Barbarian Questions

[Datt]

Okay. This is something that has actually been bugging me for a long time so I thought I would finally ask everyone to see what their answers are.

What is the reason, flavor or whatever, for Barbarians to have Uncanny Dodge and Trap Sense?

I mean when you think of a Barbarian, Conan or other, you don't exactly think about someone who is hard to surprise or flank around.

Also with Trap Sense. The Barb can't search for the trap, nor can he disable the trap within his class skills. So why in the world would he be good at avoiding them?

Does this bother anyone else or am I the only one?

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Doesn't bother me.

I like to think of it like this: the time the barbarian hasn't spent getting edjumacated he's spent developing a preternatural awareness of his environment -- so much so that he often anticipates surprises (hence Uncanny Dodge and Trap Sense). This way, it makes sense that he has both abilities -- his honed perceptions work with both live ambushers as well as snares or mechanical devices.

 

[LokiDR]

There are two ways to deal with traps in a dungeon: dex rogue and barbarian rogue. The first is the typical, search, disarm, avoid kind. The second is a decent level barbarian who avoids the trap or just takes it because he is beafy. He would have no way to avoid if he didn't have dex, so uncanny dodge comes in.

There are also hay bales, but that is another trick entirely.

 

[Camarath]

My opinion is that it is a sixth sense sort of thing like an instinct. Maybe it come from hunting and being hunted. Maybe it is a result of his battle fervor. Maybe rather than heightening his higher senses he has learned to tap in to his primal ones.

 

[Darklone]

Doesn't bother me either.

I'd rather have seen something like a higher Refl save progression for the barbarian... But that would have been too good.

 

[Dirigible]

Have you ever actually read Conan? He was all about super-keen senses.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

And remember great Barbarians like Cohen, the Barbarian (from Discworld), who often raid temples to rescue virgins and gain treasures - you can be sure they often encounter traps, but don`t bother disabling them

 

[Darklone]

Well, not as long the disabling can't be done by dropping something heavy pretty hard one something breakable.

 

[sithramir]

I would just like to state that if you ever read or watched conan then you would change your mind. Those are the 2 abilities i'd probably choose to keep out of the rest.