Historical or Fictional Example

[Ogrork the Mighty]

What about some kind of pseudo-Amazonian tribesmen? Headhunters perhaps?

 

[Dogbrain]

The only thing that jumps to mind are vikings, but, they are more beserkers than actual barbarians. The vikings had their eddas and sagas, so they were far from illiterate and uncivilized. Not that I want to create an uncivilized culture, just a nomadic one based on fishing, hunting and raiding.

Have you actually ever studied ANY real history? The "berserkers" were a SPECIFIC TYPE of combatant within Norse culture (there is no such thing as "Viking" culture--"a viking" means "raiding"--"viking" was an activity, not a culture). The Norse were not unique in having "berserker" type combatants.

I picture barbarians as native american tribes, living peacefully on the land, hunting the buffalo, and then going on the...ahem, warpath, if anything ever threatened them.

Again, I ask, have you actually studied any real history? These so-called "peaceful" tribes gladly, gleefully, and with much joy, made aggressive war upon each other. The Iroquois were in the process of aggressively assembling an expansionistic empire when they were encountered by the Europeans for the first time. The various Great Plains tribes had a long history of committing mass murder upon each other and of driving each other across the land--inflicting complete dispossession.

 

[pigi314159]

Well, it's a lot easier to draw from the romticized viewpoint of any culture than it is to draw from the real. Otherwise "the glory of Rome" would be a rather ironic statement, as Romans weren't the most benevolent nor the most "glorious" people in history.

But editorials aside, I'd say stick with the polynesian tribes. Not only because of the cultural background that you're looking for, but also because they have really cool and really long words. i.e. state fish of hawaii. (I won't attempt to murder the proper spelling)

 

[Torm]

Reading what you are asking for put an image in my mind of some sort of aquatic race - sea elves or the like - that has a moderate civilization, moves nomadically with the fish they hunt for food, mostly keeps to themselves except for a few other "monstrous" sentient sea races that they hunt and drive out of what they regard as their territories. Perhaps they've had a few hostile encounters with land-dwellers in the past, maybe because the land-dwellers were "fishing out" what they regard as their resources. And maybe some of them have a tendency to go bezerk (barbarian rage style) with certain situations with fire as the trigger. (Fire has weird psychological effects on them because its so uncommon underwater?)

Have you actually ever studied ANY real history?

Man, people here are just trying to play a game and enjoy themselves. I didn't see any special academic requirements when I signed up for an EN World account. Why you playa hatin' all the time?

These so-called "peaceful" tribes gladly, gleefully, and with much joy, made aggressive war upon each other. The Iroquois were in the process of aggressively assembling an expansionistic empire when they were encountered by the Europeans for the first time.

He actually does have a point here - it is true and maybe even relevant to the question at hand that many of the "peaceful" native peoples we currently think of historically were only peaceful as compared to the scale of what the Europeans could do to them, and seem peaceful now because they still lack power to do much of anything. I could very easily see the Iroquois or the Cherokee having become great imperial powers if they hadn't had the smackdown put on them, first. Look at what was achieved by Genghis Khan - an empire spanning most of Asia and some of Europe - and I don't think anyone would argue they weren't barbarians. Heck, Khan was pleased when the term was applied to him!

 

[BASHMAN]

Look at Phoeneciam Pirates I guess. The Roman Republic was scared to death of them, and were reluctant to engage them on the open sea, because their sailing skills were far superior.

In the Movie BEN HUR, that is who the romans are fighting, and sank the Centurian's ship (the Romans won, but at great cost). These pirates also took Julius Ceasar hostage as a young man. Years later, he came back and rubbed them out. But until the last days of the republic, and the early days of the empire, the Romans were content to pay off the Phonecians rather than fight them.

Of course, the Phonecians were not an illiterate culture, etc, that would be associated with "barbarians".

I think other people's examples of polynesians would be good for you to use. The Hawaiian natives made the Aztecs look like pussycats in some ways! Also look at new zealand, or better yet, Papau New Gienne (I know I spelled that wrong). They had canibals and everything!

 

[BASHMAN]

"I could very easily see the Iroquois or the Cherokee having become great imperial powers if they hadn't had the smackdown put on them, first."

Indeed you are right. An interesting historical note: the Cherokees actually began to mimic the plantation culture of the South, even having black slaves to raise tobacco and later cotton. They started copying other "civilized" aspects of life, living in nice houses, developing literacy, etc.

Part of the reason they were pushed down the trail of tears was whites were jealous of their success as planters! When they went down the trail of tears, they took their slaves with them, and began creating plantations in Oaklahoma! Even more interesting, was that some factions within the Nation allied themselves to the Confederacy durng the Civil War! Although they were an independant nation, technically, and not all of them supported the confederates, the US government forced them to write a new treaty (they claimed the cherokees violated the earlier one by allying to the South) which outlawed slavery within the Cherokee Nation.