Barbarian options

[slev]

When I created my US-style Dwarf and Wizard Quest Packs, I re-jigged the "level-up" items to give different bonuses.
The Barbarian's allowed him to re-roll one Combat die and reduce the penalty for wearing heavy armour, in addition to a 2BP gain.
THis worked out brilliantly, and made the barbarian monsterously good at attacking.

The re-roll definitely works, and the listed options generally seem worthwhile if you want to avoid the bonus die.

Of course, if you wanted the bonus die, you sinply start him with a shortsword and have done, and he's then ballenced the same in the early-to-mid campaign

[knightkrawler]

Of course, if you wanted the bonus die, you sinply start him with a shortsword and have done, and he's then ballenced the same in the early-to-mid campaign

That's exactly what I did. It just sounds more complicated when described.

[slev]

That's exactly what I did. It just sounds more complicated when described.

Great minds think alike

[Daedalus]

Like knightkrawler, I have two Barbarian choices, the Slayer and the Warrior. The Barbarian Slayer's combat text:

aaYou normally roll up to 4 combat dice with a weapon due to your great strength. Unarmed, you attack with just 1 die but may reroll misses.
aaAs a Champion, you may instead roll up to 5 dice with a weapon if you roll 1 less movement die.
aaFor an additional triple cost of a weapon, you may increase its attack strength by 1 combat die, up to your combat die limit. However, you must also defend with 1 less combat die and may not use a shield. The strength of bows may not be increased.

The Dwarf and Elf start with a combat limit of only 3, and only Dwarf Champions may raise that to 4 with a similar 1-die movement penalty. Neither Dwarf nor Elf Heroes get to reroll unarmed attack rolls.

My Battle axe may be wielded by a Barbarian with a shield, but with one less Attack Die. Paying an extra 1350 gold coins will give a Barbarian 5 AD with a battle axe, but without a shield and -1 DD. Of course, it can still be used without a shield for 4 AD per the standard NA rules. I'll probably offer a 650-gold-coin great sword as well that works like a diagonally-attacking battle axe.

The Barbarian Warrior's combat text:

aa.[paragraphs 1-2 same as Slayer text]
aa For an additional triple cost of two weapons, you may exceed the weapon attack limit by making a separately defended attack with each hand. Both weapons must be usable with a shield, and combined they can't exceed your combat dice limit.

I worked out piece armor to keep a Barbarian exotic looking. Basically, it's gladiator armor. One piece gives +1DD, 3 pieces gives +2 DD, and 6 pieces gives +3 DD (Hero base=1 DD.) Heavy piece armor costs 1200 gold coins, but doesn't incur a movement penalty.

[Tott]

my barbarian is "When performing a mellee attack, you may change one White shield to a skull'
makes his damage far more consistent throughout as i find that the +1 attack die can be a bit too strong when hes wielding a four dice weapon anyway.

[whitebeard]

I just allow the Barbarian to be the only one who can use a Great Sword. Two handed, 4AD, diagonal attack.

[Goblin-King]

my barbarian is "When performing a mellee attack, you may change one White shield to a skull'
makes his damage far more consistent throughout as i find that the +1 attack die can be a bit too strong when hes wielding a dice weapon anyway.

I really like this idea a lot!

[Zeus]

My Barbarian has the following starting skill (I had this for ages, but it was probably inspired by WHQ):

Berserk - When you lose a body point to an attack, you go berserk! While berserk, you roll an extra attack die, but roll only 1 defense die, and you have to move to the closest monster and attack it. This lasts until at the start of your turn you can no longer see any monsters.

Also, in my version of HQ, the Barbarian has a base attack/defense of 2/2, and a doublehanded sword gives +1/+1 (all swords except the short sword give +1 defense to represent parrying), so the Barbarian is the only one to start out with 3/3.

For comparison, my Dwarf is 3/2 for his axe, and has a better chance of spotting and disarming traps, the Elf has 2/3 for his sword and his 1-discipline magic, and the Wizard starts with a staff (1/2) and his 3 magic disciplines.

[Super Saiyan Musashi]

-Start with a Broadsword and "Armor Mastery" ability (barbarian may wear Plate Mail without the movement penalty. In this case i would probably start him with the broadsword because it would take forever for him to save up for plate mail.).

With that in mind there could even be an option to switch the Barbarian for a Sentinel: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=2856

[SirRick]

my barbarian is "When performing a mellee attack, you may change one White shield to a skull'
makes his damage far more consistent throughout as i find that the +1 attack die can be a bit too strong when hes wielding a dice weapon anyway.

I like the white shield idea too. I prefer to keep things simple for regular play, but I've had more than my fair share of more complex ideas for the game, usually to fit a certain theme at the time, my favorite was a questbook i refered to simply as "The Gun Questbook".