Need Realistic Barbarian Village

[Iron_Chef]

Hi there! I'm looking for a fully populated human barbarian village that is as realistic and history-based as possible. Not concerned with character levels, magic, non-humans, monsters, setting, etc.--these will all be stripped out if present as it's to be converted to a d100 RPG system (HarnMaster 3e). However, the less there is to strip out, the better.

Looking mostly for interesting NPCs (as many as possible), daily life, rituals, that kind of thing. We already have a barbarian village map but need to fill it with entire families of NPCs.

My GM is cash-strapped and insanely short on time between work and family, nor is he computer literate enough to design it himself or even search the internet, LOL--thus he has tasked me with helping him research this.

I've googled around for "barbarian village" or "barbarian camp" but all I get is garbage links to video games.

Please help! We need it ASAP!

 

[Thunderfoot]

Here are some rituals and religious views:
1) Coming of age (The naming ceremony)- An adolescent child is brought to the village elder (or council) after fasting for three days. The elder takes the child into the sacred tecnt/hut/mound and casts a series of divination spells and performs time honored rites to discern the "true" name of the child. Upon exiting the structure the child now has their adult name and is excpeted into the tribe as an equal.

2) Long Day - A celebration of the nature god. The tribe stops work and has a series of celebratory games and feasting. (similar to a market day for a "civilized" town) If other tribes are nearby, they may join together for this one day (even warring tribes will lay down arms and feast at the same floor).

3) War rites - A tribe entering battle must first be blessed by the priests/shamansof the god of war. Each warrior is blessed to receive success in battle and deliverance if they should be slain. After battle any new warriors (first battle) are lifted up as they carry on the warrior spirit of the tribe.

4) Harvest - A day of drinking and community service. After weeks of clearing the fields and storing the goods for winter and a day of drinking and celebration is held to thank the earth gods for sustaining the life of the tribe.

5) Judgement - Any crime is brought before the elder/chief/council and judged by the tossing of the bones/runes/sticks. The divine guidance shows whether the person is guilty or innocent. Guilty verdicts result in punishment ranging from re-payment for stolen property; exile for undermining the authority of the council/elder/chief or ignoring their civic responsibilities (such as hunting or gathering); to death for more serious offences. Torture is also a good way to build role-playing opportuinites (strung up for 10 days without food or water for example).

 

[pawsplay]

Barbarian villages are full of animals. The Scandanavians literally gave their gods rams they could endlessly milk and slaughter as part of their heaven. The Mongols had sheep and yaks (and still do, actually. There should be animals everywhere... barbarians farm and garden, unless they are nomads, but not on the scale of an agricultural society.

Warlike tribes often have very ritualized displays of courage. For instance, "counting coup" refers to warriors running into other tribes or chasing hunters and hitting them with a (mostly harmless, but painful) stick and running away. A somewhat more lethal variant is running up and throwing a spear or other weapon at an enemy tribe, then trying to escape. Sometimes tribes line up and shout insults, which are ultimately resolved by wrestling matches or duels between champions.

 

[Iron_Chef]

Thanks for the replies! Anybody else got some more ideas? Games, initiations, ideas for NPCs, etc.?

Background: The tribe is warlike with kind of a druidical/shaman type religion (nature spirits, trinity of gods: war god, his wife, trickster son). They practice extensive blue facial tattooing on all members of both sexes from a young age that outsiders find hideous. They are know for torturing civilized captives so badly that it's better to die than surrender to them. They are regarded as "subhuman savages" by their civilized neighbors and there is a debate as to whether they should even be enslaved they are so ugly and dangerous--they are fit only for the gladiatorial arena. The tribe are semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers with some agricultural skills; they change camps every decade or so. The tribe is patriarchal and patrilineal; females are seen as inferiors but treated well (they aren't warriors). The women of the tribe mock the men unmercifully for failing at anything--a warrior will often stay awy from his tribe for days rather than face their cruel barbs. Since women are seen as inferior, he cannot respond to their insults or he will lose face among the other warriors. Some women are allowed to be shamans but that is the only career path outside of wife and mother.

The chief is trying to forge an alliance of tribes with himself as warlord to sweep down from their northern forest home and conquer the civilized southern kingdom as they did once several hundred years ago.

The southern kingdom's religion philosophy is "might makes right." They desire to exterimate the barbarians completely and sponsor periodic crusades against them (which have all ended badly for the crusading knights). The southern kingdom's god is one of fire, torture, slavery and plague (LE in D&D terms) but the kingdom was once ruled by a brutal theocracy of a god of death, evil, undead, chaos, revenge (CE) who still control the country's largest port and only free-city. They scheme to restore their power to its former levels and beyond (they pay lip service and tithes to the king). These two evil gods dislike each other but have a precarious alliance against the gods of the neighboring kingdoms withg whom political relations are strained, to say the least. The followers of the fire god are totaly into feudalism and evreyone knowing their place in the pecking order while the followers of chaos desire to do away with feudalism and replace it with a "meritocracy" where anyone can rise to any level--so long as they worship the right god--theirs.

The chief of the barbarian tribe we're developing has some kind of prophecy to uniting the tribes--which are fractious and hostile to each other--but the other tribes aren't necessarily going along with him yet. He has (or had) civilized allies (the south is on the verge of civil war with its rebellious northern province--the only land route to it goes right through barbarian territory and the earl of the north has used this to his advantage).

By the way, I found the following site super-helpful:
THE BARBARIANS

And more specifically, this page within it (includes map of a fortified barbarian village):
BARBARIAN DAILY LIFE

Also, this site had a concise article on huts with tons of color photos!
CELTIC HOUSES

 

[Tonguez]

Here's a generic population - the actual activities of these people will depend on setting and tech level but it is a start (NB many roles could be combined):

Chief (War Leader and village spokesma)
Religious Leader
Story Teller (Keeper of Tribal Lore)
Chiefs Mother
Chiefs Brother(s)
Chiefs Head wife (who must be consulted on all things)
Chiefs secondary wife(s) - who will be preparing food and drink or tending children

Professional Leaders (Head Gardener, Head Fisherman, Head House Builder, Blacksmith, Head Hunter (as opposed to Headhunter)
Weaving Woman
Midwife
Old Woman
Veteran Warrior polishing weapons
Veterna Warriors standing guard
Veteran Warriors talking
Veteran Warrior training Young men
Young Men training as Warriors
Young men in work groups (with Professional Leaders)
Young men moving rocks
Young men butchering animals
Young men flirting with Young woman
Women tending children
Women gathering food
Women gathering wood
Women cooking
Women gathering water
Women cleaning hides
Pregnant woman
Children playing
Children sweeping pathways
Children playing at weaving
Children practicing with 'sticks'
Children helping with the animals
Children collecting eggs
Children helping with work groups

If slaves are present then they will be carrying wood, tending gardens, cooking and other heavy lifting

 

[Iron_Chef]

If slaves are present then they will be carrying wood, tending gardens, cooking and other heavy lifting

Yes, slaves are present within the tribe and are badly treated (after all, you can always get more by raiding).

BTW: Thanks for that big list! Very cool.

 

[Iron_Chef]

Now I just need specific barbarian NPCs... Not stats, just motivations (plot hooks) and backstory.

 

[exile]

NPCs

1.) Ansley Greenshields is a human scount sent north by the civilized (but evil) lands to the south to observe the movements of barbarian tribes. Duty, civilization, and family have always been the most important things in the world to young Ansley. As she has secretly been observing teh barbarian peoples she has really come to admire them. Certainly, they are not so civilized as she would like, but they do seem to have a strong sense of duty and family. In fact, their family relations bear more in common with her own beloved family than do most of the other families back to the south.

With war coming between the two groups of people, Ansley will soon be forced to make a decision regarding where her loyalties lie- with her own family (not so evil as much of the population, especially the government, but with a long military history) or with the barbarians she has come to admire.

2.) Anneke is a young barbarian woman who was previously married to the chirftain's son. Unfortunately she was caught in a romantic tryst with another warrior of the tribe. When their infidelity was discovered, her lover was slain outright. Anneke wishes that her own fate had been so bearable. Instead, her marriage was dissolved, she was maimed (her right hand cut off- or maybe just a few fingers from one of her hands), and set to work as a slave within the tribe. At present she is ruled over by her former husband and his new wife (a girl who she previously considered a close friend).

Anneke despises her new existence and will do anything to bring it to an end- perhaps even helping crusaders from teh south to destroy the tribe.

 

[Iron_Chef]

Nice! I can definitely use #2. Keep the NPCs coming but any non-barbarians should be slaves eager for escape and revenge...

 

[exile]

Will do. I'm glad you like the ideas so far (and can use at least one of them). I might have missed it in your post from earlier, but how will the PCs be interacting with the barbarians? Are they barbarians themselves? Crusaders from the south? A party aligned with neither the barbarians nor the evil civilization to the south?

Chad