Barbarian for Zombie One-Shot

[Wryte]

This weekend in lieu of our regular game, one of the members of our table wants to run a one-shot inspired by the Left 4 Dead games for his birthday, with the following rule mods:

* No short rests. Instead, all short rest abilities have twice the normal number of uses.
* The only way to restore hit points are heath packs (which take 3 turns to use) and healing spells. Class features that heal instead grant temporary HP.
* Dropping to 0 HP causes you to fall prone and gain temporary HP equal to your max HP. You can make attacks, but cannot move. Once you run out of temporary HP, you are dead. Party members can spend 3 turns to get you back up.
* If you go down 3 times without being healed by a spell or health pack, you are dead.
* Casters only get one cantrip at a time, which they get from a scroll.
* All classes with spellcasting start with 3 spells and can learn more from scrolls.
* Spell slots are only recovered with mana potions.
* We will be tracking ammo, and be limited in carrying capacity.

We'll be starting at 3rd level, and he expects us to reach 6th level by the end.

My thought is to revive an old character of mine, Aggraga the Tiny, the halfling barbarian, with the following build:

START:

Stout Halfling
Barbarian 3, Path of the Totem Warrior, Eagle Spirit
Ability Scores: Str 14, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 8 (Point Buy)
HD: 35 (3d12 + 9)
AC: 16 (Unarmored Defense)
Skills: Animal Handling +3, Athletics +4, Perception +3, Survival +3
Equipment: Rapier, Handaxe x2, Javelin x4, Explorer's Pack

4th Level: Barbarian 4: EITHER the Dual Wielder feat, OR +2 Con.
5th Level: Barbarian 5
6th Level: Fighter 1: EITHER Two Weapon Fighting Style, OR Dueling Fighting Style.

My thinking here is that in a game based on Left 4 Dead, the ability to move through zombie hordes with relative impunity through the combination of Halfling Nimbleness (racial ability to move through spaces occupied by larger creatures), the Eagle Spirit (Path feature causing opportunity attacks against the barbarian to be disadvantaged while raging), and Unarmored Defense (16 base AC, acquiring a shield will be top priority) will be utterly invaluable, especially if I can throw a downed buddy on my back and carry them out.

I'll be taking either Dual Wielder or a Con increase at 4th level depending on how the game is playing out at that point; whether I'm feeling the need for more damage or more defense, respectively, and then taking the matching Fighting Style from a Fighter dip on the final level up for the one-shot. I may also choose to take the Fighter level at 5th instead of Barbarian 5, if I need Second Wind sooner.

The guy who'll be DMing says that he fully expects some of us to die, possibly more than once. My goal is to remain standing the whole way through. How do you think I'm doing?

[Man_Over_Game]

I'd actually talk to your DM about what the level 3 Zealot features mean. Can you be raised from the dead in this campaign? If not, what does the Zealot Barbarian get in exchange?

It'd be a cool idea to have this half-undead Barbarian who was converted by a deity to fight back the undead tide. The consistent Radiant damage might really pack a wallop against a horde of Zombies.

[Yunru]

I'd suggest going for the more classical Barbarian build and use a heavy two-handed weapon, simply because zombies tend to be very easy to hit, making them cannon fodder for Great Weapon Master.

[Ganymede]

I'd actually talk to your DM about what the level 3 Zealot features mean. Can you be raised from the dead in this campaign? If not, what does the Zealot Barbarian get in exchange?

The Zealot gets a giant dose of extra radiant damage in exchange. I don't think losing out on a money-saving ribbon requires rebalancing this primal path.

I guess you could give him a pouch with 100 gold in it.

[Spieldog20]

I'd suggest going for the more classical Barbarian build and use a heavy two-handed weapon, simply because zombies tend to be very easy to hit, making them cannon fodder for Great Weapon Master.

To back Yunru's idea up, with Zombies you need big hits (or a crit) to actually kill them, so this is may be more ideal.