So, I got the idea to play a Barbarian Rune Knight multiclass. The idea is to focus mostly on Barbarian but to also get three levels of Rune Knight for Fighting Style, Second wind and some handy runes as well as hulking out using Giant's Might. The problem is, I can't really make up my mind as to which two runes to pick.
Frost rune is generally considered the worst so it's between Fire, Cloud and Stone. Stone and Cloud probably have the best out of combat uses (especially since I'm leaning towards a class that doesn't have darkvision, like Warforged, Harengon or Variant Human) but the ability to deal quite a bit of magic damage with the Fire rune's second ability is also quite nice. Ideas, suggestions, opinions are all welcome. If it helps, I'm leaning between Zealot or Totem Barbarian (picking Bear totem at lvl 3).
Fire, to me, is probably the best one to pair with a Barbarian. It pairs particularly well with the Barbarian's Reckless Attack, since it just adds damage to a weapon attack and costs no other resource. So with Reckless you greatly increase the odds of landing that hit, and also increase your odds of landing a crit, which will add even more fire damage to that initial hit.... this pairs especially well with Zealot Barbarian... even without critting, you can add minimum 3d6+Half your Barbarian level to an attack if you just really need to hammer in as much damage as possible as quickly as possible.... potentially an additional 1d6 if you've triggered both Rage and Giant's Might. The tool Proficiency is also really useful, especially if you go out of your way to use your tool proficiencies. Keep in mind that tool proficiencies aren't just for crafting objects related to your tools, but also helps with investigating items you find, analyzing crime scenes, or even for finding weak spots in enemy defenses. If you're going for the Fire Rune, I'd recommend making sure to take a background that grants additional tool proficiencies, and if you take a race that grants them as well that would be incredibly useful. Warforged is a good choice in that regard...
Speaking of Warforged, that makes your next choice a bit harder... Cloud Rune is amazing in combat. Imagine the devastation you can unleash when the Dragon lands a critical hit against your party Wizard, only for you to redirect it and take out their Kobold Wizard (or whatever happens to be nearby). It's an amazing skill for its potential not only for defense but for offense as well. However, the passive effects aren't quite so useful... at best I think it can help to keep you from being completely worthless at Sleight of Hand or Deception checks, but you'll really have to go out of your way to take advantage of that.
Stone Rune is less thrilling, but it's a rare Battlefield Control feature you can grab as a Barbarian, and since it also costs a Reaction... you're already pretty weighed down by Bonus Action features, so it's good that you don't have to dip into other. Most importantly... Darkvision! I'd say the best bet is to play through the game as a race without darkvision, since you're probably not going to be able to start at level 6 to be both a Barbarian and a Fighter multiclass... anyway, play through at least a few levels without darkvision. If not having darkvision proves to be a massive pain that you're constantly struggling with, then go for Stone Rune. But if either your DM doesn't worry about darkness so much, or if you end up with equipment or allies that can alleviate the issue for you, then you'll probably enjoy Cloud Rune more.
If you're playing a race without Darkvision, then DEFINITELY go with the Stone rune. Not only is 120' of Darkvision awesome, but the invoke ability is a lot of fun. And considering that as a Barb you're probably pushing your Con score pretty high, your rune save DC should be pretty good.
I love the Fire rune, personally. Giving your whole party advantage, even for just one round, can be fantastic. The tool expertise is mostly fluff, but can be fun depending on your build.
I'm normally not a fan of the Cloud rune, but as a Barbarian it could be interesting. I believe you can use it to redirect the attack against your ally to you, and as the party's damage sponge that could certainly come in handy.
The Frost rune is probably not a great choice for you. I suppose if you plan to do a lot of grappling then the +2 to your Athletics checks could help.
So, I got the idea to play a Barbarian Rune Knight multiclass. The idea is to focus mostly on Barbarian but to also get three levels of Rune Knight for Fighting Style, Second wind and some handy runes as well as hulking out using Giant's Might. The problem is, I can't really make up my mind as to which two runes to pick.
Frost rune is generally considered the worst so it's between Fire, Cloud and Stone. Stone and Cloud probably have the best out of combat uses (especially since I'm leaning towards a class that doesn't have darkvision, like Warforged, Harengon or Variant Human) but the ability to deal quite a bit of magic damage with the Fire rune's second ability is also quite nice. Ideas, suggestions, opinions are all welcome. If it helps, I'm leaning between Zealot or Totem Barbarian (picking Bear totem at lvl 3).
Fire and Cloud both have better synergy with Barbarian than Stone, because of their tremendous synergy with Reckless Attack.
A barbarian in my group has multiclassed into Rune Knight and taken the fire and cloud rune. As the DM, I can say that the cloud rune is absolutely savage in limiting my nova abilities with the monsters. Invariably, I will land a critical hit on the barbarian and his cloud rune will be available and he will move that critical damage to one of my other monsters.
That leaves it as Fire v Stone for your 2nd rune. This is decided by if you have darkvision already or not. If not, go Stone. If yes, go Fire.
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I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Hmm. Thanks for some excellent advice, people. You've given be something to think about. Hopefully I'll have a few levels to think it through before having to decide.
Follow-up question. The way the additional use of the Stone rune is phrased, would you say that it can only be used in combat (or other similar situations where initiative has been rolled) or could it be used outisde of combat as well?
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So, I got the idea to play a Barbarian Rune Knight multiclass. The idea is to focus mostly on Barbarian but to also get three levels of Rune Knight for Fighting Style, Second wind and some handy runes as well as hulking out using Giant's Might. The problem is, I can't really make up my mind as to which two runes to pick.
Frost rune is generally considered the worst so it's between Fire, Cloud and Stone. Stone and Cloud probably have the best out of combat uses (especially since I'm leaning towards a class that doesn't have darkvision, like Warforged, Harengon or Variant Human) but the ability to deal quite a bit of magic damage with the Fire rune's second ability is also quite nice. Ideas, suggestions, opinions are all welcome. If it helps, I'm leaning between Zealot or Totem Barbarian (picking Bear totem at lvl 3).
Fire, to me, is probably the best one to pair with a Barbarian. It pairs particularly well with the Barbarian's Reckless Attack, since it just adds damage to a weapon attack and costs no other resource. So with Reckless you greatly increase the odds of landing that hit, and also increase your odds of landing a crit, which will add even more fire damage to that initial hit.... this pairs especially well with Zealot Barbarian... even without critting, you can add minimum 3d6+Half your Barbarian level to an attack if you just really need to hammer in as much damage as possible as quickly as possible.... potentially an additional 1d6 if you've triggered both Rage and Giant's Might. The tool Proficiency is also really useful, especially if you go out of your way to use your tool proficiencies. Keep in mind that tool proficiencies aren't just for crafting objects related to your tools, but also helps with investigating items you find, analyzing crime scenes, or even for finding weak spots in enemy defenses. If you're going for the Fire Rune, I'd recommend making sure to take a background that grants additional tool proficiencies, and if you take a race that grants them as well that would be incredibly useful. Warforged is a good choice in that regard...
Speaking of Warforged, that makes your next choice a bit harder... Cloud Rune is amazing in combat. Imagine the devastation you can unleash when the Dragon lands a critical hit against your party Wizard, only for you to redirect it and take out their Kobold Wizard (or whatever happens to be nearby). It's an amazing skill for its potential not only for defense but for offense as well. However, the passive effects aren't quite so useful... at best I think it can help to keep you from being completely worthless at Sleight of Hand or Deception checks, but you'll really have to go out of your way to take advantage of that.
Stone Rune is less thrilling, but it's a rare Battlefield Control feature you can grab as a Barbarian, and since it also costs a Reaction... you're already pretty weighed down by Bonus Action features, so it's good that you don't have to dip into other. Most importantly... Darkvision! I'd say the best bet is to play through the game as a race without darkvision, since you're probably not going to be able to start at level 6 to be both a Barbarian and a Fighter multiclass... anyway, play through at least a few levels without darkvision. If not having darkvision proves to be a massive pain that you're constantly struggling with, then go for Stone Rune. But if either your DM doesn't worry about darkness so much, or if you end up with equipment or allies that can alleviate the issue for you, then you'll probably enjoy Cloud Rune more.
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If you're playing a race without Darkvision, then DEFINITELY go with the Stone rune. Not only is 120' of Darkvision awesome, but the invoke ability is a lot of fun. And considering that as a Barb you're probably pushing your Con score pretty high, your rune save DC should be pretty good.
I love the Fire rune, personally. Giving your whole party advantage, even for just one round, can be fantastic. The tool expertise is mostly fluff, but can be fun depending on your build.
I'm normally not a fan of the Cloud rune, but as a Barbarian it could be interesting. I believe you can use it to redirect the attack against your ally to you, and as the party's damage sponge that could certainly come in handy.
The Frost rune is probably not a great choice for you. I suppose if you plan to do a lot of grappling then the +2 to your Athletics checks could help.
Fire and Cloud both have better synergy with Barbarian than Stone, because of their tremendous synergy with Reckless Attack.
A barbarian in my group has multiclassed into Rune Knight and taken the fire and cloud rune. As the DM, I can say that the cloud rune is absolutely savage in limiting my nova abilities with the monsters. Invariably, I will land a critical hit on the barbarian and his cloud rune will be available and he will move that critical damage to one of my other monsters.
I would definitely take cloud rune.
Cloud is a must have. Its the singular best one.
That leaves it as Fire v Stone for your 2nd rune. This is decided by if you have darkvision already or not. If not, go Stone. If yes, go Fire.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Hmm. Thanks for some excellent advice, people. You've given be something to think about. Hopefully I'll have a few levels to think it through before having to decide.
Follow-up question. The way the additional use of the Stone rune is phrased, would you say that it can only be used in combat (or other similar situations where initiative has been rolled) or could it be used outisde of combat as well?