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The Barbarian Heritage About This Book |
We must, howater, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities . . . still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origins.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
The Complete Barbarian's Handbook examines some of the most primitive inhabitants of the AD&W game multiverse. These are the men and women of the wilderness who confront nature on her own terms in a never-ending struggle for survival. They make weapons from bones, use animal skins for currency, and worship the spirits of their dead ancestors. Cut off from the civilized world, they have never seen a castle, a steel sword, or a gold piece.
In a broad sense, barbarians are the consummate outsiders, their technology, economics, and theology perceived as crude, even backwards. But barbarians are by no means unthinking animals. They have established thriving communities in which to raise their families and preserve their traditions. They have created useful tools and impressive works of art. Their rich cultures have flourished for hundreds, thousands, even millions of years.
The Barbarian Heritage[]
What constitutes a barbarian society? Though each has an identity of its own, all have several factors in common.
First, barbarians occupy terrain that others would find uninhabitable: dense jungles, barren plains, frigid mountains, and impenetrable swamps. They are isolated socially as well as physically, unaffected by the raging wars, the political machinations, and the great inventions of the civilized world.
Second, because their homelands are generaUy unsuited for agriculture, barbarians depend on hunting and gathering for sustenance. Because it takes a lot of space to sustain this type of lifestyle, populations tend to be small.
Third, barbarians must make do with simple skills and natural materials. They make axes from stone, not steel. They have fire, but no forges. They have only the most basic understanding of carpentry, leatherworking, and seamanship. Blacksmithing, mining, and engineering are alien to their world.
Finally, barbarians focus their efforts on staying alive. So important is sheer survivalfinding food, placating hostile spirits, and staving off threats from monsters and rival tribes they have little time for anything else. There are no barbarian cities; they establish small villages or travel their territories in search of new sources of food. They settle disputes with force or negotiation instead of formal laws. And they have no written language, communicating instead with speech and gestures.
About This Book[]
In this book we look at two basic archetypes: the barbarian fighter and the shaman. (Wizards and rogues generally aren't associated with barbarian cultures. A wizard's background tends to be more sophisticated, and most rogues develop in urban settings). Consider these archetypes classes of the warrior and priest groups described in the Player's Handbook. Though barbarian fighters and shamans have much in common with their parent groups, they also have their own limitations and advantages, which we explore at length in Chapter 1.
Elsewhere, we examine the armor, weapons, and proficiencies available to barbarian fighters and shamans. We probe their personalities and analyze their roles in their homelands and in adventuring parties. We study their attitudes toward religion and magic, paying special attention to the significance of dreams, ancestors, and superstitions. We also look at new character kits like the bloodthirsty Wizard Slayer, the lumbering Brute, and the mysterious Dreamwalker.
Although the Dungeon Master will find much of interest in these pages, this book is primarily
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