The Barbarian: Playing a Barbarian in your RPG from a storytelling perspective - RPG Class Spotlight

[@CommanderM117]

what is best in life "To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women."

[@MadSwedishGamer]

"I have an Intelligence of six, I know what I'm doing."

[@hidalgoplaza843]

Oh Grog. "Everyone we see in the next 10 seconds has to die." "Even the shopkeep?" "Yup, he's gotta die."

[@Ubizale]

He was a giant eagle once ...

[@VashGR]

And a wisdom of 14, so whilst not elegant the course of action should be, in fact, practical.

[@fang4223]

Nine, here. with a wisdom score of 13. I can at least say I'm experienced.

[@erik95056]

Haha haha the Dunning Kruger Barbarian: The 6 int who try teaching the priest to pray, the rogue to steal and the wizard to name the tiny pictures in his book.

[@k2k4]

My opinion on classes in general is that the character may actually never think of themself as a barbarian/rogue/wizard but rather the class guides the player to determine what skills their character's life have given him. A barbarian with sleight of hand may think of himself as a pickpocket or a tough thug with a temper. A barbarian with knowledge arcane may think of himself as a historian, mystic, or failed student. Matt coleville had presented the idea that conan was actually a thief (basic af&d rogue). Gandalf is actually a paladin or cleric based on his spells and aptitude. People tend to pigeonhole themself into these simple archetypes based on the name of the class - and that's okay if they are enjoying themself, but you don't need to hamstring yourself if you have a different inspiration.

[@elgatochurro]

Very much so, I try to break this mold that the players set themselves into. Your class is simply your mechanical nature. You're not a ROGUE in game, you're a theif, acrobat, mugger, assassin, etc. You can be so much more than the class's archetype! A monk doesn't have to be a monk, can just be a fist fighter, luchadore, etc. You don't have to be the stereotype, make a unique character with actual characteristics.

[@victorwaddell6530]

I started playing AD&D in 1981 . The barbarian class appeared a few years later in the Unearthed Arcana book . The class was heavily influenced by the film Conan The Barbarian based upon the character created by Robert E Howard created in 1932 . The film version of Conan stressed his fighting abilities , physical strength , and penchant for violence . As one who has read many of the pulp novels written by Howard , I would say Conan was in no way a stupid brute . He wasn't a man given to cerebral exercises , but he was very cunning and a charasmic leader . Conan was man of action tempered with wisdom and cunning . About that time an NPC (or possibly PC class with DM's permission ) was created called the Berserker . This class was all about killing . The Berserker had essentially no skills beyond the battlefield . Any brute with a weapon and no sense of self preservation can be a Berserker. The barbarian was a class based upon living in the wild lands , being tough , self sufficient , and needing little to nothing from civilization . They had the most non-weapon proficiencies of any class . Surviving in the harsh wilds takes a certain level of intelligence . In today's gaming it seems that the Barbarian and Berserker have become synonymous . I suggest playing a barbarian as an outsider of civilization , a cunning survivor , looked down upon by civilized people and misunderstood . Play a Berserker if you wish to , but they're not the same character class . I played an AD&D barbarian for a while . The rest of the party ran out of rations and headed to town to buy more food . My character couldn't understand why everyone else needed to give up their hard won gold for food while the rivers held fish , there were deer to be shot , and the woods were full of edible plants . However , he did follow the rest of the party into town and found civilization amusing .

[@zedbee2736]

What about the quiet rage? One of my characters is a little tiefling woman that carries a greatsword, and becomes furious at a slight of etiquette. She then goes into a quietly furious rage and just murders things in utter silence. Always a fun approach, in my mind.

[@Taneth]

There is the Serene Barbarian archetype in Pathfinder that sounds like it would go well paired with Monk

[@Taneth]

Less Grog, more River Tam

[@silverseth7]

Or a very specific kind of rage. While not a Barbarian, she probably should have been. Ruby Chillstone was a Fighter from a northern village who HATES Bandits or raiders or anyone that really tries to profit off the suffering of innocent people. While everyone else in my party had these epic destinies, she was there because she was homeless now thanks to one such bandit raid burning down her village and killing all of her friends and family, leaving her with nothing but the clothes she wore, a wooden maul, and a runt wolfpup in her pocket (named Pocket). She kinda went overboard when inverting Bandit kneecaps with her big twohanded hammer.

[@sarahp123]

I was thinking Hannibal Lecter

[@hughmilner7013]

One aspect you can potentially emphasize with the barbarian is an aspect of moral clarity. While avoiding the stereotypical "noble savage," you can take advantage of a code of morals that isn't disguised by, say, social niceties. While the other players are carefully being diplomatic and choosing the lesser of two evils, the barbarian can be the party's option to say, "you know what? This isn't ok. I don't care that he's powerful / high status / beloved among his people. THUMP THE BADDIE." A favorite example for me is the webcomic Goblins. The ham-headed, purely combat-oriented character Minmax in a wonderful scene throws a major local celebrity through the window, because he ignores everything else in response to what is a clear and unequivocal injustice.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

Loved this presentation... What I've always loved about the Barbarian class in its simplicity of concept was that the simplicity led to a much wider variety of "fleshing out"... AND that inherently leads to challenging if not doing away with stereotypes all together. One of my favorite Barbarian PC's was constructed in partnership with one of the other Players, an Enchanter/Artificer... Well, it was 2e, but we muddled it together, and as the Barbarian, since my character could take the hit(s)... I was the "test pilot" partner of the now infamous duo, Ritzig the Rider... If there was a tactical advantage for an aerial reconnaissance Ritzig would happily employ a "winged barrel" and a catapult for the attempted "flight"... It rarely went quite according to "plan", but the net results were usually relatively positive for the party, and whoever they were allied with at the time. AND there was always room for some bonus (bonehead?) hilarious antics along the way. Elrich the Elven Enchanter wasn't always so clear on his artisanal inventions, and occasionally, Ritzig was known to get a little confused or possibly there was simple miscommunications... Once he launched himself with a ballista, riding the wrong telephone-pole sized projectile up and over and down into enemy territory. This death defying stunt not only left a useful enchanted flying machine (of sorts) for another willing (or crazy enough) pilot to follow him, but his survival of the thing absolutely terrorized the general who's bivouac was destroyed on "landing" it. When Elrich was "sure" he'd finally gotten the magic carpet enchantment right, Ritzig was obviously first choice to test it, and reluctant to admit he'd been hasty in accepting the job, he ended up taking an entirely untouched (though matching color scheme) rug out the window of the royal tower. It flew better than one would expect, but was certainly not a successful magic carpet by any stretch of the imagination, and at least, only a vegetable cart was destroyed to the absolute terror of a couple oxen, and the chagrin of the cart's owner. Elrich and Ritzig led lengthy, if not very industrious adventuring lives, garnering more infamy for their high ambitions than fame for their actual accomplishments. BUT we enjoyed that whole storyline far more than we should have. :o)

[@rileyackison4495]

A vegetable cart was destroyed. “My cabbages!” How many get the reference.

[@Agent29416]

One thing I really love is the separation of background and class. In 5e I see class is how you interact with the world but background "dictates" personality. I hope you continue this series and do other classes

[@nickwilliams8302]

Definitely one of my favorite things about 5e's character creation system too. Sure, the "Outlander" background lends itself to playing a very stereotypical Barbarian (and there's nothing wrong with that, there's a reason it's so iconic). But what about other backgrounds? Take the Criminal background and base your character on Bullet-tooth Tony from "Snatch". A thug to be sure, but one who has a veneer of sophistication until the time comes to act. Take the Folk Hero background and play a character who was just a normal blacksmith or farmer until his village was raided by goblins and he found the strength he needed to defend his friends and family in his rage. Life changed for the character on that day. Sure, the people he grew up with were grateful, but the PC saw the fear behind that gratitude and knew he had to leave. Take the Urchin background and play a character inspired by Danny from "Unleashed". Trained as a kind of attack dog for a crime boss until one of the other PCs rescued him. Perhaps the Cleric or the Paladin was outraged by the Barbarian's treatment and is trying to show them that there's more to life. Perhaps the party's Warlock is another Urchin - a childhood friend of the Barbarian - who entered into their Pact to gain the power to free their old friend. Take the Hermit background and play a character who wants nothing more than to be left alone ... until the events of the campaign intrude upon her solitude. Uncoupling the Barbarian class from the Outlander concept/background has opened the class up to infinite innovation.

[@dougsundseth6904]

The barbarian character who is arguably the icon for the entire class, Robert E. Howard's Conan, was all about defeating his enemies (and forwarding his interests) with cunning, not particularly brute force. In fact, he typically used peoples' mistaken perceptions of him as a smokescreen behind which to hide his schemes.

[@johnlance529]

I've always recommended Fafhrd in the Fritz Lieber books as a good example of how to play a barbarian. Sadly, almost no one knows who Fafhrd or the Grey Mouser are these days, but I do what I can to point people in the their direction....

[@GregoriousRP]

I know who they are! Great characters in a really fun series of stories.

[@effincook4176]

Conan was a rogue.

[@LupineShadowOmega]

Effin Cook, Conan was many things. XD

[@Arcanyum]

+John Lance i know it's a bit late, but i'm interested

[@jamesback8024]

I wish there was a "Love" button for this video. Well done You earned my Sub sir.

[@carlosforma5978]

Talking about rituals, I just imagined a barbarian that abhores(not sure if I spelled it correctly) killing, so he tries to resort to diplomacy and intimidation as often as he can, and when he kills something he eats the eyes(so the soul is in him) and cuts an ear to put in a necklace(so the memory is with him). Every night he prays for forgiveness to each ear, and he tries to accomplish the objectives of his "victims" as often as possible. But the necklace with an absurd amount of ears helps him intimidate people, since it's a huge person with rotten teeth and hundreds of preserved ears around his neck.

[@anthonybuenzow9295]

me wants more ears has the bard go into town square gather everyone than i rage and kill 90+ civilians with a natural 20 may need more necklaces

[@xwalkingdeadgamerx6247]

That's effectively the barbarian I've just made. He hates resorting to violence and so shouts at everyone to stop (uses intimidate but he thinks he's being diplomatic) and if they continue to fight he'll destroy them with ruthless efficiency and then bury the bodies and pay respect to them

[@Nerobyrne]

That's a really cool way of playing a pacifist character

[@HeartLockHex]

One of my favorite characters I ever roleplayed through was a Barbarian, Monk, Druid. It sounds like an utter clusterfuck of classes, but the character was overwhelmingly enjoyable to play. A barbarian warrior that mimicked the styles of the animals he walked with, worshipping Malar, but not being truly evil. Simply respecting nature in its more brutal fashion, kill or be killed. The culture of a tribe built around that concept was incredibly brutal, and yet surprisingly philosophical, and added a unique spin both to the monk class as well as the Barbarian. I still have his character sheet, started him off as a level 4 and our group went through several months of campaigns. Currently he's level 3 Barbarian, 6 Monk, and 12 Druid.

[@konstantinosmant491]

Perfect video! I play a Dwarf clan artisan Barbarian with anger management issues. He doesn't want to get angry so he sings kid's songs and lullabies to relax.

[@chadgeary2653]

That is actually a really awesome spin on things.

[@QuestionableObject]

"Fur wielding, double-axe clad" I actually want to see that now, sounds hilarious.

[@talorel]

I am so glad someone else saw it this way. My mind created the picture before he even corrected himself, and it was.....interesting. Yeah, I know I'm late to the party, just stumbled across this

[@milgeekmedia]

Many thanks for this very helpful video! I played my very first ever game of D&D just last night, and I chose to be a barbarian (mainly because, being new to RPG, I didn't want to complicate my learning by including complex skills or magic). I wish I'd have watched this video *before* last night! :) But, you've give me a lot to think about before next week's session. BTW, I'm 57 and *only just* trying D&D...You're never to old to learn! ;)

[@burlyd310]

I've thrown a haughty noble Barbarian at my Players, focusing on the Rage aspect, "How dare you!".

[@writerguy8194]

4:44 some princesses like big muscular men, though. Some princes, as well.

[@LukyRemington]

Some princesses, even, will be wooed by a muscular woman.

[@Almighty_Mage]

@@LukyRemington some princes as well

[@marek011011]

i played a barbarian few years ago. absolutely loved him. he had a few rituals and he always made sure to have a small trophy of particularly difficult foes. his tribe had a rivalry with a neighboring tribe, so he wanted to find a trophy that would stomp the other tribe. he was a rager and was nearly impossible to kill and dealt tons of damage. but he was also a navigator, the tracker, the forager and guide through the wilds for the rest of the party. and most importantly a great source of pure fun for the whole table

[@astroANN]

can u suggest me any good backstory pls? i’m really struggling here

[@Tectonix26]

Personally I'm a fan of completely removing the word "rage" from the class, and just allowng it to be any heightened state. One barbarian I play goes into a semi-conscious state where he relies more on muscle memory and kinesthetic awareness than thought, and another that relies on natural toxins in a plant to trigger an adreneline surge.

[@WolfHreda]

"The party will not turn to you for diplomatic negotiations." They will, however, turn to you for diplomatic defenestrations.

[@reigenomix9287]

I've always played my Barbarian like a Klingon.

[@justinmcwilliams6759]

My Bat'Leth kills all threats to Picard...Damn right, I'm better than Yar...

[@amphionification]

Your post brings glory and honor to the Empire.

[@Neophoia]

One of my players asked me and a more experienced player (who was to play in same campaign) for help when he was gonna play dnd for the first time. the other player showed him a barbarian build that he had mad "for fun" but not yet played, and the newbie asked if he could use it much to the delight of the more experienced player and the two of them proceeded in fleshing out backstory for this Leonin wild magic barbarian who has worked as a gladiator for a noble house. I'm still super happy that the player didn't just ask me what I thought he should play, but asked another player that was in the campaign. The fact that the two of them together built a character that feels very much alive, and also had clear ties to one of the other PC's, when it was a newbie player was even better because the two of them can bounce a bunch of things between eachother. This leonin barb is very good at talking, never gets upset when insulted (he finds it hilarious and just bounce an insult back), and goes into as he calls it "show time" when he rages, seeing it as a hyper-focus on battle from being in gladiatorial events. It's really funny that you mentioned the "never kill if you can avoid it" because the party goes heavy into that trope after they at one early encounter killed some bandits because of rolling some critical hits + max damage. They use a net and rope to tie people up quite often, or simply knock them unconscious.

[@nikoraito]

Great video! I always considered barbarians too straightforward and lacking variety so I never played them. Now I am reconsidering that. Especially I liked your Jekyll and Hide idea - a nice way to suggest split personality character that newer players are so often want to play as second or third character (at least in my experience)

[@Treblaine]

One great thing about having advantage on strength checks while raging is you don't need a weapon to be quite effective. You can quite reliably wrench the weapon from the hands of anyone who threatens you and then use it against them. This is all under the 'contest' action in combat. Also you don't need armour to have high AC, so you can seem to not be a combattant at all, just a regular guy travelling through. Also it isn't much for your maul or greataxe be mistaken as a worker's sledgehammer or woodsman's axe.

[@bomortensen7134]

I love Joe abercrombie's Logen Ninefingers who is afraid/ashamed of his own rageing

[@moukidelmar]

One of my favorite barbarians I've played was Brokkr Svartalfsen, half dwarf and half drow, he was very articulate and intelligent. What was fun was his rage was concentrated in his sword. He had a magic sword named Fury and once drawn it caused you to go into a barbarian rage immediately and you couldn't resheathe it until it had tasted blood. What was cool was that since the sword the source of the rage, anyone who drew it had the same effect on. So when we were captured by goblins and one of them took Fury away from Brokkr and drew it to examine it, he went into a barbarian rage and slaughtered his mates.

[@Summer_Snows]

One of my favorite characters I ever played was a Dwarf Barbarian who was a blacksmith for their army before they became an adventurer. He wasn't booksmart, but he did have some military knowledge that helped flesh him out to be more than "bash heads in." A highlight from that campaign was when my DM had set a precedent that, under certain circumstances, he could determine whether an item was magical or not based on things like a lack of natural wear on the weapon and I used that to find the Macguffin of the campaign.

[@MajorSebbaa]

I love barbarians. You gave me some interesting new ideas for them. thx, nice video.

[@astroANN]

do you have any good backstory?? i’m really struggling here

[@aidandegg4176]

Excellent points and while I do love them, the Conan films have a lot to answer for in terms of Barbarian typecasting. After all, the actual Conan stories by Howard describe a character who lived by his wits, and cunning as much as a strong sword arm. Indeed, Conan (as written at least) was capable of panther-like stealth, reflexes and coordination (and had almost as many levels in Rogue as Barbarian!) so as a class a Barbarian need only be a hulking meat shield if a player is lazy enough to play them as such (as fun as that can admittedly be!)

[@barin9998]

Really good addition there. I hope to remember linking this video to my players who want to become barbarians. Thanks well done and elaborate.

[@NathanielNow]

The barbarian is more than a murderhobo. They are a person.

[@tyleremery7088]

#barbarianlivesmatter

[@Maximillian1329]

THE BARBARIAN: HE SLASH HE BASH But most important.. HE SMASH

[@dezereahunter6916]

The dungeons and the dragons Barbarian female male

[@darthremy1802]

barbarian was always my favorite back in the day, when the groups strategic well thought out plans fail, unleash the beast and wing it!

[@akhaiiro]

This has raised a lot of really interesting things that I can incorporate into my character. I've been playing a firbolg barbarian that is by and large a pacifist, but does believe in necessary violence, for instance he has no worries about defending himself and the party against the forces of perceived evil but will use his resistance to damage to save the good, for example, an attacking wood woad was on fire and due to the racial ability of plant speak he could hear the curse through it so rather than killing it while the party was being attacked he tackled it and grappled it, getting burnt while trying to remove the curse. I was really grateful to the DM for how it worked, the rest of the party were confused as my charcter often would use violence but they never noticed the targets against which I used it. Really enjoyted the video and look forward to the next session

[@shlomgar]

My barbarian is a halfling who was sold to a gladiatorial crew of a banished barbarian tribe. He was performing first as a jobber but later, due to his entertaining rage outbursts, was adopted by a half orc former champion, and given proper barbarian training. With high Dex&Con but low Str, he quickly became popular with the other fighters that loved performing safely with him. He was also very popular with the crowds for his reckless flourished style, but when the group was dismembered, he went on to try and make a proper hero of himself adventuring.

[@VuldarLeveL]

I loved your comment about the straight forward nature of a barbarian being both a pro and a con. It is perfectly mirrored by my gnome barbarian who, as his personality trait has that he will fight anyone, regardless of their size or strength. This means that while the rest of the party debated if they should deal with the powermad warlord terrorizing a village, my character was already running forward to defend the innocent, or at least kill the guilty. His flaw is that he will fight anyone regardless of their size or strength, meaning that when my party encountered a dragon, well the same thing happened. On the mechanic side this presented my team with the problem unpredictability but on the roleplay side this was a lot of fun. My character was shunned and then cast out when he was young due to his slight insanity which only deepened on his own. Coming into contact with more violent races and tribes gave him an outlet but he wasn't raised properly and so never learned to trust. Even the minor illusion cantrip lay beyond his capability, although always using in subconsciously so music would play to indicate mood or give an idea on what he was thinking. The party had to teach him to listen, to be part of a group by trusting him, backing him up on what he did and during a tavern brawl hitting a troll over the head that was about to smash down a table on the green haired freak I was playing. He still prefers to fight but will listen if there's a promise of fighting later on. Great role-playing means being willing to evolve your character beyond where he or she starts of.

[@mikaelaalto5137]

I love this analysis of the role-playing potential of the Barbarian! In my group's longest-running campaign, my character Krom (the Half-orc Berzerker) has come to showcase how this simplicity of class "theme" can be turned on its head to create a vibrant character. I wrote Krom as a firm adherent to honor and justice, who had simply been cursed with volatile rage by by blood of Gruumsh. I even went so far as to make a tiered list of "rage triggers" which would disrupt his normally measured demeanor. All good and well - whatever - the POINT is, this degree of working off of the blank slate the Barbarian class provides has actually made Krom the (QUITE unexpected) "leader" of our varied group of adventurers! Nobody in our group (least of all I) could have anticipated this outcome; I'm not any better of a player than any of the others - it's purely the versatility of the Barbarian class's background that turned everyone's expectations on their heads!

[@johnniemiller8128]

Your voice draws me in and keeps me watching your videos. Keep up the awesome work, starting playing with my brother this year so still new, but i fell in love with it.

[@shawnconnery8307]

I don’t know why people think Conan is dumb. He’s not. And he’s not straight forward. He’s led pirates, directed armies, outsmarted sorcerers and gods. He became a king by using his mind as well as his sword. Heck, even in the Arnold films, you get to see that he’s trained in multiple disciplines and that he even knows how to read ancient texts. Sure he’s no engineer, but he’s far from stupid.

[@Daledragon11]

i love playing shaymin in d&d, especially when you unlock the flying form and reach the flower garden

[@Comicsluvr]

I am so glad I subbed to this channel. Congrats on the new digs. Anyone who thinks Barbarians are merely stupid has never read Conan. He was highly intelligent, simply not very well schooled until his later years. I have theory-crafter several and I think that the class is awesome.

[@jacehoward9230]

Barbarians are one of my favorite classes but I hate drooling barbs. I hear alot about dump stats but an 8 in intelligence means your a D student not mentally incapable or possibly uneducated. Here are a few exaplme barbs that I have played that were just amazingly rich and fun to play. 1. Human barb that was trained in arcana. He was from a tribe that worshiped fire and he was a holy man. He learned everything he could about fire and that led him to studieing magic in an attempt to learn more. He could not use magic but understood the basics. He brought the cleric around and would have him preform the ceremonial branding before big battles to bless him. He asked the wizard to hit him in battle with flame spells to bring him closer to his God. Ended up being blessed by a silver dragon who covered him in ever burning sliver fire that traced his ritual branding. 2. Lizard barb who was thrust into leadership after his father was killed in a tribal land dispute. He grew tired of endless war and death and after an explorer came through his village he learned about being "civilized" sending him on a quest to learn about culture and civility. I tribal barb noble that goes out into the world and is just in everyone's business about everything. He had a book that he would take notes on every cultural thing he learned so he could later pick and choose what to teach his clan on his return to bring them out of the dark ages. Super friendly but savage upbringing leads to savage responses. 3. Crab clan heavy fighter in a historical l5r, ugly as sin and as sharp as a wet noodle but he knew it. All about duty and protecting his betters. War season was his time to shine, he held the line. Winter court was a struggle, ended up marrying a beautiful court lady (sorry forgot the clan but sneaky underhanded talkers) her plan was to use him blah blah. He sat her down and just said I know I am not smart and you have an agenda, just do good for the shogun and keep my honour. Explained poorly but one of my favorite campaigns. He died holding the line and saving everyone. Next court season the samurai that killed him was walking around with his sword being a jerk about it, dualist challenged him not to first cut but death and cut him in half. Emotional few sessions.

[@naoura4939]

What about a flagellant Barbarian? A barbarian focused on religion, similar to Pally, but without a lot of strength. Effectively, the idea is that they are dedicated to causing themselves pain, and stands in front of his friends, refusing to let them take damage first.

[@MrKhaosKid]

This is a rad video explanation. You always have a great take. My barbarian is a half-orc who's other half is "secretly" elf. His father was the elf and was shunned from elf culture. So as a boy he actually learned to hunt like an elf but as he got older [sad story with his mum] he ended up leaving to live on his own with an orc tribe where he had to learn how to fend for himself and fight other bigger orcs with him being the "tiny orc" with little or tusks. His main goal is to try to bring unity between the neighboring human town and the orc tribe. Or at least stop the violence if he can. You're vid though has made me want to add a tad more flavor where he's more of a zealot to like an elf diety or something. Or like whichever one his mom followed. Since he didn't have her in his life he holds onto something of her. any ideas are welcome or if anyone has had something similar I'd love to hear about it.

[@Ilithandie89]

Best Barbarian was a tribesman going out into the world. He had his superstions about the living dead and had to be convinced to go into the dungeon. He questioned the idea of money, he tried to trade goods for services (brought a full deer into the tavern for a room.) It was amusing to play him as a person trying to understand the world around him while holding onto his own ways.

[@Samthane]

Kinda glad I found this video since I am playing my first ever barbarian in a couple of weeks from now. She's a fire genasi with very emotional reactions and has survival as her first priority, but she's also someone who believes in the power of groups and being a support for the weaker links (even if the way she expresses it is a little rude). When she rages, she literally catches on fire! I am looking forward to playing her because she has a lot of facets and contradictions I really want to explore if possible. :)

[@craigbryant9925]

Barbarian is a class that lend itself well to multi-classing. One of my first characters was, like many, based on Conan. A charismatic Barbarian, Rogue with a background in sea fairing. He would frequently act as the diplomat of our party, I'm not even sure if he had Rage. Another was a Barbarian who became a Monk (which I based on Cleric because we were playing 2e and didn't know that Monk was actually a thing) to atone for his actions. He was a pacifist who struggled to control his temper. I gave my GM agency over my Rage, he would have me roll if something happened that he felt would likely make me snap and as a result he buffed it too so that when it did happen it was truly something special that I would likely lament about for some time after.

[@genericpersonx333]

My favorite take on the Barbarian was a guy named Darel. He was just a big friendly farm boy devoted to protecting his sister who was a priestess (cleric) afflicted by a terrible curse that made her physically weak and frail. He was not very bright, definitely brawny and durable, but he was also very charismatic, using his skill points for diplomacy and deception, not athletics. He wore ordinary clothes, used a shield in battle, and indeed, he only raged when he thought something or someone was threatening his sister. Barbarian was just a combat style for me, and it was a very great experience.

[@SciFiNut1977]

I found this vid quite useful & entertaining! Please keep these player class specific vids coming! Ty!

[@SnarkyRogue]

The T H I C C Barbarian

[@bazzfromthebackground3696]

How many "C's" can *YOU* collect.

[@jrwise100]

Great point about adding culture and rituals to the role play! Love the vids.

[@josephmurdock5488]

One of my favorite characters I've ever played was a barbarian named Adam Thorn Mandrake, he went by Thorn most of the time. He was an orphan who was heavily exposed to radiation causing him to mutate, he was raised by the only two people who would have him a doctor and the captain of the watch, along with their daughter Rose. His parents and Rose were incredibly intelligent and he absorbed as much information as he could but he was always just a little bit slower than everyone else, he was incredibly kind and sensitive and would do things like take the spider that scared his sister outside instead of killing it. His parents always taught him that he had to be careful with his size because he was so much bigger than everyone else. He would however go into a rage when the people he loved came under threat, and when his town was besieged by raiders he ended up being branded a hero after his father fell and Thorn charged into the front lines to grab his father's gun and aided in repelling the raiders. He hated raging because he found it incredibly difficult to come down from it and because of that, even though we played an incredibly combat heavy campaign, he only raged twice purposefully holding himself back until it became clear that his friends needed him to let loose at which point he would become a terror to behold striking fear in any he came across.

[@geoffreycannon2197]

My group has a very unique type of barbarian in it, similar to your example of He-Man. He is a tiefling, and prince of the kingdom of Klendagon. He can only rage when he takes damage, and his rage is due to his blood-his mother was a demon that made a deal with the king, who couldn't have children.

[@veronicapauli2624]

Remarkably enough my first attempt at a Barbarian ended up with 18 Charisma and 16 Intelligence, being the half-elf daughter of the leader of a trading guild who was enchanted by stories of Barbarians and decided to emulate them while retaining the social graces and extensive book-learning that came from her origin. It worked out remarkably well, and I basically became the party's de facto diplomat on top of being the front line fighter. Sometimes something oddball can work out remarkably well.

[@petsan97]

An excellent subversion of the "scowling stupid muscle-man" approach I really love, is the character "Ham" from the Mistborn fantasy novels of Brandon Sanderson. A man who despite being very much the brawn of the group through his ability to enhance his physical prowess and endurance, is constantly cheerful and surprisingly enough the thinker of the group. The one who will jump on any chance to discuss philosophy and ponder the bigger questions in life.

[@niccoloragno3510]

Great, I was waiting for ages! :) and great as always, thumbs up

[@falcon989]

Barbarians can use Tracking/Scent/Survival abilities, Nature or Dungeoneering Knowledge, and can use Intimidate to get NPCs to give information or do things for the party. Also, at least in Pathfinder, Crafting is a Class Skill for Barbarians. So, you could craft armor, weapons or get into Alchemy.

[@mbalazs3544]

9:29 Bear from Hack the anime is grate example how to do a non traditional barbarian, and doing an excellent job.

[@NecroticRampage]

My first character ever was a barbarian. I joined a campaign at level 13 and we got all the way to level 20. He was loosely based on Guts from the anime Berserk. Lots of fun, and I found that the best part about playing him was the role play. At high levels your damage tends to fall off, but you can take a ton of damage so I would go around strong arming people with how tough I looked. I never played him stupid, only straightforward and stubborn. I made a big deal out of recklessly attacking making it an RP moment the first time I did it in combat. The character was a barbarian because he left a group of traveling merchants that he grew up with, thus not receiving the training to be a fighter, because he craved power and couldn't stand being put down by anyone. He went on a quest to become the best warrior he could and posses one of the strongest swords in the world, which ended with him killing a god, using a ring of godly power, and wielding a giant soul stealing sword. At the end of the campaign he started using the ring to push around some of the good NPCs and musing about starting his own kingdom.

[@samtrue3]

1:17 channel your inner grog

[@aldograciano3032]

So many critters in this comment section ♥

[@SolRynn]

I'm working on a barbarian class character that was once an elite champion of war long ago that mercilessly killed any and all enemies in his path. Along the way he loses his memories of his past and over time tries to rediscover what it was that he forgot. In general he is this clumsy and docile character that loathes killing, but when he "goes into a rage" it's actually his alternate/old personality taking over to the point that he even physically changes in appearance. That's basically all I have right now on him (I wanna flesh out his backstory more and actually try my hand at drawing art of him)

[@Packless1]

Good points. It's as always... ...character-background is much more than the numbers on the character-sheet...!

[@bazzfromthebackground3696]

I just rolled up my barb. Two "17's" highest. "10" lowest. Nailed it.

[@Mythda]

About to start up a goliath barbarian soon. He's a P.I. straight out of the movies. Rage is flavoured as his determination to not fail at his job (all of his life issues stem from borking his first assignment). Gonna end up taking some monk and rogue levels to go around punching and grappling a lot of his enemies.

[@mechaulfr9600]

I must have watched this video 100 times I fet to actually play barbarians soooo rarely and this has so many fun ideas! *fingers crossed* however... Monday I have a session zero for a PF2E game and im... super excited for it.

[@kylelonnes5833]

Barbarian/Druid multiclass is also super fun, wild shape into a bear, bonus action rage, now you effectively have 114 HP in bear form, as you only take half damage from slashing/piercing/bludgeoning before dropping back to character form.

[@chloepechlaner7806]

Fav barbarian I've played was the leader of a gang halfway between mercenaries and highwaymen, her reputation as a violent woman almost entirely eliminating the need for violence. She was still a combat MONSTER, but she was clever, goal-oriented, and a leader of sorts. She was kinda a land Pirate. Ooo, a Pirate barbarian sounds cool as hell

[@alexanderpalmer2647]

I love playing Barbarians as quiet terrifying foes to the GM. They are soft spoken even in rage, but revel in the combat and sport of it all. They fight dirty, and are not a above cheap tricks. They aren't battle trained, but are battle hardened. Dropping their guard, to overwhelm the enemy with shear force. I like to dip two levels into rouge whenever I play Barbarian...sometimes even three to get the theif archetype and play like this former bandit archetype. Not a bad guy, but a man that did some bad things and is trying to move past it. But deep deep down, he still loves it.

[@Sunsetlady]

The precision-Barbarian is one of my favourites. My barb comes from a clan where the barbarians were elevated socially for their ability to control & manipulate their emotions to such a degree that they could enter a rage state as they wanted/needed.They were usually diplomats or leaders. It's all about extremely precise emotional control & reading a room to know when to hit & when to talk.

[@anabeatrizpaiva4038]

That actually makes SO MUCH SENSE for Rage.

[@JoeCowleyNEPABeerReviews]

The ancestral guardian path that came out in Xanathars Guide is very interesting barbarian option. I made a dragonborn ancestral guardian who had to leave his clan because he was wrongly accused of a crime within a city the clan regularly trades in. He opted to leave so that the clan wouldn’t be banned from the city but there is now no guardian of the clan.

[@Bramzter]

My own half-orc barbarian character is more of a gladiator type of barbarian who used to travel with a bunch of sell-swords across the northren part of the realm, This resulted in her fighting style to be a mixture of half remembered military discipline lessons and Gruumsh-induced battle rage. Our team is mostly ranged and support inclined so i kinda have to play the meatshield. Not that she doesn't want to be in the thick of it, She welcomes challenge! Wounds heal but glory never fades! She only has trouble keeping her rage in check if she is fighting orks and is more prone to charging in fighting the lot of them.

[@MagicalMaster]

I've made one where he grew up in a hunter village and spent his youth chasing animals which gives him incredible endurance. He's got the Folk Hero Background where when a greedy Baroness decided to tax the village that they've never heard of before and wasn't really part of any kingdom, she was turned down and came back with an army. Which this character led astray and had them chasing him for most of the night with mocking songs and taking advantage of the storm overhead to keep everything in chaos. he then got his path shown what it would be when he was cornered and the storm protected him with blasts of lightning and roiling thunder. Letting the otherwise fairly inexperienced warrior win the day.

[@morganmckerchar4333]

I actually played a variant of the Jekyl/Hyde in Pathfinder, using thin Skinwalker race, I tied the Rage class feature to the skinwalkers transformation ability so he could only become his were-bear form in rage, he literally had to keep himself from getting emotionally distraught or he would transform and loose control of himself. Also Richard Rahl from the Sword of Truth series is totally a barbarian, (well if you take away his magic).

[@maudestudios]

My first ever player was a half orc purple barbarian woman named Lavender. She was a very prolific 'exotic' dancer who loved glitter, shiny things, party's, and her giant ax. (also her rhino named Rosie, who her party members convinced her was a unicorn after they secretly painted it pink.) She spoke in fluent valley girl and hated clothing as a rule. Still hands down the most fun character I've ever played, and a group favorite.

[@eWarriorDLC]

There are teasers?! I've been completely oblivious. Love your class analysis by the way. Thanks for looking past the numbers and rules and thinking about how to enrich their stories for my players. I think we forget about historic examples of barbarians like those on the steppes of Eurasia! If we look at the Huns and Mongols (and also the Vikings though they don't fit with my original example geographically), their leaders were often very intelligent, collecting philosophers and ideas from around the known world. It often came down to the simple idea, "if you don't trade, we raid." On that note, you've had a few wild classes. It would be nice to see something like the bard for contrast. ^.~

[@wolfoflight]

I had a barbarian that I was playing a while ago that when he wasn't in a fight he would find stones and gems and make mundane talismans. Had about thirty little rocks in his bag that had emblems that he felt inspired to make on them. It was fun imagining this 6'6" wood elf sitting at a table scratching at a stone with a mithril needle.

[@Nurk0m0rath]

I'm getting this mental image of a giant muscley warrior wearing a loincloth made of axeheads on a belt, carrying a bear pelt over one shoulder, using the hide's attached skull as a flail. Thank you very much for that wonderful slip of the tongue.

[@gamerfellow]

I'll be playing a lizardman barbarian soon in my friend's campaign and he's a meek, scared little guy normally, but turns crazy buff and ruthless when raging. It's hopefully going to lots of fun!

[@xKingGeorgeTheThirdx]

I remember my first character being a barbarian sailor named Unha. He got a marriage ceremony with an anchor, which he named Tyra and used as his weapon & tool for working on a dredge crew after his retirement from adventuring.

[@tyleremery7088]

I have a lvl. 4 rage mage barbarian rockstar who's actually the party face because he has pretty good charisma. He uses a greataxe strung like a guitar and pumps everyone up before battle with some sick tunes.

[@revshad4226]

Two fun barbarian stories from my games of D&d 1) the bounty hunter that started as a fighter and become a barbarian because his best friend was killed but still works as a bounty hunter so he doesn't kill. 2) the ork that is dumb as a box of rocks but managed to lead the tribe by being the strongest and the other party members act as advisors, because he knows that they understand things he doesn't.

[@kpny8484]

im new to dnd, and a new gm, so i watch all the videos you put out.

[@DashTheBlond]

This was really interesting. Definitely gave me some inspiration for a future character.

[@yanderenejoyer]

I play a human barbarian in a 3.5e game... I describe her rage as a battle trance. She just fights like a death machine. After some time, as I leveled and getting out of rage (which, in our table, requires a will save) got harder, something weird started happening... It's as if she has another personality. And sure enough, after I got downed in combat after the trance ended by time limit, her other personality took control. Only after another life threatening event she managed to come back. Now they have this weird relation, but since they can't talk directly, they can only work by what the other leaves behind. It's good fun. My party never knows who is going to be on the helm, so they just kind of ask "So uh, who is it now? " And it can cause some funny moments...

[@SquishyTrym]

I've played a halfling barbarian who is as feral as feral can be, has cannibalistic tendencies, and once foiled a villain's plans through his illiteracy. He was incredibly fun to play with his ritual of dismantling the corpses of the enemies they've slain and not understanding how the civilised world works. And everyone else was involved with restraining him when someone picks a fight with him, or having to explain weird civilised concepts to him.

[@TrickyTrickyFox]

I really like to play as "druidbarian". Basically, go for totem warrior and RP as this warm cheerful guy, who likes to spend time with animals and would instantly rage, if someone hurt them. Kinda fun and has a lot of potential for plot twists, since animals - can be used by GM for cool little plot bits.

[@moelikhond7651]

Logan Nine-Fingers was a great, deep character who was a lot more than hitting things. That's pretty typical for The First Law trilogy though. He's kind of been my pattern for barbarians since I read the books.

[@tmantheawesome22]

This gave me some great ideas for my gnome barbarian that was raised by goblins. Thank you

[@kennethslayor8177]

How wonderful to do a Barbarian in an unfinished setting. Such a statement about the nature of life.

[@garethfarrell8146]

My barbarian I currently play is a storm herald goliath named stone who was raised by dwarves. He has great stats apart from a 5 intelligence which is great for role playing. He tries to be a Hero to people and is neutral good

[@bronzieblue63]

I made a sort of entertaining high charisma barbarian (14 in Charisma because why not) with a really silly backstory, he had a gig as a model because of his godly muscular appearance, but his manager fled the country to elope with his newfound love, so he was shit out of luck, and decided to finally put his muscles to good use and became a bounty hunter. He had a 10 in intelligence but he was good at strategizing because of his work as a bounty hunter and he was familiar with urban combat. Whenever he raged, his motions became graceful, efficient, and swift instead of the stereotypical sheer brutality of a raging barbarian.

[@roarkegriffon5657]

Played a halfling barbarian buffalo rider. He was loads of fun. He used battleaxe and javelins, had magical tattoos.

[@SuperMcmonster]

I had a barbarian who was a samurai, but had a bit of a temper but was extremely honor bound. He was also very aware of his position in a court. His name was Fukase Toru, or “Don Yoko/ The Devourer” he was a sumo sized samurai.

[@fsaxjack3181]

I think you've overlooked the storytelling potential of Pathfinder's Bloodrager, a fusion of a barbarian and a sorcerer. Magic and bloodlines can open up quite a few opportunities for crafting a character,

[@Atsu333]

It's a cool concept but it seems to only make sense when looking at the Xanathar's Guide options that give you abilities that tie into that concept.

[@fsaxjack3181]

d20pfsrd has all the Bloodrager Bloodlines listed out as well as various archetypes if that's what you mean.

[@blakebrockhaus347]

FSax Jack he's talking about 5e

[@fsaxjack3181]

I figured that was the case, but I specified Pathfinder, so I didn't know which assumption to work under. My mistake.

[@chrisweldon6076]

When he mentioned the jeckel and hide (appoligizes if the names are wrong) I imidiately thought of the bloodrager)

[@bankasai3120]

I always imagine the barbarian carrying the warrior gal on his shoulders as she hold her sword out yelling "CHARGE!" while he just grins dumbly, happy to be useful. I feel the barbarian has a great potential for comic relief in a tense situation. I feel that this is especially so when paired up with a good rogue. "Hey! Buddy! I hear you are a smart guy, ya? Well, maybe you could go talk to those trolls for me, they are smart, like you! Maybe you can make friends while just walk around and do my boring, sneaky stuff, yeah? Good chatting with you, big guy. Have fun!"

[@bankasai3120]

"Hey, you mind sticking your hand in that hive of bee's? I need some honey. You are my friend, right? Good, now go on and get me my honey, bud."

[@SvenOkonomi]

How perfect, my poor Ranger died a week ago, now im going to have to introduce myself into the campaign as a Half orc barbarian. So this video came as a godsent. Thanks GM!

[@CheetahFoxx]

I'm doing a mix of the "noble warrior" and "Jekyl and Hide" for my barbarian. He is a huge cambion with Str 20 hulk with a surprisingly high charisma (half devil) and by all means a wise and calm pacifist. But when he's finally pushed over the edge, his daedric blood takes over him and he becomes a roaring bloodthirsty devil on the battlefield. This means rages are not just a mechanic for him, because he wants to avoid giving into that dark side at almost all costs.

[@AfroditeBell]

My Barbarian is an 18 year old gladiator… it’s kinda like a Jekyll Hyde. I call her my BARBie doll. She’s basically two high school tropes in one…your typical popular cheerleader type, pretty, self absorbed, cares about her image combined with the football jock/ bully

[@MythoMead]

Wow! What a great video! I am so inspired by your video, I just had to roll up a new character. The idea is a "Failed Monk" Barbarian Dragonborn, who excelled at the training in the style of his monastery where he far out-paced his peers, but never truly understood the lessons of the Grand Masters (probably due to a low Wisdom score). Was cast out for some Chaotic Rage that broke a non-violent teaching (potentially still a good act, but just not correct in the ways of the Monks of that order). So now, the beasts he encounters and fights have become his teachers (Totem Warrior) as he builds up his own style and discipline of fighting. And given a decent roll for Charisma, may even seek a way to set up a dojo to instruct others in his ways and techniques. Could be his goal or purpose now?

[@NoahAregood]

Just started playing a Scourge Aasmiar Zealot Barbarian in 5E for Tomb of Annihilation. I usually play Rogues, Sorcerers, or Warlocks, so this was quite the change, but I decided to play the meat shield since our party is a Wizard, a Cleric, and a Mystic. With this said, however, I may have an 8 in intelligence which means I can't recall specific historical events or arcane knowledge, but he's done a lot more than just take hits and crush stuff with his axe. Since he's a Zealot, he still tries to share his religious views and give people another chance to turn to good before crushing their skull. It's been quite fun to be honest.