I've never played a barbarian before, though I've seen one played in my current campaign where they do massive damage. The character is built for damage and the stereotypical big dumb brute. With Tasha's out I thought making a different kind of barbarian might be fun to try. I was thinking of flavoring my rages as almost a dual personality due to interactions with the fey and the chaotic influence of the wild magic. So normally I'm your normal Gnome, maybe a bit genteel yet capricious. But when the chaos bubbles up, brought on by combat, he rages and the wild magic burst forth. And I like to keep a few backup characters ready incase something happens anyway :)
My thought was a Gnome Wild Magic Barbarian, wearing a breastplate and shield for AC and a rapier. I was originally thinking of taking the Fighting Initiate feat at level 4 to take the Dueling fighting style to get +2 damage when wielding a weapon in one hand and no other weapon. And using a longsword or other one handed melee weapon. But currently the Fighting initiate feat isn't working on DDB character sheet (I guess I could homebrew it) so it doesn't show up. Right now, instead, I have the defensive duelist feat so I can use my reaction to add my Proficiency Bonus to AC if I need it, hence the rapier since it requires a finesse weapon (I'm still using STR for attack rolls, my DEX is only 14 since I'm wearing armor)
What subclass is that barbarian you're playing with in your current campaign? Just as context to see what you're used to seeing a barbarian capable of doing.
Wild Magic Barbarian seems like a particularly hard subclass to evaluate. There seems to be a lot of flack being thrown around about the complete lack of scaling on damage. But it also seems to me that their scaling was built as having the wild magic trigger more often and eventually you having greater control of it. Whether that's enough, or that the subclass really needs some kind of damage scaling I'm not sure.
Personally I'm not a huge fan of AC stacking on a barbarian unless it's path of the beast , but I think sword and shield with FI (duelist) is a perfectly viable route to go. I just don't like being not as good at the AC game as the beast barb, but just as torn about whether to use a main strength of the class. I would be looking at picking up polearm master for a tidy 3 attacks a round, but again, sword and shield barb is a perfectly viable build. Hopefully they fix fighting initiate soon. You've got a wonderful character concept here, I hope it gets to see play.
P.S. Can I also just gush a little bit about how much I love thri-kreen. Favorite 3.5 race. Don't want to bring this off topic, but I have to share my love and appreciation.
I've never played a barbarian before, though I've seen one played in my current campaign where they do massive damage. The character is built for damage and the stereotypical big dumb brute. With Tasha's out I thought making a different kind of barbarian might be fun to try. I was thinking of flavoring my rages as almost a dual personality due to interactions with the fey and the chaotic influence of the wild magic. So normally I'm your normal Gnome, maybe a bit genteel yet capricious. But when the chaos bubbles up, brought on by combat, he rages and the wild magic burst forth. And I like to keep a few backup characters ready incase something happens anyway :)
My thought was a Gnome Wild Magic Barbarian, wearing a breastplate and shield for AC and a rapier. I was originally thinking of taking the Fighting Initiate feat at level 4 to take the Dueling fighting style to get +2 damage when wielding a weapon in one hand and no other weapon. And using a longsword or other one handed melee weapon. But currently the Fighting initiate feat isn't working on DDB character sheet (I guess I could homebrew it) so it doesn't show up. Right now, instead, I have the defensive duelist feat so I can use my reaction to add my Proficiency Bonus to AC if I need it, hence the rapier since it requires a finesse weapon (I'm still using STR for attack rolls, my DEX is only 14 since I'm wearing armor)
Largely I think your build is just fine. The only thing I would change is the Defensive Duelist Feat. Adding your proficiency bonus to your AC against a single attack is a horrible use of a Feat slot, IMO. At best that should be a half-feat, and even still there are better choices. If you want to keep using a shield, Shield Master is decent, Lucky, Alert, Mobile, and many more are much better choices. If you have an odd strength number, Piercer from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything is a good choice.
With that said, no issues with the rest of your build. And it should do well.
What subclass is that barbarian you're playing with in your current campaign? Just as context to see what you're used to seeing a barbarian capable of doing.
Wild Magic Barbarian seems like a particularly hard subclass to evaluate. There seems to be a lot of flack being thrown around about the complete lack of scaling on damage. But it also seems to me that their scaling was built as having the wild magic trigger more often and eventually you having greater control of it. Whether that's enough, or that the subclass really needs some kind of damage scaling I'm not sure.
Personally I'm not a huge fan of AC stacking on a barbarian unless it's path of the beast , but I think sword and shield with FI (duelist) is a perfectly viable route to go. I just don't like being not as good at the AC game as the beast barb, but just as torn about whether to use a main strength of the class. I would be looking at picking up polearm master for a tidy 3 attacks a round, but again, sword and shield barb is a perfectly viable build. Hopefully they fix fighting initiate soon. You've got a wonderful character concept here, I hope it gets to see play.
P.S. Can I also just gush a little bit about how much I love thri-kreen. Favorite 3.5 race. Don't want to bring this off topic, but I have to share my love and appreciation.
For reference the barbarian in question is a berserker with GWM feat, and just to qualify this a bit there is a magical boon that was given to each player by the DM that we could make up, with their approval of course, so his can boost it some, but I’ve seen him do big damage without the limited uses of the boon
And I too have a love for the Thri-Kreen since I saw them in the AD&D Monster Manual 2
I've never played a barbarian before, though I've seen one played in my current campaign where they do massive damage. The character is built for damage and the stereotypical big dumb brute. With Tasha's out I thought making a different kind of barbarian might be fun to try. I was thinking of flavoring my rages as almost a dual personality due to interactions with the fey and the chaotic influence of the wild magic. So normally I'm your normal Gnome, maybe a bit genteel yet capricious. But when the chaos bubbles up, brought on by combat, he rages and the wild magic burst forth. And I like to keep a few backup characters ready incase something happens anyway :)
My thought was a Gnome Wild Magic Barbarian, wearing a breastplate and shield for AC and a rapier. I was originally thinking of taking the Fighting Initiate feat at level 4 to take the Dueling fighting style to get +2 damage when wielding a weapon in one hand and no other weapon. And using a longsword or other one handed melee weapon. But currently the Fighting initiate feat isn't working on DDB character sheet (I guess I could homebrew it) so it doesn't show up. Right now, instead, I have the defensive duelist feat so I can use my reaction to add my Proficiency Bonus to AC if I need it, hence the rapier since it requires a finesse weapon (I'm still using STR for attack rolls, my DEX is only 14 since I'm wearing armor)
Largely I think your build is just fine. The only thing I would change is the Defensive Duelist Feat. Adding your proficiency bonus to your AC against a single attack is a horrible use of a Feat slot, IMO. At best that should be a half-feat, and even still there are better choices. If you want to keep using a shield, Shield Master is decent, Lucky, Alert, Mobile, and many more are much better choices. If you have an odd strength number, Piercer from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything is a good choice.
With that said, no issues with the rest of your build. And it should do well.
That is true, I hadn’t thought about it being one attack only. And I was thinking more of duelist fighting style with constant +2 damage. And PAM might be good with staff or spear, though as a gnome I think the rest are heavy and would give disadvantage.
Yeah you'd have to go spear or quarterstaff. So really if ASIs allow you could have spear + shield and go dueling + PAM. I forgot about heavy weapons and small beings.
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I've never played a barbarian before, though I've seen one played in my current campaign where they do massive damage. The character is built for damage and the stereotypical big dumb brute. With Tasha's out I thought making a different kind of barbarian might be fun to try. I was thinking of flavoring my rages as almost a dual personality due to interactions with the fey and the chaotic influence of the wild magic. So normally I'm your normal Gnome, maybe a bit genteel yet capricious. But when the chaos bubbles up, brought on by combat, he rages and the wild magic burst forth. And I like to keep a few backup characters ready incase something happens anyway :)
My thought was a Gnome Wild Magic Barbarian, wearing a breastplate and shield for AC and a rapier. I was originally thinking of taking the Fighting Initiate feat at level 4 to take the Dueling fighting style to get +2 damage when wielding a weapon in one hand and no other weapon. And using a longsword or other one handed melee weapon. But currently the Fighting initiate feat isn't working on DDB character sheet (I guess I could homebrew it) so it doesn't show up. Right now, instead, I have the defensive duelist feat so I can use my reaction to add my Proficiency Bonus to AC if I need it, hence the rapier since it requires a finesse weapon (I'm still using STR for attack rolls, my DEX is only 14 since I'm wearing armor)
Anyway, what are your thoughts?
https://ddb.ac/characters/40098819/TooL15
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
What subclass is that barbarian you're playing with in your current campaign? Just as context to see what you're used to seeing a barbarian capable of doing.
Wild Magic Barbarian seems like a particularly hard subclass to evaluate. There seems to be a lot of flack being thrown around about the complete lack of scaling on damage. But it also seems to me that their scaling was built as having the wild magic trigger more often and eventually you having greater control of it. Whether that's enough, or that the subclass really needs some kind of damage scaling I'm not sure.
Personally I'm not a huge fan of AC stacking on a barbarian unless it's path of the beast , but I think sword and shield with FI (duelist) is a perfectly viable route to go. I just don't like being not as good at the AC game as the beast barb, but just as torn about whether to use a main strength of the class. I would be looking at picking up polearm master for a tidy 3 attacks a round, but again, sword and shield barb is a perfectly viable build. Hopefully they fix fighting initiate soon. You've got a wonderful character concept here, I hope it gets to see play.
P.S. Can I also just gush a little bit about how much I love thri-kreen. Favorite 3.5 race. Don't want to bring this off topic, but I have to share my love and appreciation.
Largely I think your build is just fine. The only thing I would change is the Defensive Duelist Feat. Adding your proficiency bonus to your AC against a single attack is a horrible use of a Feat slot, IMO. At best that should be a half-feat, and even still there are better choices. If you want to keep using a shield, Shield Master is decent, Lucky, Alert, Mobile, and many more are much better choices. If you have an odd strength number, Piercer from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything is a good choice.
With that said, no issues with the rest of your build. And it should do well.
For reference the barbarian in question is a berserker with GWM feat, and just to qualify this a bit there is a magical boon that was given to each player by the DM that we could make up, with their approval of course, so his can boost it some, but I’ve seen him do big damage without the limited uses of the boon
And I too have a love for the Thri-Kreen since I saw them in the AD&D Monster Manual 2
That is true, I hadn’t thought about it being one attack only. And I was thinking more of duelist fighting style with constant +2 damage. And PAM might be good with staff or spear, though as a gnome I think the rest are heavy and would give disadvantage.
thanks for the input from both of you.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
You had me at gnome barbarian. The profile looks great. As always, get that lucky feat in nice and early and you should be laughing.
Yeah you'd have to go spear or quarterstaff. So really if ASIs allow you could have spear + shield and go dueling + PAM. I forgot about heavy weapons and small beings.