Blood & Battle

In anticipation of the Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day on April 17th, I am releasing parts of the variant rules system I am working on. Here I present the Barbarian Class for humanoid characters. Let me know what you think!

Blood & Battle

1^st Edition - Basic

by Rob Griffin

Variant rules for running a Humanoid Campaign compatible with the Swords & Wizardry game.

Swords & Wizardry, S&W, and Mythmere Games are trademarks of Matthew J. Finch. Blood & Battle is not affiliated with Matthew J. Finch, Mythmere Games™, or Frog God Games.

Barbarian

Barbarians are savage, primitive warriors. Barbarians glory in melee combat and can intimidate foes with their raging attacks.

Prime Attribute: Str 13+, Con 13+ (+5 exp bonus)

Hit Dice: d8

Armor/Shield Permitted: Leather/ring, no shields

Weapons Permitted: Any melee or thrown

Race: Bugbear, Half-orc, Orc

Barbarian Class Abilities:

Alertness: Warbands with barbarians present are only surprised on a 1 in 6 chance.

Magic Items: Barbarians can only use magical weapons, armor, potions, & rings.

Enemy of Civilization: Humans, elves, half-elves, dwarves, and halflings inspire a special hatred in humanoid Barbarians, granting the Barbarian a +1 damage bonus against such foes.

Chop 'em Down: Upon landing the killing blow, a Barbarian may make an additional attack against an enemy within 10'.

Shock & Awe: At 3^rd level, and upon completing a successful Chop 'em Down, Barbarians can put the fear of death into lesser opponents. Creatures of equal or lesser Hit Die to the Barbarian who witness a successful Chop 'em Down attack will fight at -1 to hit and damage for 2 rounds. In addition, if the odds of the fight are turning against the Barbarian's opponents, they must make a morale check or flee from the Barbarian until out of combat range.

Berserker: At 5^th level Barbarians may enter a berserker state once per day. While berserk, the Barbarian receives a +2 damage bonus, at a penalty of 2 to his AC. While berserk, the Barbarian is immune to fear. Berserkers cannot flee from combat, never fail morale checks, and fight until combat ends or they die. Berserkers must rest for one hour after the end of combat, or receive a penalty of 2 on all rolls and move at ½ speed until rested. It takes one combat round for a Barbarian to go berserk, during which time he may be engaged in combat. This effect stacks with Enemy of Civilization.