Barbarian Legacy This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore. Learn More Class Details
A tall human tribesman strides through a blizzard, draped in fur and hefting his axe. He laughs as he charges toward the frost giant who dared poach his people’s elk herd.
A half-orc snarls at the latest challenger to her authority over their tribe, ready to break his neck with her bare hands as she did to the last six rivals.
Frothing at the mouth, a dwarf slams his helmet into the face of his drow foe, then turns to drive his armored elbow into the gut of another.
These barbarians, different as they might be, are defined by their rage: unbridled, unquenchable, and unthinking fury. More than a mere emotion, their anger is the ferocity of a cornered predator, the unrelenting assault of a storm, the churning turmoil of the sea.
For some, their rage springs from a communion with fierce animal spirits. Others draw from a roiling reservoir of anger at a world full of pain. For every barbarian, rage is a power that fuels not just a battle frenzy but also uncanny reflexes, resilience, and feats of strength.
Primal Instinct
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.
A Life of Danger
A barbarian plays an important role as a protector of their people and a leader in times of war. Life in the wild places of the world is fraught with peril: rival tribes, deadly weather, and terrifying monsters. Barbarians charge headlong into that danger so that their people don’t have to.
Their courage in the face of danger makes barbarians perfectly suited for adventuring. Wandering is often a way of life for their native tribes, and the rootless life of the adventurer is little hardship for a barbarian. Some barbarians miss the closeknit family structures of the tribe, but eventually find them replaced by the bonds formed among the members of their adventuring parties.
Creating a Barbarian
When creating a barbarian character, think about where your character comes from and his or her place in the world. Talk with your DM about an appropriate origin for your barbarian. Did you come from a distant land, making you a stranger in the area of the campaign? Or is the campaign set in a rough-and-tumble frontier where barbarians are common?
What led you to take up the adventuring life? Were you lured to settled lands by the promise of riches? Did you join forces with soldiers of those lands to face a shared threat? Did monsters or an invading horde drive you out of your homeland, making you a rootless refugee? Perhaps you were a prisoner of war, brought in chains to another land and only now able to win your freedom. Or you might have been cast out from your people because of a crime you committed, a taboo you violated, or a coup that removed you from a position of authority.
QUICK BUILD
You can make a barbarian quickly by following these suggestions. First, put your highest ability score in Strength, followed by Constitution. Second, choose the outlander background.
The Barbarian Table
Level |
Proficiency |
Features |
Rages |
Rage |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st |
+2 |
2 |
+2 |
|
2nd |
+2 |
2 |
+2 |
|
3rd |
+2 |
3 |
+2 |
|
4th |
+2 |
3 |
+2 |
|
5th |
+3 |
3 |
+2 |
|
6th |
+3 |
4 |
+2 |
|
7th |
+3 |
4 |
+2 |
|
8th |
+3 |
4 |
+2 |
|
9th |
+4 |
Brutal Critical (1 die) |
4 |
+3 |
10th |
+4 |
4 |
+3 |
|
11th |
+4 |
4 |
+3 |
|
12th |
+4 |
5 |
+3 |
|
13th |
+5 |
Brutal Critical (2 dice) |
5 |
+3 |
14th |
+5 |
5 |
+3 |
|
15th |
+5 |
5 |
+3 |
|
16th |
+5 |
5 |
+4 |
|
17th |
+6 |
Brutal Critical (3 dice) |
6 |
+4 |
18th |
+6 |
6 |
+4 |
|
19th |
+6 |
6 |
+4 |
|
20th |
+6 |
Unlimited |
+4 |
Class Features
As a barbarian, you gain the following class features.
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d12 per barbarian level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 12 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d12 (or 7) + your Constitution modifier per barbarian level after 1st
Proficiencies
Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Strength, Constitution
Skills: Choose two from Animal Handling, Athletics, Intimidation, Nature, Perception, and Survival
Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- (a) a greataxe or (b) any martial melee weapon
- (a) two handaxes or (b) any simple weapon
- An explorer’s pack and four javelins
Rage
In battle, you fight with primal ferocity. On your turn, you can enter a rage as a bonus action.
While raging, you gain the following benefits if you aren’t wearing heavy armor:
- You have advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws.
- When you make a melee weapon attack using Strength, you gain a bonus to the damage roll that increases as you gain levels as a barbarian, as shown in the Rage Damage column of the Barbarian table.
- You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
If you are able to cast spells, you can’t cast them or concentrate on them while raging.
Your rage lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are knocked unconscious or if your turn ends and you haven’t attacked a hostile creature since your last turn or taken damage since then. You can also end your rage on your turn as a bonus action.
Once you have raged the number of times shown for your barbarian level in the Rages column of the Barbarian table, you must finish a long rest before you can rage again.
Unarmored Defense
While you are not wearing any armor, your Armor Class equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.
Reckless Attack
Starting at 2nd level, you can throw aside all concern for defense to attack with fierce desperation. When you make your first attack on your turn, you can decide to attack recklessly. Doing so gives you advantage on melee weapon attack rolls using Strength during this turn, but attack rolls against you have advantage until your next turn.
Danger Sense
At 2nd level, you gain an uncanny sense of when things nearby aren’t as they should be, giving you an edge when you dodge away from danger.
You have advantage on Dexterity saving throws against effects that you can see, such as traps and spells. To gain this benefit, you can’t be blinded, deafened, or incapacitated.
Primal Path
At 3rd level, you choose a path that shapes the nature of your rage. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 10th, and 14th levels.
Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.
Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Fast Movement
Starting at 5th level, your speed increases by 10 feet while you aren’t wearing heavy armor.
Feral Instinct
By 7th level, your instincts are so honed that you have advantage on initiative rolls.
Additionally, if you are surprised at the beginning of combat and aren’t incapacitated, you can act normally on your first turn, but only if you enter your rage before doing anything else on that turn.
Brutal Critical
Beginning at 9th level, you can roll one additional weapon damage die when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with a melee attack.
This increases to two additional dice at 13th level and three additional dice at 17th level.
Relentless Rage
Starting at 11th level, your rage can keep you fighting despite grievous wounds. If you drop to 0 hit points while you’re raging and don’t die outright, you can make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. If you succeed, you drop to 1 hit point instead.
Each time you use this feature after the first, the DC increases by 5. When you finish a short or long rest, the DC resets to 10.
Brutal Critical
At 13th level, you can roll two additional weapon damage dice when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with a melee attack.
This increases to three additional dice at 17th level.
Persistent Rage
Beginning at 15th level, your rage is so fierce that it ends early only if you fall unconscious or if you choose to end it.
Brutal Critical
At 17th level, you can roll three additional weapon damage dice when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with a melee attack.
Indomitable Might
Beginning at 18th level, if your total for a Strength check is less than your Strength score, you can use that score in place of the total.
Primal Champion
At 20th level, you embody the power of the wilds. Your Strength and Constitution scores increase by 4. Your maximum for those scores is now 24.
Primal Paths
Rage burns in every barbarian’s heart, a furnace that drives him or her toward greatness. Different barbarians attribute their rage to different sources, however. For some, it is an internal reservoir where pain, grief, and anger are forged into a fury hard as steel. Others see it as a spiritual blessing, a gift of a totem animal.
Path of the Berserker Legacy This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore. Learn More
For some barbarians, rage is a means to an end—that end being violence. The Path of the Berserker is a path of untrammeled fury, slick with blood. As you enter the berserker’s rage, you thrill in the chaos of battle, heedless of your own health or well-being.
Frenzy
Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you can go into a frenzy when you rage. If you do so, for the duration of your rage you can make a single melee weapon attack as a bonus action on each of your turns after this one. When your rage ends, you suffer one level of exhaustion.
Mindless Rage
Beginning at 6th level, you can’t be charmed or frightened while raging. If you are charmed or frightened when you enter your rage, the effect is suspended for the duration of the rage.
Intimidating Presence
Beginning at 10th level, you can use your action to frighten someone with your menacing presence. When you do so, choose one creature that you can see within 30 feet of you. If the creature can see or hear you, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier) or be frightened of you until the end of your next turn. On subsequent turns, you can use your action to extend the duration of this effect on the frightened creature until the end of your next turn. This effect ends if the creature ends its turn out of line of sight or more than 60 feet away from you.
If the creature succeeds on its saving throw, you can’t use this feature on that creature again for 24 hours.
Retaliation
Starting at 14th level, when you take damage from a creature that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack against that creature.
One thing a lot of people don't realize is that you don't have to take the same totem animal for every feature. You can grab a different option for each one, and have three different totem animals.
I would say grab bear for the first one, and either elk or tiger for the third one. The second one is just utility, so it really depends on the campaign.
I don't know whether to chose a bear or wolf for my totem spirit, what do you think is best for a half-orc barbarian
Persistent Rage says your Rage only ends *early* if you fall unconscious or choose to end it. If it doesn’t end early, it ends after the one-minute duration of the rage passes. Meaning that if a zealot barb with Rage Beyond Death hits 0hp, they have until the end of that minute-long rage to heal or they fall unconscious.
Persistent Rage removes the requirement that you must attack someone or take damage every round To maintain your Rage. It does not say it removes the one-minute cap on Rage duration.
I hear what you're saying.
I am telling you the mechanical reason why you should not give a greatsword both D6 for a brutal critical dice. If you as a DM ignore the RAW and RAI of that rule, you will be giving Greatsword users an overwhelming advantage.
You can flavour whatever you like however you like, but the rules are made to encourage a diverse use of weapons among the party.
Average Damage means little to most players. To me it's more about player agency. If a player sees their barbarian as a great sword or maul wielding fiend and doesn't just want to have an axe to be a top shelf barbarian. Especially when brutal critical hits 2 or 3.
I mean to do the quick math, say you have a 50% chance to hit and a 5% chance to crit. So 45% of the time it's normal damage 5% it's critical, with just one Brutal critical it makes up the difference as the average output of a the Greataxe is 13 on a crit while the great sword is 10. With 2 Great axe is 19.5 while greatsword is 13.5. So it means basically for all intents and purposes a Barbarian picking anything other than the only D12 weapon that doesn't have a caveat (Lance has disadvantage w/in 5 ft)
Plus if you really want to be an amazing barbarian you pick the Pike or Glaive go Polearm Sentinel, really help keep tabs on the battlefield.
Greatswords have an average damage of 7, while Greataxe/Maul have a damage of 6.5.. This is pushed even further then Great-weapon training allowing the re-roll of 1s.
So actually the game favours the use of greatswords in other classes, brutal criticals makes the D12 weapons relevant again.
No, Persistent Rage reads: Beginning at 15th level, your rage is so fierce that it ends early only if you fall unconscious or if you choose to end it.
Since Rage beyond Deaths says having 0 hit points doesn't knock you unconscious, by the rules a level 15 Path of the Zealot barbarian is literally immortal unless they take their entire Max HP in damage from a single source, or are hit by a spell like Disintegrate. Now, obviously a reasonable DM would put limits on what Rage beyond Death can do, but as it stands the only likely cause of death for a Path of the Zealot barbarian would be death from 7th level exhaustion, but even that isn't likely because he can just rage through a short rest to spend hit dice.
Brutal Critical uses the verbage "weapon damage die " which implies 1d6, but no way as a DM would I allow that. It basically forces barbs to tool their weapons to D12 weapons. Which is boring. I'd much rather give them choices.
My biggest question regarding this class, is for the brutal critical, where it says you can roll one additional weapon damage die when you get a critical hit, how does that interact with the greatsword? Is it just a waste of a feature if you want to use that weapon with that feature, or do you get to roll 2d6 extra because that's what the base weapon gives? I know most people would say the you would only get 1d6, but I feel like the greatsword gets overlooked by barbarians all the time so I always wonder.
Storm Herald is very underwhelming, even with such a cool concept.
Githyanki barbarians greatest mix ever so strong and I don't even have to waist money on armour!
Can only use the advantage once per rage.Also rage is one 1 minute and you cant really chain it because it does take time to activate even if it is only a bonus action ( they'd die before reactivating it). What I said still stands they basically only get to finish a combat before nearly always keeling over dead with out healing. If you have healing then they probably wouldn't die any way, most DMs probably wouldn't kill a player any way.
Persistent Rage at level 15 and adv on all saves at 6. Even if a zealot fails their saves they don't die until their rage ends so anywhere between 5-endless minutes to finish the fight and heal.
Nah, keep in mind to maintain rage he has to keep attacking and if he is attacking he will be attacked. Each hit will count as a death saving throw fail and even if he does manage to stabilize he will go back to 0 saves when hit. If the zealot tries to run they will loose rage and fall unconscious and or die. So they are going to get those 3 death fails all the time unless the DM deliberately avoids it. If your worried about an op cleric team just attack the cleric because even with out zealot they're going to be getting players back up with bonus action healing words.
It's just one of the features of dnd 5e. All the classes have "sub-classes." Talk to your DM, though, they may let you "multiclass" as multiple primal barbarians.
.
if you want other primal paths like totems you need to purchase either the PHB or one of the other books
Hmm. The basic classes light not be for sale individually at all then. Might have to buy the whole book og maybe contact customer service to see if they can help.
I looked in the PHB and doesn't show the barbarian path of the totem spirit for sale individually. Is there another book ourhaos I might could find it in?