Barbarian is easily one of the best classes to play if you're new to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons. It provides plenty of fun and flavor while 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:still letting you enjoy combat without getting too bogged down in rules and details. However, it can be easy to overlook the class if the character you want to play doesn't fit the stereotype.

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As long as you keep the mechanics the same, most DMs worth their salt won't care if you flavor your barbarian's rage to resemble something other than the typical berserker frenzy. We're here to give you some fresh ideas for your next character, from the serious to the downright silly.

8 ဣ Physical Transformation

The Incredible Hulk charges through a building with steel in his hand
  • Best For: Beast and Giant barbarians.
  • Caveats: You need to work this carefully into your character concept to get it right.

Even if you're not a big fan of the Marvel universe, you probably understand the basic concept of the Incredible Hulk. This Jekyll/Hyde dichotomy is a great concept for a barbarian. While you probably can't get away with turning green and losing your shirt, a character who was experimented on and developed a superpowered wild side isn't anything to sneeze at.

If this is a bit too on the nose for you, you can still take this concept in a number of different directions. Maybe your tiefling barbarian grows more fiendish when they rage. Maybe you're playing a werewolf, and you transform into your lycanthrope body at the cost of one bonus action. The possibilities are endless.

7 Combat Mode ൩

A warforged monk explores a canyon
Warforged Eberron Cover Art viz Wizards of the Coast
  • Best For: Any warforged barbarian.
  • Caveats: Doesn't work if you're not playing a warforged.

You don't need to play in Eberron to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:roll up a warforged character. All you need is a DM willing to throw robots into their setting, which is an easier sell than you'd think. If you're playing a warforged barbarian, you have the means to create a fun, flavorful character regardless of their subclass or backstory.

If "I would like to rage" doesn't fit your vocabulary, then "initiating combat mode" just might roll more smoothly off your character's mechanical tongue. Feel free to jazz it up by describing how your warforged character's chassis changes from its "default" mode to a more menacing combat build.

6 Magic🍌 Over🎃load

An elf barbarian with a sword and flowers growing along their arms
Art via Wizards of the Coast
  • Best For: Wild Magic barbarians.
  • Caveats: If your character concept revolves around magic, why not play a caster?

The 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Wild Magic subclass is rife with possibilities if you want to play a more whimsical 🎶character. Perhaps your character was pa🎀rt of an arcane experiment, and the magic in their body is dangerously unstable. Perhaps they were born in the Feywild, and chaos follows them wherever they go. Either way, their magical side tends to unchain itself during combat.

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Of course, this sort of begs the question: why not just play a spellcaster if magic is such a core component to your character? Multiclassing also might not work in this case, as you can't cast spells or maintain concentration while raging. Just be sure to have a clear character concept in mind when going for this.

5 Trances

Path of the Ancestral Guardian Barbarian from Dungeons & Dragons Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Art from Xanathar's Guide to Everything via Wizards of the Coast
  • Best For: Ancestral and Zealot barbarians.
  • Caveats: None.

This one is useful if you're playing a more mystical barbarian, such as a Zealot or Ancestral barb. Instead of blinding yourself with fury, try going into a trance as you cleave through wave after wave of foes. You can flavor this by describing the inner workings of your character's mind as they become more meditative.

While there aren't any real drawbacks to this method of barbarian rage, it doesn't suit all builds. That being said, there's a surprising amount of versatility beyond the subclasses we listed above. You can actually multiclass into monk to make the most of this kind of rage (the classes have more synergy than you'd think).

4 ꦉ Possession🌌

art depicting a ghost from dungeons and dragons
Ghost via Wizards of the Coast
  • Best For: Ancestral barbarians.
  • Caveats: Requires a great deal of trust between yourself and your DM.

If you're 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:playing an ancestral barbarian, rage is a great opportunity to have your character possessed by a spirit of their ancestors or even some other ghost. If you're playing a different subclass, you can instead have your character possessed by a fiend or fey spirit, which provides them extra power in exchange for some control over their body.

Make sure you trust your DM before opting for this concept. An inexperienced or incompetent DM can potentially rob a player of their agency in a way that isn't fun. While DMs can have fun with this concept to deliver some adventure hooks or plot beats, you should firmly hold the reins to your own character.

3 ༒ Hyper Focus

Dungeons & Dragons 4e thri-kreen warrior in the dark sun holding a bow and an axe
Thri-Kreen Warrior by William O'Connor
  • Best For: Any character concept.
  • Caveats: Can lack flavor compared to other options.

This is one of the most common reflavorings of barbarian rage, and it's popular for one simple reason: it works. You don't need a particular character build to go for this flavor of "rage"; all you need is the will to play a barbarian who isn't angry all the time.

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Take care not to make your character as memorable as a stale cracker, however. It's too easy to make your character a stoic, wordless lone wolf with all the personality of plywood if you don't know what you're doing. Warrior poets and quiet but scarily bloodthirsty types are a great way to have some personality.

2 🍌 Bestial Hunger

Dungeons & Dragons art showing a vampire flanked by two mind flayers
Dyrnn the Corrupter - Dungeons & Dragons by Brian Valeza 
  • Best For: Vampires, werewolves, and cursed characters in horror campaigns.
  • Caveats: Can be tonally inappropriate if you're in a more lighthearted campaign.

This doesn't work for all settings, but if you're in a place like Barovia or Grim Hollow, you'll fit right in. As any veteran of Vampire: The Masquerade can tell you, frenzying from hunger is mechanically the same as frenzying from rage, even if the circumstances and flavor are very different.

Don't let the fact that you're playing D&D keep you away from that bit of wisdom. If you're playing a vampire spawn, dhampir, or even a werewolf, you can angst all you want about being powerless to control your literal thirst for blood, then sate it whenever the party gets into combat.

1 🥃 Magical Girl Transformation

Sailor Moon - Eternal Sailor Moon form
  • Best For: Urban fantasy worlds or more anime-esque campaigns.
  • Caveats: Good luck justifying this one to your DM if your game isn't one of the above.

Yes, we're completely serious with this one. Sure, most people play D&D for a high fantasy adventure set somewhere vaguely medieval, but people have done all sorts of things with the system. If your DM is running a more anime-inspired game, you might be able to get away with this build.

The trick to pulling this off is to go full ham. You can't half-ass being a sparkly magical girl who defeats all her enemies with the power of friendship. Describe your character's outfit swap in great detail, and take advantage of the "talking is a free action" rule to call out your attacks whenever the DM allows you to.

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