Barb

Spare the rod and spoil the holy man. A barb is
a divine goad: a secret sliver in the hand of the
righteous that drives them to action, the wasp’s
sting of god that compels the just to their calling.
They taunt and curse, howl and blaspheme, test
and condemn; it is their work on earth to make life
difficult for the virtuous so that good people see the
light within themselves.

Barbs are never called, always chosen for their
willingness to submit to the divine. They are
empowered by a divine spirit (often angelic) that
cohabitates within their body. It gives them the tools
and protections they need to torment and test good
characters to greater heights of glory. It often enters
their body during fervorous prayer, during moments
of religious ecstasy, or while speaking in tongues. It
is a form of holy possession and as barbs work with
it and do good works it gives them more leeway with
its near unlimited power. Barbs don’t always know
why they do the things they are told to do but they do
them for that is their calling.

**HIT DICE:** D8.

**ROLE**
Barbs help control enemies, directing them to allies
while keeping them from doing any real harm with
their covert curses. A barb will need good Charisma to
fully utilize the many skills they had.

**ALIGNMENT** Any Good

**STARTING WEALTH:** 4d6 × 10 gp (average
140 gp.) In addition, each character begins play with
an outfit worth 10 gp or less.

**CLASS SKILLS**
The barb’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Appraise
(Int), Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha),
Disable Device (Dex), Disguise (Cha), Escape
Artist (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (local)
(Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Linguistics (Int),
Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis),
Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Stealth
(Dex), and Use Magic Device.

**SKILL RANKS PER LEVEL:** 6 + Int modifier.

A barb’s actions are always for the greater good,
judged by the divine spirit that cohabitates in their
body. They can lie about their class and abilities to
everyone but the GM, though this is strictly an out of
game aspect; it does not impact the mechanics of the

**SECRET ACTIONS:** Several of the barb’s abilities have the [Secret]
descriptor. A secret action is one that is called by
a different name. You might say, “Ok I’m using
unsettling strike. I got a +4 and I rolled a 14... so
that’s a total of 18 to hit. They’ve got to make a DC
14 Will save now.” when you are really using your
ire class feature. Set this up ahead of time with your
GM. Covert curse, which is commonly used, could
be utilized with a wink, nod, or subtle hand gesture
to your GM. If playing online, a private chat feature
could help facilitate secret actions. Common phrases
like “oh no!” or a made-up catch phrase for your
character could be a good way to mask using covert
curse as well. This class can be played normally
without the degree out of game secrecy. Just try to
preserve your incognito status in game.

**BARBS AND ROGUES:** A barb’s nature makes it quite like a rogue and, as
such, their class reflects this (the same hit dice,
proficiencies, BAB, many of the same skills, sneak
attack, evasion, etc). This makes claiming to be a
rogue a perfect lie to make. It might be best to claim
to be a rogue hybrid, a 3rd party class or variant, or an
archetype to account for some of the differences.

**WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE A GOOD ALIGNED PARTY MEMBER?!:** This class works best with good aligned partymembers and is not recommended for evil parties.

**CLASS FEATURES**
The following are the class features of the barb

### **WEAPON AND ARMOR** **PROFICIENCY**

Barbs are proficient with all simple weapons, plus
the hand crossbow, rapier, sap, shortbow, and short
sword. They are proficient with light armor, but not
with shields.

### **COVERT CURSE** **(SU) [SECRET]**

At 1st level, every time a good aligned ally has a
run of bad luck, the barb gets a little more freedom
from their divine spirit to give them a secret little
helping hand. This comes in the form of a little curse,
muttered under their breath in the true language
of the universe; glossolalia (“speaking in tongues”),
to help them along. It can be done at will as a free
action, but only once per round and never more than
once per die roll. The enemy takes a -1/4th barb level
penalty to its AC, attack rolls, and saves on a single
d20 roll (with minimum penalty of -1).
The barb can only use this on the target of a good-aligned ally. That ally must have suffered one of the
following things happen since the end of the barb’s
last turn: they were hit by an attack, they failed on a
d20 roll (attack roll, skill check, stabilization roll, etc),
or a target succeeded on a save from them.

**DEEPER RULES**

* This action is a free action and thus can be used at any point during the round, even interrupting other actions.

* The enemy creature does not get a save.
* This is assigned as a penalty to the enemy so that the GM never has to state out loud that the player is getting a bonus from the barb.

* This must be declared/indicated prior to a dice roll.

### **IRE (SU) [SECRET]**

Once per turn, when the barb hits an enemy as a free
action they can force that creature to make a Will save
(DC 10 + 1/2 barb level + Charisma modifier) or be
forced to take a hostile action against a good aligned
party member, other than the barb, on their next turn.
A barb can do this a number of times per day equal to
their class level + their Charisma modifier.

**DEEPER RULES**

* Once a creature has been successfully hit with this class feature the barb cannot use it again the same creature for 24 hours.

* Good aligned divine casters, including characters from classes that eventually get divine casting, are targeted before other good aligned creatures. Allies of higher level or who have the potential to a greater amount of harm are always treated as being a higher priority as well. If there is a tie, the GM may pick who their creature targets.

* The barb may not choose who their enemy targets.

### **SECRET SINNER (SU) [SECRET]**

A barb’s alignment always appears as being the direct
opposite of what it actually is (a lawful good barb would register as chaotic evil to a detect evil spell).
A barb may not suppress this and nothing shy of a
wish or miracle spell can detect their true alignment,
though a commune spell with the barb’s deity may
reveal their true nature if that deity had reason to
reveal such truths.

### **EVASION (EX)**

At 2nd level or higher, a barb can avoid damage from
many area-effect attacks. If a barb makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally
deals half damage on a successful save, they instead take no damage. Evasion can be used only if a barb is
wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless barb does not gain the benefit of evasion.

### **SNEAK ATTACK**

At 2nd level, the barb gains the rogue’s sneak attack class feature. Their attacks deals extra damage anytime their target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), or when the rogue flanks their target. This extra damage is 1d6 at 2nd level, and increases by 1d6 every 4 barblevels thereafter. Should the barb score a critical hit with a sneak attack, this extra damage is not multiplied. Ranged attacks can count as
sneak attacks only if the target is within
30 feet.

With a weapon that deals nonlethal
damage (like a sap, whip, or unarmed
strike), a barb can make a sneak attack
that deals nonlethal damage instead of
lethal damage. They cannot use a weapon
that deals lethal damage to deal nonlethal
damage in a sneak attack, not even with the
usual -4 penalty.

The barb must be able to see the target well
enough to pick out a vital spot and must
be able to reach such a spot. A barb cannot
sneak attack while striking a creature with
concealment.

### **EDICTS**

Barbs may be the tools of heaven but they get a little
say in what they are assigned to do. These are edicts passed down from on high and barbs may select
which ones they wish to pursue. These edicts give
them a little flexibility and additional instruments of
divine justice to wield so that they might accomplish
these tasks. At 3rd level and every 3 levels thereafter a
barb may select a new edict from the edict list.

(Barb Edicts can be found here)

### **LEEWAY**

At 4th level, the barb can use their covert curse class
feature twice per round. At 8th level and every 4
levels thereafter they can use it one additional time
per round to a maximum of 7 times per round at 20th
level.

### **SELFLESS CURSE (SU) [SECRET]**

At 5th level, when an ally is stuck by an attack a barb can forgo the normal effects of a covert curse to cause the ally to take only half the damage rolled but the
barb takes the other half. This covert curse can be
applied after the damage dice have been rolled.

### **TRICKSTER’S VIGILANCE (SU)**

At 5th level, a barb gains a +2 sacred bonus on
Perception against creatures attempting to hide on
them and Sense Motive checks against evil creatures.
At 9th level and every 4 levels thereafter this bonus
improves by 1 to a maximum of +5 at 17th level.

### **IMPROVED EVASION (EX)**

At 9th level, a barb’s evasion ability improves. They
still take no damage on a successful Reflex saving
throw against attacks, but henceforth they take only
half damage on a failed save. A helpless barb does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.

### **GOD’S GOAD (SP)**

At 20th level, a barb can freely use the spells modify
memory and atonement as spell-like abilities on good-aligned creatures.

### **BARB CODE OF CONDUCT**

A barb’s mission must endeavor to do the least harm
for the greatest good. They must test the faithful,
but only in ways that will make them better. They
may (and are expected to) cheat, steal, lie, and even
commit evil acts (so long as they ultimately have good
outcomes) and not risk their alignment changing.

If a barb’s mission is ever guessed or revealed, or if they lose their good alignment, they fall from grace. A fallen barb cannot continue to take levels in barb but does not lose any of their class features and enemies get a save against their covert curse class feature (DC
10 + 1/2 barb level + Charisma modifier). This may be rectified with a spell like modify memory or wish. Should their mission be guessed out of game and the breach be rectified, their abilities do not need to be done secretly out of game anymore.