Quote from: Marleycat;523257I may be an anomaly also, in that I have never been in a playgroup of Dnd with less than 2 girls in group, more commonly it hits your percentage, if not more.

That's pretty cool.  We need more of that, I think.

Cool write up i may steal it for my 1st edition campaign as i have to agree with you about the unearthed arcana one being crap.  
Another type of flavour of barbarian would be the soldier who suffered a head injury during a battle and as a result sometimes goes abit mental during combat as they relive the trauma of the events that caused the injury, this would also give the barbarian a trigger enemy type that would increase the chances of going into a rage and allow you to add the favored enemy from ranger into the mix(though obviously it'd be a very rare story related tweak for the class and not something to add to all barbarian builds).

Quote from: Broken-Serenity;523265Cool write up i may steal it for my 1st edition campaign as i have to agree with you about the unearthed arcana one being crap.  
Another type of flavour of barbarian would be the soldier who suffered a head injury during a battle and as a result sometimes goes abit mental during combat as they relive the trauma of the events that caused the injury, this would also give the barbarian a trigger enemy type that would increase the chances of going into a rage and allow you to add the favored enemy from ranger into the mix(though obviously it'd be a very rare story related tweak for the class and not something to add to all barbarian builds).

PTSD barbarian...I like it!

That's actually an interesting twist on the Rage mechanic and makes more sense to me if I model my barbarian after Amazons like Zena or a Shaman Priestess like Red Sonja.  Thanks.

Quote from: Exploderwizard;523226The wild eyed barbarian Pantera howls with lust as he bites the nose off of a fresh kill!!

"Oh, shit! He's fucking hostile!"

In principle I'm against having a Barbarian class in BECMI or B/X D&D, because I like to fold all sorts of different character concepts into each of the archetypal four classes.

But this is a good one.

Quote from: misterguignol;523239Heh, my games are usually about 50% women players, so I gotta keep the ladies happy.

Quote from: The Butcher;523463In principle I'm against having a Barbarian class in BECMI or B/X D&D, because I like to fold all sorts of different character concepts into each of the archetypal four classes.

But this is a good one.

Thanks!  I'm of a similar mindset...I either go four broad classes or an explosion of whatever the players want to play within reason.

Quote from: misterguignol;523503Thanks!  I'm of a similar mindset...I either go four broad classes or an explosion of whatever the players want to play within reason.

Yeah. I'm kind of like that too. There's something really appealing about the four classes paradigm, I got to admit.

Quote from: Benoist;523514Yeah. I'm kind of like that too. There's something really appealing about the four classes paradigm, I got to admit.

The four-class thing is something that Lamentations of the Flame Princess really gets right.  (Of course, you have to ignore the racial classes, which is not hard for me.)  For a D&D game with a lot of classes I'm really enjoying Labyrinth Lord with the Advanced Edition Companion.

I really dig the Vulgar Display of Power so much that I'd make it a 1st lvl power and swap out the battle frenzy Savage Rage into 3rd or 6th lvl. Reason why is I dig that singular morale check to out-freak opponents because it's just a very barbarian thing to do. Atrocity as brinksmanship helps survival and conserve resources in the harsh hinterlands. Further, since environments often dictate potential, it reinforces a neutral alignment viewpoint as atrocity becomes a survival tool.

Also frenzy, which is hallmark in barbarian tropes, tends to work better as a spice I think. Berserkers weren't common and were roundly feared (even within their community), but they were often heavily experienced. After a few levels there should be enough trauma to induce PTSD-related rage. It also makes tribes of barbarians, though horrifying, not into a pack of spinja top dervishes at lvl 1. Just from a setting perspective it feels like a more plausible ecosystem to me. Death's still common, hospitality still crucial, but not all battles require nor encourage TPK of opponents.

Another thing I'd like to see would be the conflict of armor and survival appropriate clothing. Barbarians would have to make choices of jettisoning most "valuables," especially the bigger and bulkier ones. So wouldn't there be a greater emphasis on weapon defense, shield versatility (offense + defense), and/or better armor proficiency with weaker armor?

Perhaps start with either: 1-hand style's bonus AC, Wpn+Shld style's free shield parry/punch, or (Bell + Vallejo approved skinemax) bonus AC for leather and similarly weaker armor. Or something equivalent like that? Let players choose one of the three, or have certain cultures favor two out of three options. Or maybe give Barbarians another option of a free additional attack only usable to parry at an early lvl? It'd help the 2-handed broadsword barbarians running around in just a loincloth trope.

Quote from: misterguignol;523580

Quote from: Benoist;523514Yeah. I'm kind of like that too. There's something really appealing about the four classes paradigm, I got to admit.

The four-class thing is something that Lamentations of the Flame Princess really gets right.  (Of course, you have to ignore the racial classes, which is not hard for me.)  For a D&D game with a lot of classes I'm really enjoying Labyrinth Lord with the Advanced Edition Companion.

Right now, ACKS is my favorite retro-D&D game.

They present the Big Four, plus four "campaign classes" (Assassin, Bard, Bladedancer, Explorer) that are clearly built on variations on the Big Four, like misterguignol built his Barbarian and Warlock. Same goes for the "alternative" demihuman classes (Elf Nightblade = fighter/mage/thief, Dwarf Craftpriest = dwarf cleric).

I'm such a fan of the Big Four that I tend to be somewhat conflicted towards the idea of tacking new classes on the B/X or BECMI structure. But again, like misterguignol's, ACKS' new classes are so well-built and nicely presented that I'm swayed towards using them.

Quote from: The Butcher;523648But again, like misterguignol's, ACKS' new classes are so well-built and nicely presented that I'm swayed towards using them.

Thanks, man.  I should check out ACKS.

Classes in RC D&D don't get once/day abilities. You either have an ability or you don't.  

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