So, my players are level 6 and the bear totem Barbarian is seeming to be way OP for every encounter as he takes half damage from everything(except psychic) when raging.
anything that can cause the restrained, stunned, or paralyzed condition can cause them to waste their rage state, and banishment would be effective as well.
in general, Barbarians tend to be (mostly) melee fighters, so ranged attacks or creatures that can fly would help your encounters last longer
anything that can cause the restrained, stunned, or paralyzed condition can cause them to waste their rage state, and banishment would be effective as well.
in general, Barbarians tend to be (mostly) melee fighters, so ranged attacks or creatures that can fly would help your encounters last longer
Only if the Barbarian has never heard of a Javelin.
Charmed/Frightened are the main Achilles' Heel of Totem Barbarians.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
To deal with our Bear-Barian, the DM just sent us harder enemies since he was always tanking. Also made for fun encounters when he did go down! But I agree, its super OP.
anything that can cause the restrained, stunned, or paralyzed condition can cause them to waste their rage state, and banishment would be effective as well.
in general, Barbarians tend to be (mostly) melee fighters, so ranged attacks or creatures that can fly would help your encounters last longer
Only if the Barbarian has never heard of a Javelin.
Charmed/Frightened are the main Achilles' Heel of Totem Barbarians.
That’s a single use (unless you’re spending your movement retrieving it) thrown item with only 1d6 base damage and accurate range of 30 feet...and they start with only 4. Certainly not as reliable of DPR as any melee weapon in the Barbs hands
So, my players are level 6 and the bear totem Barbarian is seeming to be way OP for every encounter as he takes half damage from everything(except psychic) when raging.
How do I break him?
The general solution to durable but mediocre damage characters is to ignore them while beating up the rest of the party.
anything that can cause the restrained, stunned, or paralyzed condition can cause them to waste their rage state, and banishment would be effective as well.
in general, Barbarians tend to be (mostly) melee fighters, so ranged attacks or creatures that can fly would help your encounters last longer
Only if the Barbarian has never heard of a Javelin.
Charmed/Frightened are the main Achilles' Heel of Totem Barbarians.
That’s a single use (unless you’re spending your movement retrieving it) thrown item with only 1d6 base damage and accurate range of 30 feet...and they start with only 4. Certainly not as reliable of DPR as any melee weapon in the Barbs hands
They're also found everywhere, and by 6th level I would expect any martial character to have (at only 5 silver a pop) a decent stock of throwable items. Max of 120 ft range at disadvantage, and that can be easily cancelled by a Barbarian to make that a normal roll. Who cares if it's normal DPR? It's more than trying to shout a flying creature to death, and any player would be a fool to have not considered flying creatures as a common scenario.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
anything that can cause the restrained, stunned, or paralyzed condition can cause them to waste their rage state, and banishment would be effective as well.
in general, Barbarians tend to be (mostly) melee fighters, so ranged attacks or creatures that can fly would help your encounters last longer
Only if the Barbarian has never heard of a Javelin.
Charmed/Frightened are the main Achilles' Heel of Totem Barbarians.
That’s a single use (unless you’re spending your movement retrieving it) thrown item with only 1d6 base damage and accurate range of 30 feet...and they start with only 4. Certainly not as reliable of DPR as any melee weapon in the Barbs hands
They're also found everywhere, and by 6th level I would expect any martial character to have (at only 5 silver a pop) a decent stock of throwable items. Max of 120 ft range at disadvantage, and that can be easily cancelled by a Barbarian to make that a normal roll. Who cares if it's normal DPR? It's more than trying to shout a flying creature to death, and any player would be a fool to have not considered flying creatures as a common scenario.
I threw out ranged fighters as a way to extend the encounter, not to foolproof the killing of the PC with no way to counter. Yes, a good player should have contingency for attacks from range, but I stand by my statement that a Barbarian making ranged attacks is not as effective as melee.
I recomend charming/frightening them. Anything that hinders their ability to do damage
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
They're also found everywhere, and by 6th level I would expect any martial character to have (at only 5 silver a pop) a decent stock of throwable items. Max of 120 ft range at disadvantage, and that can be easily cancelled by a Barbarian to make that a normal roll. Who cares if it's normal DPR? It's more than trying to shout a flying creature to death, and any player would be a fool to have not considered flying creatures as a common scenario.
Unfortunately, you only get one free use object per round, so after the first round you're limited to using only one of your two attacks. Reducing DPR from 25 (1d12+6 twice) to 9.5 (1d6+6 once) is well along the path to irrelevance.
The important thing to realize here is that it isn't really all that necessary to do anything about the bearbarian. Sure, he's durable, but that's his shtick, and it's really all he's particularly good at. A fighter does more damage (fighting style and stat bump at level 6 easily beats +2 damage) with a much higher first round (action surge) and potentially more stuff from his martial archetype. A paladin may have lower basic damage, but any fight where you're raging is also a fight where smites are appropriate, so his first couple rounds will be much higher damage. A ranger isn't a terribly good choice for melee dpr, but hunter's mark plus fighting style easily beats rage. It's possible to squeeze more dpr out of the barbarian with reckless attack, but between lower AC and advantage, you're likely to wind up taking as much damage as a fighter. If we compare to casters, well, they're obviously not good melee choices unless it's a cleric or a moon druid polymorphed into a cave bear, but they'll be much better against groups and they often have pretty competitive single target damage.
Sneak Attacks (even with their resistance: still a lot of damage).
Complete darkness (not the spell) with enemies that are Gloom Stalker Rangers.
Incubi/Succubi
Intellect Devourers.
And so on. Lots of ways to get around their resistance.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
So, my players are level 6 and the bear totem Barbarian is seeming to be way OP for every encounter as he takes half damage from everything(except psychic) when raging.
How do I break him?
Charm effects, fear, confusion, blindness... beholders and mind flayers. :)
anything that can cause the restrained, stunned, or paralyzed condition can cause them to waste their rage state, and banishment would be effective as well.
in general, Barbarians tend to be (mostly) melee fighters, so ranged attacks or creatures that can fly would help your encounters last longer
Only if the Barbarian has never heard of a Javelin.
Charmed/Frightened are the main Achilles' Heel of Totem Barbarians.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
To deal with our Bear-Barian, the DM just sent us harder enemies since he was always tanking. Also made for fun encounters when he did go down! But I agree, its super OP.
That’s a single use (unless you’re spending your movement retrieving it) thrown item with only 1d6 base damage and accurate range of 30 feet...and they start with only 4. Certainly not as reliable of DPR as any melee weapon in the Barbs hands
Send harpies.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
The general solution to durable but mediocre damage characters is to ignore them while beating up the rest of the party.
They're also found everywhere, and by 6th level I would expect any martial character to have (at only 5 silver a pop) a decent stock of throwable items. Max of 120 ft range at disadvantage, and that can be easily cancelled by a Barbarian to make that a normal roll. Who cares if it's normal DPR? It's more than trying to shout a flying creature to death, and any player would be a fool to have not considered flying creatures as a common scenario.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
I threw out ranged fighters as a way to extend the encounter, not to foolproof the killing of the PC with no way to counter. Yes, a good player should have contingency for attacks from range, but I stand by my statement that a Barbarian making ranged attacks is not as effective as melee.
I recomend charming/frightening them. Anything that hinders their ability to do damage
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
- Litany Against Fear, Frank Herbert
Well, yeah... that's just a truism
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Give him an escort quest.
*evil laiugh mouahahahahahaha*
Unfortunately, you only get one free use object per round, so after the first round you're limited to using only one of your two attacks. Reducing DPR from 25 (1d12+6 twice) to 9.5 (1d6+6 once) is well along the path to irrelevance.
The important thing to realize here is that it isn't really all that necessary to do anything about the bearbarian. Sure, he's durable, but that's his shtick, and it's really all he's particularly good at. A fighter does more damage (fighting style and stat bump at level 6 easily beats +2 damage) with a much higher first round (action surge) and potentially more stuff from his martial archetype. A paladin may have lower basic damage, but any fight where you're raging is also a fight where smites are appropriate, so his first couple rounds will be much higher damage. A ranger isn't a terribly good choice for melee dpr, but hunter's mark plus fighting style easily beats rage. It's possible to squeeze more dpr out of the barbarian with reckless attack, but between lower AC and advantage, you're likely to wind up taking as much damage as a fighter. If we compare to casters, well, they're obviously not good melee choices unless it's a cleric or a moon druid polymorphed into a cave bear, but they'll be much better against groups and they often have pretty competitive single target damage.
Calm Emotions
Charm Person
Dominate Person
Hold Person
Hypnotic Pattern
... Basically control spells.
Psychic damage.
Restraints.
Puzzles.
Sneak Attacks (even with their resistance: still a lot of damage).
Complete darkness (not the spell) with enemies that are Gloom Stalker Rangers.
Incubi/Succubi
Intellect Devourers.
And so on. Lots of ways to get around their resistance.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.