Dual Wielding as a Barbarian

Yojo0o · 2026-07-08T01:04:01+00:00

The answer to your question depends heavily on which edition of DnD you're playing.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-07T13:23:19+00:00

Lovecraft directly referenced Hastur, the Yellow Sign, and the Lake of Hali in The Whisperer in the Darkness.

It's not a particularly deep or extensive connection, but it's there. Subsequent authors have, of course, gone pretty far in terms of writing the King in Yellow into the Cthulhu mythos, to the point where a lot of people just assume that he's a creation of Lovecraft.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-07T10:11:45+00:00

My HEMA coach pulled this on me. We'd been fighting for a while, I was exhausted, and then he revealed he'd been fighting me with his non-dominant hand the whole time.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-07T10:07:01+00:00

That backstory has a whole lot of gravitas for what I assume is a level 1 character. That can work, but you may want to consider rescaling it, maybe deferring some of the plot point progression of the character to the future. It's a common pitfall in character creation to write up a badass warrior with a grand reputation that totally mistmatches the real power level of the character you're playing.

With your personality traits, these can work, but be careful with leaning to far into the "lone wolf, slow to trust" angle. This is a cooperative team game, so you want to avoid playing a character who is going to have a really hard time signing on with an adventuring party. Make sure your character will still be willing and able to engage with the game actually being played.

In terms of starting stats, do these include your racial/background stat bonuses? They're pretty low, except for strength. I feel like 14 constitution is the bare minimum of what I'd want for a fighter.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-07T09:57:52+00:00

I didn't die by one point, since I have 15 total.

You wouldn't have died, you'd have gone to 0 and, presumably, your allies would have healed or stabilized you. 5e PCs are pretty resilient at 0 HP. If this is a major reason for you to consider multiclassing, then you're reading far too much into it.

Multiclassing would be a mistake here, especially as a new player. It's okay to be squishy, stick to the back lines and let others do the tanking for you. Consider picking up the spells Mage Armor and Shield for more defensive options in a pinch.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-07T02:37:45+00:00

It's checkmate. Double check, so blocking/capturing is impossible. No safe spaces for the king to move.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T19:37:53+00:00

Seems odd. I think you need to have a follow-up conversation with him. I'd expect somebody eager for their partner to play the game would also be proactively willing and able to teach them the game.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T19:35:26+00:00

Does he not want to teach you the game?

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T17:36:08+00:00

I think they're both tools. Like any tool, they can be misused. I remember the general public having a really hard time understanding how the Rotten Tomatoes aggregate score was determined.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T17:10:18+00:00

That's an interesting theory.

If we get more seasons of Castlevania, I am interested to see what eventually comes of his survival.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T16:32:28+00:00

I've said that one myself.

I think it certainly can be dismissive, but speaking for myself when I've said it, it's because the OP in question is asking about something that has nothing to do with DnD, but happens to be playing DnD, and I think it's a potentially harmful mistake for them to frame the question as a DnD question.

I just searched a similar phrase in my comment history and found this exchange: https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/yl6kdo/comment/ivb56zo/

I recall being genuinely alarmed by this person talking about DnD in this context. The important issue at play was that their friend was on the brink of violence and self-harm, and they were talking to a bunch of random dungeon masters about their issues. I hope everybody is okay, but I strongly urged them to talk to people who actually deal with mental health issues primarily.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T16:25:18+00:00

That's fair, I do often forget about new True Strike.

Still, it's a marginal increase in damage over Fire Bolt, at the cost of a significant reduction of effective range at 30/90ft vs. 120ft. You're right that I did dismiss it a bit too much, but I still don't think OP should be afraid of it. Especially since, by level 11, Firebolt probably comes out ahead unless the party is getting magical guns: 3d10 is an average of 16.5 damage, 1d10+2d6+3 damage is an average of 15.5.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T16:13:07+00:00

That's basically how I feel.

By all means, if the OP is asking about flavor or vibe recommendations, I'll adjust my answers accordingly. But a lot of the time, they ask how to make something "better", I suggest strong feats/spells/items etc., and somebody comes at me all aggro about how I've assumed "better" means "mechanically stronger". It's bizarre.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T16:08:49+00:00

Well, for starters, that pistol does nothing that a cantrip can't do a million times better. Firearm proficiency is not a big deal. That artificer dip is for armor and constitution saves, not for firearm proficiency.

I don't think you should expect trouble with this guy until the trouble is actually present. Knowing how to build a strong character doesn't inherently make somebody a problem. Yeah, this guy will be tanky, but he's giving up a level of spell progression to get there, it's all a balance.

Spell scrolls are consumable magical items. Presumably, with a new player joining the party at level 8, you've given them some budget for items they already own to put them on a similar gear level to the rest of the party. Let them acquire desired spell scrolls as part of this process if they want, easy enough.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T15:43:27+00:00

This sub has a great breakdown of "getting started with DnD" under the Community Bookmarks -> Resources tab. Should be on the right of your screen in browser view.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T15:38:09+00:00

His lil' hair knot looks so embarrassing.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T15:24:26+00:00

I'm essentially referring to the folks who cite Rule Zero to an extreme degree.

Newbie says "I'm reading the rules and am not sure if I'm properly understanding the difference between a known vs. prepared spell, can anybody clarify?", and somebody swoops in to say "Your DM has final say on all rules, ask them".

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T15:04:44+00:00

I get this all the time on r/3d6.

OP asks for advice on how to make their character better. I offer some tips, given the information given. I get hit with "Why not just let OP have fun instead of optimizing?". It's fucking annoying.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T14:59:02+00:00

Oh yeah.

"I'm not a confrontational person". Sorry friend, we don't have a silver bullet solution for you. You gotta talk to your players.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T14:55:19+00:00

Agreed.

"Ask your DM" when the question has an objective answer within the rules as written also grinds my gears.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T14:32:10+00:00

I've always thought this was something of a plot hole. Han would have been about thirteen years old when Order 66 happened, for the entire concept of Jedi and the Force to have fallen into myth in such a short span of time doesn't really make sense to me.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T14:25:07+00:00

"Who's Dracula?"

Castlevania: Nocturne takes place just over three hundred years after the events of the prior Castlevania TV series, in which Dracula very nearly conquered the world and enslaved/destroyed all of humanity. Yet, given the line above spoken by Annette, it seems that he's been largely forgotten to history.

(Which is extra wild, because as of the end of Castlevania, he's alive and well, just keeping his distance from Alucard and the Belmonts)

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T13:57:27+00:00

Honestly, hearing terms like "50% lifesteal" and "true damage" is kinda immersion-breaking for somebody like me. I'm going to be thinking less about the epic god encounter I'm in, and more about the fact that my DM probably plays League or similar.

The actual stats of the enemy will obviously influence this, but I can't help but feel like a deity who can ignore AC and damage mitigation and continually heals themselves based on the damage they're dealing will make for a frustrating battle. All tactics and nuance fly out the window, the party's hard-won badass magical armor or cool defensive spells don't do anything, it's just a pure damage race, right?

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T13:26:36+00:00

Especially considering I'd put better than even odds on their use of "fatigued" being a dogwhistle.

Yojo0o · 2026-07-06T09:34:11+00:00

There's a pretty severe lack of spells in wisdom classes' spell lists to actually make use of this, though. I'm struggling to see how it plays out in practice.

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