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Who's Your Favorite Barbarian--Non-Conan Edition

Started by Persimmon, April 30, 2023, 11:57:20 PM

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Eric Diaz

#75
June 11, 2023, 01:59:30 PM
Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser is hit and miss, but some stories are amazing IMO.

Try the comic book (Mignola) version if you want a quick read.

(Not sure I have a favorite non-Conan barbarian. I'm not even the biggest Conan fan, but he certainly wins this category with ease...)
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JeremyR

#76
June 12, 2023, 10:12:21 PM
Someone mentioned Jirel of Joiry, but I would also suggest Moore's Northwest Smith. Sword & Planet not Sword & Sorcery, but very much in the same vein.

Also would add the Kothar the Barbarian stories by Gardner Fox. Some were in early issues of Dragon and there are a couple of collections. Not great, but it's the source for the D&D Lich

John Jakes Brak stories are pretty good, despite his silly name.

Charles Saunders Imaro books are also really good, if you can find them. He died before the could get them all into e-books

Adrian Cole has written several more Elak of Atlantis stories (originally by Kuttner)

The Hok stories by Manly Wade Wellman are pretty decent. More a caveman than barbarian.

Exploderwizard

#77
June 13, 2023, 10:37:31 AM
Quote from: JeremyR on June 12, 2023, 10:12:21 PM
Someone mentioned Jirel of Joiry, but I would also suggest Moore's Northwest Smith. Sword & Planet not Sword & Sorcery, but very much in the same vein.

Also would add the Kothar the Barbarian stories by Gardner Fox. Some were in early issues of Dragon and there are a couple of collections. Not great, but it's the source for the D&D Lich

John Jakes Brak stories are pretty good, despite his silly name.

Charles Saunders Imaro books are also really good, if you can find them. He died before the could get them all into e-books

Adrian Cole has written several more Elak of Atlantis stories (originally by Kuttner)

The Hok stories by Manly Wade Wellman are pretty decent. More a caveman than barbarian.

Funny little anecdote about Brak. He was referenced in an old Dragon magazine article " Famous last Words", a comedy article collection of typical things a PC might say just before becoming deceased. The reference was : " Brak? Thats a stupid name for a barbarian."
Quote from: JonWakeGamers, as a whole, are much like primitive cavemen when confronted with a new game. Rather than \'oh, neat, what\'s this do?\', the reaction is to decide if it\'s a sex hole, then hit it with a rock.

Quote from: Old Geezer;724252At some point it seems like D&D is going to disappear up its own ass.

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;766997In the randomness of the dice lies the seed for the great oak of creativity and fun. The great virtue of the dice is that they come without boxed text.

honeydipperdavid

#78
June 13, 2023, 11:01:38 AM
Genghis Khan hands down.  There are 20M asian men coming from a single male believed to be Genghis Khan.  Khan killed so many people he impacted climate.  If it wasn't for Khan destroying the Caliphate, its possible the Caliphate would have conquered all of Christendom.  His empire comprised of the largest land empire in the history of mankind.

Conan was "cute" compared to Genghis real life exploits.

Persimmon

#79
June 13, 2023, 12:20:08 PM
Quote from: honeydipperdavid on June 13, 2023, 11:01:38 AM
Genghis Khan hands down.  There are 20M asian men coming from a single male believed to be Genghis Khan.  Khan killed so many people he impacted climate.  If it wasn't for Khan destroying the Caliphate, its possible the Caliphate would have conquered all of Christendom.  His empire comprised of the largest land empire in the history of mankind.

Conan was "cute" compared to Genghis real life exploits.

Of course, most of the Mongol conquests, including that of the Abbasids, came after Chinggis died in 1227, but he was an impressive and visionary leader, despite not being a particularly noteworthy fighter himself.  And in fact, many experts now believe it was climate change that helped inspire the creation of the Mongol Empire because it forced them to change migratory patterns, thereby bringing them into greater contact with the peoples around them.

If you're a fan of Chinggis and the Mongols, you should check out Shark's Central Asian thread.  He's a huge Mongol fanboy.

Wrath of God

#80
June 15, 2023, 07:54:02 PM
QuoteGenghis Khan hands down.  There are 20M asian men coming from a single male believed to be Genghis Khan.  Khan killed so many people he impacted climate.  If it wasn't for Khan destroying the Caliphate, its possible the Caliphate would have conquered all of Christendom.  His empire comprised of the largest land empire in the history of mankind.

Conan was "cute" compared to Genghis real life exploits.

But that's Conqueror forte not Barbarian.
If anything Genghis Khan was Anti-Barbarian - he brought his people from clannish nomadic society, and withing few decades reformed them as ruthless massive professional army, with rigid Codex of Laws, strict structures. He turned whole Steppe from Chaotic into Lawful, and as D&D teaches us Barbarian cannot be Lawful. And by Tengri Genghis was.

I'd say in old D&D term Cavalier in 4e it would be Warlord.

"Never compromise. Not even in the face of Armageddon."

"And I will strike down upon thee
With great vengeance and furious anger"

"Molti Nemici, Molto Onore"

Jason Coplen

#81
June 16, 2023, 10:01:27 AM
Quote from: Omega on May 14, 2023, 02:28:46 AM
Some I like.
 
Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser books by Leiber. I have only read a scant few, but its been interesting so far.
 
John Carter of Mars. Not really a barbarian in the normal sense but the world of barsoom is very sword oriented.

One I did not like was Thongor. But I have not liked anything of Carters so far. But Darth Vader playing Thongor in the never produced movie before Conan would have been fun. Did make it to a comic and freakishly enough Captain Kangaroo read part of it??? Weird.


Carter does his best writing when talking about other people's stories. I won't recommend his fiction to anybody.

You guys haven't mentioned any of the few fantasy novels written by John Jakes. I remember thinking they weren't bad. Nothing great.
Running: HarnMaster, Barbaric 2E!, and EABA.

Persimmon

#82
June 17, 2023, 10:41:12 AM
Quote from: Jason Coplen on June 16, 2023, 10:01:27 AM
Quote from: Omega on May 14, 2023, 02:28:46 AM
Some I like.
 
Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser books by Leiber. I have only read a scant few, but its been interesting so far.
 
John Carter of Mars. Not really a barbarian in the normal sense but the world of barsoom is very sword oriented.

One I did not like was Thongor. But I have not liked anything of Carters so far. But Darth Vader playing Thongor in the never produced movie before Conan would have been fun. Did make it to a comic and freakishly enough Captain Kangaroo read part of it??? Weird.


Carter does his best writing when talking about other people's stories. I won't recommend his fiction to anybody.

You guys haven't mentioned any of the few fantasy novels written by John Jakes. I remember thinking they weren't bad. Nothing great.

You mean Brak?  He's gotten some mentions and yes I've read him.  Fine, not great.  Certainly better than the boundless trash of C.L. Moore.

Jason Coplen

#83
June 17, 2023, 11:19:18 AM
Quote from: Persimmon on June 17, 2023, 10:41:12 AM
Quote from: Jason Coplen on June 16, 2023, 10:01:27 AM
Quote from: Omega on May 14, 2023, 02:28:46 AM
Some I like.
 
Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser books by Leiber. I have only read a scant few, but its been interesting so far.
 
John Carter of Mars. Not really a barbarian in the normal sense but the world of barsoom is very sword oriented.

One I did not like was Thongor. But I have not liked anything of Carters so far. But Darth Vader playing Thongor in the never produced movie before Conan would have been fun. Did make it to a comic and freakishly enough Captain Kangaroo read part of it??? Weird.


Carter does his best writing when talking about other people's stories. I won't recommend his fiction to anybody.

You guys haven't mentioned any of the few fantasy novels written by John Jakes. I remember thinking they weren't bad. Nothing great.

You mean Brak?  He's gotten some mentions and yes I've read him.  Fine, not great.  Certainly better than the boundless trash of C.L. Moore.

I had to go look to see what the man's name was. It's been a good 20 years since I read those books. Moore is awful; on par with Andre Norton.
Running: HarnMaster, Barbaric 2E!, and EABA.
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