Barbarian The barbarian is perhaps the most common fantasy-fiction archetype. Powerfully built, immensely strong, and clad in furs and skins, the barbarian often is seen as a muscle-bound bully. However, barbarians are more than that. They arrive in the campaign’s setting from some distant, primitive land where people must still fight the environment at every turn just to survive. Playing a barbarian is all about working the mystique of a primitive culture into a more “civilized” world.

Social ranks: Barbarians might be wealthy in their own villages, but they won’t be high on the social or economical ladder of the civilized community they are now a part of. Roll 2d6 to determine the barbarian’s rank.

2d6 roll	Rank
2–8	Lower Class
9–12	Lower Middle Class

Requirements: Barbarians must have minimum Strength/Stamina and Constitution/Health scores of 13. The barbarian kit is barred to paladins, clerics, and bards. This kit is open to all player character races.

Weapon proficiencies: Barbarians prefer simple, large, and dependable weapons. Suggested weapons include: axe (all), sword (all), club, dagger, knife, war hammer, mace, sling, spear, javelin, long bow, and quarterstaff. The following weapons are likely inappropriate for barbarians—at least until they are immersed in a new culture—crossbow (all), polearms (all), flail (all), lances (all).

Recommended nonweapon proficiencies: Endurance, animal handling, animal training, bowyer/fletcher, fire-building, fishing, riding (land-based), hunting, mountaineering, running, survival, tracking.

Equipment: A barbarian cannot initially purchase armor heavier than splint mail, banded mail, or bronze plate mail. Of course, once exposed to superior forms of armor in the campaign, the barbarian may choose to purchase other armor types.

Recommended traits: Alertness, direction sense, immunities, keen senses, light sleeper, weather sense.

Benefits/Hindrances: Barbarians are intense, and NPCs tend to have very strong reactions to them. People either are drawn by the barbarian’s animal magnetism or repulsed by his primitive qualities. This effect comes into play when NPCs meet barbarians for the first time. If the NPC’s reaction roll result is 8 or less, an additional –2 bonus is applied to the result. For example, if the character is acting indifferently toward a shopkeeper and the shopkeeper’s reaction result is a 7, the shopkeeper is indifferent. However, since the character is a barbarian, the –2 bonus applies, lowering the shopkeeper’s result to a 5—a friendly response. The shopkeeper has been won over by the barbarian’s presence. However, if the shopkeeper’s reaction roll was a 14 or higher, the modifier becomes a +2 penalty, resulting in a 16—threatening—score. For more information on reaction results, see the Dungeon Master Guide.

Wealth: A barbarian begins with the standard amount of money for his class, but all of it must be spent before play begins. The DM might allow the Barbarian to retain a few silver pieces or a handful of coppers, but not much more.

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