Saturday, December 03, 2011

Barbarian - Kitsune & Kensei

The barbarian has always been such a weirdo. Unearthed Arcana was his debut, followed by a reinterpretation in OA. 3rd Ed gave him the power to freak out and rage. 4E has him as berserker who channels primal spirits. All very cool, but I wanted to tone the OA barbarian down a bit, hence he loses his "I can smell magic and illusions" powers.



Barbarian

Requirements: Str 15, Dex 14, Con 15
Prime Requisite: None
Hit Dice: 1d10

Barbarians are warriors from outside what is generally regarded as “civilisation”, living in environments others consider inhospitable. The barbarian is hardened by his life in the wilds, and has the instincts of a predator. Each is a dangerous combatant, especially so in his native terrain.

Each barbarian must choose a terrain, from which he (and his clan) originate:

Steppes
Weapons: Club, Dagger, Hand Axe, Lance, Shortbow, Sling, Spear, Sword, short, Sword, long
Armour: Up to Chain

Jungle
Weapons: Blowgun, Club, Dagger, Dart, Hand Axe, Shortbow, Spear,  Sword, short
Armour: Up to Studded Leather

Northern Forest
Weapons: Dagger, Club, Hand Axe, Javelin, Spear, Shortbow, Sling, Sword, short
Armour: Up to Chain

Barbarians are surprised only on 1 on 1d6; they may surprise others on 1-3 on 1d6.

Barbarians are able to track creatures in wilderness and underground environments. The base chance is 90% when in the wilderness, with +2% for every creature more than one in a party to be tracked. There is a cumulative penalty of -25% for every hour of rain, or -10% for every day that has passed since tracks were made. In underground environments, barbarians must watch a creature to be tracked for 3 turns prior to tracking it, to observe its manner. The base chance in this case is 65% when underground, modified in the following manner:
  1. -40% if the creature enters a secret door
  2. -20% if the creature enters a concealed door or passage
  3. -10% if the creature enters a normal door or otherwise takes a deviation from a path
  4. No adjustment if the creature continues on a path without much deviation
Climb in Natural surroundings – chance reduced outside native terrain

Hear Noise: Barbarians can attempt to listen for noises, in a cave or hallway, and at a door or other locations but the barbarian must be quiet and in a quiet environment. Unlike the other thief abilities, this ability is rolled using 1d6.

Hide in Natural surroundings - chance reduced outside native terrain

Back Protection - detect attacks from behind

Leadership - improved Charisma with his own people

Call Horde - Get all Genghis Khan on yo' ass

Restrictions:

Cannot have demihuman, wu jen or magic-user henchmen;
Hirelings level restriction - can't have hirelings before a certain level - 4th perhaps

5 comments:

  1. This really could not have come at a better time for me, playtesting can begin tomorrow. Thanks!

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  2. Hey Fabian. Very cool. I was thinking along much the same lines as well. Hope real life gets better for you soon dude.

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  3. Looks pretty good. Tracking may be a bit too granular for my tastes, but that's not a big problem. I can always house-rule it. :D

    I'd add one more terrain type, also. High/Remote Mountain.

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  4. Thanks guys, tracking was cut and pasted directly from the ranger entry. Some things I forgot to put: saves as the Dwarf/Halfling table, combat using Fighter table. XP Table of 2500 per level.

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  5. This post is the most viewed ever on the blog and it isn't even a complete description... Must get back to it.

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