OK, here's a comparison between the UA barbarian class and the version originally published in Dragon #63:
T. Foster said:
The barbarian class in UA really is grossly overpowered compared to all the other classes (except, possibly, the cavalier). To refresh everybody's memory, here's their abilities:
*Double AC bonus for high Dex when wearing non-bulky armor (or no armor)
*Double hp bonus for high Con
*12-sided hit dice up to 8th level and 4 hp/level thereafter
*Base move 15"
*6 weapons of proficiency at 1st level (and 1 every 2 levels thereafter)
*-1 non-proficiency penalty
*+4 on saving throws vs. poison
*+3 on saving throws vs. paralyzation, death magic, petrification & polymorph
*+2 on saving throws vs. wands, staves, rods & breath weapon
*+1 on saving throws vs. spells per 4 levels (starting at 4th)
*Climb cliffs and trees (and walls, once they've had an opportunity to practice) as thief of same level
*Hide in familiar natural surroundings as a thief 3 levels higher hides in shadows
*Hide in unfamiliar natural surroundings as a thief of same level hides in shadows
*Surprise 3 in 6 (4 in 6 in familiar terrain)
*Only surprised 10% (5% in familiar terrain)
*5% chance/level to detect back attacks (negates attacker's bonus and allows barbarian free return attack even if he's already used his full actions for the round)
*Leap up to 10' forward, 3' backward, or 3' up from standing; 16-21' feet forward or 4.5-6' up from running; spring upward 4-7'
*Detect illusion: 5%/level (up to max. 75%)
*Detect magic: 25% at 1st level + 5% per additional level (up to max. 90%)
*Add level to charisma to determine effective charisma score when dealing with other barbarians
*Can perform "first aid" on self and others to immediately regain 1 hp and heal at twice normal rate (2 hp/day resting, 1 hp/day adventuring) thereafter
*10%/level chance to cure natural poison and disease (50%+victim's Con if poison or disease is known)
*plant and animal identification as 3rd level druid
*Predict weather as per druid spell (3rd level casting ability)
*Tracking as ranger of same level (outdoors only)
All the same or close enough not to quibble (Dragon version doesn't specify "as 3rd druid" for secondary skills).
T. Foster said:
*Receive XP for destroying magic items as if item were kept
*Summon Barbarian Horde at 8th+ level (XP/1000 members + leader-types, will serve for [level] weeks)
These advantages are not present in the original article.
T. Foster said:
*At 4th+ level can hit creatures only struck by magical weapons
In Dragon 65 (page 10), Gygax mentioned that barbarians---because they would not use magic---gain the same progression in ability to hit creatures requiring magical weapons as do standard monsters: +1 at 4th, +2 at 6th, +3 at 8th, +4 at 10th, +5 at 12th. No bonuses are conferred to hit or to damage, just the ability to strike successfully.
T. Foster said:
And their drawbacks/restrictions:
*Must be human
*Cannot dual-class
*Min Str 15, Dex 14, Con 15 (though note that Method V char-gen allows the character the minimum required stats for the class if he fails to roll them)
*Max Wis 16
*No XP bonus for high stats
*Must have non-lawful alignment
*Does not automatically know alignment language
*Illiterate at start of play
*Steepest XP chart of any single-classed character in the game (6000 XP for 2nd level) -- barbarians will tend to be 2 levels below thieves and 1 level below other classes with the same XP total
*First aid, plant & animal idenfication, predict weather & tracking abilities can only be used in familiar terrain (1 month of exposure required to familiarize)
*Must come from "some out-of-the-way barbaric state or area within the campaign"
*Initial weapon proficiencies must include knife, hand axe, spear
All the same, although there were no ability score minimums (and the barbarian's generation method did pave the way for Method V, although the article numbers of dice rolled doesn't match exactly what appears in UA).
T. Foster said:
*Cannot associate with clerics until 2nd level
Restriction not present in Dragon 63.
T. Foster said:
*Cannot use potions until 3rd level
*Cannot use magic weapons until 4th level
*Cannot use magic armor until 5th level
*Cannot associate with magic-users until 6th level
*Cannot use weapon-like miscellaneous magic items until 7th level
*Cannot use protection scrolls until 9th level
*Cannot use other magic items available to fighters (rings, wands/staves/rods, non weapon-like misc. magic) until 10th level
Restrictions not present in Dragon 63 version because barbarians cannot/will not use magic items at all, and will "shun" MUs (and likely higher-level clerics, too).
In addition, they are not able to be psionic (in the event that you used psionics), and were not eligible for weapon specialization.
FWIW, Gygax wrote a long discussion about the feedback that he had received on the barbarian in Dragon 67 (starting on page 64), which may be worth revisiting to gain some additional insight into his intentions when designing the class (in particular that for the PC to be viable at high level play, it would require 18 Str, 16 Dex, 17 Con, at minimums; and that Dex bonuses to AC are denied in many situations). He also made note in the original article that the secondary and tertiary abilities were only most effective/useful when in familiar/native terrain.
One of the reasons that I personally preferred the Dragon 63 version of the class was that it completely restricted PC barbarians from using magical weapons, which remains truer to my sense of what the barbarian was intended to represent (Conan, Kothar, Niall, Thongor, Fafhrd, etc. vs. Elric, the Grey Mouser, Cudgel, etc.). That key restriction has kept any player from using the barbarian as a long-term PC in any game I've ever run: players like the magic goodies and aren't willing to give them, up, and, per Trent's other comments, the barbarian demands a certain style and setting of play that doesn't mesh with what many players consider the default/traditional D&D setting.
Unrelatedly, a correction to my earlier post: weapon specialization first appeared in Dragon 66 (page 27), as well, not in UA as I stated.
