Tuesday, November 25, 2014

How do you stop a raging barbarian?



I did choose to go with the dwarf troll slayer or barbarian for a second new character. I was surprised how fun this class was to use. Well it is fun when you are connecting with attacks.
 
Choosing a totem warrior as a sub class and then the bear as my spirit animal was pretty much a no brainer for a barbarian. I was shocked how well that preforms when raging. Not only is there a melee damage boost, but this guy gains damage resistance to all damage for the duration of his rage. The only attack that will cause full damage is psychic damage. That is insane! Now add in the huge hit point pool thanks to D12 hit dice for barbarians and a fat constitution bonus to boot. He is not unkillable, but when raging it takes a lot to put him down.
 
It was shame that during the big final showdown with some giant spiders, bugbears and a drow wizard; he missed so many attacks. Is there anything worse than having a great bonus to hit and damage and connecting around 4 or 5 times with 14 attacks in a 7 round fight? Yeah, dual wielding is awesome, but rolling horribly is not. Still he did hold aggro on three monsters during this fight. It helped keep the pressure off the rest of the party. This is where that damage resistance is awesome. Those monsters beat on the dwarf a ton and only dropped him to just under ½ of his max hit points. They hit him a ton and he just kept soaking the damage. That was pretty damn entertaining!
 
I’ll be interested to see what he can do after a few more games and how his fancy new ogre power gauntlets will affect his combat prowess.

2 comments:

  1. "but when raging it takes a lot to put him down."

    Be wary when pushing against a DM too much with a strong barbarian. If he continuously wipes the floor in combat (missing is good!), the DM can just snap his/her fingers, and cause your rage to instantly end. That leaves you in quite a vulnerable position. (especially if you went frenzy!).

    Considering half our party died last encounter, I am wary about ever thinking my characters are too strong. :)

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  2. if this guy lasts it will be pure luck. i plan on running him into the thick of it all the time. if he dies in glorious combat then that is great!

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