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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 6274303" data-attributes="member: 20323">I've been thinking about barbarians. Just read a great <a href="http://osrgaming.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=950" target="_blank">OSR Gaming blog</a> about the OD&D Barbarian in White Dwarf and an article from Dragon called "The Real Barbarians." Good stuff!I want to distinguish barbarians from fighters, and am also thinking about tailoring the classes toward my campaign setting (dark high fantasy, political intrigue, Renaissance era arms/armor, Celtic/Welsh undertones blended with Mediterranean culture/myths).Like all my my classes so far, the barbarian has 3 core features: Rage, Tribal Origin, and Uncanny Awareness.Tribal Origin ties the barbarian to a tribe from a specific geography (aquatic, mountains, steppes, wastes, woodlands); it provides a slight advantage related to that terrain, a bonus proficiency, and advantaged Survival checks and certain kinds of saves in that terrain. For example, a mountain barbarian would have immunity to altitude sickness, proficiency with climbing kits, and their saves vs. cold and Survival checks in mountains would both be advantaged.Uncanny Awareness makes the barbarian hard to get the drop on. At heroic tier, the barbarian does not suffer disadvantaged defenses when surprised or fighting enemies they can't see. At legendary tier, the barbarian cannot be flanked and is immune to extra damage that triggers when his defenses are disadvantaged (e.g. sneak attack). At epic tier, the barbarian can't be surprised at all.I've been thinking of reworking Rage into some kind of Barbarian Trance, reflecting that barbarians enter an altered state of some kind when going into battle (though perhaps not exclusively limited to combat) Rather than have have Rage be based on limited uses per day, I think this is a great opportunity to use a "limit break" design to distinguish the barbarian's uniqueness. A "limit break" is video game speak for a powerful ability that only becomes usable once some trigger is met, usually dishing out or taking damage. Right now I'm thinking of incorporating something like a blend of 4e's powers, Pathfinder's rage powers, and 13th Age's escalation die into rage powers that the barbarian can use only once really worked up. Something not unlike <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/" target="_blank">this guy's "Fury" ability</a> (not I have not played Diablo 3 or any version, just think it sounds likes good way to model a barbarian from a game design perspective).I know the hideous transformative "Riastradh" (I've seen various spellings) of the hero Cu Cuchlain  inspired the barbarian's rage ability in 3e. What I like about broadening the concept from "being really pissed off" to "being possessed by instinctual forces" is that it opens the room for Warg-like abilities of looking thru a Beast's eyes or incredible feats of athleticism or endurance. For example, at epic levels I would see the barbarian accomplishing feats like holding their breath for 20+ minutes while fighting underwater, long jumping 30 ft+ (9 m+) wide caverns, and otherwise performing feats that match or somewhat exceed Olympic standards.</blockquote>

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