The Barbarian
A harsh wind howls over the mountains But I stand tall, alone and unbowed With my wild hair and pelts I am the barbarian, fierce and proud
No weapon can fell me, no man can best me For I vanquish all with my axe and my shield Flee now before my might and wrath To my power surrender, to my fury yield
Like the wild north wind I come Laying low all in sight So cower in fear, you soft ones And flee fast into the night
The Barbarian by Josiah Wilson, Jun 2014
Names
Names: Gorm, Si-Yi, Priscilla, Sen, Xia, Anneira, Haepha, Lur, Shar, Korrin, Nkosi, Fafnir, Qua, Sacer, Vercin’geto, Barbozar, Clovis, Frael, Thra-raxes, Sillius, Sha-Sheena, Khamisi
Titles: the Glorious, the Hungry, the Irascible, the Undefeated, the Gluttonous, Foesmasher, Bonebreaker, the Mirthful, the Melancholic, All-Mighty, the Giant, the Triumphant
Look
Choose one for each:
Mighty thews, long shanks, scrawny, supple
Tormented, haunted, wild, shrouded
Tattoos, bejeweled, unmarred
Scraps, silks, scavenger’s outfit, weather-inappropriate
Stats
Your maximum HP is 8+Constitution.
Your base damage is d10.
Starting Moves
Choose one of these to start with:
Full Plate And Packing Steel
You ignore the clumsy tag on armor you wear.
Unencumbered, Unharmed
So long as you are below your load and neither wear armor nor carry a shield, take +1 armor.
You start with these moves:
Outsider (Race)
You may be elf, dwarf, halfling, or human, but you and your people are not from around here. At the beginning of each session, the GM will ask you something about your homeland, why you left, or what you left behind. If you answer them, mark XP.
The Upper Hand
You take +1 ongoing to last breath rolls. When you take your last breath, on a 7–9 you make an offer to Death in return for your life. If Death accepts he will return you to life. If not, you die.
What Are You Waiting For?
When you cry out a challenge to your enemies, roll+Con. • On a 10+ they treat you as the most obvious threat to be dealt with and ignore your companions, take +2 damage ongoing against them. • On a 7–9 only a few (the weakest or most foolhardy among them) fall prey to your taunting.
Herculean Appetites
Others may content themselves with just a taste of wine, or dominion over a servant or two, but you want more. Choose two appetites. While pursuing one of your appetites if you would roll for a move, instead of rolling 2d6 you roll 1d6+1d8. If the d6 is the higher die of the pair, the GM will also introduce a complication or danger that comes about due to your heedless pursuits.
- Pure destruction Power over others
- Mortal pleasures
- Conquest
- Riches and property
- Fame and glory
Musclebound
While you wield a weapon it gains the forceful and messy tags.
Alignment
Choose an alignment:
Neutral
Teach someone the ways of your people.
Chaotic
Eschew a convention of the civilized world.
Gear
Your load is 8+STR.
Dungeon rations (5 uses, 1 weight).
Dagger (hand, 1 weight)
Some Token of where you’ve travelled or where you’re from.
Choose one:
- Adventuring Gear (5 uses, 1 weight) and Dungeon Rations (5 uses, ration, 1 weight)
- Chainmail (1 armor, worn, 1 weight)
Choose your weapon:
- Axe (close, 1 weight)
- Two-handed Sword (close, +1 damage, 2 weight)
Bonds
Fill in the name of one of your companions in at least one:
_______________ is puny and foolish, but amusing to me.
_______________ 's ways are strange and confusing.
_______________ is always getting into trouble - I must protect them from themselves.
_______________ shares my hunger for glory; the earth will tremble at our passing!
Advanced Moves
When you gain a level from 2-5, choose from these moves.
Still Hungry
Choose an additional appetite.
Appetite For Destruction
Take a move from the Fighter, Bard, or Thief class list. You may not take multiclass moves from those classes.
My Love For You Is Like A Truck
When you perform a feat of strength, name someone present whom you have impressed and take +1 forward to parley with them.
What Is Best In Life
At the end of a session, if during this session you have crushed your enemies, seen them driven before you, or have heard the lamentations of their kinfolk mark XP.
Wide-Wanderer
You’ve travelled the wide world over. When you arrive someplace ask the GM about any important traditions, rituals, and so on, they’ll tell you what you need to know.
Usurper
When you prove yourself superior to a person in power, take +1 forward with their followers, underlings, and hangers on.
Khan Of Khans
Your hirelings always accept the gratuitous fulfillment of one of your appetites as payment.
Samson
You may take a debility to immediately break free of any physical or mental restraint.
Smash!
When you Hank & Slash, on a 12+ deal your damage and choose something physical your target has (a weapon, their position, a limb): they lose it.
Indestructible Hunger
When you take damage you can choose to take -1 ongoing until you sate one of your appetites instead of taking the damage. If you already have this penalty you cannot choose this option.
Eye For Weakness
When you Discern Realities add "What here is weak or vulnerable?" to the list of questions you can ask.
On The Move
When you defy a danger caused by movement (maybe falling off a narrow bridge or rushing past an armed guard) take +1.
When you gain a level from 6-10, choose from these moves or the level 2-5 moves.
A Good Day To Die
As long as you have less than your CON in current HP (or 1, whichever is higher) take +1 ongoing.
Kill ‘Em All
Requires: Appetite for Destruction
Take another move fromt he Fighter, Bard, or Thief class list. You may not take multiclass moves from those classes.
War Cry
When you enter the battle with a show of force, roll +CHA. • On a 10+ both, • on a 7-9 one or the other.
- Your allies are rallied and take +1 forward.
- Your enemies feel fear and act accordingly (avoiding you, hiding, attacking with fear-driven abandon)
Mark Of Might
When you take this move and spend some uninterrupted time reflecting on your past glories, you may mark yourself with a symbol of your power (a long braid tied with bells, ritual scars or tattoos, etc.) Any intelligent mortal creature who sees this symbol knows instinctively that you are a force to be reckoned with and treats you appropriately.
More! Always More!
When you satisfy an appetite to the extreme (destroying something unique and significant, gaining enormous fame, riches, power, etc.) you may choose to resolve it. Cross it off the list and mark XP. While you may pursue that appetite again, you no longer feel the burning desire you once did. In its place, choose a new appetite from the list or write your own.
The One Who Knocks
When you Defy Danger, on a 12+ you turn the danger back on itself, the GM will describe how.
Healthy Distrust
Whenever the unclean magic wielded by mortal men causes you to Defy Danger, treat any result of 6- as a 7–9.
For The Blood God
You are initiated in the old ways, the ways of sacrifice. Choose something your gods (or the ancestor spirits, or your totem, etc) value—gold, blood, bones or the like. When you sacrifice those things as per your rites and rituals, roll+WIS. • On a 10+ the GM will grant you insight into your current trouble or a boon to help you. • On a 7-9 the sacrifice is not enough and your gods take of your flesh as well, but still grant you some insight or boon. • On a miss, you earn the ire of the fickle spirits.