I always thought Conan (as depicted in art) looked kind of girly with his smooth-shaven body, long hair, scant clothing, and excessive jewelry - especially that slave band. Like he'd fit right in on Venice Beach. $100 says he wore perfume.
I like how they try to explain "barbarian =|= primative savage." Just someone who eschews the softness of civilization and restraint.
Another reason I never thought barbarians deserved their own class. They're just fighters who can't afford good gear. Or Conan stand-ins. Barbarians didn't choose to eschew the softness of civilization and restraint so much as they were poor and couldn't afford them.
Whether Vikings would even qualify as barbarians in D&D is an open question, given they were a highly advanced culture -- warlike, yes, but not wild or backward.
In the end, I blame the Greeks.
These things are always relative. The Vikings
were wild and backward compared to the Greeks. They were technologically and culturally more advanced than your loincloth-wearing hunter-gatherer, of course.
Pretty sure Red Sonja and Valeria know the behaviour, if not the word for it, and aren't exactly keen on it. Like chop your face off not keen.
Red Sonja's a classic case of "sexism" walking; hot chick needs Gift of the Gods to 'splain her martial prowess.
Just because you are an antisocial murder machine doesn't mean you are more comfortable in a posing pouch than a nice pair of breeches and a leather coat.
Well said. First thing a real barbarian lucky enough to defeat a civilized enemy would do is take the dead guy's shiny mail jerkin, his better-forged sword, those nice boots...
Really, i would have been happy with the barbarian as a fighter subclass -- add rage, ta da! -- and let background determine whether the character is a Viking, a Celt ::cough::Cimmerian::cough::, or a Maori.
Agreed. A barbarian's just a fighter with an alternative background. I've never seen the point of indulging the conceit about "parity" between maneuverability and armor. Don't want to wear armor? Don't wear it. But expecting a magical bonus to compensate? Granted, I'm an opinionated bastard.
Why is he wearing chaps over what appear to be diamond embroidered pants? He looks like a lego figured assembled from different world kits. Or maybe he just killed a landsknect and took his trousers? Perhaps he comes from the Zapp Brannigan school of war and just reallly likes velour?
I haven't seen the image yet, but just going by your description, that's how an enterprising barbarian character should look. He's picked up lots of shiny bits along the way. I know it's just a game-y thing, but I can't help but find this "no self-respecting barbarian would" thing really amusing. YES, a sensible barbarian would put on armor the first chance he got. YES, he'd ditch that
axe for a sword first chance he got. Most of the most interesting bits about Conan are the parts he picked up that he never would have if he'd remained in Barbaria.
Fritz Lieber disagrees, he was created as an homage.
Which Marvel Comics promptly pissed on by having them appear in an early issue of
Conan the Barbarian (first Barry Smith run IIRC), and having Conan kill both of them effortlessly in 3 panels or so.
Wow, I finally looked at the image. What a letdown. He looks more like a real barbarian than a post-advent-of-steroids Venice Beach Barbarian, oh noes! His axe almost looks light enough to wield! Oh noes! He's wearing enough clothing to survive his environment! Oh noes!
I will admit that his apparent wealth sort of brings home the absurdity of the "yar, a barbarian CHOOSES to fight without armor or quality equipment cuz he's better that way!" silliness.
