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ed
12-29-2006, 12:10 PM
given that the responses (http://forum.criticalfumble.net/showthread.php?t=656) thus far seem to indicate that this would be of some interest, i present my variant barbarian.

ed



game rule information:
alignment: any
hit dice: d12
class skills: climb (str), craft (int), handle animal (cha), hide (dex), intimidate (cha), jump (str), listen (wis), ride (dex), spot (wis), survival (wis), and swim (str).

skill points at 1st level: (4 + int modifier) x4.
skill points at each additional level: 4 + int modifier.

class features:
all of the following are class features of the barbarian.

weapon and armor proficiency: a barbarian is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields).
native terrain (ex): a barbarian hails from an area apart from civilization, living in the wild by wit and cunning. this gives barbarians expertise in such terrain. a barbarian must select one terrain as his or her native terrain. henceforth, a barbarian receives a +2 competence bonus to all handle animal, hide, spot and survival checks when in this terrain. a barbarian may also treat his or her base movement rate as one step better when in his or her native terrain.
at 9th level, these modifiers become +4. when a barbarian reaches 19th level, these modifiers become +6.
because barbarians adapt to their environments, a barbarian who has spent considerable time in another terrain may choose to change his or her native terrain at each new level.
uncanny dodge (ex): at 2nd level, a barbarian retains his dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. however, he still loses his dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. if a barbarian already has uncanny dodge from a different class, he automatically gains improved uncanny dodge (see below) instead.
hardy: the life of a barbarian is one of hardship. at 1st level, a barbarian gains the endurance feat as a bonus feat. at 4th level, a barbarian gains the diehard feat as a bonus feat. beginning at 8th level and higher, a barbarian may re-roll any hit die roll for hit points upon reaching a new barbarian level if the result is a 1. at 12th level, a re-roll is permitted if the result is a 1 or 2. at 16th level, a re-roll is permitted on a 1-3 and at 20th level, 1-4.
ancestral enemy: because barbarians have history with their native terrain, they also have long-standing conflicts with other denizens of that terrain. at 3rd level, a barbarian may select a specific creature type that favors the same terrain the barbarian has selected for the native terrain class feature. when fighting an ancestral enemy, a barbarian extra damage. this extra damage is 1d6 at 3rd level. should the barbarian score a critical hit, this extra damage is not multiplied.
at 9th level and 16th level, the barbarian may select an additional ancestral enemy.
fury (ex): a barbarian can fly into a fury a certain number of times per day. in a fury, a barbarian temporarily gains a +4 bonus to strength, a +4 bonus to constitution, but he takes a –2 penalty to armor class. the increase in constitution increases the barbarian’s hit points by 2 points per level, but these hit points go away at the end of the fury when his constitution score drops back to normal (these extra hit points are not lost first the way temporary hit points are). while raging, a barbarian cannot use any charisma-, dexterity-, or intelligence-based skills (except for balance, escape artist, intimidate, and ride), the concentration skill, or any abilities that require patience or concentration, nor can he cast spells or activate magic items that require a command word, a spell trigger (such as a wand), or spell completion (such as a scroll) to function. he can use any feat he has except combat expertise, item creation feats, and metamagic feats. a fit of fury lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the character’s (newly improved) constitution modifier. a barbarian may prematurely end his fury. at the end of the fury, the barbarian loses the fury modifiers and restrictions and becomes fatigued (–2 penalty to strength, –2 penalty to dexterity, can’t charge or run) for the duration of the current encounter (unless he is a 17th-level barbarian, at which point this limitation no longer applies; see below).
a barbarian can fly into a fury only once per encounter. at 4th level he can use his fury ability once per day. at 8th level and every four levels thereafter, he can use it one additional time per day (to a maximum of five times per day at 20th level). entering a fury takes no time itself, but a barbarian can do it only during his action, not in response to someone else’s action.
improved uncanny dodge (ex): at 5th level and higher, a barbarian can no longer be flanked. this defense denies a rogue the ability to sneak attack the barbarian by flanking him, unless the attacker has at least four more rogue levels than the target has barbarian levels. if a character already has uncanny dodge (see above) from a second class, the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead, and the levels from the classes that grant uncanny dodge stack to determine the minimum level a rogue must be to flank the character.
improved ancestral enemy: at 6th level, a barbarian receives +2d6 damage when using the ancestral enemy bonus to damage. this bonus damage increases every 6 levels.
shake it off: a barbarian's nature makes it difficult to be completely surprised. a number of times per day equal to the barbarian's constitution modifier +1 (minimum: 1), a barbarian may re-roll any failed saving throw to resist a stunning effect. a barbarian may not use shake it off to re-roll the same saving throw more than once. a barbarian gains this ability at 7th level.
improved fury: at 11th level, a barbarian’s bonuses to strength and constitution during his fury each increase to +6. the penalty to AC remains at –2.
greater ancestral enemy: at 12th level, a barbarian receives a bonus equal to his or her current constitution modifier when rolling to confirm threats when attacking any ancestral enemy.
tireless fury: at 17th level and higher, a barbarian no longer becomes fatigued at the end of his fury.
greater fury: at 20th level, a barbarian’s bonuses to strength and constitution during his fury each increase to +8. the penalty to AC remains at –2.

TinSoldier
12-29-2006, 12:28 PM
I've read this and it is interesting. In some ways it is like a super-ranger but in some ways not.

Has it been tested in play?

I haven't really compared to the RAW yet to see what (if anything) was taken away.

LagomorphPrime
12-29-2006, 12:29 PM
Sorry man, but I'm too much of a fan of the DR to pass it up.

ed
12-29-2006, 12:33 PM
TS: my gaming group meets too infrequently to test it. re: the RAW, i always use this (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/home.html) site. i've always felt that the brb isn't treated sufficiently as being wilderness-related, which is part of what drove this variant.

lampy: i know DR's compelling but at the levels the brb gets it, it seems that magic goodies would do the job (e.g., invulnerability armor enhancement). and i figured that the d12 HD and fury/raging punches it up plenty anyway. but i can understand why it doesn't feel right otherwise.

ed

TinSoldier
12-29-2006, 12:39 PM
ed: Yeah, I use that one sometimes but I usually prefer d20srd.org (http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm). But your link has some interesting features that I can't find at d20srd.org.

I find them both very useful and sometimes easier to reference than the books (especially when I'm at work and don't have the books with me...)

LagomorphPrime
12-29-2006, 12:42 PM
One of my favorite characters was a barbarian that I had. I had points in the save stats, a high Con, the Improved Toughness Feat, all 3 of the improved save feats, and though he never got high enough as soon as he got DR I was gonna take the feats that improve your DR as well. The idea being he was just a huge fountain of hitpoints, saves, and DR. At 4th level I had something like 58 HP. Which jumped to 70 when I raged and shifted (Eberron campaign). The front line was never so dense. :D

But that's all more a matter of taste than anything else.

Valdier
12-29-2006, 01:48 PM
Personally the "hardy" ability I believe to be basically worthless... you have a 1 in 12 chance of this happening for the first step of it... why waste time? 2 in 12? same... 3 in 12? who cares at that level...

In addition, many(potentially most) groups these days either use a take half or a minimum roll allowed system. You will on average have this come up 2.33- times per character over 12 levels... seriously... its worthless. If you want to simulate extra hit points, give them +1 to their die rolls per 8-11 level, +2 per 12-15 level, +3, etc...

It simulates not having low hit points and actually provides a tangible benefit.

ed
12-29-2006, 01:53 PM
TS: i know what you mean. :>

lampy: dude, that's kinda sick. i approve! :>

valdier: ah, that's probably an easier way of going about it. any thoughts on the rest?

ed

BattleNymph
12-29-2006, 02:21 PM
You know, I've never played a barbarian.

*prints ed's variant for the new dm*

ed
12-29-2006, 02:28 PM
BN: there's probably an easier way to do this: check your inbox.

ed

BattleNymph
12-29-2006, 02:32 PM
BN: there's probably an easier way to do this: check your inbox.

ed
Thanks!

......

Magnus Bergqvist
12-29-2006, 02:34 PM
I definetly like the ides of Native terrain and the ability to shake it off. Gives the impression of Conanesque guys wielding two-handed swords... =^_^=

/Magnus

Origen
12-29-2006, 03:03 PM
In my opinion, it's too complicated right now. Too many plusses by level to track. I play barbarians for simplicity. I get mad, and I kill things.

ed
12-29-2006, 03:06 PM
magnus: i said earlier wanted to get the brb closer to the wilderness roots of the concept, but that powerful archetypal image still holds some influence on me. :>

origen: if that's too complicated, skip the monk.

ed

Origen
12-29-2006, 03:24 PM
origen: if that's too complicated, skip the monk.

ed

I'll look at the monk later. I think you're missing what I'm saying, though. Monks have different paths and disciplines. If you had a bunch of different animal totems for the barbarian, that wouldn't complicate things and would probably make it more interesting.

This character feels like an abacus with too many little moving parts that don't really, in my opinion, improve the whole. It's more complicated, but it only seems to add complication while changing Rage into Fury.

ed
12-29-2006, 03:42 PM
how so? the way i see it, i've actually streamlined it vis a vis the RAW brb.

ed

Origen
12-29-2006, 04:20 PM
how so? the way i see it, i've actually streamlined it vis a vis the RAW brb.

ed

+2 skill bonuses increasing to +4 at 9th and +6 and 19th. At 8th level, reroll a 1 on hit point rolls. At 12th, reroll on a 1 or 2. At 16th, reroll on 1, 2 or 3. At 20th, reroll on a 1, 2, 3 or 4. At 3rd, 9th and 16th, add 1d6 damage versus one enemy type. At 6th, 12th and 18th increase 1d6 to 2d6. At 12th, add Con mod when rolling to confirm crits against a particular enemy type.

It makes my head hurt, ed.

ed
12-31-2006, 11:20 AM
i'm failing to see how that's meaningfully different from the RAW ranger favored enemy, or the RAW monk class ability list.

i can't tell if you're merely being diplomatic about why you don't like this variant or if it's legitimately a personal preference matter.

ed

Joe Kickass
01-01-2007, 06:59 PM
I can't speak for Origen, but he knows I'm no fan of the ranger favored enemy ability. I think it's stupid, mechanically awkward, and unless you make some really obvious choice, the value of it is entirely left in the hands of the GM.

David Argall
01-01-2007, 08:22 PM
Now it would help if you provided a direct comparison of the changes, rather than the entire text, much of which is unchanged, and thus tends to just hide the changes.

But am I right in reading that this barbarian is not able to rage until 4th level?

ed
01-02-2007, 10:40 AM
joe: i can understand that. i have included the ability to change that each time the brb levels up to help combat that problem.

david: yes, that reading is correct. it was however in error: the fury class feature should begin at level 1 and times/day should increase every 4th class level, as per rage.

ed