saves are the big thing to worry about if you DM is playing on meatgrinder mode, and being out in the wilderness can result in a lot of dependence on hit dice healing.
Periapt of Wound Closure (uncommon); hit dice on short rests give you more bang for your buck, and you get a reliable auto stabalize one round after you get knocked to zero.

[Keravath]

There are a few good items depending on what you are looking for ..

-Winged boots give you a fly speed equal to your movement rate. This can be very handy.
- +1 weapon that fits your build might actually be one of the best choices for ToA since if your DM is running it by the book there are very very few magic items and even fewer magical weapons
- Your AC is only 15 using your unarmored defence without a shield so you might want to consider mithral (stealth) or adamantine (protection from crits) half-plate or something like that for a 17 AC without a shield (19 with a shield) .. this may depend on whether you are planning on a GWM barbarian or something else.

P.S. I would second periapt of wound closure as one that is helpful in the face of the death curse but it really depends on how often you expect to be down rolling death saves and whether you will be playing using the meatgrinder mode which increases XP at the cost of making death saves a DC15.

[Irrek57]

A single 'Decanter of Endless Water' could easily nullify all water need for the party as well as shave massive amounts off of your collective carry weights.
'Goggles of the Night' to cover the Goliath lack of Darkvision could be a good pull as well.
'Javelin of Lightning' being a base magic weapon with a 120ft lightning bolt-like attack is worth considering also, imho.

[RPGaddict28]

As far as I know, we're not on meat grinder mode, and while the Decanter of Endless Water definitely would be useful, I can also carry 600 pounds so carry weight isn't too big of a deal. The Periapt of Wound Closure seems pretty useful. Can I use the Hit Die feature while stabilized?

[Zhorn]

The Periapt of Wound Closure seems pretty useful. Can I use the Hit Die feature while stabilized?
The Hit Die feature of the periapt is an always-on benefit and makes no distinction on when it does to doesn't work. Any time you roll Hit Die to restore hit points it will double the number of hit points it restores. As long as you meet the criteria to roll a Hit Die, the periapt will work.
Short rests also don't stipulate that you need to have any hit points to benefit from the short rest mechanics (unlike long rests that require you to have 1 hit point to gain its benefits). So yes, you can be stabilized at 0 hit points at the start of a short rest be allowed to roll Hit Die to be doubled by the periapt.

[Quoz]

Decanter of endless water was one of the most useful party items we had for jungle exploration. We used it as an outboard motor for our many improvised boats, mostly made between my sorcerer using shape water to make ice pontoons and our lizardfolk ranger crafting the rest of the raft from whatever we could scrounge. Sending stones can also be quite potent, there are a number of powerful NPCs who may be able to pass you valuable information or other forms of support as you traverse the jungle.

As for personal use items, anything that stacks bonuses on your saves is very useful. Failed saves will kill you faster than anything else. Magic weapons of your preferred style are always good. If you are going sword and board, I would go magic shield over armor and pick up shield master to add the bonus to Dex saves as well.

[Foxydono]

My vote goes to flying boots. You can evade many traps, reach flying opponents etc. They are especially good on melee characters.

[Aett_Thorn]

Go against type and all sense of reasonableness, and pick up a Headband of Intellect! Be the smartest Barbarian around.

[Nhorianscum]

Deck of illusions or a low grade bag of tricks are both incredible pulls imo.

That said a +1 weapon is always good.

[Contrast]

My actual answer - Winged Boots or Bag of Holding. Both are just really useful, will get a lot of use and are still a bit more interesting that just getting a +1 weapon.

My cool answer for cool people :smallcool: - Clothes of Mending so you can describe hulking out and tearing your shirt every time you rage.

[Aprender]

Killing stuff is a lot of fun. Not being killed is even more fun.

Mathematically, you can make a strong case that going fully offensive is a great way to play a barbarian, but if you'd rather play your DM instead of the math(s), adamantine breastplate ups your AC (unless you're one of the board's famous "high-rollers) and prevents critical hits. A shield +1 or even a cloak of protection (for rare item: cloak of displacement) aren't flashy, but they do help prevent damage. When the DM finally gets to hit you, you're likely to shrug off half anyway. Good times.

If you really want to go defensive, take resilient: wisdom as a feat. Barbarians are ASI starved, but shrugging off the mind control that is often an Achilles heel of barbs is a lot of fun.

[moonfly7]

Rust colored bag of tricks. Gives you some great support, 3/day. Numbers are always good and you can use the animals for flanking.
That said I'm always fond of dust of drying or a decanter of endless water, constant shenanigans and fun
Winged boots are good
Nobodies mentioned elemental gems. I don't think you can use them during rage, but if you can they're a great fall back plan
Bag of holding is good
Hat of vermin, common item. It's mistly just a gimmick but I can't help it if I love it.

[Keravath]

My actual answer - Winged Boots or Bag of Holding. Both are just really useful, will get a lot of use and are still a bit more interesting that just getting a +1 weapon.

My cool answer for cool people :smallcool: - Clothes of Mending so you can describe hulking out and tearing your shirt every time you rage.

In general, I'd agree with you that any of the cool items suggested would be awesome.
- Goggles of Night (for a Goliath)
- Winged Boots
- Bag of Holding
- Bag of Tricks

etc. Lots of good suggestions in this thread.

However, unless the DM changes up the magic items, there aren't any +1 polearms/greatswords/ranged weapons at all in ToA. ToA is REALLY low magic. As far as I know the only magic weapons are a +1 dagger, +1 Yklwa and a very difficult to obtain (late in the game) flame tongue long sword. That's all. So unless the DM homebrews in additional magic weapon content in the campaign. A +1 weapon may actually be by far the best choice for a barbarian since creatures resistant to non-magical damage DO start to appear.

BUT this is very DM dependent.