Barbarian is easily one of the best classes to play if you’re new toDungeons & Dragons. It provides plenty of fun and flavor whilestill letting you enjoycombat 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.
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.
8Physical Transformation
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’re able to 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.
7Combat Mode
You don’t need to play in Eberron toroll 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.
6Magic Overload
TheWild Magic subclassis rife with possibilities if you want to play a more whimsical character. Perhaps your character was part 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.
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 may’t cast spells or maintain concentration while raging. Just be sure to have a clear character concept in mind when going for this.
5Trances
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’re able to 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).
4Possession
If you’replaying 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.
3Hyper Focus
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.
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.
2Bestial Hunger
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.
1Magical Girl Transformation
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 may’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.
