I've played many barbarians and I've never thought which race is best so I've come to D&D beyond to ask you guys, my guess is Minotaurs and Half-orcs are gonna be most popular but I'll wait and see.
In a new campaign I'm DMing and one of the characters is a Reptimous Vastaya (homebrew, based of renekton from lol). They have ac 13 + dex or con. He has ac 16, as well as a bite bonus action. Very good. Otherwise, I would say mountain dwarf or half orc. Just cause.
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2 options you have missed are, as mentioned Yuan-ti for their magic resistance (bane of barbarians) or the Aarakocra, the speed and flight to get to where you want and rage.
Ooh, just realised that if you wanted to play an ancestral guardian barb as very defensive, then playing as a stout halfling is a good idea. Put strength at 14, con at 15(16) then dex at 13(15). You would have a good amount of hit points, while also being harder to hit than most other barbs. Chuck in a shield and give them a battleaxe. The barb has an AC of 17, and even if people do hit you, the features of ancestral guardian means the damage will be reduced. This means your party will love you as you soak up all the attention, without getting hit or taking much damage.
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I like the dragonborn with a 30' line breath weapon. It gives you 30' ranged attack where you don't need to switch weapons or cast a spell. I really helps hit flying enemies or deal magic damage before you find a magic weapon. With the new Ravenite from EGTW you can get 2 STR and 1 CON like all the "good" races.
Unfortunately they seem to be a MAD build, using con and dex for their armour save, but strength for many of their abilities.
That means races that give boosts to any two of Strength, Dex, and Con are prefered.
Half-Orc and Mountain Dwarf would be my selection.
Do keep in mind that they do get medium armor proficiency. You could set dex at 14 and con at 12 and not bother with either again if you so chose. Scale Mail with 14 dex is 14+2=16 and Half-Plate gets you an additional point of AC on top of that. Throw in a shield and you're still rocking pretty good AC. By comparison, you'd need a 16 and an 18 or a 14 and a 20 (doesn't matter which) to get that with unarmored defense.
Given barbs skill sets and how reckless is a big thing for most their classes, the extra crit die is nice. But more importantly relentless endurance for the party’s tank to be that much harder to take down and kill.
that said. After half Orc......
I actually lean Centaur a little bit as their only real drawback is they are “less effective climbers”. But barbarians are quite good climbers so it’s a non issue. You get the bear totem/Goliath/firbolg powerful build. Plus you get the extra move speed, PLUS.... and not to be discounted... your small race spellcaster friends or whoever can ride you as a mount! (Doesn’t have to be spellcaster. Could be cavalier. Could be melee rogue who always wants sneak attack damage. Could be paladin with helpful auras, etc etc.)
I don't have much experience with different races, but I'm currently playing a Tortle Barbarian and it actually synergizes pretty well. You get the redundancy of having natural armor from the Tortle clashing with the Barb's Unarmored Defense, but really this mostly frees you from worrying too much about your DEX. A barbarian's Danger Sense and Feral Instinct seem to be designed to compensate for having lower DEX anyway. Plus having natural weapons means that, in all situations, your character is always fully armored and decently armed. Tortles also get a boost to STR, which is always useful, but a small bump to WIS is surprisingly helpful.
Mountain Dwarf would be my pick. You can't beat +2 str and con; the two most important stats for a barb. Variant human for PAM at level 1 is also right there.
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Shifter. hands down. every subrace is great. swiftstride makes you faster, wildhunt gives you risk free advantage, longtooth gives you a bonus action attack, and beasthide makes you tougher.
I've played many barbarians and I've never thought which race is best so I've come to D&D beyond to ask you guys, my guess is Minotaurs and Half-orcs are gonna be most popular but I'll wait and see.
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In a new campaign I'm DMing and one of the characters is a Reptimous Vastaya (homebrew, based of renekton from lol). They have ac 13 + dex or con. He has ac 16, as well as a bite bonus action. Very good. Otherwise, I would say mountain dwarf or half orc. Just cause.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
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Mountain Dwarf or Half-orc...but, something I want to try down the road is a Yuan-ti pureblood.
Combine it with wild soul barb. Maybe beast.
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Half-Orc Barbarian is what I would choose. Str and Con with the Savage Attacks and Relentless Endurance makes the Barbarian a Tank
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2 options you have missed are, as mentioned Yuan-ti for their magic resistance (bane of barbarians) or the Aarakocra, the speed and flight to get to where you want and rage.
There's something to be said for a Kalashtar Totem Warrior (Bear).
That said, if you want to be a dragonborn, consider being a Ravenite from Wildemount.
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Unfortunately they seem to be a MAD build, using con and dex for their armour save, but strength for many of their abilities.
That means races that give boosts to any two of Strength, Dex, and Con are prefered.
Half-Orc and Mountain Dwarf would be my selection.
Ooh, just realised that if you wanted to play an ancestral guardian barb as very defensive, then playing as a stout halfling is a good idea. Put strength at 14, con at 15(16) then dex at 13(15). You would have a good amount of hit points, while also being harder to hit than most other barbs. Chuck in a shield and give them a battleaxe. The barb has an AC of 17, and even if people do hit you, the features of ancestral guardian means the damage will be reduced. This means your party will love you as you soak up all the attention, without getting hit or taking much damage.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
I like the dragonborn with a 30' line breath weapon. It gives you 30' ranged attack where you don't need to switch weapons or cast a spell. I really helps hit flying enemies or deal magic damage before you find a magic weapon. With the new Ravenite from EGTW you can get 2 STR and 1 CON like all the "good" races.
Why are halfling and gnome not on this list? A stout halfling barbarian is amazing!
Also goblins should be listed in that list. Disengage as a bonus action makes you with reckless and move speed a dangerous hit and runner.
If you're looking at stats, Mountain Dwarf wins. If you're looking for being a crit-fisher, Half-Orc wins.
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Do keep in mind that they do get medium armor proficiency. You could set dex at 14 and con at 12 and not bother with either again if you so chose. Scale Mail with 14 dex is 14+2=16 and Half-Plate gets you an additional point of AC on top of that. Throw in a shield and you're still rocking pretty good AC. By comparison, you'd need a 16 and an 18 or a 14 and a 20 (doesn't matter which) to get that with unarmored defense.
That's true.
Half Orc.
Given barbs skill sets and how reckless is a big thing for most their classes, the extra crit die is nice. But more importantly relentless endurance for the party’s tank to be that much harder to take down and kill.
that said. After half Orc......
I actually lean Centaur a little bit as their only real drawback is they are “less effective climbers”. But barbarians are quite good climbers so it’s a non issue. You get the bear totem/Goliath/firbolg powerful build. Plus you get the extra move speed, PLUS.... and not to be discounted... your small race spellcaster friends or whoever can ride you as a mount! (Doesn’t have to be spellcaster. Could be cavalier. Could be melee rogue who always wants sneak attack damage. Could be paladin with helpful auras, etc etc.)
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I don't have much experience with different races, but I'm currently playing a Tortle Barbarian and it actually synergizes pretty well. You get the redundancy of having natural armor from the Tortle clashing with the Barb's Unarmored Defense, but really this mostly frees you from worrying too much about your DEX. A barbarian's Danger Sense and Feral Instinct seem to be designed to compensate for having lower DEX anyway. Plus having natural weapons means that, in all situations, your character is always fully armored and decently armed. Tortles also get a boost to STR, which is always useful, but a small bump to WIS is surprisingly helpful.
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Mountain Dwarf would be my pick. You can't beat +2 str and con; the two most important stats for a barb. Variant human for PAM at level 1 is also right there.
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Shifter. hands down. every subrace is great. swiftstride makes you faster, wildhunt gives you risk free advantage, longtooth gives you a bonus action attack, and beasthide makes you tougher.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subraces/137390-weretouched-beasthide
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subraces/137424-weretouched-longtooth
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subraces/137431-weretouched-razorclaw
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subraces/137461-weretouched-swiftstride
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subraces/137646-weretouched-wildhunt