Currently, I am playing a Protector Aasimar totem barbarian. Level 4 We are using gritty realism, and healers kit dependency. some of the homebrew rules: An hour rest doesn't let you use hit dice. an 8 hour rest lest you use hit dice, but you don't regain any. to regain half your hit dice, you must spend a week of downtime. It is a very low magic campaign. So I don't see magic items being a saving grace here.
Currently, when tanking for the party. I do fine in a single tough fight. but i'm useless until i can spend and regain hit dice to tank again. Just part of the campaign, the dm is great btw. My barbarian has polearm master, and I know many will say take sentinel, but i need to get my str up to 20 at level 8. Currently, i try to keep my distance on foot as much as possible. I don't use my aasimar transformation much as i don't think i am high enough level yet to fend off the lethal attention that will draw. Do you all have any advice or a strategy in combat that might help me out? is there a mechanic i am not exploiting or unaware of?
Absent healing magic, it's actually important to not overdo the 'tanking'. If there's one character who takes all the hits, that character is going to go down. Characters with lots of hit points, armor, and other defense don't go down as fast, but it's still useful if some other PCs can pull some off some of the attention.
It sounds like your DM's house rule is accomplishing its intended result (fights are difficult to survive, combat is scary)... but that they're not adjusting the flow of encounters to match that intent. The whole point of gritty realism rules, and telling your players that it takes weeks to recover from a strenuous fight, is that strenuous fights aren't the normal routine and should only be encountered rarely. That the party should be cautious about getting into fights, take them very seriously, and then spend weeks recovering. If you're still just fighting 2-4 times per day, and aren't able to heal yourself... yeah, you're going to die, because your DM is making you spend a resource (HP) that they aren't letting you refill?
It seems like your options are:
have a serious talk with the DM about how they envisioned their houserules influencing the party composition and playstyle, and whether they think "the barbarian will just die or leave the party" was what they were really shooting for.
build in new magical healing sources into your or your party's build, to get around your DM's house rules and violate their spirit
stop getting hit, by pumping your AC unreasonably high
stop getting hit, by focusing on ranged damage and mobility
stop consenting to fights, by you and your party fleeing and avoiding encounters until your DM gets the message and chills out (see 1)
I'd say focus on 1 and 5, there's no "quick tips" for making a Barbarian (and to some extent all melee characters) be "about" something other than getting hit in combat.
Aside from what has already been said, see about whatever you can do to get temporary HP- mostly that's going to depend on other party members wanting to take the Leadership feat or picking up spells like Heroism (Heroism on a raging barbarian gives an enormous boost to tanking ability, especially at low levels).
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Ask the DM if they can clarify that a short rest is 8 hours, and a long rest is one week, so that the spell casters are just as limited in resources as you are.
Ask the DM if they can clarify that a short rest is 8 hours, and a long rest is one week, so that the spell casters are just as limited in resources as you are.
If he's actually using Gritty Realism from the DMG, that's what it means (but he might not, of course).
Just because Barbarians have Unarmored Defense does not mean they should use it all the time. You are better off wearing medium armor unless you can get 17 AC or higher with Unarmored Defense. If taking the +2 CON only gets his AC to 16 then Tough might be the better option.
*le sigh*… nobody mentions dodge? Geez man, with Sentinel and Polearm Master, just get within range of as many baddies as possible and dodge. You’ll get at least one attack every round when people try to come near you or run away, or try to hit someone near you. Save your Rage for when you’re not tanking or the rest of the party has whittled down your opponents.
This is gritty realism - it’s not enough to just absorb damage, you need to *avoid* damage. You need to have equal times “hunkered down defensive juggernaut” and “unrelenting rage beast”.
Quick tip - if you’re beside an ally and raging, just Dodge. You will have rage AND dodge working for you to resist damage, and if the enemies attack your ally you get a sentinel attack to extend rage, or they attack you worthlessly and extend your rage anyways.
*le sigh*… nobody mentions dodge? Geez man, with Sentinel and Polearm Master, just get within range of as many baddies as possible and dodge. You’ll get at least one attack every round when people try to come near you or run away, or try to hit someone near you.
I mean... that's a great way to probably get one and only one attack every round? You're aware he only has one reaction, right?
Attacking and clearing enemies off the board is a better defensive option than trying to be "defensive" with a 16 or 17 AC. Your tactic might work in a fight against one single enemy, but in most fights, that's just terrible math.
OK, let's assume you are running around Unarmoured. The reasons have been stated why you might it might be considered to wear armour. This is another suggestion.
At the moment, you have a movement of 30. That changes next level. But for the moment, focus on two things you do have:
Polearms are awesome because of the Reach. Utilize that. Act like a Skirmisher. Move 15 feet, to get within 10 feet of a target. Move back 15 feet. Now the target must come to you. You avoid the OA when you move back, unless the target has a range of 10 feet.
Does you DM allow the SCAG Totem option of the Elk, which gives you an additional 15 feet of movement. If so, your starting position can be another 5 feet back. Also, remember, once per day you can Fly around, strafing with a 10 foot Reach Polearm. That Flight is also non-Concentration based. So melee targets with a range of 5 feet can't touch you.
At 5th level, when you movement gets moved up, your char's skirmish tactics become enhanced.
Thank you for your suggestions. I have not bee utilizing my reach and wings to their fullest. I worry too much about my other party members it sounds like. Yes i'm unarmored at the moment. Don't kno wwhat would be best with 16 con and 13 dex for armor. I have been playing with a mindset of, "yes. i will no matter what get hit." since my ac is crap XD
*le sigh*… nobody mentions dodge? Geez man, with Sentinel and Polearm Master, just get within range of as many baddies as possible and dodge. You’ll get at least one attack every round when people try to come near you or run away, or try to hit someone near you.
I mean... that's a great way to probably get one and only one attack every round? You're aware he only has one reaction, right?
Attacking and clearing enemies off the board is a better defensive option than trying to be "defensive" with a 16 or 17 AC. Your tactic might work in a fight against one single enemy, but in most fights, that's just terrible math.
Yea, i only get one reaction. being surrounded a lot sentinel doesn't help much. also, Being a barbarian, At least for now, i easily out damage other team members. with an AC of 14. dodge doesn't seem to be very promising.
Hit-and-run polearm wielder is a nice idea... though, it sort of feels like taking the hard road towards what you could otherwise accomplish by just throwing Javelins and being a ranged character? Thrown weapons don't benefit from Rage damage and can't be made Recklessly, but (A) Rage Damage is minimal, honestly, and (B) doesn't sound like you want to be making Reckless Attacks anyway with your table's house rules. There's almost no synergy to be found in the Totem Barbarian's features but.. the damage output is probably only about 2/3 what you can do with polearms, but the survival aspect is miles ahead. Kinda feels like "shouldn't have been a barbarian" though, if you go with Thrown weapons.
*le sigh*… nobody mentions dodge? Geez man, with Sentinel and Polearm Master, just get within range of as many baddies as possible and dodge. You’ll get at least one attack every round when people try to come near you or run away, or try to hit someone near you. Save your Rage for when you’re not tanking or the rest of the party has whittled down your opponents.
This is gritty realism - it’s not enough to just absorb damage, you need to *avoid* damage. You need to have equal times “hunkered down defensive juggernaut” and “unrelenting rage beast”.
Quick tip - if you’re beside an ally and raging, just Dodge. You will have rage AND dodge working for you to resist damage, and if the enemies attack your ally you get a sentinel attack to extend rage, or they attack you worthlessly and extend your rage anyways.
Dodging is out of the question. the damage i deal is much needed. I will invest in more throwing items while having a shield equipped. i think you are definitely right that mindlessly tanking just lowers the one resource a barbarian really has. hit dice aren't cheap XD
haha. wonder if i can throw pikes?? XD from reading everything. i think getting armor (making sure it doesn't mess up abilities) will help. Let the druid tank while they can just magically retrieve wild shapes without spending hit dice. Save tanking for what seems like a boss or very dangerous fight. use skirmishing tactics better. And most of all. don't be so over worried about my allies that I don't let them take a hit.
Currently, I am playing a Protector Aasimar totem barbarian. Level 4
We are using gritty realism, and healers kit dependency. some of the homebrew rules:
An hour rest doesn't let you use hit dice.
an 8 hour rest lest you use hit dice, but you don't regain any.
to regain half your hit dice, you must spend a week of downtime.
It is a very low magic campaign. So I don't see magic items being a saving grace here.
Currently, when tanking for the party. I do fine in a single tough fight. but i'm useless until i can spend and regain hit dice to tank again. Just part of the campaign, the dm is great btw.
My barbarian has polearm master, and I know many will say take sentinel, but i need to get my str up to 20 at level 8. Currently, i try to keep my distance on foot as much as possible. I don't use my aasimar transformation much as i don't think i am high enough level yet to fend off the lethal attention that will draw. Do you all have any advice or a strategy in combat that might help me out? is there a mechanic i am not exploiting or unaware of?
Absent healing magic, it's actually important to not overdo the 'tanking'. If there's one character who takes all the hits, that character is going to go down. Characters with lots of hit points, armor, and other defense don't go down as fast, but it's still useful if some other PCs can pull some off some of the attention.
Why? If you want to survive, then why put your CON up by 2? or DEX for +1 AC (5% chance of being hit)?
Why is STR 20 better than sentinel feat?
It sounds like your DM's house rule is accomplishing its intended result (fights are difficult to survive, combat is scary)... but that they're not adjusting the flow of encounters to match that intent. The whole point of gritty realism rules, and telling your players that it takes weeks to recover from a strenuous fight, is that strenuous fights aren't the normal routine and should only be encountered rarely. That the party should be cautious about getting into fights, take them very seriously, and then spend weeks recovering. If you're still just fighting 2-4 times per day, and aren't able to heal yourself... yeah, you're going to die, because your DM is making you spend a resource (HP) that they aren't letting you refill?
It seems like your options are:
I'd say focus on 1 and 5, there's no "quick tips" for making a Barbarian (and to some extent all melee characters) be "about" something other than getting hit in combat.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Aside from what has already been said, see about whatever you can do to get temporary HP- mostly that's going to depend on other party members wanting to take the Leadership feat or picking up spells like Heroism (Heroism on a raging barbarian gives an enormous boost to tanking ability, especially at low levels).
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
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Ask the DM if they can clarify that a short rest is 8 hours, and a long rest is one week, so that the spell casters are just as limited in resources as you are.
If he's actually using Gritty Realism from the DMG, that's what it means (but he might not, of course).
I would say taking the Tough feat is better than +2 CON
For a barbarian a +2 con is also a +1 AC.
I would assume that skills that recharge on a short rest, will be your friend..
Healer Feat; Song of Rest; Second Wind; Battle MMaster Manuver, Warlock whith acces to healing spell
Attack: [roll]3d20dl2+6[/roll] Damage: [roll](if([roll:-1:critical], =0, 1d8, 2{1d8}.expand()))+4[/roll] Sneakattack: [roll](if([roll:-2:critical], =0, 2d6, 2{2d6}.expand()))[/roll]*le sigh*… nobody mentions dodge? Geez man, with Sentinel and Polearm Master, just get within range of as many baddies as possible and dodge. You’ll get at least one attack every round when people try to come near you or run away, or try to hit someone near you. Save your Rage for when you’re not tanking or the rest of the party has whittled down your opponents.
This is gritty realism - it’s not enough to just absorb damage, you need to *avoid* damage. You need to have equal times “hunkered down defensive juggernaut” and “unrelenting rage beast”.
Quick tip - if you’re beside an ally and raging, just Dodge. You will have rage AND dodge working for you to resist damage, and if the enemies attack your ally you get a sentinel attack to extend rage, or they attack you worthlessly and extend your rage anyways.
I mean... that's a great way to probably get one and only one attack every round? You're aware he only has one reaction, right?
Attacking and clearing enemies off the board is a better defensive option than trying to be "defensive" with a 16 or 17 AC. Your tactic might work in a fight against one single enemy, but in most fights, that's just terrible math.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
OK, let's assume you are running around Unarmoured. The reasons have been stated why you might it might be considered to wear armour. This is another suggestion.
At the moment, you have a movement of 30. That changes next level. But for the moment, focus on two things you do have:
Polearms are awesome because of the Reach. Utilize that. Act like a Skirmisher. Move 15 feet, to get within 10 feet of a target. Move back 15 feet. Now the target must come to you. You avoid the OA when you move back, unless the target has a range of 10 feet.
Does you DM allow the SCAG Totem option of the Elk, which gives you an additional 15 feet of movement. If so, your starting position can be another 5 feet back. Also, remember, once per day you can Fly around, strafing with a 10 foot Reach Polearm. That Flight is also non-Concentration based. So melee targets with a range of 5 feet can't touch you.
At 5th level, when you movement gets moved up, your char's skirmish tactics become enhanced.
Thank you for your suggestions. I have not bee utilizing my reach and wings to their fullest. I worry too much about my other party members it sounds like. Yes i'm unarmored at the moment. Don't kno wwhat would be best with 16 con and 13 dex for armor. I have been playing with a mindset of, "yes. i will no matter what get hit." since my ac is crap XD
Yea, i only get one reaction. being surrounded a lot sentinel doesn't help much. also, Being a barbarian, At least for now, i easily out damage other team members. with an AC of 14. dodge doesn't seem to be very promising.
Hit-and-run polearm wielder is a nice idea... though, it sort of feels like taking the hard road towards what you could otherwise accomplish by just throwing Javelins and being a ranged character? Thrown weapons don't benefit from Rage damage and can't be made Recklessly, but (A) Rage Damage is minimal, honestly, and (B) doesn't sound like you want to be making Reckless Attacks anyway with your table's house rules. There's almost no synergy to be found in the Totem Barbarian's features but.. the damage output is probably only about 2/3 what you can do with polearms, but the survival aspect is miles ahead. Kinda feels like "shouldn't have been a barbarian" though, if you go with Thrown weapons.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Dodging is out of the question. the damage i deal is much needed. I will invest in more throwing items while having a shield equipped. i think you are definitely right that mindlessly tanking just lowers the one resource a barbarian really has. hit dice aren't cheap XD
haha. wonder if i can throw pikes?? XD from reading everything. i think getting armor (making sure it doesn't mess up abilities) will help. Let the druid tank while they can just magically retrieve wild shapes without spending hit dice. Save tanking for what seems like a boss or very dangerous fight. use skirmishing tactics better. And most of all. don't be so over worried about my allies that I don't let them take a hit.
Multiclass isn't unlocked until we master our first class. level 6 or 8 i believe. but yeah. I will look into more short rest options.