How to Play a Barbarian in Dungeons & Dragons

Discuss with the dungeon master his perception of barbarians. By the game systems, they are illiterate, but not necessarily stupid. However, some dungeon masters assume that illiterate means dumb and expect the player and the character to react stupidly to certain situations. Fnd out if your dungeon master is one of them before you choose this character class.

Figure out why your character is a barbarian as opposed to a fighter. Is it the culture he comes from or something else in his life that led him to develop a frothing rage when he becomes too angry? Barbarian is another character class that is sometimes chosen only because of the ability to rage and the d12 hit points. If you don't have a story to explain why you are a barbarian and not a fighter, play a fighter.

Place your stats wisely. Since intelligence represents trained skilled, this can easily be your lowest stat. Deciding between strength and constitution for your primary stat can be difficult. Decide whether dexterity is more important than wisdom. Wisdom, which influences skills like survival, should be one of the top three stats for a good barbarian.

Learn the difference between wisdom and learning. Many barbarians may not have formal training in reading and other trained skills, but that doesn't mean they are stupid. For example, most barbarians would not simply break a magic wand because they didn't know how to use it. The same goes for participating in party discussions. A barbarian might not know that there is a library in a certain town that has just the spell the party mage is looking for, but he may have a brilliant understanding of hit and run tactics.

Create a heroic tale for your character. Find a reason that your character left his tribe to travel the world and fight evil. Is he curious? Does he owe someone a debt? Was his tribe evil and he couldn't live with it? The more interesting you make your character's background and reason for adventuring, the more fun he will be to play.