Happy Holidays to all the Gamers out
there. I apologize that I am not posting as much as I would like.
Real life you know.
Today we are going to take a look at
one of the more misunderstood characters in Pathfinder/Dungeons and
Dragons and that is the Barbarian.
The problem is that most players who
chose the Barbarian want a easy to run dude that hit's things and
takes a lot of damage, and while that is a HUGE part of the Barbarian
there is also a lot of MATH involved with this guy that often
confuses players.
We will get to that in a second, first
lets just address the idea of a Barbarian as a job in the D&D
world. Because that's what a class is when you think about it, it's
the Characters Job.
Harry Potter went to Hogwarts for
Seven years to become a Wizard. Sir Lancelot trained since youth to
become a Fighter(Knight). I went to School to become a Teacher.
Conan did not go to Barbarian School
to become a Barbarian.
Barbarian is a CULTURE, not a Class.
It's a point of perception, not a job?
When the Italians first arrived in
China to open the Silk Road they called the Chinese and Moguls they
met, Barbarians
When the Chinese first met the
Italians, they called them Barbarians as well.
It's all perception.
Ok now we got that over with, if the
Barbarian’s job is to hit things and take damage, how is he
different then the Fighter, other then the D12 hit points. What
makes a Barbarian in D&D/Pathfinder not juts a Fighter in a lion
cloth?
The D12 Hit Dice, and the Rage power.
And it's the Rage power that turns the
Barbarian in to a character that requires a lot of Math.
Let's look at a First level Barbarian
with an 18 Strength.
That’s a +4 to hit and damage
because of Strength and a +1 BAB at First Level.
So if he is wielding a Two Handed
Sword (which they always are) that’s +5 to hit 2d6+5 to damage.
Now we give him Power Attack (Which we
always do)
That’s now Two different sets of
Numbers to use. Two handed Sword with out Power Attack and Two handed
Sword with Power Attack.
That's before Rage, once the Barbarian
enters rage that's Two more set's of Numbers the Barbarian has to
deal with.
Two Handed Rage Sword with out Power
Attack and Two Handed Rage with Power Attack.
We are now at Four sets of Numbers,
and that's at FIRST level. It only get's more complicated as the
Barbarian goes up levels.
So the Barbarian is not in fact a
simple I HIT THINGS WITH MY AX Character It practically requires
Excel to do all the Math for the Player. Leading to very confused
players who often just drop the character or the game because it
turned out to be far more complicated then they thought.
You do not have to take the Barbarian
Class to be a Barbarian. It's a Culture and a Mind set not a Job.
Bolvi and Conan can still be Fighters (in fact before there was a
Barbarian Class, Conan was just a Fighter when stated out in various
products)
But if you want to play a Barbarian as
he is in the Book, understand that Math will be involved.
The idea of a savage feral wild-man
with a Two Handed Sword screaming out the name ODIN while he cleaves
through the skulls of his many enemies is a pretty awesome idea of a
character to play, the Math can be a distraction if the Gm does not
warn you that there is math
At the end of the day it's the players
choice and the player should be informed as to what the pro's and
con's of any class are.
So, The Barbarian Math!
Next time, the bard.
Happy holidays and be EXCLENT...
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