Barbarian options

[SirRick]

As a lot you may already know, if you break down how each of the hero characters are built, you will see that the Barbarian used 1 "creation point" to start with a better weapon at the expense of some special power, like the dwarf's ability to disarm traps, or the elf's ability to cast spells. To reflect the statement of the barbarian being "the greatest warrior of all" i came up with some abilities for players to choose from when starting a new barbarian hero.
My options so far:
-Start with a shortsword and "Weapon Mastery" ability (choose either melee or ranged, for every attack with the chosen combat style you may re-roll one combat die if you wish).
Or
-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.).
Or
-Start with a Shortsword and "Chosen Foe" ability (choose one monster such as orc, fimir, chaos warrior, etc., when attacking that type of monster you may roll 1 extra combat die).

This is what i've come up with so far. I would like to hear other members ideas that they have used or thought about using. I read about knightkrawler's suggestion of the barbarian rolling 1 extra combat die for attacks. I likr this concept but i think it is too powerful. If i were to use this as a possible option i would consider certain conditions such as:
Limiting the extra combat die to only melee or ranged attacks (chosen at character creation, similar to my weapon mastery ability)
Or if it should be limited even more
Choose melee or ranged as before, but limit the other combat style to daggers only (for example a barbarian chooses melee and rolls 1 extra die for melee attacks but can only use daggers as a ranged weapon, no bows or crossbows, or if he chooses ranged, he can roll 1 extra die with crossbows and thrown daggers and such, but is limited in only using daggers in melee combat.) this last one seems a little extreme, but i makes me Elven Archer monster from the EQP.

Basically I wanted to give the barbarian a special ability that is comparable to one group of spells or the dwarf trap ability. Something useful, but not overpowered. So I'm interested in hearing what other people have implemented in their games.

[knightkrawler]

My barbarian does get that +1 attack die (and +1 on defend, too, in addition to the 1 base defend every hero has), yes, but he is not allowed to use ranged weapons except when he wants to throw them.
There goes the overpowering. He also may not wear plate armor.
To compensate, he may divide all hits from his attack among more than one figure orthogally adjacent to him. Everyone may defend normally.
He starts with a shortsword (3 attack, 2 defend), 2 Mind, 8 Body, and is better at unarmed combat than any other hero.
That Marauder hero is one of the two heroes I derived from the Barbarian class.

The other one is the Questknight. He gets the +1 defend die, can't use ranged weapons (ranged is a keyword/icon assigned to Sling, Bow, Crossbow. Thrown is an icon for itself.).
He may exchange squares with an adjacent hero if that hero is being attacked and pull the attack on him himself, making him the tank of the group (he has to roll a walrus to negate a hit).
He starts with a shortsword and a doublet (leather armor for +1 defend), thus he starts at 2 attack, 3 defend.
He has 4 Mind and 6 Body. Like the Marauder, he may upgrade to a +4 weapon (attack 4), but to the full 6 defend dice (2 base, 1 helmet, 3 plate armor) or even to 3 attack/7 defend. The Marauder's defend limit is either 5 attack/5 defend or 4 attack/6 defend.

The defend dice I know to strike some of you as overpowered, but the plate armor movement penalty counts for an awful lot when you play double-wide corridors, double doors, and all these other changes that I've made to my game.

The Elf, Dwarf, and Wizard classes are also split into two very different heroes each.
Both Adepts (Elf; Pathfinder and Purifier) can choose 3 spells from their own 6-spell sets and various equipment restrictions,
both Questers (Dwarf; Caerscout and Sellsword) have special abilities (advantages) that are always in effect.
Both Wizards have their own set of 16 spells, 12 of which they choose before each quest (I may still change that whole class).
From my players I only demand that each class is represented in the dungeon, giving them many strategis options and the chance to spice things up. There's not much character advancement anyway.

[Gold Bearer]

Letting him use a battle axe one handed is a very simple way to improve him. It gives him an extra attack/defence dice, depending on how you look at it.

I've got some bigger weapons that he's better at using as well. I'm going to redo my armoury at some point but the one handed battle axe is better than it first seems.

[Anderas]

Mine gets just +1 AT die. That's easiest to apply.

Your reroll option is quite nice, though. If the Barbarian is equipped with many-dice-weapons, it's just like +1 AT; but in the beginning it makes a difference. Small one.

You could think about using the Walrus as Bonus. In case he rolls a Walrus during the attack, something happens. Don't know. Reroll any Walrus. Or count them as Skull. That makes him better, but most of the time it is less better than the plain +1 die or plain reroll.

[Goblin-King]

+1 for the barbarian simply rolling one extra die than his weapon normally allows.
He is supposed to be the ultimate fighter, but is overshadowed by elf and dwarf during mid- to endgame.
It feels like it was always the intention to have it work like that.

[Gold Bearer]

That really overpowers him though. It's very barbariany but it's an extra skull on half of his attacks, that's far too much and puts him well ahead of the others. Compare a barbarian with that rule to the standard dwarf.

I don't think the heroes are distinct enough from each other as standard. I personally like the upgrades: Counts black shields as skulls in melee.
Counts black shields as white shields. Use all seven spell sets, picks one, picks one, picks two, picks one, gets the last two.

[MadMickyG]

Like I have just added to my Dwarf Skills, Dwarf gets +1 when using any kind of axe. Barbarian could get +1 when using a two handed weapon only, or (as my Knight of Steel Legion has) the ability to use a two-handed bladed (or any) weapon one handed. This also allows for diagonal attack with most weapons as well. No bonuses to hit, but wielding a two-handed weapon one-handed is a bonus in itself. And the ability to use a shield while wielding that massive weapon.

Barbarians are incredibly strong fighters, with great melee skill.

A few options.

[GimmeYerGold]

Letting him use a battle axe one handed is a very simple way to improve him. It gives him an extra attack/defence dice, depending on how you look at it.

I've got some bigger weapons that he's better at using as well. I'm going to redo my armoury at some point but the one handed battle axe is better than it first seems.

I'm going with the "any weapon in one hand" for the barbarian boon, too!

[Gold Bearer]

I didn't know about the elf spells when I improved the heroes. If I had I think I would have given the elf all eight spells, the wizard all seven sets and let the barbarian and dwarf use a battle axe one handed as well as using black shields and changed the monsters defence to white shields to compensate.

[Anderas]

I'm going with the "any weapon in one hand" for the barbarian boon, too!

In fact, it appeals to me, too, as it adds hugely to the narrative of Conan.
On the other hand i won't take away his bonus in the mid game.

Maybe it could be this:
"Due to your strength and training, with any one-handed weapon you may roll one white die more when attacking; or you can wield a two-handed weapon in one hand"

This would on one hand lead to a superhero barbarian who will have 4 Attack and 6 Defense when maxed. But if he really arrives there, you can easily equalize through one or two Minotaur Teams. After all, they need a good reason to exist, too. Or by adding one or two Elf Quest Pack Ogres. Better yet, you could prevent that he ever arrives there by having him killed regularly in the mid game. He will do the frontline fighting, so that should be doable.