Unboring Barbarians: more than clones of Conan
It’s obvious where the inspiration for the Barbarian class comes from.
So if you want to play a character that’s essentially Conan the Barbarian - unburdened by the trappings of civilisation, restraint or clothing - it’ll run true to form.
But what if that’s been done?
What if that’s boring to you?
Well, then it’s time to challenge some of the core assumptions around the class.
Barbarians don’t have “anger issues”
I recently heard someone’s barbarian concept as:
They’re from the city. They’re of this world’s equivalent of the middle-class. When it comes to nature, they don’t know much. But they have anger issues - hence, being a barbarian.
You know, the class that rages.
This concept gets one point from me for thinking outside the box. It loses at least ten for being wildly confused about how the barbarian works.
Barbarians don’t “get angry”. If they did, they’d be no threat. Sure, in a pub brawl, anger is useful. In a fight against a professional warrior, though, too much anger will get you killed.
For more on this, read The Book of Five Rings. It’s the final work of one of history’s greatest warriors - Miyamoto Musashi. He defeated the best samurai of his time using weapons he carved from oars and driftwood.
A big part of this approach was battling them psychologically, not just physically.
And a bit part of that was making them angry. These were skilled warriors, more than capable of using aggression - even so, he used their anger against them.
Barbarians don’t “get angry”.
They enter a bloodlust-fuelled battle-frenzy.
The typical warrior can’t do that. It takes training and discipline to push past “I’m so mad, grrr” into going berserk.
If you don’t understand the difference, maybe that class isn’t for you.
Barbarians can be civilised
A key assumption of the Barbarian is they come from a tribe of nomads. It covers off everything about them, from their toughness to their fighting style to their lack of shirts.
Buried in that is another assumption: that all nomads are uncivilised.
It certainly makes sense in theory. If you’re nomadic, then you’re not building houses, forges, kilns or farms. How can nomads be civilised without those essentials?
A few ways.
The first is by not always being nomadic. Consider the cowboys of America’s early settlements, moving their cattle herds across the plains. They were nomads, sometimes, and with access to many modern conveniences of the era.
The second is by trading. I’m not a farmer, but I can trade for food. I’m not a blacksmith either, but I have access to shaped steel products.
Not every group of nomads sees civilisation as the enemy. They can be guides and offer unique goods, like herbs that only grow at the peak of the nearby mountain.
In the real world, the Berbers - a tribe of nomads - have lived in the Sahara desert for thousands of years. They thrive in one of the least hospitable corners of the world.
Imagine if we didn’t have trucks, planes and ships. A tribe like that could make excellent merchants, moving goods through land others refuse to enter.
The third is magic - the great answer to any questions like this. Maybe they can conjure fire hot enough to melt iron out in the wilds? What if they can bless the sands to make crops grow in two days?
Barbarians don’t have to be nomads
The traits of a Barbarian tell a story - one of someone who is in touch with their primal side. They didn’t go to fancy adventuring schools. They learned to fight by being out there in a dangerous world.
That’s why they eschew armour and make up for it with instinct (see Danger Sense).
Nomadic people who aren’t in tune with their instincts and the environment won’t thrive. They probably won’t even survive.
They don’t have a monopoly on this, though.
Farmers - especially those who grew up on the farm, working it daily - have this connection to the land.
Some urchins would have a similar instinct for the cities. Would that translate into them being good Barbarians? Honestly, maybe not - the point is, they don’t have to come from the untamed wilds.
Barbarians can build empires
You already know about how the Mongol horde built one of the largest empires the world has ever seen - for a short while, at least.
And the Berbers - the Saharan nomads I mentioned above - apparently once conquered parts of Spain.
What would that be like - to live under the rule of a nomadic, Barbarian emperor? How would they be different from your typical despotic warlord?
If you like pondering questions like that, you’ll love Footprints. I talk about the subtle clues that a nomadic horde is moving into the area, all the way through to them conquering the region, then the aftermath of their fall.
After all, a Barbarian kingdom is going to be different, so why play it like any other part of the world?
For how nomadic tribes will shape your campaign setting - not to mention how a bunch of other enemies will do the same - grab Footprints here: