Let's face it, the barbarian in AD&D's Unearthed Arcana is a pile of suck. He's my version of a barbarian class for Labyrinth Lord (and therefore for B/X style D&D). Any and all feedback is welcome.
Barbarian Class for Labyrinth Lord
Requirements: STR 13, DEX 12, CON 14
Prime Requisites: STR, CON
Hit Dice: 1d12 through 9th level, +3 per level thereafter
Maximum Level: none
Experience Chart: Ranger
Attacks/Saves: Fighter
Weapons/Armor: All swords, axes, spears, daggers, shortbows, and longbows/leather armor, studded leather armor, and shields
Special Abilities:
Barbarians may track as per a ranger of the same level.
Barbarians are surprised only on 1 on 1d6; they may surprise others on 1-3 on 1d6.
Savage Rage—a barbarian can choose to go into a violent rage as many times per day equal to their level. While in the throes of a rage a barbarian gains a bonus to hit and damage equal to their Constitution modifier +1. A rage lasts for 1d6 rounds. However, while in a rage a barbarian can only attack in melee and cannot retreat. Furthermore, while in a rage a barbarian's Armor Class is worse by two points.
Reaching 6th level: Vulgar Display of Power—when a barbarian kills a foe he or she may choose an opponent that must make an immediate morale check.
I'd drop one of the sneak bonuses - probably the bonus to sneak, rather then the bonus against sneaking.
I'd also suggest that you have the ability to fly in rage that's closer to 3e.
Other then that - no objections. I guess nice class. Liked the "gory death" feature.
Quote from: Rincewind1;523216I'd drop one of the sneak bonuses - probably the bonus to sneak, rather then the bonus against sneaking.
That's just copy/pasted from the ranger.
QuoteI'd also suggest that you have the ability to fly in rage that's closer to 3e.
What would that look like and why would it be better? Give me more to work with, man!
QuoteOther then that - no objections. I guess nice class. Liked the "gory death" feature.
I stole that from Pseudo's blog.
Quote from: misterguignol;523218That's just copy/pasted from the ranger.
I noticed ;p. Though the Conan - style barbarian would be both harder to sneak upon and a better sneak himself. So maybe let it stay as it is
QuoteWhat would that look like and why would it be better? Give me more to work with, man!
Rage 1/day on level 1, and additional rage at level 4 and every 4 levels.
Quote from: Rincewind1;523219Rage 1/day on level 1, and additional rage at level 4 and every 4 levels.
How's this look:
Savage Rage—a barbarian can choose to go into a violent rage once per day at 1st level and once more per day for every three levels the barbarian attains. While in the throes of a rage a barbarian gains a +2 bonus to hit and damage. A rage lasts for 3 rounds + Constitution bonus; however, a barbarian can pre-emptively end a rage. While in a rage a barbarian can only attack in melee and is immune to fear effects.
Quote from: misterguignol;523223How's this look: Savage Rage—a barbarian can choose to go into a violent rage once per day at 1st level and once more per day for every three levels the barbarian attains. While in the throes of a rage a barbarian gains a +2 bonus to hit and damage. A rage lasts for 3 rounds + Constitution bonus; however, a barbarian can pre-emptively end a rage. While in a rage a barbarian can only attack in melee and is immune to fear effects.
Cool by me.
1) Perhaps 1d6 + Constitution bonus rather then the fixed amount of rounds? I like the occasional roll, y'know.
2) Full immunity to fear? I'd suggest +4 bonus to saves, but both systems work, I guess.
Quote from: Rincewind1;523224Cool by me.
1) Perhaps 1d6 + Constitution bonus rather then the fixed amount of rounds? I like the occasional roll, y'know.
2) Full immunity to fear? I'd suggest +4 bonus to saves, but both systems work, I guess.
I like both of those, thanks!
Quote from: misterguignol;523211Reaching 6th level: Vulgar Display of Power—when a barbarian kills a foe he or she may choose an opponent that must make an immediate morale check.
The wild eyed barbarian Pantera howls with lust as he bites the nose off of a fresh kill!!
I like it!!
Looks good to me. I agree with Rincewind, the variable round rage is more fun and +4 to saves vs. fear, immunity is boring unless high level besides the numeric bonus can leveled up like 3e if you want, it gives you more design space.
Here's another draft:
Barbarians
Requirements: STR 13, DEX 12, CON 14
Prime Requisites: STR, CON
Hit Dice: 1d12 through 9th level, +3 per level thereafter
Maximum Level: none
Experience Chart: Ranger
Attacks/Saves: Fighter
Weapons/Armor: All swords, axes, spears, daggers, shortbows, and longbows/leather armor, studded leather armor, and shields
Barbarians are typically warriors who hail from nomadic or uncivilized cultures. They are usually found in areas of the world that are still wild. The barbarian's fighting spirit in imbued with this wildness; they are frenzied berzerkers, warp-spasm-prone marauders, and reavers accustomed to life amidst the wastelands.
Special Abilities:
Barbarians may track as per a ranger of the same level.
Barbarians are surprised only on 1 on 1d6; they may surprise others on 1-3 on 1d6.
Savage Rage—a barbarian can choose to go into a violent rage once per day at 1st level and once more per day for every three levels the barbarian attains. While in the throes of a rage a barbarian gains a +2 bonus to hit and damage. A rage lasts for 1d6 rounds + Constitution modifier; however, a barbarian can pre-emptively end a rage. While in a rage a barbarian can only attack in melee and gains a +4 bonus to Saving Throws vs. fear effects.
Reaching 6th level: Vulgar Display of Power—when a barbarian kills a foe he or she may choose an opponent that must make an immediate morale check.
Reflavoring: Of course, a barbarian character doesn't necessarily have to hail from a barbaric culture. A barbarian might be a normal soldier who falls into a murderous rage in the heat of battle. Or perhaps a barbarian might be a normal man or woman who is sometimes possessed by the bloodthirsty spirit of a deceased maniac or murderer.
Looks solid, thanks for letting us girls in the club. Red Sonja and Zena are among my favorite inspiration for Barbarians. :)
Quote from: Marleycat;523236Looks solid, thanks for letting us girls in the club. Red Sonja and Zena are among my favorite inspiration for Barbarians. :)
Heh, my games are usually about 50% women players, so I gotta keep the ladies happy.
Quote from: misterguignol;523239Heh, my games are usually about 50% women players, so I gotta keep the ladies happy.
Good to know that there are good number of female gamers out there, if Wotc remembers that they would be golden.
Quote from: Marleycat;523253Good to know that there are good number of female gamers out there, if Wotc remembers that they would be golden.
My group is probably a little anomalous though. There's definitely room for more women in the hobby for sure.
I may be an anomaly also, in that I have never been in a playgroup of Dnd with less than 2 girls in the group, more commonly it hits your percentage, if not more. We like killing things and taking their stuff just as much as any boy. But truth is, you have to thank White Wolf for the easier entry of women into t
he hobby overall.
White Wolf games have a serious percentage of female gamers because of the different focus on "story" (sorry Ben but it's the truth, good news is they convert easily if they're comfortable with your subject matter in whatever game you run).
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.
(http://memeorama.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/If-you-know-what-I-mean-mr-bean-meme.jpg)
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;523580Quote 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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