Barbarian

Overview

People of towns and cities take pride in their settled ways, as if denying one’s connection to nature were a mark of superiority. To a barbarian, though, a settled life is no virtue, but a sign of weakness. The strong embrace nature—valuing keen instincts, primal physicality, and ferocious rage. Barbarians are uncomfortable when hedged in by walls and crowds. They thrive in the wilds of their homelands: the tundra, jungle, or grasslands where their tribes live and hunt.

Barbarians come alive in the chaos of combat. They can enter a berserk state where rage takes over, giving them superhuman strength and resilience. A barbarian can draw on this reservoir of fury only a few times without resting, but those few rages are usually sufficient to defeat whatever threats arise.

Class Stats and Adjustments

There are no primary adjustments for Barbarians.

Race Specific Interpretations

Elves - Barbarians are very rare amongst High and Drow Elves, but those Wood Elves who have truly embraced the wilderness of their home will often find comfort in the natural ways around them.

Orckind - Amongst the Orcish races, Hobgoblins are more likely to be Barbarians, their nomadic, tribal nature lends more to kinness with nature and being one with the more primal nature of all beings. Orc Barbarians are not all together uncommon as it goes hand in hand with the shamanistic history of their race. Goblins are very unlikely to be Barbarians.

Dwarvenkind - Among the Dwarves and Halflings, Barbarians are somewhat revered for their closeness to the land itself. Dwarves who don't get into farming or some other pursuit will often find themselves drawn to the allure of living off the land and being one with the wildlands.

Mac'Tirnen - The deserts hide many Mac'Tirnen clans and families that gladly embrace the Barbarian way of life. A lifetime on the sands, moving from place to place, developing the kind of survival traits and keen instincts needed to get by naturally brings entire families onto the track of Barbarianism.

Tabaxi - Barbarians, Bezerkers or just plain crazy, it's just very difficult to determine if any feral Tabaxi is just lost in the sauce or following an ethos of being an instinctual survivor with a close relationship with their inner ferocious jungle cat and the wild life.

Firbolg - The lifestyle of Barbarian tribes fits well with the society of Firbolgs, they have a strong attachment to their lands and tribes and feel less comfortable in more civilised settings.

Tortle - The gentle Tortle lifestyle doesn't particuarly lend itself to raging out, but who knows, you might find one somewhere.

Sub-Classes

Path of the Ancestral Guardian (Xanathar's Guide to Everything)

Path of the Battlerager (Swordcoast Adventurers Guide)

Path of the Beast (Tasha's Cauldron of Everything)

Path of the Berserker (Players Handbook)

Path of the Giant (Glory of the Giants)

Path of the Storm Herald (Xanathar's Guide to Everything)

Path of the Totem Warrior (Players Handbook)

Path of the Zealot (Xanathar's Guide to Everything)

Path of Wild Magic (Tasha's Cauldron of Everything)