Barbarian (DFRPG)

"I asked the holy-man to keep the wind rolling this way down the valley. All hunters know to stay downwind of game, yeah? Well, if trouble's coming, I'll smell them before they see us."The Barbarian is the powerhouse from beyond the hills, usually from somewhere wild. They are proficient outdoorsmen, and are seldom found lost or lacking when traveling over land.
== Special Barbarian Traits ==
* Just Built Different -- Barbarians can raise their ST above the usual racial maximums, and improve their HP to 1/2 (round up) their ST instead of 1/3.
* Discriminatory Smell -- You've got the sense of a hunting hound when it comes to smell. While this can be used to detect poisons or delicate smells hidden behind stronger ones, this ability is also extremely useful for tracking. For instance, an enemy miniboss escapes down a long hallway full of doors, but you can sniff them out.
* Lifting ST -- Launch foes, launch friends, throw one dude at another dude! Lifting ST adds to ST for Basic Lift, and in all these maneuvers:
** Leg Up -- Launch your friends up onto platforms
** Pull-Up -- Get yourself off a cliff
** Forcing -- Take a door off its hinges (bring a crowbar and there's nothing you can't open)
** Strength for Grappling and Grappling Moves
* Temperature Tolerance -- Barbarians are seldom unprepared for the weather, but if things get really bad, you'll be ready
* Tough Skin -- A big advantage of tough skin is that it's effectively weightless armor and it doesn't have weakpoints (besides the eyes). You should still use defenses and armor; tough skin just means your weak spots are still protected.
== Tactical Considerations ==
* Negotiate with your Game Master on how much Lifting Strength is enough Lifting Strength--in fact, you may want to build a homebrew advantage around launching enemies.
* Furthermore, remember that the seemingly overkill amount of damage a Barbarian can deal is also just the right amount of damage if you're fighting something huge or armored. Living statues, elephantine monsters, and evil knights and barbarian-types will be tough to take down.
== Utility ==
The barbarian is at minimum a good survivalist, and can open every jar in the kingdom. Likewise, sometimes you really do just need a huge adventurer to lift a gate or bash a door.
== Weaknesses and Mitigation ==
* The barbarian is often out of place in social situations, even if it's simply because no one trusts the hulking outlander with an unplaceable accent. Barbarians can get by at least if they rely on their Outdoorsman talent--hunters and naturalists are always willing to break bread with someone who's seen the other side of the mountain.
* In combat, the Barbarian will have trouble with hordes if they forget how to throw enemies at each other or simply cleave through them all.
* Barbarians will have some trouble if dealing with multiple ranged enemies, and "puzzle" monsters (such as tricky Diffuse creatures) could be particularly worrisome if a Barbarian goes berserk...
== References ==
* Dungeon Fantasy RPG: Adventurers, p.15-16