Totem Barbarian (Serpent)

Totem Barbarian (Serpent)

Description

From the frozen wastes to the north and the hellish jungles of the south come brave, even reckless, warriors. Civilized people call them barbarians or berserkers and suspect them of mayhem, impiety, and atrocities. These "barbarians," however, have proven their mettle and their value to those who would be their allies. To enemies who underestimated them, they have proved their cunning, resourcefulness, persistence, and mercilessness.

Adventures: Adventuring is the best chance barbarians have of finding a place in a civilized society. They're not well suited to the monotony of guard duty or other mundane tasks. Barbarians also have no trouble with the dangers, the uncertainties, and the wandering that adventuring involves. They may adventure to defeat hated enemies. They also have a noted distaste for that which they consider unnatural, including undead, demons, and devils.

Characteristics: The barbarian is an excellent warrior. Where the fighter's skill in combat comes from training and discipline, however, the barbarian has a powerful rage. While in this berserk fury, he becomes stronger and tougher, better able to defeat his foes and withstand their attacks. These rages leave him winded, and he only has the energy for a few such spectacular displays per day, but those few rages are usually sufficient. He is at home in the wild, and he runs at great speed.

Alignment: Barbarians are never lawful. They may be honorable, but at heart they are wild. This wildness is their strength, and it could not live in a lawful soul. At best, chaotic barbarians are free and expressive. At worst, they are thoughtlessly destructive.

Religion: Some barbarians distrust established religions and prefer an intuitive, natural relationship to the cosmos over formal worship. Others devote themselves to powerful deities, such as Kord (god of strength), Obad-Hai (god of nature) or Erythnul (god of slaughter). A barbarian is capable of fierce devotion to his god.

Background: Barbarians come from uncivilized lands or from barbaric tribes on the outskirts of civilization. A barbarian adventurer may have been lured to the settled lands by the promise of riches, may have escaped after having been captured in his homeland and sold into "civilized" slavery, may have been recruited as a soldier, or may have been driven out of his home by invaders. Barbarians share no bond with each other unless they come from the same tribe or land. In fact, they think of themselves not as barbarians but as warriors.

Races: Human barbarians come from the distant wild lands on the edge of civilization. Most half-orc barbarians lived among orcs before abandoning them for human lands. Dwarf barbarians are rare, usually hailing from dwarven kingdoms that have fallen into barbarism as a result of recurrent war with goblinoids, orcs, and giants. Barbarians of other races are very rare.

Among the brutal humanoids, barbarians are more common than fighters. Orcs and ogres are especially likely to be barbarians.

Other Classes: As people of the wild, barbarians are most comfortable in the company of rangers, druids, and clerics of nature deities, such as Obad-Hai or Ehlonna. Many barbarians admire the talents and spontaneity of bards, and some are enthusiastic lovers of music. Barbarians don't trust that which they don't understand, and that includes wizardry, which they call "book magic." They find sorcerers more understandable than wizards, but maybe that's just because sorcerers tend to be more charismatic. Monks, with their studied, practiced, deliberate approach to combat, sometimes have a hard time seeing eye to eye with barbarians, but members of these classes aren't necessarily hostile to each other. Barbarians have no special attitudes toward fighters, paladins, clerics, or rogues.

Game Rule Information

Barbarians have the following game statistics.

Abilities: Strength is important for barbarians because of its role in combat, and several barbarian skills are based on Strength. Dexterity is also useful to barbarians, especially those who wear light armor. Wisdom is important for several barbarian skills. A high Constitution score lets a barbarian rage longer (and live longer, because it gives him more hit points).

Alignment: Any nonlawful.

Hit Die: d12.

Class Skills: The barbarian's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).

Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) × 4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the barbarian.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A barbarian is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields).

Illiteracy: Barbarians are the only characters who do not automatically know how to read and write. A barbarian may spend 2 skill points to gain the ability to read and write all languages he is able to speak.

A barbarian who gains a level in any other class automatically gains literacy. Any other character who gains a barbarian level does not lose the literacy he or she already had.

Barbarian Rage (Ex): A barbarian can fly into a screaming blood frenzy a certain number of times per day. In a rage, a barbarian gains phenomenal strength and durability but becomes reckless and less able to defend himself. He temporarily gains a +4 bonus to Strength, a +4 bonus to Constitution, and a +2 morale bonus on Will saves, but he takes a -2 penalty to Armor Class.

The increase in Constitution increases the barbarian's hit points by 2 points per level, but these hit points go away at the end of the rage when the Constitution score drops back to normal (these extra hit points are not lost first the way temporary hit points are). While raging, a barbarian cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity- or Intelligence-based skills (except for Balance, Escape Artist, Intimidate, and Ride), the Concentration skill, or any abilities that require patience or concentration, nor can he cast spells or activate magic items that require a command word, a spell trigger (such as a wand), or spell completion (such as a scroll) to function. He can use any feat he might have except Combat Expertise, item creation feats, metamagic feats. A fit of rage lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the character's (newly improved) Constitution modifier. A barbarian may prematurely end his rage. At the end of the rage, the barbarian loses the rage modifiers and restrictions and becomes fatigued (-2 penalty to Strength, -2 penalty to Dexterity, can't charge or run) for the duration of the current encounter (unless he is a 17th level barbarian, at which point this limitation no longer applies).

A barbarian can fly into a rage only once per encounter. At 1st level he can use his rage ability once per day. At 4th level and every four levels thereafter, he can use it one additional time per day (to a maximum of six times per day at 20th level). Entering a rage takes no time itself, but a barbarian can do it only during his action, not in response to someone else's action. A barbarian can't, for example, fly into a rage when struck down by an arrow in order to get the extra hit points from the increased Constitution, although the extra hit points would be of benefit if he had gone into a rage earlier in the round, before the arrow struck.

Serpent's Fortitude (Ex): A serpent-totem barbarian gains a +2 bonus on Fortitude saves against poison.

Serpent's Stealth (Ex): A 2nd-level serpent-totem barbarian gains a +2 bonus on Move Silently checks.

Serpent's Coil (Ex): At 3rd level, a serpent-totem barbarian gains Improved Grapple as a bonus feat, even if he doesn’t meet the normal prerequisites.

Serpent's Surprise (Ex): A serpent-totem barbarian gains Improved Initiative as a bonus feat at 5th level.

Damage Reduction (Ex): At 7th level, a barbarian gains the ability to shrug off some amount of injury from each blow or attack.

Subtract 1 from the damage the barbarian takes each time he is dealt damage from a weapon or a natural attack. At 10th level, and every three barbarian levels thereafter (13th, 16th, and 19th level), this damage reduction rises by 1 point. Damage reduction can reduce damage to 0 but not below 0.

Greater Rage (Ex): At 11th level, a barbarian's bonuses to Strength and Constitution during his rage each increase to +6, and his morale bonus on Will saves increases to +3. The penalty to AC remains at –2.

Indomitable Will (Ex): While in a rage, a barbarian of 14th level or higher gains a +4 bonus on Will saves to resist enchantment spells. This bonus stacks with all other modifiers, including the morale bonus on Will saves he also receives during his rage.

Tireless Rage (Ex): At 17th level and higher, a barbarian no longer becomes fatigued at the end of his rage.

Mighty Rage (Ex): At 20th level, a barbarian's bonuses to Strength and Constitution during his rage each increase to +8, and his morale bonus on Will saves increases to +4. The penalty to AC remains at –2.

Ex-Barbarians

A barbarian who becomes lawful loses the ability to rage and cannot gain more levels as a barbarian. He retains all the other benefits of the class (damage reduction, fast movement, trap sense, and uncanny dodge).

Level Progression

Level	Base Attack	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1	+1	+2	+0	+0	Illiteracy; Rage 1/day;
2	+2	+3	+0	+0
3	+3	+3	+1	+1
4	+4	+4	+1	+1	Rage 2/day
5	+5	+4	+1	+1
6	+6/+1	+5	+2	+2
7	+7/+2	+5	+2	+2	Damage Reduction 1/-
8	+8/+3	+6	+2	+2	Rage 3/day
9	+9/+4	+6	+3	+3
10	+10/+5	+7	+3	+3	Damage Reduction 2/–
11	+11/+6/+1	+7	+3	+3	Greater Rage
12	+12/+7/+2	+8	+4	+4	Rage 4/day
13	+13/+8/+3	+8	+4	+4	Damage Reduction 3/–
14	+14/+9/+4	+9	+4	+4	Indominatable Will
15	+15/+10/+5	+9	+5	+5
16	+16/+11/+6/+1	+10	+5	+5	Damage Reduction 4/-; Rage 5/day
17	+17/+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+5	Tireless Rage
18	+18/+13/+8/+3	+11	+6	+6
19	+19/+14/+9/+4	+11	+6	+6	Damage Reduction 5/–
20	+20/+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+6	Mighty Rage; Rage 6/day

Starting Packages

Race: Half-orc.
Armor: Studded leather (+3 AC, armor check penalty –1, speed 40 ft., 20 lb.).
Weapons: Greataxe (1d12, crit ×3, 12 lb., two-handed, slashing).
Shortbow (1d6, crit ×3, range inc. 60 ft., 2 lb., Piercing).
Dagger (1d4, crit 19–20/×2, range inc. 10 ft., 1 lb., light, piercing).
Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 4 + Int modifier.

Skill	Ranks	Ability	Armor Check Penalty
Climb	4	Str	-1
Survival	4	Wis	–
Listen	4	Wis	–
Jump	4	Str	-1
Swim	4	Str	-2
Ride	4	Dex	–
Intimidate	4	Cha	–
Spot (cc)	2	Wis	–

Feat: Weapon Focus (greataxe).
Gear: Backpack with waterskin, one day's trail rations, bedroll, sack, and flint and steel. Quiver with 20 arrows.
Gold: 2d4 gp.