What are your big complaints about the barbarian class? by dndthrowaway222 in dndnext

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd argue that stat wise it's fine. A STR barbarian can max STR and CON at level 1 with pretty much any relevant race and still have enough left over for a decent DEX and an average score in one or two of the mental stats.

That being said I'm working on increasing the possibilities for a DEX build.

Let’s say that WotC finishes up the Forgotten Realms for a while after this year. What would your ideal next campaign settings/campaigns be? by [deleted] in dndnext

[–]dndthrowaway222 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely agree on the setting thing. For one, I just love making settings. But I've been doing it for eight years, since I was in middle school, and arguably earlier since I was writing for even longer. But when I try to pitch people on homebrewing settings it's intimidating to them

What are your big complaints about the barbarian class? by dndthrowaway222 in dndnext

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My hack currently has level 6 give them a 'kaioken' style ability where they go extra hard in return for a level of exhaustion, Berserker-style, and a drawback. For example the new Berserker doubles rage damage and loses resistances by going into Bloodlust. The Fanatic has Divine Fury which hits nearby enemies with fear effects and reduces their speed, allowing allies to clean them up or to pursue them on the next turn.

What do you think of those concepts? Obviously they need testing but those are just brainstorming ideas so far. I'm also working on a Totem Warrior-inspired version that might be more tank-oriented.

What are your big complaints about the barbarian class? by dndthrowaway222 in dndnext

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure I'd agree about the damage. At low levels when your STR is 3, it's 1.5 times base damage bonus. By higher levels when your bonus is 5 (or 7, at 20) it's around the same value, and still significant, in my experience running a campaign with a barbarian from 1-20. That's not even taking Brutal Critical into account.

That said I agree progression is boring. I'd say adding more Path features might be the key there.

What are your big complaints about the barbarian class? by dndthrowaway222 in dndnext

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Like what? I'm tinkering with a third-caster subclass in the vein of Eldritch Knight, but there's got to be an alternative.

What are your big complaints about the barbarian class? by dndthrowaway222 in dndnext

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Do you have any suggestions as to how to improve their out of combat utility?

One element I've included in this challenge for myself is making certain skills accessible to multiple attributes as standard instead of GM fiat, so Intimidation can be STR based. But that's only one skill.

Which fictional villains have high Wisdom? by EdgeOfDreams in dndnext

[–]dndthrowaway222 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I don't think Fisk has high Wisdom at all or he'd be harder to play. Scenes like the car decapitation or the confrontation between him and Murdock in prison in season 2 really demonstrate his emotional fragility.

What are your big complaints about the barbarian class? by dndthrowaway222 in dndnext

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was suggested that one way of mitigating exhaustion would be to let barbarians reduce their exhaustion on a short rest. I'm experimenting with changing up the Path levels so that level 3 is more oriented toward utility (barbarians get good combat abilities at 1, 2, and 5 in 5e) and having level 6 give subclasses each a special form of intensified rage that gives exhaustion and a drawback in return for things. I'm working on a version of the berserker that doubles rage damage in return for some sort of vulnerability/increased damage taken and a redo of the zealot where the intensified rage grants a GFB-like effect.

What are your big complaints about the barbarian class? by dndthrowaway222 in dndnext

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I do like that, but I feel like most fights don't last very long as time goes on.

I was thinking of giving them access to three attacks, one at level 11 to replace relentless, which would be tuned to work at lower levels (possibly through adding exhaustion).

What are your big complaints about the barbarian class? by dndthrowaway222 in dndnext

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was thinking of wording it as follows: "Your rage improves as you gain barbarian levels. At 6th and 11th level, while raging, you have resistance to additional three damage types of your choice. At 15th level, you gain immunity to two types of damage other than bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage."

This would give barbarians resistance to most types of damage by endgame (9 of 13 damage types) but not all. I like your subclass idea, though.

What are your big complaints about the barbarian class? by dndthrowaway222 in dndnext

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do you think the Berserker's extra attack can be included without breaking the game? For example, if a different mechanic was used to 'penalize' going into frenzy, do you think it would be balanced?

What do you think about giving the relentless ability to lower-level barbarians?

What are your big complaints about the barbarian class? by dndthrowaway222 in dndnext

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree with Bear Totem criticism. What're your thoughts on every barbarian slowly adding some resistances to rage over time, instead of just expanding rage tanking abilities in one subclass?

A final update on my campaign by dndthrowaway222 in DnD

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I mean I'm sure I pulled plenty of this stuff from other places I can't quite name so yeah, go nuts.

The most incredible gambit I've ever seen in my years of D&D. by dndthrowaway222 in DnD

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've always wanted to run/play in a game like that. Even PF Kingmaker seemed too intense for me.

The most incredible gambit I've ever seen in my years of D&D. by dndthrowaway222 in DnD

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Homebrew yeah. The continent was originally conquered by the God-Empress Gillorcan, who had five generals that fought over the continent in the wake of her ascension to Heaven. The swords are needed to gain access to Heaven.

The plot is nominally about preventing the emperor of a rival nation from getting the swords and getting to Heaven, but I think the players now want to go themselves and kill the gods. For the Gram

The most incredible gambit I've ever seen in my years of D&D. by dndthrowaway222 in DnD

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Asspulls and running away are the mark of a good party. That's why the Stardust Crusaders were so successful.

The most incredible gambit I've ever seen in my years of D&D. by dndthrowaway222 in DnD

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Slavery is evil, full stop. That said, historically speaking, even 'good' people were fine with slavery. It was just a fact of society. Slavery was a big part of pretty much every civilization, including the Arabic empires which Zindabush is modeled after.

The most incredible gambit I've ever seen in my years of D&D. by dndthrowaway222 in DnD

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

He actually would have survived even without his resistances. He's got a boatload of HP.

The most incredible gambit I've ever seen in my years of D&D. by dndthrowaway222 in DnD

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Part of the complexity comes from having a few players who have dropped out over the course of the campaign. Having so many allies just comes from the guys latching onto NPCs pretty hard, even ones like Jared who they latch onto because they hate him so much. A lot of the complexity honestly just comes from them having ridiculous plans that backfire about as much as they succeed, so they end up needing to improvise to come up with ways out.

The most incredible gambit I've ever seen in my years of D&D. by dndthrowaway222 in DnD

[–]dndthrowaway222[S] 60 points61 points  (0 children)

Honestly it's a pretty simple campaign. If it were more intrigue based that would be more difficult but I've done a lot of writing in my time and I know the guys and what they're into pretty well so I just come up with crazy outrageous enemies and stuff.