Raging Barbarians in Fiction?

[doctorbadwolf]

The quote I gave was from the moment of the charge.

"Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. Éomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first éored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Théoden could not be overtaken. Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young."

The battle-fury thing is pretty clearly about Theoden in this passage.

And, Eomer does get a similar moment, but the description isn't quite as explicit - he could just be really freaking mad. And this happens late in the battle, which would seem odd for the barbarian type, who usually leads with RRRRarrghhhghh!, so I didn't mention it. And if we are going to interpret everyone who ever gets angry in battle as a barbarian... that's a lot of barbarians.

That said, Eomer is of the same bloodline. If you wanna call him berzerk, feel free.

Eomer definitely went into a frenzy. There’s really no other interpretation of that scene, especially if you’re interpreting Theoden’s scene that way.

As for the lateness of the scene in the battle, that’s a rather odd argument. Most berserkers I’ve read hold out on that state until things are dire. I can’t think of any who start battles in that state, except for actual D&D characters.

 

[Cadence]

As for the lateness of the scene in the battle, that’s a rather odd argument. Most berserkers I’ve read hold out on that state until things are dire. I can’t think of any who start battles in that state, except for actual D&D characters.

It feels like a lot of fictional characters that Rage are better captured by something like PFs alternate multi-class feats (one of them is getting to rage one round per day per level+con mod, takeable at 3rd) than having an entire class built around it.

 

[Wishbone]

Achilles, anyone?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

It feels like a lot of fictional characters that Rage are better captured by something like PFs alternate multi-class feats (one of them is getting to rage one round per day per level+con mod, takeable at 3rd) than having an entire class built around it.

Eh, that sounds much less fun, which is vastly, overwhelmingly, more important than how well the rules model literary figures.

 

[Umbran]

Eomer definitely went into a frenzy. There’s really no other interpretation of that scene, especially if you’re interpreting Theoden’s scene that way.

shrug. He runs up to the front, and blows a horn and shouts a lot. For me, I am not sure that really qualifies. YMMV.

As for the lateness of the scene in the battle, that’s a rather odd argument. Most berserkers I’ve read hold out on that state until things are dire. I can’t think of any who start battles in that state, except for actual D&D characters.

The entire battle is dire. The Rohirrim came with 6,000 cavalry, and are outnumbered 3 to 1 by the Hardrim alone. Tolkien doesn't give a straight headcount of the forces Sauron has thrown at the city, but the conservative estimates based on what he does say throughout his texts is something like 45K bad guys on the filed. Eomer is riding with 6K. So, yeah, riding against trolls and oliphaunts and 45,000 orcs and men? Doesn't exactly sound like a time to hold back.

 

[MarkB]

Rage mechanics in CRPGs often work as a reservoir you build up during combat, either generally or by getting hurt, and then get to unleash.

As a couple of for-instances, in the PS4 God of War game you get to choose when to enter Rage mode once you're charged up, so you can save it for pivotal moments, while in Mad Max it triggers as soon as it's charged up, making it the brutal capstone to most combats.

 

[Cadence]

Eh, that sounds much less fun, which is vastly, overwhelmingly, more important than how well the rules model literary figures.

I should print this out and hang it up as a poster whenever I go to work on tweaking game mechanics.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I should print this out and hang it up as a poster whenever I go to work on tweaking game mechanics.

I had to remind myself yesterday as I was thinking about how magic works in my system. In theory I love the idea of making magic work a lot like thaumaturgy and potion making in the Dresden Files books, but in reality it would probably be much too complicated and add little to the game, so magic will be described a lot like that, but most magic will just be a skill check or two, depending on complexity.

I am gonna make “big magic” rituals more complex thought essentially solving a puzzle to build the ritual. I figure that kind of magic can afford to be less immediate and “push button to fire missile”.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

shrug. He runs up to the front, and blows a horn and shouts a lot. For me, I am not sure that really qualifies. YMMV.



The entire battle is dire. The Rohirrim came with 6,000 cavalry, and are outnumbered 3 to 1 by the Hardrim alone. Tolkien doesn't give a straight headcount of the forces Sauron has thrown at the city, but the conservative estimates based on what he does say throughout his texts is something like 45K bad guys on the filed. Eomer is riding with 6K. So, yeah, riding against trolls and oliphaunts and 45,000 orcs and men? Doesn't exactly sound like a time to hold back.

He definitely goes berserk. I’ve literally never seen anyone ever argue otherwise before, because it’s very clear.

 

[Dioltach]

Just remembered another: Prince Jalan, from the Red Queen's War trilogy by Mark Lawrence. Complete with blackouts and no memory of what happened while he was raging. Bonus points for normally being an utter coward.