Why do barbarians not have spot/move silently/hide?

[Hypersmurf]

They are not, however, wilderninjas that also flip out and kill people.

Fixed it for you.

-Hyp.

 

[Menexenus]

Still, why Listen but not Spot? You'd think they'd have neither or both.

I agree. I think they should get Spot. But I'm not so sure about Move Silently or Hide. I don't think of Barbarians as stealthy...

 

[Someone]

I thought barbarians were some of the best hunters and trappers around? Without these essential class skills, how do they :

-Spot animals camoflagued by terrain, especially if they evolved some kind of hiding mechanism(even something as simple as the rightly coloured cloak of fur)

-Move quietly enoughly not to startle the game, get into position in order to

-Hide and then make an ambush when all members of the hunting party are ready and an opportunity presents itself?

All barbarians have is listen, and im having hard time picturing a barbarian hunting game by listening to it alone.

Barbarians don´t sneak upon game. They have fast movement to run after them and kill them in a bloody frenzy.

 

[Sejs]

Fixed it for you.

-Hyp.

I heard that there was this barbarian who was eating at a diner. And when some dude dropped a spoon the barbarian killed the whole town. My friend Mark said that he saw a barbarian totally uppercut some kid just because the kid opened a window.

 

[Shag]

As I read through this thread I started to think 'wow I guess when you really look at the barb class it doesn't really make much sense'

They are really more like berserkers than what most people think of as Barbarians (Conan) he probably is closer to a ranger. At least in general.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Off the top of my head? Similar to why they have Uncanny Dodge. Part of the whole hard-to-ambush meme they've got going.

Spot is also handy, arguably more so, for preventing an ambush.

 

[Artoomis]

Part of this is for balance purposes -- have you noticed that skills are used a lot for balancing out various classes?

 

[pawsplay]

As I read through this thread I started to think 'wow I guess when you really look at the barb class it doesn't really make much sense'

They are really more like berserkers than what most people think of as Barbarians (Conan) he probably is closer to a ranger. At least in general.

Conan is a barbarian only by upbringing; he left his homeland at a young age, and had a decent career as a burglar using his climbing skills and later as a pirate before becoming a master swordsman. In D&D terms, I'm thinking Barbarian 2/Rogue 5/Fighter 7 or something like that. That would give him improved uncanny dodge, +3d6 sneak attack, evasion, four bonus feats, fast movement, and rage. I wouldn't give him Dread Pirate levels, although he technically was one, since I don't think his reputation rested on his abilities as a mariner. He might also be a good candidate for Reaping Mauler, as he has strangled just about everything to death at one time or another.

 

[Pickaxe]

I seem to recall that 1e UA barbarians did have stealth and the equivalent of spot/listen (difficult to surprise), although some of these abilities applied only when they were in their homeland.

--Axe

 

[Nightfall]

Question,

Cause when you're ranging, hunting stuff doesn't matter that much.