Barbarian

Barbarian

Barbarians are brave, even reckless warriors, and their great strength and heartiness makes them well suited for adventure. Where the fighter's skill comes from training and discipline, however, the barbarian draws upon a powerful primal rage. While in this berserk fury, he becomes stronger and tougher, better able to defeat his foes and withstand their attacks. These rages leave him winded, and he has the energy for only a few such spectacular displays per day, but those few rages are usually sufficient. He is at home in the wild, and he runs at great speed.

Alignment restrictions: Any non-lawful - barbarians are wild at heart.

Class features progression

Hit die: 12

Proficiencies: Armor (light, medium), shields (except tower shields), Weapons (martial, simple)

Skill points: (* 4 at 1st character level) 4 + Int modifier

Class skills: Craft armor, Craft trap, Craft weapon, Intimidate, Listen, Parry, Survival, and Taunt.

Base attack bonus progression: High

Saving throws	high:	Fortitude
	low:	Reflex, Will

Additional progressions

Level	Features gained
1	Rage 1/day
2	Uncanny dodge
3	Trap sense +1
4	Barbarian rage 2/day
5	Improved uncanny dodge
6	Trap sense +2
7	Damage reduction 1/-
8	Barbarian rage 3/day
9	Trap sense +3
10	Damage reduction 2/-
11	Greater rage
12	Barbarian rage 4/day, Trap sense +4
13	Damage reduction 3/-
14	Indomitable will
15	Trap sense +5
16	Damage reduction 4/-, Barbarian rage 5/day
17	Tireless rage
18	Trap sense +6
19	Damage reduction 5/-
20	Mighty rage, Barbarian rage 6/day

Rage

A barbarian can fly into a screaming blood frenzy a certain number of times per day. In a rage, a barbarian gains phenomenal strength and durability but becomes reckless and less able to defend himself. He temporarily gains a +4 bonus to Strength, a +4 bonus to Constitution, and a +2 morale bonus on Will saves, but he takes a -2 penalty to Armor Class. Rage lasts for 3 + Constitution bonus (including bonus from rage) rounds. After rage expires, the barbarian is tired and suffers -2 Strength, -2 Dexterity, and a -10% movement penalty for 5 rounds.

Fast movement

A barbarian has a 10% bonus to his movement rate.

Uncanny dodge

At 2nd level, a barbarian gains the ability to react to danger before his senses would normally allow him to do so. He 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.

Trap sense

Starting at 3rd level, a barbarian has an intuitive sense that alerts him to danger from traps, giving him a +1 bonus on Reflex saves made to avoid traps and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against attacks made by traps. These bonuses rise by +1 every three barbarian levels thereafter (6th, 9th, 12th, 15th, and 18th level).

Damage reduction

At 7th level, a barbarian gains the ability to shrug off some amount of injury from each blow or attack. Subtract 1 from the damage the barbarian takes each time he is dealt damage from a weapon or a natural attack. At 10th level, and every three barbarian levels thereafter (13th, 16th, and 19th level), this damage reduction rises by 1 point.

Greater rage

At 11th level, a barbarian's bonuses to Strength and Constitution during his rage each increase to +6, and his morale bonus on Will saves increases to +3. The penalty to AC remains at -2.

Indomitable will

While in a rage, a barbarian of 14th level or higher gains a +4 bonus on Will saves to resist mind-affecting spells. This bonus stacks with all other modifiers, including the morale bonus on Will saves he also receives during his rage.

Tireless rage

When a barbarian reaches 17th level, he no longer gets fatigued from using rage and can ignore the penalties to Strength, Dexterity, and movement.

Mighty rage

At 20th level, a barbarian's bonuses to Strength and Constitution during his rage each increase to +8, and his morale bonus on Will saves increases to +4. The penalty to AC remains at -2.

Ex-barbarians

A barbarian who becomes lawful loses the ability to rage and cannot gain more levels as a barbarian. He retains all the other benefits of the class (damage reduction, fast movement, trap sense, and uncanny dodge).

NWN comparison

• The discipline skill that was created for NWN was removed in NWN2 and combat feats relating to it now function closer to 3.5 rules.
• NWN allowed barbarians to use tower shields as it made no distinction other than size. In NWN2 the class decription shown at Gen Con distinguishes between shield types in this NWN2 forum topic
• A barbarian who became lawful in NWN could not gain more barbarian levels. However they did retain all class features including rage.

DnD 3.5 comparison

• The parry skill was created by NWN and is not a feature of DnD 3.5. It has returned in NWN2 for the same reasons it was in NWN.
• The skills climb, handle animal, jump, ride and swim are not implemented in NWN2.
• Rules regarding literacy do not apply in NWN2.

External resources

• NWNWiki:Barbarian
• DnD 3.5 barbarian