Barbarian: Why did it become a rage based class?

[JoeGKushner]

As I was getting stuff ready for the auction coming up at Games Plus, I cam across my battered and beaten copy of Unearthed Arcana. Reviewing the barbarian class for kicks, I couldn't help but notice how vastly different just in core concept it was from today's 4e and even the 3e version that have a core rage mechanic powering it.

Now I recall the old 'Berserkers' subclass back in the day that was Viking based and could turn into a werebear and that the whole barbarian bit was at least a nod in there, but is anyone happy with the barbarian = berserk as its default?

the Unearthed Arcana barbarian is a mismatch of skills, abilities, unique abilities for ability scores, and a whole host of other bits, but it's not a berserker. It seems much more modelled after the warrior whose life of living on the edge grants it the ability to detect ambush, as well as outdoor survival and a hearty endurance.

Was this switch something that happened later in 2nd ed or was it brand new in 3e?

 

[Diamond Cross]

Actually I believe the Barbarian class is influenced by Conan The Barbarian.

 

[Corathon]

Actually I believe the Barbarian class is influenced by Conan The Barbarian.

The Unearthed Arcana barbarian probably is influenced by Conan. The later versions...not so much. Conan was not a berserker.

 

[Stormonu]

Wow, I'd forgotten that the 1E barbarian didn't get a rage ability.

I do remember in late 2E (with the Barbarian Handbook), there was the Ravager kit, which I think may have been the precursor to the 3E barbarian.

I also agree with Diamond Cross, the 1E barbarian was largely based on figures like Conan and possibly Tarzan.

Interestingly, while trying to find some commentary about where the class came from, I found something interesting in Dragon #63 (where the Barbarian class was previewed prior to it's release in UA). Gary, in reviewing the just-then-released Conan the Barbarian movie w/ Arnuld (a movie which he blasts), reveals that he was a fan of Conan since the '50s. I think that in of itself speaks volumes.

 

[billd91]

What's a barbarian beyond a fighter or ranger with a particular attitude, background, and a couple minor powers (like what eventually became uncanny dodge)? Not that much, really. The fighters and rangers can carry the weight of portraying barbarians like Conan or Brennus and other central European Celts without too much difficulty.

So they went a different inspiration (berserkers, Cú Chulainn, Sláine and other warp spasmers) with the 3e barbarian and brought in a different sort of mechanic for a more distinctive mechanical flavor. It's a little different but it's got a good beat. I can dance to it.

 

[pawsplay]

D&D has had berserkers as monsters for quite some time. AD&D 2e had the berserker kit for, I think, fighters. I don't know why the 3e designers decided to turn the barbarian into a berserker. Apart from some nods to Conan and the Unearthed Arcana version, the 3e version is mostly a whole-cloth recreation of the barbarian as a raging, nearly mindless killing machine.

Pathfinder made some useful tweaks; effectively, the barbarian is a berserking class, and artifacts of being a primitive warrior-hunter have been de-emphasized. So now dwarf and elf barbarians make more sense in Pathfinder without having to invent tribes of "wild dwarves" or "wild elves."

 

[lutecius]

The UA barbarian was a fighter with a bunch of survival abilities but with the skill systems in later editions, such a class became redundant. If you have one, it needs a distinct combat shtick and archetype.

I know Conan had many talents, probably too many to be a single class, but what stuck in people's mind was "big brutish warrior" so rage is good enough.
and "barbarian" is a vague notion anyway.

 

[TerraDave]

Uncanny dodge was a nod to the 1E barbarians ability to avoid being backstabed. (trap sense and fast movement also had a precedent?).

What's a barbarian beyond a fighter or ranger with a particular attitude, background, and a couple minor powers (like what eventually became uncanny dodge)?

Right, once you have a skill system there isn't much left to distinguish the class. Well, not until you put rage in and merge with the berserker.

Edit: Ninjaed, by a hair.

 

[Nifft]

the 3e version is mostly a whole-cloth recreation of the barbarian as a raging, nearly mindless killing machine.

(emphasis added)

They get more skill points -- and from a better list -- than Fighters & Clerics. They get the same "canny cunning" as Rogues (Uncanny Dodge + Trap Sense).

Sure, they're Illiterate, but that's not the same as being mindless. I know this because I was born illiterate, and only later learned to read (after several years of effort).

Cheers, -- N

 

[pawsplay]

(emphasis added)

They get more skill points -- and from a better list -- than Fighters & Clerics. They get the same "canny cunning" as Rogues (Uncanny Dodge + Trap Sense).

Sure, they're Illiterate, but that's not the same as being mindless. I know this because I was born illiterate, and only later learned to read (after several years of effort).

Cheers, -- N

I didn't say anything about literacy. I was referring to:

While raging, a barbarian cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except for Balance, Escape Artist, Intimidate, and Ride), the Concentration skill, or any abilities that require patience or concentration, nor can he cast spells or activate magic items that require a command word, a spell trigger (such as a wand), or spell completion (such as a scroll) to function.


I was using mindless as the antonym of mindful, not of intelligent.