Barbarian

Description: The Barbarian is a fierce mountain warrior, at his best when he can stick near the mountains. He is powerful enough to combat the largest monsters, but he is too slow to out maneuver or out run numerous smaller opponents.

Symbol: Mountain

Weight/Vulnerability: Heavy

Mountain Youth
   Helmet, Spear
   Fight H6   Fight H5*   Move H6

Mountain Hunter
   Helmet, Breastplate, Spear
   Fight H5*   Fight H4**   Move H5*

Mountain Warrior
   Helmet, Breastplate, Shield, Broadsword
   Fight H4**   Fight T7   Move T6*

Barbarian
   Helmet, Breastplate, Great Sword
   Fight T6*   Fight T5**   Move H4**

Begins at: Barbarian may choose to either start at the Inn with his normal allotment of weapon, armor and 10 gold, or he may start at any mountain clearing with a roadway leading off the edge of the board with his normal allotment of weapon and armor but 0 gold to represent that he has spent all his money and cannot afford to stay at the Inn. If no mountain clearings meet the above requirement, he must start at the Inn.

Special Advantages:

   1. Bad Temper:
      1.1 The Barbarian is notorious for his bad temper and he doesn't suffer slights lightly. As a result all Insult or Challenge results from the Meeting Table are automatically treated as Block/Battle results.
      1.2 On the other hand, if the natives back down a little they can be intimidated by the Barbarian. Thus, if a result of Opportunity is gained on the Meeting Table, the Barbarian subtracts 2 from each die on the next roll.

   2. Mountaineer:
      2.1 The Barbarian rolls 1 die instead of two for all HIDE, PEER, and LOCATE rolls when in a clearing of the Cliff, Crag, Ledges or Mountain tiles, or in a mountain clearing of the High Pass.
      2.2 The Barbarian needs only record one move phase to enter a mountain clearing. If the optional weather and seasons rules are used, the Barbarian requires 1 less than is dictated by the season.

Relationships:

   Friendly: Lancers, Bashkars, Rogues
   Unfriendly: Guard, Patrol
   Enemy: Soldiers

---

Designer: Deric Page

Designer's notes:

I created the Barbarian because, while we have a focused cave-delver (the Dwarf) and an excellent woods-stalker (the Woods Girl), the original 16 don't include a mountaineer. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if his combat ability (while formidable) is suited to taking on the generally faster critters that hang out in the mountains. He lacks the heavy armor of the White Knight or the tremendous vulnerability of the Berserker, but he should be able to strike from surprise more often so long as he stays in mountainous terrain (where he gains an advantage in hiding). Also, his axe and fight chits aren't fast enough to undercut many of the mountainous monsters. I don't really expect his armor to last long, but putting him in a suit of armor didn't feel right. I had thought about making him a medium character to justify speeding him up, but it just didn't fit the big powerhouse barbarian stereotype. It'll be interesting to see if my assessment of him is accurate.