The Candlekeep Barbarian
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So, in my Candlekeep Mysteries campaign, there was a barbarian. We did not do a session zero, so the player did not know what the adventure was going to be like. After we finished the first two adventures, he felt like his character did not fit into the type of game we were playing. That got me thinking, how does one get a barbarian to fit into Candlekeep?
I came up with a barbarian who was training to be the storyteller/historian for their tribe. This character would be intrigued by books because they are the written-down versions of the stories they had been taught to tell in an oral tradition. This would be the story hook that would make sense for a barbarian to be in Candlekeep and be interested in books.
If I were to build this character, this is how I would do it. As far as race, I do not think it matters which race you choose if you are playing the Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything update to ability score increases. If you are not using that variation, then variant human (if allowed by your DM), dragonborn, or half-elf have the right kind of racial abilities for this build.
For Ability scores, I will use the standard array of 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, and 8. Strength and Constitution are the two most important ability scores for the barbarian and will be where you place your highest scores. I would place your lowest score in Wisdom since it is the least important Ability for this build. I placed the 10 in Dexterity, which I was not pleased about, but it makes sense for the build. Finally, I placed the 13 in Charisma and the 12 in Intelligence.
Using the Tasha update for racial bonuses, place the +2 in Strength (this is a barbarian after all) and the +1 to Charisma.
If you are playing the variant human, then add the +1 to Strength, Constitution, and Charisma. I would choose either the Inspiring Leader or Linguist feat to match the build. You can choose a combat-related feat that matches the fighting style you want to play, because, again, this is a barbarian so you want to make sure that they can still stand on the frontline and exchange blows. Select either History or Athletics for the additional Skill that you pick up.
For the half-elf, add the +1 to Strength and Constitution. For Skills, pick up History and Athletics.
So, the ability scores look like this for the dragonborn or Tasha race ability score variant:
Strength: 17
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 14
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 8
Charisma: 14
For the variant human and half-elf, their ability scores would be the same except Strength would be 16 for both. The half-elf would have a 15 in Charisma and a 15 for Constitution.
For Skills, I would select Intimidation and Nature. Another option would be to pick up Athletics to maximize the Strength bonus.
The background would be Entertainer with their routine being Storyteller. You would then pick up the skills of Acrobatics and Performance along with one type of musical instrument. This is the core of what this character is. This character has a Bard feel, but with a Barbarian’s combat capabilities.
At 3rd level, I would choose Path of the Ancestral Guardian as the barbarian’s Primal Path, which feels right for this character. A barbarian that is so invested in their past and keeping it alive would want to document their ancestors’ lives. This would add to their love of books.
This character build is all about making a square peg fit in a round hole. I find this character very intriguing and would not be my first choice, but if I wanted to play a barbarian in Candlekeep Mysteries, this is how I would do it. Let me know if you have any other variations on this character or what changes you would make.
