Vandal Cong's page

JDragon,
Certainly interested! Will message you for further details.
Thanks!

This game/thread may be long expired, but I am hopeful the group is still going. I am a seasoned 30-something gamer looking for a good group. I currently live in the Sandy Springs area. If this group is still meeting and needs a player, please feel free to contact me. Cheers!

Could be. I think all of the analysis and opinions are well-informed and interesting. And I agree with a lot of what you are saying as well.
For my part, I don't find barbarians disappoint in battle in terms of the "image" of how they perform. In my mind during play, a raging barbarian and a skilled fighter are very different and the numbers just don't seem to matter (not in the shortcomings that are being presented here).
We have a fighter and a ranger and neither of them come close to our barbarian as far as killing the bad guy. Can't speak to Paladins; we don't have one.
I come from decades of Rolemaster and MERP; systems with a great deal of very granular control over skills and combat prowess. PF is more fixed; AC, damage dice, HP-all very static numbers for the most part and that's a proud gaming tradition and a fun one as well. I'm not knocking that or the mechanics discussion of this thread. I guess, my final point was meant to say that the spirit of the barbarian is intact in PF. I know you are not calling them "unplayable" and I salute your drive to improve upon the game you clearly enjoy.

Two responses now saying that mechanics are the discussion, not flavor. But the thread title is: "Barbarian...oh god why!?"
I was just answering that question based on an angle no one had yet mentioned.
Just stepping out of the rules mechanic box for a second...sorry to blow your minds.

Hey folks,
I just wanted to add a couple things here. I read every post and I don't think this has been mentioned yet. There are a ton of "builds" given here and clearly you people know your game, but unless I missed it, nobody has yet mentioned pure flavor.
Some people play barbarians because they want to be a barbarian. Someone mentioned them as "agents of chaos" and that's the closest I believe anyone came to saying: "Hey, barbarians are very different from fighters in the way they operate and I like it."
Now I am a little old school and I understand that a lot of game theory has changed with the advent of MMOs. Words like "build," "tweak," etc. did not used to ever be uttered. It was simply: "I wanna be like Conan or Harald Hadrada."
Please don't think I am saying that there is anything wrong with knowing your rules and crunching the numbers, but also keep in mind that some people play what they play so there is a cool party dynamic, not just the "best" stat sheet.
I think PF's barbarian does just that. Do I agree that some of the Rage Powers seem useless: yes I do- I laughed out loud when I read "Raging Swimmer." However, my wife plays a dwarf barbarian in our game and not only does she dominate combat, but she has a really good time doing it. Her catch phrase before going berserk is: "I AM A FIST OF RAGE!" And that's just good times at the table.
Anyway, just thought I would throw in the fuddy-duddy approach and say that barbarians are good at what they do, I think. More than enough reason to play them if someone wants to play that type of character.