Who Should NOT Play as a Barbarian

You and your companions finally crest the hill. Judir said it wouldn’t be far and it wasn’t.

He leads you all through a small copse of trees to an overlook with large stones in a circle.

“Ulv, you stand in the center of the ring. The rest of you, sit down and witness.” Judir says with a tone of finality.

You give each of your party members a meaningful glance and then move to the center of the ring as your friends sit down on the ground outside the ring of stone.

Judir walks up to you and pulls your pack off of your back. He then beckons for you to remove your shirt. He take is all out of the ring. 

He comes back and now has a small bowl in his hand. He dips his finger in the bowl and then begins moving the finger along your face, neck and arms. He’s painting something.

“You will be completely alone. Your friends won’t be able to help you and neither will I. Once you start the ritual, you have to finish it… or it will kill you. Now is your last chance to change your mind. After this there is no going back.” Judir turns his back on you without letting you answer. He moves a few feet away and places a bowl on the ground, uncorks a cask and pours a liquid into the bowl and then sprinkles some powder into it. He then walks to outside of the circle and says, “Drink the liquid and say the words to begin.”

What would you like to do?

Welcome back to the 25th episode of How to Be a Better DM. I’m your host Justin Lewis and I’m here to help you craft more compelling stories for yourself and your friends as you DM a session of Dungeons and Dragons 5e.

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas with you and your family. See, that’s what it’s all about, family. I hope you and your family had an amazing Christmas and maybe even had some fun playing games like D&D.

Next, I’d like to remind you to sign up for my monthly newsletter starting in January. You’ll get access to behind the scenes content, access to homebrew items, game hooks and one-shots and even the ability to sign up to play a one shot with me and some other cool cats! If you want to sign up for this awesome newsletter, sign up here: https://mailchi.mp/05e568274671/subscription-page

Now, a few weeks ago we talked about who should and shouldn’t play a rogue. Well, we’re continuing our discussion today with who shouldn’t play a barbarian!

Aside from the wizard and the fighter, a barbarian might be the quintessential D&D class. When people think D&D, they think wizard, fighter and barbarian. 

But not everyone is cut out to enjoy a barbarian.

Like I’ve said before, anyone can play any class. Period. 

But each class offers different experiences and if you’re looking for the following experiences, you won’t want to play a barbarian.

1. You want to avoid getting hit

Barbarians have the ability to halve a lot of damage types when they are raging. This means they are ideal to be up front and center in most fights. Being a barbarian generally means you are the spearhead in most fights. So if you are shy around getting hit by weapons, you might not want to play a barbarian. 

1. You enjoy complicated combat turns

In D&D the only true limitation is your imagination! That said, unlike monks who can punch like 15 times a turn or sorcerer’s who can cast like 15 spells, as a barbarian, you generally whack. When you get higher levels, you can whack whack, and later even whack whack whack. Oh and don’t forget to RAGE!! Yeah that’s generally how your turns will go: Rage, move, attack. Sometimes you’ll do a strength check or stuff like that but compared to the other classes, a barbarian has a relatively simple action economy.

1. You Want to Be a Ranged Combatant

As a barbarian, you will naturally get a bonus to your strength. As well you get a bonus because of rage to your melee attacks. Put these two together and choosing to fight with mostly ranged weapons is seriously foregoing a large part of the class. 

1. Being the Absolute Smartest

Unlike the other more academic classes (your wizard or your bard), the barbarian is not known for their powers of intellect. I’m not saying you can’t have a tremendously intelligent barbarian, but I am saying in character creation we each make choices. There are tradeoffs. As a barbarian, you will likely prioritize strength and other physical characteristics. So get used to showing off your muscles and not your brains… usually. 

1. Don’t like to be High Energy

If you want to play a character that is generally calm and smooth and relaxed, then a barbarian might not be for you. One of the central pillars of being a barbarian is the rage. So naturally, your character will often be enraged. This means that your character will probably have lots of energy and get angry, at least part of the time. 

So there you have it. If you want these experiences, don’t be a barbarian. Now one thing to remember is that these are the general principles of being a barbarian. It may be a really cool character to buck the trope and instead do something opposite. For example, you have a mild mannered person who gets incredibly angry. Or maybe you have a very high energy character who when they rage get very calm, serious and deliberate. All of these could be fun ways to twist the trope. But it has to make sense. 

Thank you guys for listening to today’s show. I really appreciate all the support you shown me. Don’t forget, if you want to play a one-shot with me as you DM sign up for the newsletter and then sign up for the one shot in January’s Newsletter. 

If you have any suggestions or comments about the show, send me a direct message on Instagram @geronimolevis I look forward to starting up the conversation with you.

We’ll be back next week for another great episode. Until then, let’s go ahead and roll initiative.

Also, if you liked the music at the beginning of today's show, then head on over to Instagram and send a thank you to @caydmusic and tell him you loved his music!

Mentioned in this episode:

Brought to you by Session 0 Studios

Visit session0studios.com for more information.

Signup for Our Email Newsletter

Do you love the show but can't always listen to it? Do you prefer written content? Go to session0studios.com/newsletter/ and sign up to get weekly tips and tricks sent to your inbox so you can become the greatest DM the world has ever seen.

Level Up Guide

Listen to Our New Podcast

As a listener of this show, you obviously love story. Now that you’ve learned how to craft your own story on this show, wouldn’t it be nice to have some inspiration? Or maybe just a moment of immersion and escape? Then come join us in our new Actual Play D&D 5e show, Pact and Boon. Enter the World of Calignos where our characters, Jolly, Wolfgang and Alon will meet each other in Hell. Enjoy our troublemaking and near-death experiences wherever great podcasts are heard. Just go to session0studios.com/pactnboon and start listening today.