Making Barbarians Actually Fun to Play in D&D

Finally, barbarians! I have a huge soft spot for barbarians in D&D, so this video was important for me. Dumb barbarians are fine and all, but if you wanted to change it up, I hope this was useful!
Check out Dice Goblin's Kickstarter page HERE! bit.ly/3cZTGIa
Get the Barbarian Path of spirits HERE!
docs.google.com/document/d/1b...
Video Editing by the amazing Bia: / bnazf
Writing, Illustration, and Narration by me: / antodemico

[@pointyhatstudios]

*Calling all Barbs, Calling all Barbs* 🪓 Let's see how many "Jojo reference" we can find in the comments of this video ☺🔪 (Also devil twist is coming yall, this week was a lot and I wanted to make sure I didn't add to my backlog by releasing this without a twist!)

[@antonmllerjohannesen2120]

Can we get a demon twist?

[@xenoexe4954]

I like this very much, ima make a character in a strixhaven campaign with the example for inspiration.

[@bionicdragon5]

You really think I'd go for the low hanging fruit? *Good grief...*

[@LexYeen]

There's something *menacing* about the art for the possession barbarian.

[@raluileka1149]

I'm feeling alot of resentment towards dragons, would you mind explaining.

[@solalabell9674]

I love that allistar’s family has the white hair streaks and he doesn’t until he rages not an extremely subtle detail but cool visual cue plus I love the art style for the family

[@user-bd7rn1hw3h]

It's also a Berserk reference.

[@riven5544]

Pretty sure everything’s a berserk reference at this point.

[@Fella_friend]

Yeah I agree. Perfect name choice to.

[@XonixDerps]

@@riven5544 Berserking is now a berserk reference :v

[@speedingspoon262]

All fun and good until one of his siblings cast hold person, paralysing the barbarian and causing their rage to end

[@krieggfn3896]

"Rage also ends when you die. So try not to die?" Level 20 Zealot: "I miss the part where that's my problem."

[@kingsadvisor18]

I'm working on a homebrew Barbarian subclass called the 'Death-Seeker'. Their whole deal is that they are searching for worthy opponents and dying in such an epic way that their story goes down in history. Level 20 Death Seeker: "Go ahead, thrill me..."

[@claytonthegrubkiller6430]

@@kingsadvisor18 oh cool, a warhammer slayer

[@Frazzle95]

@@kingsadvisor18 thats a personality trait/flavour, not really a class

[@kingsadvisor18]

@@Frazzle95 ... No? I'm creating game mechanics and features that fit into the idea of the theme. That's like saying "Hunter or Monster Slayer isn't a Ranger subclass, that's just what they do", when those are subclasses that grant features that fit those themes.

[@atsukana1704]

@@kingsadvisor18 sounds like olaf from League. His whole lore is he wants to die but ends up going into such a drunken rage everytime that he just ends up killing the thing he is fighting

[@michaelramon2411]

My favorite Barbarian interpretation is that their rage uses ki, the same life force power as the Monk. But while Monks hone their focus to release their ki in tiny, precise bursts, the Barbarian lets it run wild and free. Monks guide their ki while Barbarians let their ki guide THEM.

[@user-kw3dy7hc4j]

Sound like Broly.

[@schibleh531]

Kinda reminds me of FFXIV. In that game, every single class (melee, magic, ranged) use Aether to power their strikes, rifles, and magic. When you level up, you basically become better attuned with the aether, which allows you to unlock new skills and spells.

[@christianemerson4622]

Monks use streams of ki while Barbarians are the raging rapids

[@bananabanana484]

Makes sense. Monks follow a way, Barbarians follow a path.

[@JustVince7810]

Like the Jedi and Sith, I like it.

[@startingfromlevelone9510]

Way we’ve gotten around barb’s “lack of utility” is allowing the use of strength for things like intimidation and charming

[@seifer447]

That's a great way to handle it. Ithink that's in the rulebook, but my DM doesn't like to allow it. Kind of a bummer.

[@leoyakafudy]

yeah i have -2 cha barbarian with +7 intimidation because it's str based

[@topkek996]

*flexes seductively*

[@devforfun5618]

that is a feat in pathfinder

[@DIsturbios1234]

@@seifer447 Ask your DM how he would feel if a jacked dude walked up to his face and threatened him

[@notesmaker204]

A barbarian doesn't need to be naked. They just need to skip armour. My barbarian flaunts a new outfit after every long rest. They start raging when someone damages their clothes.

[@Drekromancer]

That's the most cultured barbarian I've ever heard.

[@sinisternorimaki]

Okey, I love this and might steal it.

[@notesmaker204]

@@sinisternorimaki Please do. To be honest, I haven't played it. I was just sitting in the back of head. Don't forget to remember the names of all the fashion articles ever made. Jus' kidding.

[@notesmaker204]

@@Drekromancer unless you ruin their tuxedo.

[@MK_ULTRA420]

Good job you remade Puri-Puri Prisoner. edit: I'm saying this because I've also made characters that already exist 😢

[@cardboard-boxgames9308]

My personal favourite barb concept is one I saw in reddit that subverts the 'all barbs are stupid' trope. The idea was to play a character whose first language isn't common and who struggles through social situations. Often strangers judge them and assume they're unintelligent, but those who hear them speak in their mother tongue will get to know them much better.

[@quillmcconnell8452]

I'm doing that with a war cleric rn, she's a Goliath and grew up in the mountains far from any common speaking folks A Dwarven army passed through and taught her their language (I imagine dwarvish having similar root words to giant, making it easier for her to learn) She decided to travel with them and learned about the gods through them. Her main goal is to defeat her God in a friendly 1v1 While she can understand and speak common, she's very much still learning it which is VERY fun roleplay with my party

[@middlekiff2663]

@@quillmcconnell8452 Her goal is to 1v1 her god? I absolutely love that; that’s amazing.

[@glennschroeder3828]

I do something similar. I play a halfling barbarian who's only 17 years old. An orphan raised by dwarves and now on his own after his family is killed, but still considered a child by halfling society. His somewhat low intelligence of currently 12 reflects his youth and being uneducated, as I also made him illiterate. He's not dumb by any means, though somewhat gullible do to his inexperience, and is fully capable of learning and understanding things that are explained to him. Another party member is attempting to teach him to read and, if he ever learns, I fully intend to "waste" a point on his intelligence to reflect that at the next level up.

[@ulyssespeterson6821]

I played a tiefling barb who was born to a frost giant. He could not read and struggled with common, but was quite eloquent in giantish and loved to recite giant poetry. He had an enchanted book of poetry that would read itself to him in his native tongue.

[@delilah9252]

Tf2 heavy?

[@snowysiamese]

I want an Iroh-based high intelligence barbarian. A beast, but unbelievably kind and intelligent

[@hanimated1574]

And very wise

[@Ozarka0]

Give him wisdom instead. It suits Iroh so much more. So a monk/Cleric would probably fit much better.

[@ingonyama70]

We rarely ever even see Iroh get angry, much less rage like a typical barbarian. You sure barb is the way to go here?

[@AlyssMa7rin]

@@ingonyama70 Probably meant to invoke his fury when riled by his foes, see Admiral Zhao, and his breakout from the Fire Nation prison.

[@Neolazaro91]

Monk, you're thinking of a monk

[@Rksimmons]

You could easily reflavour the "rage" too. Instead of it being anger, have it be a state of intense focus, or some kind of trance. It could even be some kind of exaggerated performance, like a dance, where your "reckless attack" is actually your character being *really extra* with their performance during the turn

[@EvilLobsterKing]

I just wrote a comment about this. My new Barbarian started training as a pit fighter at a pretty young age. His int/wis/cha are all at 8s, because practically all his life experience is just fighting. When he rages, it is entering an intense state of focus, that he has honed over his years in the ring.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

My barbarians are usually maniacally laughing.

[@ameliabrittain158]

Love a version of that Dimension 20 did with Barry in Starstruck Odyssey, he entered into The Zone, it was awesome, super fun flavor

[@mitchellenderson7194]

I have a Barbarian whose rage is just sheer force of will. Wills himself through incoming attacks and damage, pours will into his swings to hit harder, wills himself to not die after hitting 0 HP, basically everything comes from a fighting spirit that would make a Green Lantern blush.

[@Nempo13]

The old Samurai class did this. You could enter a 'focus state' so many times a day. In this state you had NO LIMIT to attacks of opportunity, you made an extra attack each round at your highest base attack bonus (it was 3.5), you could not be controlled in any way (no fear, sleep, daze, stun, etc etc etc) you gained a bonus to your AC and damage resistance. It was incredible. You also could decimate an entire group in a single round. Start your turn with your katana in it's sheath, enter your focus state, then do a charge through attack to the full extent of your speed. You get to move your full speed, and make an iajitsu attack on every person along your path (they get only their applicable dex bonus to ac due to being flatfooted, you crit on a 17, and do x3 damage on said crit (up to x5 depending on level). Yes, doing this could potentially drop 60 people in a single turn but was only doable as your opening action in the battle. Basically, the OG samurai was INSANE. You had to be Lawful, you had to have a master/lord, and if you ever became dishonored you would lose half your class skills. A LOT of shit could cause you to lose your honor. Yes, you had to follow bushido. The class was basically a barbarian/paladin. The L5R rulebook changed samurai again into a fight/paladin instead though. Which lead to 2 different versions of the same class.

[@zoushaomenohu]

Honestly, the funniest part to me was talking about Barbarians recharging their abilities at beddie-bye. It just conjures the image of this big, beefy boi tucked into an undersized bed, holding a blanket up to his chin with his mighty, meaty hands and snoring...that you went to bed yourself at the end is just icing on the cake!

[@yawarapuyurak3271]

That's something I learn from the gym. How people think muscle grows: lifting heavy things. How they actually grow: is time for my pillow, get me my teddy bear.

[@rangerecho]

Kronk enjoyer?

[@zoushaomenohu]

@@rangerecho Who ISN'T?!

[@solsystem1342]

They also must be holding a stuffed animal and the blanket is no longer big enough to cover them completely.

[@guillaumeleboss1]

And the teddy bear, don't forget the teddy bear XD No snooort mimimimimi without plushies

[@howlt005]

My third eye has been opened, I realise now that barbs don't just have to be himbos (even if I love himbos very much). Def feel inspired for my next character!!! ty!!

[@HantaleMedia]

Just be warned, the points you put in INT have to come from somewhere. Beware the WIS save.

[@DFG1125]

@@HantaleMedia Beware the dreaded wisdom save! As an enjoyer of unwise, loud, and brash characters wisdom saves are my bane.

[@curator_z]

I personally have a Tiny Tina style barb character in mind that I haven't gotten to play yet. Think ballet dancer - looks willowy and soft, actually all muscle and rage. Also the party historian and researcher, but quiet and not especially charismatic!

[@ShadowPa1adin]

Heck. Robert Howard's Conan of Cimmeria (the archetypal Barbarian) was even literate and educated (even the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie made note of this).

[@RightJackAtYa]

In my ill fated first campaign, my older brother ran a White Dragonborn Path of the Storm Herald Barbarian was a wise survivalist, entrusted with his tribe's ancestral relic: the tooth of an ancient gold dragon who died fighting for his people long ago, which he used as a greatsword. Genuinely one of the best characters I've seen played in my games. Hail Ghesh, son of Draan.

[@CharismaCaster]

Okay but imma need a full lore breakdown on what kind of sorcerer Alistair’s family is. Especially the eldest sister I love her design.😮

[@0marbles0]

Archfey Warlock I’m doing a dual character with a friend of mine where they are Alastair’s twin sibling. When each member of the family turned of age 10 a ritual is performed to Instill the power of the Fey but as (we) were the same age and our rituals were done together it chose whom it seemed the best choice for it’s gift and chose them. Leaving Alastair with no abilities.

[@bonbelzi856]

@@0marbles0 Wow so Alister's family is a bunch of fruad spellcaster's because there magic is not entirely there's, truth bomb

[@CharismaCaster]

@@0marbles0 I meant from Antonio who actually made them. Cause according to the creator they sorcerers and not warlocks.

[@guillaumeleboss1]

Wild Magic could fit... But honestly, any origin could fit, you just need to reflavour how the "Wild Magic Outburst" appear.

[@gratuitouslurking8610]

@@guillaumeleboss1 Just from my personal read, Alastair's family didn't even consider wild magic as an option, making me lean more towards more stable sorcerer types as their origins. Runechild does kinda fit with the idea of them being some form of pedigree sorcerous origin at least, but considering the whole 'gotta beat em all' concept, making them all different sorcery types would probably be better mechanically. If I had to guess, the twins in particular just going off official sorc variants are meant to be Shadow and Divine Soul?

[@kudo5385]

I love how you give a shining example of how DM's shouldn't be to constrained by oficial content and schould feel free to put "twists" on difrent elements. I personaly put a "twist" on the warlock - Fiend Patron - to make it more spesific for Tiamat.

[@infinitytower8957]

Tiamat isn’t a fiend though…

[@bananabanana484]

Read the comment again. Rethink your question

[@terra6713]

@@infinitytower8957 what "Tiamat Gargantuan fiend ・Chaotic Evil"

[@Maverick2736]

@@infinitytower8957 Tiamat is what you get when you pack so many metric fucktons of evil into a dragon that it grows into a fiend. She may look like a dragon, but that shit's beyond satanic.

[@Merilirem]

@@Maverick2736 Holes a hole.

[@bernadettemontembault665]

My first ever D&D character was a barbarian, and i'm actually still pretty proud of the character concept, she was a dragonborn, and since one of the other players had made a pretty young character with the urchin background, we decided it would be fun if our backstory was that i found him once trying to steal from me, and i decided to adopt him, so then we developped a very strong bond, and my rage would be triggered any time he'd be in danger, and it was flavored as a sort of very strong motherly protection, and we even worked well together mechanically, since i'd keep any enemy from getting to him while he peppered the battlefield with spells and eldritch blasts

[@CatchThesePaws]

That’s so awesome! My barbarian Dragonborn became part of a hype man duo, we didn’t have any instruments but damn we were inspirational! How long did that game last?

[@Isaax]

Allister as a character is just _chef's kiss,_ absolutely amazing

[@199rikki]

I love Alistair as a character so much, I'm so excited to try this concept out. So i can't thank you enough for showing me this and broadening my views on different classes and other things.

[@jamescornell5297]

One part of the barbarian I like playing with is how their rage manifests. Most of the time, it’s just on-command anger. But I like highlighting how each barbarian’s rage manifests differently. A Zealot Barbarian’s rage is fueled by the blessing of a god of war, a Beast Barbarian takes on an animalistic transformation and so on. I had the idea of making a Cold Fury Barbarian, one whose rage was silent and stoic, but very visible in the aura they gave off. Alternatively, there could be a skinny barbarian who has a fit of maniacal Joker laughter when they rage and doesn’t visibly hulk out at all. Or maybe the rage is a defense mechanism that’s activated by fear instead of anger. There’s a lot of room to be creative.

[@Wicked_Witch_of_the_Wired]

Love the Cold Fury Barbarian idea. I'm essentially doing that with a Half-hag Barbarian, a Bheur hag, whose Totem is a Polar Bear she fought to the death and skinned. She fights with natural Hag claws, is quiet and antisocial, has a diminished personality. Hoping when I get to play her, the DM upgrades my polar bear cloak eventually, because I had the idea of a cold flash/cold aura when entering a Rage and while Raging. I've also really considered Beast. What sort of ideas did you have for this subclass, if you don't mind me asking?

[@elwourmo993]

great point! I really liked wizards mentioning this with the wild magic barbs, who are described as being more in a dreamlike extasy then enraged. it doesn't HAVE to be screaming and shouting. I always toyed around with the idea of the OCD barb who has very narrow triggers or maybe even one who's just in some form oblivious to pain and doesn't hulk out so much but rather just stops being bothered by pesky swords in her guts.

[@styrax7280]

Great examples of other ways to express the rage mechanic. Another could be that they use 80% swear words by volume while enraged.

[@FaerieWithAHalo]

I made a cold fury Barbarian once. She was a little halfling that everyone underestimated.

[@ulyssespeterson6821]

I am getting ready to play an ancestral guardian barbarian whose rage is a divine blessing. There is no anger involved, they just say a quick prayer and receive strength and protection. Works more like a channel divinity.

[@bunnylovingbastard]

I love that Alistair's stable master is a bearded female dwarf. Actually brought a tear to my eye

[@Generic_Fella]

what is people’s obsession with bearded female dwarves??

[@JRexRegis]

I'm not gonna write your stupid name, but female dwarves having beards is a fun little fantasy thing that adds depth to what are normally just "humans but shorter"

[@TheBassManBoy]

​@@Generic_Fella Tolkien. Lord of the Rings dwarf women have beards.

[@--------04]

​@@JRexRegis"human, but shorter" me who is human, and not taller than a dwarf in dnd :( (I'm about 1,5 m) Joking aside, I agree

[@RavenCloak13]

That was a dwarf? She looked rather tall for one.

[@lovelessissimo]

For my upcoming underdark campaign, I am using a warforge barb. His creator was kidnapped while fixing him, and so the barb had to reassemble himself and rescue his creator. The untrained reassembly has resulted in strange glitches that come up every so often, a la wild magic and shifting alignments and personalities. This has spiced up an otherwise vanilla build.

[@vincet9770]

Recently made a character based on Allister... but I did quite a bit of re-working to make the character my own. She is a Tabaxi from a wealthy clan known for their sorcery. I decided to give her decent Charisma instead of Intelligence, since it synergizes nicely with bein trained in Persuasion from the Noble background and actually being decent at intimidation is also nice for a barb. Basically, she's a charming but somewhat ditzy rich girl who has a bit of a chip on her shoulder since her siblings are a bunch of mages, while she flunked out of magic school. That spark of magic is inside her just like it is in her siblings, but only pure raw emotions can manifest that power. And, like Allister, being bullied by her siblings is what managed to unleash that power for the first time. She does feel a little bit guilty about the whole 'nearly beating her big sister to death with tendrils of darkness' thing, so unlike most barbarians she is very careful not to hurt sapient creatures unless they have amply demonstrated that they REALLY deserve it. Yes, you heard that correctly: a barbarian who will try diplomacy before resorting cracking heads!

[@BradTastic17]

My favorite barbarian I ever played was a high elf named Lady Eliza Parts, who was a very proper, high society lady. Instead of flying into a rage, she would fly into a "Well I NEVER!"

[@Gitskreig]

I can totally picture her being insulted and calmly handing her fan to the bard, who is well aware of what is coming. As she elegantly struts towards the offending individual, the bard begins to play (for some reason, in my head the song is 'Staying Alive') and all hell breaks loose when her backhand of indignation shatters every bone in that uncouth swine's face.

[@dormrifle6174]

Their name is Lady Parts?

[@cewla3348]

@@Gitskreig *shatters face* WELL I HAVE NEVER SEEN SOMEONE *destroys ankles* SO ABSOLUTELY *breaks arms* RUDE AS YOU!

[@sloth5623]

My dude, the barbarian needed a make over but this went beyond my expectations, bravo 👏

[@Oooze3424]

I've had this idea for a character that's a barbarians who's rage isn't rage, but rather fear. they're a massive coward, its just that their natural fear response is to hit the scary thing with a rock

[@saschafeld5528]

CantBruce Banner turn to the Hulk because of fear too?

[@Oooze3424]

@@saschafeld5528 I don't know

[@forcefulstorm6187]

Have them be a member of the race of flightless bird people (blanking on their name rn) and you get to make a "fight or flight response" pun

[@eriksvoboda6973]

Just wanted to let you know, I have read a Light Novel with just such a barbarian. Basically a young adventurer who delved into a dungeon with his friends, only when things went south and they abandoned him the mix of anger and fear for his life awakened the rage inside him allowing him to survive the battle. Problem is he also threw an axe after his retreating companions, catching one in the back and killing him, then to cover things up and for their betrayal, he murdered the others. Really neat tragic concept of a guy who spend his years hiring himself out to shady establishments only to go all rage on his employers when he thought they may be mocking him behind his back. Ended up in an assassin guild, being sent out for the no-subtlety-needed killings. I am writing this because I found it such a cool and novel thing, this gruff plate-armored guy with a berserk button avoided by everyone just drowning his fear and shame in alcohol. Especially since it mentions that even when raging, his cowardice keeps part of his mind centered on survival, making it all the more interesting when he has to abandon that part, fully giving in to the rage to even have a chance at surviving a big fight. Long story short, really nice to see a different root cause behind a barbarian rage.@@Oooze3424

[@RavenCloak13]

​@@forcefulstorm6187 Kenku/penguins?

[@madkillerz007]

This story about a noble family who can put out great and powerful magic users and the PC character being a "failure" in their eyes is the same as my Warlock - Pact of the Accursed Archive (from the compendium of forgotten secrets). Except the neglect he experienced manifests as a form of wanting to be remembered and firmly believing he is destined for great things as his family watches on what could've been a great addition to their success

[@Maverick2736]

I'm gonna have a great time playing The Twins: a barbarian that insists on referring to himself in the plural. When questioned why, he explains "because my brother is always with me". Twin sons of a powerful shaman, only one managed to live through the unfortunate miscarriage--yet the emotional toil of the event was harrowing enough to their mother that her tears, infused with her power, eternally bound the spirits of the two children together. Now the child has grown into a powerful barbarian ally for adventurers: as while he fights through the front line, the Spirit of Sacrifice of his twin brother can be seen manifesting away from him and in front of allies about to take the brunt of an enemy's attack; the wounds the spirit takes, in turn, manifesting on the body of his living flesh-and-blood brother back in the front line, for they work together to protect their allies from harm. In the future, the souls of the shamanic mother that blessed them with power, and the bereaved father that trained them in the arts of combat, will eventually bind themselves to the twins as well, as spirits of Resolve and Fury... thanks a lot, Pointy Hat!

[@CatchThesePaws]

Holy crap! That’s the coolest character ever! Damn, everyone’s got such great ideas 🥲

[@storytellingsnek5255]

Metal as fuck and also really damn wholesome in some some ways

[@mrosskne]

Now I understand why people say not to write about shit you know nothing about.

[@Lordlaneus]

I once played a evil centaur barbarian, who's gimmick was that he was very sophisticated, and observed proper tea rituals. now, he was quick to violence, but he'd be "civilized" about it, no need to get blood everywhere when you can just snap a few necks. so when he was using rage, he just gets eerily calm, and distant, as he crushes people with a cold efficient fury. Very fun character to play.

[@styrax7280]

Cold fury is a god example of another way to bring variety to barbarians: the way they express rage. Another example could be that they use 80% swear words by volume while enraged. And while my original starting point was that barbarians shouting inarticulate to me is played out, it might be fun to actually communicate only in grunts and the like.

[@varthalgamekiin4931]

The latest character I've made. Kal was raised in a tribe of goliaths that lived high in the mountains. His people were very proud of their culture and herritage and whenever outsiders came to visit, Kal was the one to tell them all about the ancient lore and history of their tribe, naming off all the great heroes of old. But there were gaps. There were parts of his story that remained incomplete. And this always infuriated him. Once he was of age, his father approached the chief and shaman to request that they allow Kal to set off in search of the Lost Histories. He was given an ancestral glaive and a single pauldron that had 2 horns built into it. During his adventures, he discovers that those horns aren't horns at all, but dragon teeth and through his channeling of the strength and power of his ancient ancestors, he comes to learn that his tribe were once dragon riders! Upon learning this, he begins absorbing all knowledge he can about dragons. Making frequent stops in schools and libraries to learn all he can so that maybe, one day, he could return to his tribe atop his very own draconic mount! tl;dr: goliath ancestor barbarian dragon rider.

[@invisibleaccount9284]

There’s a really cool character in The Wandering Inn named Berr. He’s this wise, kindly old man with a great sense of humor who runs essentially an anger management program. Only, it’s not about calmness and eliminating your anger, but rather about channeling it. You see, Berr is a legendary warrior, a barbarian who is feared by the enemies of his people to this day. When he so chooses, he can tap into the anger he holds inside him to like triple in size and strength. He’s not stupid either, even if he likes to write himself off as such. It’s a pretty neat concept for a character I think

[@tajmelhuish4832]

I always get so excited when I see a pointy hat vid is out

[@emilymares9623]

Honestly, I've been playing around with the idea of a possession barb quite a bit. One of my players is a lycanthrope barb. That the mechanics of his raging/hybrid line up so closely to your possession barb is only a bonus. Thank you for the amazing video!

[@unluckyone1655]

I could see my princess death cleric being good friends with Allistar. Both come from noble backgrounds, both deal with family that disapproves of them and are jerks towards them (for my character, it's because she's was born a changeling). I can see her teaching him some music (she was a great musician, but never became a bard) while he sparred with her and gave her some fighting tips.

[@Xion_Toshiro]

Your Allister Back Story reminded me of Kess the Bull; The Brawler in Pathfinder, who was tired of her aristocratic life; where her upper class expected her to be a Fencer; but Kess went on to become a Brawler instead

[@jgr7487]

Achiles could use what the ancient Greeks called "lyssa", aka Rage. the mighty hero of the Trojan War was a Barb.

[@pLanetstarBerry]

He reached level 15 when he killed Hector and he wanted to see how far that Persistent Rage could take him. Do you want to fight a river, Achilles? That's how you end up fighting a river.

[@Drekromancer]

@@pLanetstarBerry Headcanon accepted.

[@linkplays2952]

what subclass?

[@edgar-sama642]

@@linkplays2952 4 barbarian bear totem / 16 champion fighter (That's what I imagine, but the distribution can change)

[@jgr7487]

@@linkplays2952 Wolf Warior, bc he would dress with the pelt of a wolf to enter rage, but, as he was invulnerable, Bear Totem is the best approximation

[@bonyeezy7980]

Straight up one of the best cahracter ideas I've heard in a long time. May have to use that at some point, thank you!

[@poorme1art]

17:57 You have no idea how jealous I am of people who can come up with AMAZING STUFF LIKE THESE!!! I smile like an idiot every time I see a concept I love, which are all your ideas basically lol

[@spagettysylph2033]

I feel like path of the beast makes a really good case for a body horror barb. By tying the transformation to the barbarian's rage, it gives the impression that their body isn't fully under their control, which of course works great for werewolf characters but with a bit of creative flavour I think it works wonderfully for any character concept that grapples with being a monster.

[@ninjabluefyre3815]

I think Pixar made a movie about that...

[@dftew53]

I really wish that Wizards would make a new Berserker subclass for the Barbarian. For the Barbarian's signature subclass, it's just so crappy compared to the others.

[@thehunmun6743]

Whenever I have a PC wanting to play a Berserker I let that player recover from a level of exhaustion on a short rest.

[@sarjurastormblade953]

I recommend looking at the Berserker subclass in Baldur's Gate 3, they don't get exhausted at the end of a rage and they also have some cool stuff involving improvised weapons and throwing people. Its honestly a lot of fun.

[@johannesstephanusroos4969]

Battlerager is worse

[@Some_Really_Random_Dude.]

@@johannesstephanusroos4969 I think it's better by vitue of, not dying if you use the signature ability of the subclass in combat all the time.

[@danrope9897]

A quick fix for the Berserker is allowing to spend a hit die to avoid the level of exhaustion.

[@JoshityJosh]

I have made a socially awkward barbarian whos rage manifests as a panic ATTACK

[@Barakon]

Path of the wild magic who symbolize the chaos of parrots.

[@ebisiusvanblacket4911]

I discovered this channel just a few days ago and I must say it has already become some of my favourite DnD content, period. Love your stuff, love the free goodies (which are ALL printed out nice and neat in my ideas folder), love your work!

[@HTMLIVE]

Alastair is absolutely gonna be a model for future barbs! Thank pointy hat ✨ Also Kamen Rider Ghost is like a monk version of that path you made! The show can help for inspiration and flavor when ever 👍

[@ladypossum1776]

I'm playing a Barbarian in a group of all spellcasters this is perfect!

[@AxelYates]

Love that you put the disclaimer at the end and included Will Tennyson. Extremely wholesome and awesome video all around!

[@AuraXars]

I mean from the script, edits, clean cut narration and excellent artstyle you're doing it all. Love seeing you blow up recently cause it's well deserved! Keep up the great work and polished content C:

[@TigerW0lf]

I love that Alistair story, imma use that for an npc

[@TheBeanMuncher]

19:38 "Plenty of abilities that refer to spirits". Indeed, that's why you make a dwarven barb that drinks strong spirits to fly into a belligerent frenzy

[@TheLaensman]

Been binge watching your entire catalog soon, and every video, even those with a topic I don’t naturally gravitate towards have been Stellar. Artwork is Amazing, the fresh thinking is super cool and you’re just generally entertaining to listen to/watch. Keep up the great work! Gonna go paste this on the rest of your videos to feed the algorithm gods

[@maxwellmccoy1815]

I love this! your take on the classes is always refreshing but I love playing barbarians and you just made them SO MUCH COOLER

[@henriquesporl153]

One of the best DND creators out here. Great job PH, keep it up!

[@user-lf8ng5mp3p]

I had a similar idea, and even realized it - made an ancestor-guardian barbarian which have been a sailor before his ship crashed and frowned with the whole crew. But their souls stayed with the only survivor, which gave him his abilities to keep his new team safe. Even took a feat for battlemaster maneuvers, which also was at fact were effects of awaken ghosts. So yeah, I kinda get a pirate captain of ghostly crew, which keep his new crew safe, using his previous crew.

[@cogsworther1639]

Ever seen "Pirates of Leviathon?"

[@user-lf8ng5mp3p]

@@cogsworther1639 nope. I've been instead inspired by the Longest Johns. But it seems, now I just have to try)

[@cogsworther1639]

@@user-lf8ng5mp3p I see. I only mention it because there's a character named Jack Krakow (played by Matthew Mercer) in that mini-series who fits that exact description. He uses the mast of his former ship as his weapon.

[@user-lf8ng5mp3p]

@@cogsworther1639 Well, I also searched some thematic weapon for this character, but kinda still didn't found. May be this could be an option.

[@asquared98]

Wowowowow I’ve only just found you and I’m binging everything! Crazy that it’s only been some months and instantly one of my top 5 channels for dnd. Loving the script and ideas for reflavoring classes, races, etc. Shoutout to Bia for awesome editing as well! Earned yourself a subscriber for sure, my friend

[@fluffysideup205]

I honestly just wanna say these are all phenomenal, and this one has been my favorite yet. I just found you not long ago, and I love the content. Your backstories are so good, too

[@SnookySnook420]

Dear Mr. Antonio, I have seen your "with a twist" videos since the first and absolutely love your editing, your art, your humor- you just seem like such a wonderful human being. You inspire me to do and be better. I also feel incredible feelings of inadequacy... Long story short, I used to do the creative thinking things like you do and I seem to have lost that over the past few years. Not sure if it is depression or if maybe I wasn't all that creative and I'm just now realizing it, but thank you for keeping the creative juices flowing. Love you, my dude. Keep up the amazing work!

[@VanishingPuppet]

You even having the mimir meme in here just shows how truly you have your ear to the "ground" of the internet. Bless. Edit: God, I LOVE your backstories. This one was so damn cool. I think a big problem with Barb is they need to focus on the Body stats so much that that usually means the mind stats get thrown in the bin which leads to low variety.

[@Drekromancer]

Well said. I find that building characters with personality first, then statting them to fit their personalities, is much better than basing personality on stats. Especially when it comes to variety. Gimme some smart barbs and ripped wizards.

[@yawarapuyurak3271]

@@Drekromancer this is how every character I've ever done. Even my min-maxed ones. I've played Boblin the goblin, who wants to prove himself a warrior. He wasn't that good. I'm playing Lad Personson, a min-maxed fighter who is a loose cannon. He has one objective: become the ultimate predator. The reason is simple, his entire childhood only taught him one lesson: living is only allowed to those that devour others, the rest are food.

[@ZedKingsley]

YES YES YES! My first barbarian was a character who got possessed and their rage was the spirit taking over… so this is absolutely amazing that you made a subclass specifically for that!

[@fredrickjones566]

I love the sorrowful look the sister of Alister has with the growth of her younger brother. Like she doesn’t want to do this but the expectations put on her put the two in a collision course of tragedy. Beautiful.

[@slothofthe7sins709]

A pointy hat vid is never a bad vid

[@BookOfWraiths]

gotta say you got great ideas for stories, Im always invested almost immediately, and the art is just making it 100 times better. Very gj

[@redcoatguy8601]

I really like the part of these videos where you create a character, you always manage to do such interesting stories and beautiful art. Really like your stuff :)

[@mollywantshugs5944]

Fun idea for rage reflavor: make it a kind of combat meditation: effectively hypnotizing themselves into going ultra instinct. No anger, no fear, no thought, just bloodlust

[@seasnaill2589]

Oh thats cool, literal battle trance!

[@feywildheart2878]

I love that, a sense of flow, lost to anything that isn't the state of combat

[@Motidur]

Thats pretty similar to how I have flavored "Rage" for my barbarian, who I have played for a year and a half now. A stage of incredible physical control and deep concentration. He is a fairly renowned physician, who for his knowledge in medicine (healer feat/potions) often acted as a combat healer in his backstory, when he was not in his clinic. He, as an Ancestral Guardian, is the safe zone in combat. Directing all enemy attention towards himself as he releases his physical limiters and focuses his deep bloodlust towards anyone who threaten his allies.

[@dracowolf3212]

10:04 Oh my gods! That statement gave me a totem barbarian idea of a spoiled ten year old who's rage is just them throwing bratty tantrum and their "totems" are just the toys they have tea parties with in their spare time!

[@vertigq5126]

This was super creative man, thanks for sharing this with us! Loved the Alistair backstory!

[@MaxWellenstein]

These videos always brighten my day. Really well done!

[@tylercoddington1990]

Hey just wanted to say congrats on getting 65k in less than a year here's getting you to 100k before 2023.

[@elysemccarty1415]

So glad you were able to get a sponsorship! You make such great content man. When I first got into dnd I played almost exclusively barbarians, and got a bit tired of it, but now I love your take on them and might return to it...

[@pbodan6691]

Love this video, been playing with Barbarian ideas to go out of the norm for a while and this had some stuff I hadn't thought of before. Also love the art work!

[@luckypeanut9943]

One of my fave early characters is a ancestral guardian barb that was a shaman, he was a bit of an older sage so he actually couldn't control his rage early on, it wasn't until he worked past his greif

[@mrlk13141]

The Idea of making a barbarian be a rabid Nicki Minaj stan that imagined you disrespecting their queen is hilarious and I need to see this in action.

[@virales1384]

I thought a hat lives on a head... that said, congratulations for getting a sponsorship! Your videos are great and fun and always leave me looking forward to the next big thing you've got to make

[@jeffreybarker357]

Can’t believe I only found this channel recently. The quality is excellent and the freebies are fantastic! This makes the forever DM easier to handle-thank you!

[@Arohan71]

The posession idea was really cool and it's how I flavored a barbarian I had in mind who used path of the ancestral guardian. I also had a similar idea to the wildmagic barbarian thing you described but focused on a wizard who was born into a family of powerful sorcerers. Loving the channel and looking forward to seeing more.

[@hyacynth2182]

Exciting that you got a sponsorship, congrats!! I also really appreciate that it's a sponsorship which is relevant to the content of your channel - I'm not currently in any campaigns so I won't be buying any of my own at the moment but I am 100% a magpie-gremlin who sees shiny dice and goes "ooooh"

[@TsukuneD]

For all of the Jojo jokes, the thing I thought of at first when I heard about the Path of Spirits was actually the beginning chapters of Shaman King, where Yoh would use his ability to channel spirits to cheat at school.

[@lunarAureola]

Holy shit, yessssss!

[@richardjessiejohnson9108]

I’m genuinely impressed, this might be your best sub class yet. And that’s saying something because you put out great content in general.

[@dragnoc]

Great Video! I love the art and the new ideas. Keep up the good work.

[@grantcactus9973]

Alistair my beloved. That’s such a cool character idea to drop so casually like you could have an entire story centered around him damn

[@Jfreek5050]

The spirit possession thing would make a perfect intertwining between a warlock and a barbarian. When you are possessed you are basically being blessed with the power of whatever deity you have made a deal with.

[@roguecloud5674]

I love the twists you give these classes, that's about all I have to say, path of possession sounds like a cool way to go about it.

[@Boom-Town]

I love your videos man... I'm literally going to watch them all

[@krmt115]

Your backstory for Allistar is so cool! Would love to possibly see a future video on your backstory creation process

[@BigBadWolframio]

When playing roleplaying games, I think a lot of the limits on the kinds of characters you can create come from the players themselves. It's fine and great to like the class stereotypes, but I find that a lot of players just think they HAVE to be that stereotype if they choose the class (slutty bard, head-empty barb, condescending wizard, hippy druid, etc.) Have fun creating your characters personalities and backstories, you beautiful roleplayers! Remember that mechanics are useful, but don't dictate the flavour of character you play! 🧡 Thanks for yet another great video, Antonio ☺️

[@aimeemorgado8715]

Amen!!!

[@PuskasMarton]

Oh damn. Channeling the anger and grudges of a spirit/spirits is so fitting for the class and rich in roleplay potential. I love these videos, since I'm only knowledgeable about DnD from what's in BG3, these vids are very informative.

[@matrakaz]

So fun and creative, excellent narration and the clips are on point! I can't miss one. I need my fix!!🔥

[@MemoStills]

Siii un vídeo de Antonio!! Ocupo mi dosis semanal de un juego que quiero experimentar ❤️

[@ATGoldV]

With my first ever barbarian I'm currently playing in a Dungeon of the Mad Mage campaign I dumped charisma instead of intelligence. As a Wild Magic barbarian I imagined him as someone who had experience going into dungeons and looking for magical stuff to then bring to wizards and people who could actually understand them well. He is the one that maps the dungeon as we go and weirdly enough the face of the group some times, as our warlocks don't want to.

[@Motidur]

Aaaye Hello fellow Charisma Dump Brother! My Barb often does act as a party face with a solid 8 cha. Fun times. I do have proficiency in persuasion tho!

[@kaceywright1904]

Just want to say I found you today randomly and I love your videos!!! You’re amazing keep it up!!!

[@sharkrancher282]

I love this, and I love Alistair!!! Always look forward to your videos! (Also, thank you Bia!)

[@psachickennugget8617]

The best barbarian character I have ever seen. I will gladly use this for inspiration.

[@blazeswordpaladin9357]

13:06 When you walk past one of the best parts about playing a Zealot Barbarian... *LOCAL MAN LITERALLY TOO ANGRY TO DIE*

[@sapateirovalentin348]

My favorite raging zealot in all fiction so far us salzpyre,simply because of his voice and personality REPENT REPENT, *REPEEENNT*

[@HitsujiMamoru]

As a video game enjoyer, your character twists would make for a great party! And of course your original subclasses are very entertaining too! I will make sure to share with my frirnds^^

[@williamtodd6614]

I love it when you give D&D classes a twist, keep it up. (My class suggestions for the future wizard, fighter, cleric paladin, druid, sorcerer and Monk

[@humorlessink4885]

Nice take on a wild magic barbarian, honestly I love the subclass except the fact the damage on the dice doesn't scale (which I fixed by referencing cantrip scaling). And I also had my take on a wild magic barb, Gaufrid a towering tiefling barbarian that has powerful magic running through his veins. This in turn warped and changed him over the years of his development into a beastly figure, more akin to a demon than a humanoid with overgrown horns that split, curve, and jut back into his face like a thorn bush. (Also for his character info he is a 3rd lvl wild magic barbarian with the ancestry of levistus and the mercenary background.)

[@JorisVDC]

First off: what a great job you did with this video, you clearly deserved this sponsorship. I wonder if this is a good place to give some feedback on the Path of the Spirit Subclass. I really like the concept of this class and the utility that it brings to the Barb. Yet I feel that some of the spirits that you can call in are a little over tuned. Like the Fury one. "Spirit of Fury. While raging, you double your rage damage when you make a reckless attack, and your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20." First off, it's not clear to me if you need to make a reckless attack to benefit from the improved critical range. I suspect that you do, because otherwise you are getting the most sought after Champion ability without needing to multiclass. I am of the conviction that you only need to double the rage damage to make this spirit worth it. It sounds simple and dumb but I believe that does the trick. This spirit allows you to get away with a less high STR score without losing out pretty much. STR is the ginger stepchild of abilities anyways, with one full skill to govern and no multiplier for damage bonus when using two hands on a weapon. So yeah, this seems good. There is this other spirit that grants you the level 6 ability of Bezerker: indomitable rage, if I recall correctly. Which feels like power creeping the Berserker Subclass, but it is hard not to do that anyways. That were the two things that stood out for me. Again I really like the concept of this new subclass.

[@pointyhatstudios]

Good points! RAW and RAI for the Spirit of Fury is that no, you do not need to do a reckless attack for you to score that critical at 19 or 20 actually! I can see why the confusion is there though, so I'll probably just add a period and an "Additionally" to make it clear the two are not related. I stand by this for the simple reason that all of these spirits (and honestly, all barbarian options) have to stand next to the path of the totem warrior giving you resistance to all damage except psychic, which I still don't feel there's a spirit on the list that reaches that level of perk (or hell, you could make a case for the wolf totem at level 3 too). I find that writing barbarian subclasses is extremely hard, because they have quite possibly the weakest subclass of all subclasses in the game in the Berserker (as you pointed out) and one of the strongest ones in the game with path of the totem warrior, so wherever you land on the scale you are most likely weaker than path of the totem warrior, and far stronger than berserker. I just decided to make my peace with that lol. It's a similar deal with the paladin's oath of the ancients giving you and your friends resistance to all spell damage, you either match that and have everyone call it OP or go under that and have everyone go "why would I pick this over oath of the ancients". It's tricky! Thank you once again for the feedback! Hope I made my case too!

[@JorisVDC]

@@pointyhatstudios Yes, you have made it clear why you want this power level. I am more of the conviction that Totem Warrior Bear and Berserker and Battlerager are mistakes that WotC should fix, because they are such outliners. So I would advise you to crank up the power level of the other spirits as well to all be around the same power level as spirit of Fury and Vengeance. I don't think the others need much but Fury and Vengeance stood out to me as the two spirits that really pay off in combat.

[@jeremyhorner9531]

What's the path of the spirit subclass? I can't find it anywhere.

[@whatamelon7074]

@@jeremyhorner9531 It's literally in the video's description. If you stay till the end of the video it would make sense.

[@jeremyhorner9531]

@@whatamelon7074 I did. And guess what it clearly didn't make sense. I love how you make all these assumptions.

[@TheCooro]

I played a symic hybid path of the beast barbarian named Five. She was an escaped lab experiment, fleeing from her captors all the while learning about the wonder of the world for the first time through journeying with the party. In combat with her high intelligence and constitution she was very dangerous, while out of combat she was quick to anger but also quick to be struck with awe. Such a fun character, one of my favorites.

[@keephurn1159]

As someone who plays magical types, I like the wild magic path for barbs, but the path of spirits... ooooooo. Shiny. In a glow-in-the-dark way. Also, why do I find watching a static hat with eye emotes so engaging? Because it's well drawn. All of your stuff is well drawn. Good job!

[@keithgaspard9950]

Antonio. You make good internet. Thank you for this magic. I'm enjoying it lots and lots.

[@norikwiese8900]

I think your Example character was still way to confined in the "Classic" Barbarian Image (especially regarding the rage aspect) so i'll leave two Barbarian character ideas i Had: A) Ancestral Guardian Subclass Our character is a travelling performer. His "rage" (mechanically speaking) has nothing to do with being angry, its His Performance of jugling knives. When He attacks He Grabs one of the knives, Takes a Stab at the Enemy and then throws it Back Into the Rotation. He isnt resisting damage either, Hes uncannily dodging Out of the way of physical attacks. And His subclass Features arent spirits, His opponents simply cant Focus on attacking His Friends because His Performance is so captivating (or because Hes a distracting little Shit, you decide) B) Beast Subclass Your Part of a Family of Druids but unlike them your ability to Cast spells is rather limited. But in Turn your Wildshape (your rage) is Stronger than Most others. Unlike the regular Beast Barbarian flavour you can Transform completly (its Just flavour) and use That in combat. A Beat Part about This is that you can Sort of build different beasts with the choises you make at 3rd and 6th Level: Spider = Bite + Climb Speed Shark = Bite + Swim Speed Octopus = tail (reflavoured as a tentacle) + swim speed etc.

[@sagatario58]

Absolutely, both of these work great. As long as the mechanics of the class stay the same, the flavor of how they happen can be whatever. Dodging out of the way so you're only getting scratched instead of a full hit is a great way to reflavor an ability while keeping the numbers the same.

[@baototta]

i imagine the ancestral guardian barbarian is also pulling a unicycle out and riding around on it when he rages

[@Zurielprime]

Pretty sure the example character is supposed to be a classic Barbarian, it's to show that not every barb must be Conan/Red Sonja and you can play a more sophisticated raging puncher instead of a tribesman. The Path of Spirits is for different characters altogether.

[@princevesperal]

No need for a full-fledged transformation: it could be great flavour to just say that your barbarian's rage and the druid's wildshape are two sides of a same coin: they get to be humans inside an animal body, but you get to be an animal inside a human body!

[@Drekromancer]

@@princevesperal That last line goes hard.

[@TronHammer]

I love the subclass you created, it’s really flavorful and adds a great deal of non-combat utility :D

[@avenkalstor8348]

i really love the self drawn stories at the end of your videos. :)