Barbarian (Dungeons & Dragons)

Infobox D&D character class
name=Barbarian
role=Striker
power=Primal
editions=Standard: 3rd, 3.5
Alternate: 1st
alignment=Any non-lawful
source=Player's Handbook (3rd, 3.5)
first=
mythical=
based=Barbarian
wizards_image_URL=http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/eb_gallery/82116.jpg
OGL_stats_URL=http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/barbarian.htm

The Barbarian is a class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing games.

Creative origins

The barbarian is based on Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian, Gardner Fox's Kothar and to a lesser extent Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd. [cite web |url=http://www.geocities.com/rgfdfaq/sources.html |title=Literary Sources of D&D |accessdate=2007-02-23 |last=DeVarque |first=Aardy]

1st Edition

The Barbarian class first appear in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons manual, Unearthed Arcana by Gary Gygax. [ [http://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/setpages/lateradd.html Acaeum "Later AD&D Manuals"] ]

Third Edition

Barbarian is one of the base character classes presented in the Player's Handbook. The barbarian is seen as the archetypal warrior who uses brute strength and raw fury to excel in combat, instead of the honed skills of the Fighter or measured strength of the Monk. Of all the classes, only the barbarian begins the game illiterate and is forced to expend extra skill points or multiclass in order to read and write.

Half-Orcs, Minotaur, Korobokuru (a race of primitive Oriental Dwarves introduced in "Oriental Adventures"), and Diopsids (an obscure race of humanoid beetles that first appeared in "Dragon" magazine #267) all have Barbarian as a favoured class.

Mechanics and Abilities

The barbarian has fewer distinct tactical options than D&D's other primary melee combatant, the fighter. Instead of the many bonus feats that the fighter can choose from, barbarians receive a small but unique list of special abilities that make them equally valued on the battlefield.

Rage

Barbarians can tap their inner fury to fly into a berserker-like rage. Once the rage is expended, the barbarian becomes fatigued for the remainder of the encounter. Rage provides bonuses to Strength, Constitution, and Will saving throws (which can make barbarians surprisingly resistant to harmful magic), and a glut of additional hit points which expire along with their rage. Rage also reduces armour class and interferes with any skill requiring patience or concentration.

As barbarians gain in power, their rage can be used more often and provides even larger Strength and Constitution bonuses, while taking less of a toll on their bodies.

Other Abilities

The barbarian class confers a number of unique specific abilities to the character. Most of these come from the barbarian's feral alertness, and from sheer speed and endurance.

Barbarians can instinctively guard themselves against ambushes or opponents that surround them, as well as reacting more swiftly against traps. In straight movement they also enjoy faster than average speed for their race, able to run down most foes. Barbarians also enjoy damage reduction: every time they are damaged, they are allowed to reduce this amount. This damage reduction, while small, does grow as the barbarian gains levels, and it cannot be bypassed by any sort of weapon.

The Iconic barbarian is Krusk, a male half-orc.

Party Role

The barbarian's typical role within an adventuring party is as a straightforward front-rank tank. Barbarians make both good primary combatants as well as heavy scouts, owing to their granted speed bonus and survival skills. Their ability to absorb damage and shrug it off lightly while delivering shattering blows to opponents makes going toe-to-toe with one an extremely bad idea. With proper support from other party members by way of healing and spell counters, a well-built barbarian will prove immensely useful. In addition, the barbarian has some basic wilderness skills such as listen, and survival that help keep him aware of his surroundings and enable him to survive in a wilderness environment for long periods without supplies. However, they lack the tactical versatility of fighters with their plethora of feats, and many of their skills and abilities favour lighter armours, which, combined with rage, weakens their defence.

Moreover, if a barbarian adventures alone and encounters magic-wielding foes that he cannot charge and take out personally, he will most likely be defeated. The weakness of the barbarian is an inability to adapt to situations such as these - in aspects other than melée, the barbarian is often ill-prepared and ill-suited.

Strength is vital to barbarians as for most primary melee classes, but constitution is perhaps more so, as it determines the duration and hit point bonus of their rage, while their limited AC demands a hardy frame. Good dexterity can help redress this imbalance, as emphasised by their Uncanny Dodge ability.

4th edition

As strikers, barbarians are focused on single target damage. Some defender or leader are also available to the class. Barbarians are proficient in melee weapons and light armor.

Barbarians possess several class features. Feral Might provides one of several options, chosen at character creation, as of October 2008, only one such option has been described: Rageblood Vigor, which grants the barbarian temporary hit points and charge with the Swift Charge power whenever he or she reduces a foe to 0 points, as well as making some Barbarian powers more effective. Rampage allows barbarians to make extra attacks if they scare critical hits with their attack powers. Rage Strike allows a barbarian to expend a rage power while already in a rage in order to attack a single target for damage dependant on the power's level.

One barbarian build has been detailed, the Rageblood Barbarian, which focuses on Rageblood Vigor, Strength and Constitution. Barbarians' powers are called Evocations, and one other build has been mentioned, the Thaneblood Barbarian, which is known to be focused on Charisma. Most of the barbarian's daily attack powers have the Rage keyword, each such power combines an attack with a persistant buff on the barbarian, a barbarian can only benefit from one rage at a time, rages last until the end of the encounter unless the barbarian activates another rage or is reduced to 0 hit points. All published barbarian attack powers use Strength for attack rolls, some powers have other effects tied to Constitution, many barbarian powers have effects which require the barbarian to be raging.

One paragon path has been presented, the Rageblood Berserker. [cite web|url=http://www.wizards.com/files/368_Barbarian.pdf|title=Playtest: The Barbarian|accessdate=2008-10-06|last=Heinsoo|first=Rob|coauthors=Mike Mearls, Jesse Decker, Robert J.c Schwalb|year=2008|month=October|format=PDF|work=Dragon Magazine|publisher=Wizards of the Coast]

Barbarians in Other Worlds

Eberron

In most Dungeons & Dragons games, the barbarian is represented as a savage, tribal warrior. However, in the "Eberron" campaign setting, barbarians are more like nomads -- while they may not be civilized, they are certainly not savages.

Forgotten Realms

Barbarians in the "Forgotten Realms" campaign setting are similar in presentation as the class presented in the core rulebook. Barbarians can be of any race in the Realms, though some are more uncommon than others. Barbarians are described as being confused by the cosmopolitan nature of certain regions of Faerûn.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page D&D Wiki] has all the SRD Classes, along with the [http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Barbarian_%28SRD_Class%29 Barbarian] .