Barbarian (Dungeons & Dragons)
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The Barbarian is a core class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game and 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. Of all the classes, the barbarian begins the game illiterate and is forced to expend extra skill points in order to read and write.
A barbarian's typical role within an adventuring party is a front-line combatant. Barbarians make both good primary meleers as well as heavy scouts, owing to their granted speed bonus and skill at tracking.
The most prominent ability scores of the barbarian are:
- Strength: As a front-line fighter, strength is important to deal damage as well as boost certain skills.
- Dexterity: Barbarians wear light armor, so having a high dexterity reduces the chances of them being hit by an enemy.
- Constitution: Barbarians channel the force of their inner rage into a tangible frenzy, and constitution can not only extend this but also having a high constitution boosts hit points.
- Wisdom: A high wisdom is important because a number of class skills require it.
Half-Orcs, 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 favored class.
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[edit] 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 unique on the battlefield.
[edit] Rage
Barbarians can tap their inner fury to fly into a berserker-like rage, beginning once a day at first level. While in this state, the barbarian's Strength and Constitution increase by 4 or more. However, this rage comes at a price: the barbarian loses some ability to avoid attacks, as well as the use of certain concentration-based skills.
Once the rage is expended, the barbarian becomes fatigued for the remainder of the encounter. This state gives constant penalties to strength and dexterity based checks, and the formerly fast barbarian cannot even run or charge an opponent.
As barbarians rise in experience, their rage can be used more often and provides even stronger Strength and Constitution bonuses, while taking less of a toll on their bodies.
[edit] Other Abilities
Also unlike the fighter, the barbarian class confers a number of 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.
Their vitality gives them more hit points than any other class, a d12 at every level. In combat this endurance combines with their speed to let them avoid a small amount of the damage from each blow, allowing them to wade into the fiercest battles and suffer hit after hit with less effect than any other character. Barbarians often fight with two-handed weapons such as greataxes, to make the most use of their rage-enhanced Strength.
The Iconic barbarian is Krusk, a male half-orc.
[edit] Ex Barbarians
Barbarians must maintain a non-lawful alignment. A barbarian who becomes lawful is no longer able to rage or to gain further levels in the barbarian class, until they return to a more chaotic alignment, though all other class abilities remain.
[edit] Barbarians in Other Worlds
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
