Barbarian Class Deck Preview

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

We are thrilled to finally release the Barbarian Class Deck! These arrived in the warehouse last week and will soon be winging their way to lucky Class Deck subscribers, so we're going to talk about what to expect when they land on your doorstep/FLGS-step.

In the card game design world, when we design a small group of cards that share mechanical concepts and story themes but have different sets of abilities, we call that a cycle. Magic: the Gathering is famous for them—perhaps you've heard of the Mox jewel cards? In this deck we decided to design a couple of cycles. First up, we've got the War Paints:

Paint the town while painting your face.

All the barbarians can use these items, but different players will prioritize different paints' powers. Cycles are like a card game buffet—eat what you want, but only a certain amount of food's gonna fit in your stomach.

We also designed a bunch of weapons for the discerning barbarian, based on our popular Improvised Dinosaur promo card from Wrath of the Righteous. Behold the Improvised cycle:

Sometimes you don't have your giant greatsword, but a barbarian's still gotta rage.

As you can see, these weapons have a higher initial cost that can be offset with a lucky roll. Both Mike and I are very fond of the destroys-everything-around-her-when-she-rages style of barbarian. For a companion take on hitting people with whatever's to hand, meet Brielle:

Service with a smile... and a butter churn handle to the face.

Brielle specializes in improvisational combat, and her Kneecapper role enables both the before-you-act cheap shot and the feeling of invincibility after a raging victory. Because she's a halfling, she can also sneak away from a foe she'd prefer not to encounter.

Back when we did the original concept brainstorming for the Barbarian Class Deck, Mike and I agreed that barbarians do a few things very well: they rage, they smash foes with whatever is nearby, and they hate it when things stand in their way. Our new version of Amiri really doesn't like it when things stand in her way.

Let us not to the marriage of true barbarians admit impediments.

This Amiri is looking for trouble, and nothing but trouble. If a location's closed, or if she's bored with it, she's out of there. Boons just give her incentive to keep going. And when she gets to smash something, she charges ahead.

Paizo fans know the legend of Ostog the Unslain, Erik Mona's intrepid PC. He doesn't wear armor and he's never died. There was zero chance Ostog wasn't going to show up in this deck.

No, his other role isn't "The Slain." That proved unpopular in playtesting.

Ostog has no time for anything that's not a big two-handed weapon, and he doesn't need armor because he's one tough cookie. Put him together with the Improvised Boulder, and even dragons cower in fear.

That's it for this week's Barbarian Class Deck preview. Next week, Mike delves into the topic of cycles a little more deeply. Until next time, Pathfinders!

Tanis O'Connor
Adventure Card Game Designer