Ancalagon
Dusty Dragon
Hello
The barbarian is a very cool class, but it does suffer a bit from the fact that it attempts to mix two concepts - one being the "foreigner/nomad/tribal/less civilized" warrior and the other being the "raging warrior". If you think about it, not all nomads are battle-ragers. In fact I would suspect that the average tribal/nomad warrior with class is a ranger, not a barbarian.
But what if you want to do a battle-raging person who is *not* a foreigner/tribal/nomad person? You enjoy the mechanics and playstyle, but the roleplaying aspect isn't up your alley?
Thankfully, this is rather easy now because of the backgrounds. Here are a few examples.
The dervish (hermit, or perhaps acolyte): You are a mendicant, a nomad relying on charity and odd jobs to survive. You are profoundly spiritual but your views on reality and divinity are at odds with many established religions. When you rage, you tap into the one divine force and are filled with the universe's boundless potential. (I really wouldn't mind playing that one personally)
The thug (criminal or street urchin background): You grew up on the street and had a difficult childhood. Your means to survive the street was low cunning and violence - you grew a reputation and now other street dwellers give you a wide berth to avoid setting off your temper. When you rage, your anger at past trauma gets unleashed
The experimental subject (almost any background): You were kidnapped by an evil cabal of wizard and subjected to strange experiments, but managed to escape. Perhaps you received strange alchemical treatments, were grafted with alien glands or bound with an evil spirit or fiend. Whatever the cause, when provoked in battle y ou are filled with unnatural fury.
Any other ideas for the non-barbarian barbarian?
The barbarian is a very cool class, but it does suffer a bit from the fact that it attempts to mix two concepts - one being the "foreigner/nomad/tribal/less civilized" warrior and the other being the "raging warrior". If you think about it, not all nomads are battle-ragers. In fact I would suspect that the average tribal/nomad warrior with class is a ranger, not a barbarian.
But what if you want to do a battle-raging person who is *not* a foreigner/tribal/nomad person? You enjoy the mechanics and playstyle, but the roleplaying aspect isn't up your alley?
Thankfully, this is rather easy now because of the backgrounds. Here are a few examples.
The dervish (hermit, or perhaps acolyte): You are a mendicant, a nomad relying on charity and odd jobs to survive. You are profoundly spiritual but your views on reality and divinity are at odds with many established religions. When you rage, you tap into the one divine force and are filled with the universe's boundless potential. (I really wouldn't mind playing that one personally)
The thug (criminal or street urchin background): You grew up on the street and had a difficult childhood. Your means to survive the street was low cunning and violence - you grew a reputation and now other street dwellers give you a wide berth to avoid setting off your temper. When you rage, your anger at past trauma gets unleashed
The experimental subject (almost any background): You were kidnapped by an evil cabal of wizard and subjected to strange experiments, but managed to escape. Perhaps you received strange alchemical treatments, were grafted with alien glands or bound with an evil spirit or fiend. Whatever the cause, when provoked in battle y ou are filled with unnatural fury.
Any other ideas for the non-barbarian barbarian?
