The Unexpected Barbarian

[Neal Litherland]

So, anyone who's seen my posts knows that one of my favorite things to do as a gamer is to defy expectations for what a class looks like in-game. I've talked about the touchy subjects of the ninja, the samurai, and the paladin, so I thought I'd go for a slightly less controversial, but still pigeonholed, class: The Barbarian.

I love barbarians, but I wanted to encourage players and DMs alike to take a step back, and re-examine what the rules say the class has to be. I think you'll find it is a LOT more flexible than we often believe at first glance.

The Unexpected Barbarian

[Wolfsnap]

Nobody expects the Spanish BerserkahhHHHHHHHHHHARGLEBARGLEBLOODSPURTHITCHCOCKMURDER!!

[Corvino]

I was expecting this to be similar to a something I read a while back about the Hat of Disguise. Dress up your biggest, crudest, most stereotypical Barbarian as a Wizard, Princess, Scribe etc. Put them in the middle of the party to "protect" them.

Enemies attack, rushing for the squishy Wizard! Surprise, the "Wizard" is a Barbarian! Cue Benny Hill music and chaos.

[Neal Litherland]

Corvino wrote:

I was expecting this to be similar to a something I read a while back about the Hat of Disguise. Dress up your biggest, crudest, most stereotypical Barbarian as a Wizard, Princess, Scribe etc. Put them in the middle of the party to "protect" them.

Enemies attack, rushing for the squishy Wizard! Surprise, the "Wizard" is a Barbarian! Cue Benny Hill music and chaos.

I had a ridiculous plan similar to this. I wanted to play a pseudodragon character who was either a wizard or a sorcerer, and then give him a barbarian as a cohort. Said cohort would be the wizard, and the pseudodragon nothing more than his "familiar" in order to confuse the rabble. With the right transmutation spells, this could lead to some serious damage.

[Jengada]

It's an interesting coincidence that I've just been reading Piers Anthony's "Wielding a Red Sword," where the protagonist is a prince berserker. He berserks when he tastes blood, but can keep enough composure to break out of his rage when need be.

[Charon's Little Helper]

Corvino wrote:

I was expecting this to be similar to a something I read a while back about the Hat of Disguise. Dress up your biggest, crudest, most stereotypical Barbarian as a Wizard, Princess, Scribe etc. Put them in the middle of the party to "protect" them.

Enemies attack, rushing for the squishy Wizard! Surprise, the "Wizard" is a Barbarian! Cue Benny Hill music and chaos.

I've had a monk do this without needing a Hat of Disguise. He wears a robe & pointy hat with stars & moons on it. He often even opens up battle with Scorching Ray.

[Qaianna]

Nice little article. I don't think I've ever used the word 'barbarian' in-character to describe Samantha (my Rise of the Runelords little rageball). She just calls herself a warrior or a Gorumite. Or just bangs an axehaft against her breastplate. And it hasn't been brought up in-game yet, but she grew up in the nicer side of Westcrown. It reflects in how she talks, and the elegant, beautiful Orcish script she put on her masterwork greataxe. (Then again, in a modern-set spy action game, I had a SoCal rich girl who ended up joining the Marines. I may have a fondness for the Princess Asskicker archetype.)

[Dragonborn3]

Until my mind registered "Alvin" I was a little confused/flattered. Love the idea, by the way. So I pretty much had the same reaction to this article that I have to all of your concept articles.

[SmiloDan]

I played in a PbP where for whatever reason, we all played elves as Proper English Gentlemen/women.

Mine was an elf barbarian with an elven curved blade, with Power Attack and Pushing Assault (crit-fishing for the 10 foot push back), and Precise Strike (the sorcerer in the party took a level of cavalier to qualify for Eldritch Knight, so he used a glaive and helped flank with his bonus Precise Strike feat).

I took the elven favored class bonus (+1 foot of speed per level) and combined it with that rage power that fakes Spring Attack so you can use Vital Strike with it (Raging Leaper?).

I pictured my guy looking like that Marshal Marshall character from "In Plain Sight" (Fred Weller), with a dark brown overcoat, ivory puffy shirt, and cravat.

He was just regular folk (well, regular landed nobility, actually former landed nobility), but got really mad when he fought.

[UnArcaneElection]

Neal Litherland wrote:

So, anyone who's seen my posts knows that one of my favorite things to do as a gamer is to defy expectations for what a class looks like in-game. I've talked about the touchy subjects of the ninja, the samurai, and the paladin, so I thought I'd go for a slightly less controversial, but still pigeonholed, class: The Barbarian.

{. . .}

Could you do an unexpected Inquisitor next?