I agree that the reason to be strength based is to use reckless attacks. Hitting reliably means that rage damage bonus adds up over time. I can't tell you the amount of times we just barely killed something by one or two hitpoints. Also GWM makes it worth it to be strength based. I would even argue a Rogue/Barbarian works well only because rogues sneak attack with finesse weapons and finesse weapons use STR or DEX. Reckless attacks then generates auto sneak attacks as long as you aren't at a disadvantage.
With the recent Unearthed Arcana subclass, "Path of the Wild Soul", you have at least have a peripheral reason to justify a Dexterity barbarian...
...and that is because the subclass seems to focus on Constitution more than Strength.
I'd hazard to say that this subclass emphasizes a barbarian who is an eladrin, more than anything, or a Wood Elf.
With the focus on Constitution AND Dexterity, you gain a barbarian who is particularly sturdy with the unarmored features, and who can dual-wield weaponry like some graceful feyrager.
...now, this lessens the usefulness of the Barbarian capstone somewhat, so a multiclass would be in order.
This makes both a Fighter multiclass useful for the Archery Fighting style, since you'd be forgoing Great Weapon Fighting and giving your barbarian something to do, both at range and while not raging...
...or a Rogue multiclass, for Expertise, and the always useful Cunning Action...which really nails-home this nimble barbarian concept.
I fail to see how wild soul emphasizes Dex and Con more so?
barb always emphasizes con to begin with. And it’s capstone of con to 24...
you then have a spell save. At 24 con. 4 higher (2 on mod) than ANY OTHER (non-battlemaster) spell save. (Strength for BM- and there’s ways to get str better than 20, or 24)
Rogue cunning action is pointless if you roll a 2 on the wild surge table because that’s half the movement as a bonus anyways but as a teleport vs moving.
Still see it as if you go Barb. It’s almost always best (almost always) to be str based, go full barb. And get your capstone.
With the recent Unearthed Arcana subclass, "Path of the Wild Soul", you have at least have a peripheral reason to justify a Dexterity barbarian...
...and that is because the subclass seems to focus on Constitution more than Strength.
I'd hazard to say that this subclass emphasizes a barbarian who is an eladrin, more than anything, or a Wood Elf.
With the focus on Constitution AND Dexterity, you gain a barbarian who is particularly sturdy with the unarmored features, and who can dual-wield weaponry like some graceful feyrager.
...now, this lessens the usefulness of the Barbarian capstone somewhat, so a multiclass would be in order.
This makes both a Fighter multiclass useful for the Archery Fighting style, since you'd be forgoing Great Weapon Fighting and giving your barbarian something to do, both at range and while not raging...
...or a Rogue multiclass, for Expertise, and the always useful Cunning Action...which really nails-home this nimble barbarian concept.
I fail to see how wild soul emphasizes Dex and Con more so?
barb always emphasizes con to begin with. And it’s capstone of con to 24...
you then have a spell save. At 24 con. 4 higher (2 on mod) than ANY OTHER (non-battlemaster) spell save. (Strength for BM- and there’s ways to get str better than 20, or 24)
Rogue cunning action is pointless if you roll a 2 on the wild surge table because that’s half the movement as a bonus anyways but as a teleport vs moving.
Still see it as if you go Barb. It’s almost always best (almost always) to be str based, go full barb. And get your capstone.
Several of the features of the Wild Soul key off of Constitution, and the Unarmored feature gets a bit of a boost when maximizing Dex & Con.
The random magical effects of Wild Soul spices up the "fun", without inherently having to lean on Strength as much...you aren't punished as severely for making the character Dexterity-based.
The Archery fighting style of Fighter gives some non-Rage options for combat before you might wish to use a random magical effect.
Expertise for Rogue just gives a skill boost; and Cunning Action ensures consistent mobility outside a randomly-generated teleport...
...and the Dodge action mitigates the negative effect of Reckless Attack, so there's that as well.
With the recent Unearthed Arcana subclass, "Path of the Wild Soul", you have at least have a peripheral reason to justify a Dexterity barbarian...
...and that is because the subclass seems to focus on Constitution more than Strength.
I'd hazard to say that this subclass emphasizes a barbarian who is an eladrin, more than anything, or a Wood Elf.
With the focus on Constitution AND Dexterity, you gain a barbarian who is particularly sturdy with the unarmored features, and who can dual-wield weaponry like some graceful feyrager.
...now, this lessens the usefulness of the Barbarian capstone somewhat, so a multiclass would be in order.
This makes both a Fighter multiclass useful for the Archery Fighting style, since you'd be forgoing Great Weapon Fighting and giving your barbarian something to do, both at range and while not raging...
...or a Rogue multiclass, for Expertise, and the always useful Cunning Action...which really nails-home this nimble barbarian concept.
I fail to see how wild soul emphasizes Dex and Con more so?
barb always emphasizes con to begin with. And it’s capstone of con to 24...
you then have a spell save. At 24 con. 4 higher (2 on mod) than ANY OTHER (non-battlemaster) spell save. (Strength for BM- and there’s ways to get str better than 20, or 24)
Rogue cunning action is pointless if you roll a 2 on the wild surge table because that’s half the movement as a bonus anyways but as a teleport vs moving.
Still see it as if you go Barb. It’s almost always best (almost always) to be str based, go full barb. And get your capstone.
Several of the features of the Wild Soul key off of Constitution, and the Unarmored feature gets a bit of a boost when maximizing Dex & Con.
The random magical effects of Wild Soul spices up the "fun", without inherently having to lean on Strength as much...you aren't punished as severely for making the character Dexterity-based.
The Archery fighting style of Fighter gives some non-Rage options for combat before you might wish to use a random magical effect.
Expertise for Rogue just gives a skill boost; and Cunning Action ensures consistent mobility outside a randomly-generated teleport...
...and the Dodge action mitigates the negative effect of Reckless Attack, so there's that as well.
How would you dodge if you used reckless attack on your turn?
With the recent Unearthed Arcana subclass, "Path of the Wild Soul", you have at least have a peripheral reason to justify a Dexterity barbarian...
...and that is because the subclass seems to focus on Constitution more than Strength.
I'd hazard to say that this subclass emphasizes a barbarian who is an eladrin, more than anything, or a Wood Elf.
With the focus on Constitution AND Dexterity, you gain a barbarian who is particularly sturdy with the unarmored features, and who can dual-wield weaponry like some graceful feyrager.
...now, this lessens the usefulness of the Barbarian capstone somewhat, so a multiclass would be in order.
This makes both a Fighter multiclass useful for the Archery Fighting style, since you'd be forgoing Great Weapon Fighting and giving your barbarian something to do, both at range and while not raging...
...or a Rogue multiclass, for Expertise, and the always useful Cunning Action...which really nails-home this nimble barbarian concept.
I fail to see how wild soul emphasizes Dex and Con more so?
barb always emphasizes con to begin with. And it’s capstone of con to 24...
you then have a spell save. At 24 con. 4 higher (2 on mod) than ANY OTHER (non-battlemaster) spell save. (Strength for BM- and there’s ways to get str better than 20, or 24)
Rogue cunning action is pointless if you roll a 2 on the wild surge table because that’s half the movement as a bonus anyways but as a teleport vs moving.
Still see it as if you go Barb. It’s almost always best (almost always) to be str based, go full barb. And get your capstone.
Several of the features of the Wild Soul key off of Constitution, and the Unarmored feature gets a bit of a boost when maximizing Dex & Con.
The random magical effects of Wild Soul spices up the "fun", without inherently having to lean on Strength as much...you aren't punished as severely for making the character Dexterity-based.
The Archery fighting style of Fighter gives some non-Rage options for combat before you might wish to use a random magical effect.
Expertise for Rogue just gives a skill boost; and Cunning Action ensures consistent mobility outside a randomly-generated teleport...
...and the Dodge action mitigates the negative effect of Reckless Attack, so there's that as well.
Non rage options can also include a javelin or hand axe being thrown. Which. With a 24 str. Is the same as a dex 20 with archery skill to hit. But also does more damage.
just saying.
literally all your option does is give you more skills for non combat and RP moments. Which I can get on board with. But at the same time. Even the str based Barbs you see. Usually have high dex as is too.
my friend Adam’s barb in our Sunday campaign. (Level 11 mind you) 20str 18dex 16 con (9/9/14 rest of way)
making PB barb? 15/15/15/8/8/8. All your barb needs. Then it’s just pick a race. You’ll have some semblance of 17/16/15 between those 3. Which when you asi up. 20/18/20 which becomes 24/18/24.
just don’t see (in campaigns where capstones or leveling that high is even a possibility/option) of why you’d not go the str based barb, which is how barbs get their most efficient use.
if you’re doing a campaign that caps well before 20 sure. I like your option a lot.
Just to add to the problems, if you use dex to attack, you also lose the ability to (effectively) use reckless attack.
This is true and important. And not to say that this doesn't matter, but it may not be quite as big a deal as it seems at first glance.
A DEX barbarian will have to decide in a given situation whether to attack with a proficiency+4 (assuming 18 DEX) bonus to hit, or a proficiency+0 (assuming 10 STR) bonus to hit with advantage. Both options would still be available at the spur of the moment before you roll your attack. Potentially not giving your enemies advantage is a relevant factor as well.
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"Not all those who wander are lost"
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I agree that the reason to be strength based is to use reckless attacks. Hitting reliably means that rage damage bonus adds up over time. I can't tell you the amount of times we just barely killed something by one or two hitpoints. Also GWM makes it worth it to be strength based. I would even argue a Rogue/Barbarian works well only because rogues sneak attack with finesse weapons and finesse weapons use STR or DEX. Reckless attacks then generates auto sneak attacks as long as you aren't at a disadvantage.
Your secret is safe with my indifference - Percy
I fail to see how wild soul emphasizes Dex and Con more so?
barb always emphasizes con to begin with. And it’s capstone of con to 24...
you then have a spell save. At 24 con. 4 higher (2 on mod) than ANY OTHER (non-battlemaster) spell save. (Strength for BM- and there’s ways to get str better than 20, or 24)
Rogue cunning action is pointless if you roll a 2 on the wild surge table because that’s half the movement as a bonus anyways but as a teleport vs moving.
Still see it as if you go Barb. It’s almost always best (almost always) to be str based, go full barb. And get your capstone.
Blank
Several of the features of the Wild Soul key off of Constitution, and the Unarmored feature gets a bit of a boost when maximizing Dex & Con.
The random magical effects of Wild Soul spices up the "fun", without inherently having to lean on Strength as much...you aren't punished as severely for making the character Dexterity-based.
The Archery fighting style of Fighter gives some non-Rage options for combat before you might wish to use a random magical effect.
Expertise for Rogue just gives a skill boost; and Cunning Action ensures consistent mobility outside a randomly-generated teleport...
...and the Dodge action mitigates the negative effect of Reckless Attack, so there's that as well.
How would you dodge if you used reckless attack on your turn?
Your secret is safe with my indifference - Percy
Whoops; got the monk mixed up with the rogue again.
Forgot "Dodge" wasn't a part of a rogue's "Cunning Action". My mistake.
Non rage options can also include a javelin or hand axe being thrown. Which. With a 24 str. Is the same as a dex 20 with archery skill to hit. But also does more damage.
just saying.
literally all your option does is give you more skills for non combat and RP moments. Which I can get on board with. But at the same time. Even the str based Barbs you see. Usually have high dex as is too.
my friend Adam’s barb in our Sunday campaign. (Level 11 mind you) 20str 18dex 16 con (9/9/14 rest of way)
making PB barb? 15/15/15/8/8/8. All your barb needs. Then it’s just pick a race. You’ll have some semblance of 17/16/15 between those 3. Which when you asi up. 20/18/20 which becomes 24/18/24.
just don’t see (in campaigns where capstones or leveling that high is even a possibility/option) of why you’d not go the str based barb, which is how barbs get their most efficient use.
if you’re doing a campaign that caps well before 20 sure. I like your option a lot.
Blank
I think the most important for dual-wielders are STR - CON based ( in TTRPG games ).....
On PC games, dual-wielders should be based in STR-DEX, so they can either get best DMG dealing, plus the best un-MISS hits.
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
This is true and important. And not to say that this doesn't matter, but it may not be quite as big a deal as it seems at first glance.
A DEX barbarian will have to decide in a given situation whether to attack with a proficiency+4 (assuming 18 DEX) bonus to hit, or a proficiency+0 (assuming 10 STR) bonus to hit with advantage. Both options would still be available at the spur of the moment before you roll your attack. Potentially not giving your enemies advantage is a relevant factor as well.
"Not all those who wander are lost"