Barbarian

The primal hero relies on his resilience and his connection to nature to survive. He is the berserker, the warden, the druid, the shaman: the voice in the wilderness and the sentinel at the edge of civilization.

 **Starting Feats** | * The barbarian chooses two role-based class features, gaining the skill training and Rank 1 trances of those class features.
* The barbarian chooses one totem class feature, gaining that style's aspects and Rank 1 maneuver.
* The barbarian chooses two at-will trances that are available to him based on his class features.
* At level 0, the barbarian may either perform one Rank 1 trance per encounter, or one rage trance or Rank 1 trance per day.

## The Essential Barbarian

This chapter presents many different options for creating a Primal Hero, also known as a Barbarian. Many of these options can seem daunting, so the following builds have been distilled down into the essential necessities.

Each of these builds has been constructed using the Essential Array ability scores, choosing abilities and adding the +2 racial ability bonuses so that the final ability scores become 18/16/14/12/11 regardless of the character’s race. This ensures that the character begins play with their abilities optimized for that class’s rigors, and won’t find themselves particularly hampered compared to another player.

## The Complete Barbarian

If you feel like delving into the nuts and bolts of character design, you can skip past the Essential builds and construct a Complete Barbarian, which takes significantly more work but will result in a vision that is uniquely your own. There are four possible Complete Barbarian starting points:

### Berserker (Primal Striker)

The Berserker focuses his primal connection into a fierce rage, fueling a terrifying and seemingly endless onslaught. By channeling the Primal spirits through his body and his combat prowess, the Berserker becomes a terror on the battlefield, slaying his foes and driving them before him.

### Warden (Primal Defender)

The Warden focuses her primal connection into a wellspring of vitality, making her a nearly unstoppable protector of the natural world. By evoking the aspects of her totem, the Warden becomes easily the toughest of sentinels, despite her light armor and often primitive weapons.

### Shaman (Primal Controller)

The Shaman focuses her primal connection into an intuitive understanding of the ebb and flow of nature, becoming the unmatched master of the wilderness. She can call upon and even bond with the creatures of the wild, gaining a pack of fierce predators as lifelong hunting companions. Likewise,the Primal spirits of nature are never far from the Shaman's call, willing to manifest and do his bidding at a moment's notice.

### Druid (Primal Leader)

The Druid focuses his primal connection into a direct communion with the spirits of nature, acting as a medium between the spirit world and the material. The Shaman can call on the power of the Spirit World directly, to heal his allies, bolster their abilities, and hinder his enemies' attempt to harm them.

### **Barbarian** (Primal Generalist)

You can easily choose to create a generalist Barbarian as a starting character, simply by picking Role-based Class Features from two different Roles. This will dilute your ability to fulfill each Role, but allows much more flexibility during character creation.

## Totems

A Totem is a primal spirit or animal archetype that a **Barbarian** follows as a way of life. Each Totem grants various Aspects which allow the Barbarian to experience union with the Primal forces of nature.

Serpent totem

Cat totem

Raptor totem

Shamans who follow the Hunter totem may summon an ancestor spirit.
Ancestor spirit