Canonfire!

Wed Dec 07, 2011 8:45 am Looking for Kit for Suel Barbarians

I was trying to make up a Frost Barbarian NPC but am not really liking the kit that is in the complete fighters for the Barbarian. Has anyone came up with a kit for 2nd edition for the Snow,Frost and ice Barbarians. If not maybe i could get suggestions on how to come up with one.

Wed Dec 07, 2011 1:41 pm Re: Looking for Kit for Suel Barbarians

Wed Dec 07, 2011 1:42 pm

Paul Jaquay's Uthgardt barbarians from the FR Savage Frontier may be an alternate source. I read somewhere that they were his own creation, whereas the only reference Ed Greenwood had given him was for generic barbarians. So, he used his own.

When I can find my copy, I'll post what distinguishes them.

Ciao!
Grendelwulf

Wed Dec 07, 2011 2:11 pm

Perfect found that the Ravager fit what i was looking for. He was captured by the slavers (ie Scarlet Brotherhood) for their breeding program at first he thought this was great as he had wine and women and was treated well by his captors they must have thought he fought brave when they captured him. But after a while he found out why they really wanted him and was disgusted by it (he is CG). He refused to do his racial duty and was thrown into the pits of despair with the player characters. When he gets out of this he is going to put his big hands around that red robed monk's neck and teach him not to mess with a Frost Barbarian.

Wed Dec 07, 2011 7:59 pm

Greetings 2e fellows,

If you have it, the "Complete Guide to Fighters" has a Barbarian (and also Berserker, Wilderness Warrior, and other suitable options) kit that may be of interest, though the "Complete Guide to Barbarians" mentioned earlier may be more fitting.

-Lanthorn

Fri Dec 09, 2011 3:26 am

I never had much use for the complete guide to barbarians. The theme seemed to be more the complete guide to neolithic characters.

The Suel barbarians always struck me as fantasy Vikings, representing the three flavors of historical Vikings (Danish, Swedish, and Norse). The berserker kit is very appropriate. I think the Viking Campaign Sourcebook (HR1) had additional insights as well, and possibly kits or at least signiicant cultural background.

Tangentially, HR1 mentions in the preface that it addreses the Greyhawk Campaign, but I have never found it in the body; has anyone else?

Tue Jan 31, 2012 8:54 am

The thing is, even though most people throughout Europe thought of them as "barbaric," historical Vikings are not very well represented by the barbarian class. They were mostly standard fighters, as HR1 Vikings explains. HR1 doesn't have any kits, but it does have two classes: a berserker and a runecaster.

I guess it really depends on how literal you want the "Barbarian" name to apply to these people. Are they all that class? Or are they just called that by the rest of the Flanaess?

Tue Jan 31, 2012 8:46 pm

The Romans believed anyone not a Roman citizen classified as a 'barbarian.'

I agree that most of the kits in the Complete Barbarian's Handbook do not fit the bill for your ideal Norseman Viking, if that is your preference. Many of those in the aforementioned book fit other 'primitive' cultures (from a European perspective) such as a Polynesian Islander, Native American tribesman, and the like. Others definitely slant to the Stone Age technology era, as mentioned earlier. However, you could modify them to suit your needs, or create your own stylized version. Otherwise, use the Barbarian or Berserker kits from the Complete Fighter's Handbook.

Best o' luck,

-Lanthorn

Wed Feb 01, 2012 7:39 pm