6.3 Barbarian

Rank	Battleforged Resilience	Battlerager	Outland Savage	Primal Warrior	Totemist
1	Second wind	Rage	Outlandish weaponry, savage precision	Primal maneuvers	Totem animal
2	Battle-scarred	Amplified anger	Outlandish movement	Augmented maneuvers	Animal instincts
3	Resilient blow	Aggravated violence	Savage rush	Primal maneuvers+	Feral frenzy
4	Primal resilience	Primal brawn	Primal agility	Augmented maneuvers+	Totem animal+
5	Limitless recovery	Insensible rage	Outlandish speed	Primal maneuvers+	Animal ferocity
6	Battle-scarred+	Amplified anger+	Versatile savagery	Augmented maneuvers+	Animal instincts+
7	Unbreakable	Titanic rage	Primal rush	Primal maneuvers+	Totem animal++

Barbarians are primal warriors who fight using raw physical prowess and unfettered emotions. Most barbarians originate from the outskirts of civilization, where the societal constraints of civilization are less present. Of course, becoming a barbarian is no secret rite. The only thing that is required is a willingness to fully experience one’s emotions and channel them into physical betterment. This path evokes ancient memories from a time when physical supremacy was sufficient for victory, before the complexity of organized warfare. Anyone can discover that path for themselves.

Barbarians are famous for their furious battlerage. Anger is one of the easiest emotions to channel into the violence of battle. It is a common starting point for new barbarians. However, any emotion can be used as a source of primal power, as long as it is sufficiently intense.

Barbarians and monks have a curious relationship. Members of both classes place a great importance on physical excellence, and believe that the mind and body must work together to maximize potential. However, a typical monk sees emotions as a tool at best and an obstacle at worst. They value serenity and control over their mind and body. From the perspective of a barbarian, monks completely surrender to civilization’s taming and placating influences, and abandon their primal heritage.

Rangers and druids are natural allies of barbarians, since all three groups prefer to live at the edges of civilization. However, each has different reasons for their preference. Barbarians enjoy the freedom of the frontier. However, they are often too social to live as hermits in the deep wilderness. Druids prefer nature to civilization ideologically, and rangers are best able to fulfill their responsibilities on the frontier.

Alignment: Any.

Archetypes: Barbarians have the Battleforged Resilience, Battlerager, Outland Savage, Primal Warrior, and Totemist archetypes.

6.3.1 Base Class Effects

If you choose barbarian as your base class, you gain the following benefits.

Level	Rank	Durability	Bonus1	Special
1	1	+0	x1	—
2	1	+1	x1	—
3	1	+2	x1	+1 to two attributes
4	2	+2	x2	HP: 2x durability
5	2	+3	x2	—
6	2	+4	x2	Legacy item: rank 3
7	3	+4	x3	HP: 3x durability
8	3	+5	x3	—
9	3	+6	x3	+1 to two attributes
10	4	+6	x4	HP: 4x durability
11	4	+7	x4	—
12	4	+8	x4	Legacy item: rank 5
13	5	+8	x6	HP: 6x durability
14	5	+9	x6	—
15	5	+10	x6	+1 to two attributes
16	6	+10	x8	HP: 8x durability
17	6	+11	x8	—
18	6	+12	x8	Legacy item: ranks 7
19	7	+12	x10	HP: 10x durability
20	7	+13	x10	—
21	7	+14	x10	+1 to two attributes

1. This bonus applies to your accuracy, magical ✨ power, mundane power, trained skills, and defenses.  

Defenses

You gain a +3 bonus to your Brawn, Mental, and Reflex defenses. In addition, you gain a +5 bonus to your Fortitude defense.

Resources

• Attunement points: 3 (see Attunement Points).
• Fatigue tolerance: 3 + your Constitution (see Fatigue).
• Insight points: 1 + your Intelligence (see Insight Points).
• Trained skills: 3 from among your class skills, plus additional trained skills equal to your Intelligence if it is positive (see Skills).

Weapon Proficiencies

You are proficient with simple weapons and all non-exotic weapons.

Armor Proficiencies

You are proficient with light and medium armor.

Starting Items and Equipment

You can start with the following items and equipment:

• Any one of the following: buff leather or leather lamellar
• Any two of the following: club, dagger, broadsword, two handaxes, or spear
• A buckler or standard shield
• A standard adventuring kit (see Standard Adventuring Kit).
• A rank 0 wealth item (1 gp)

Class Skills

You have the following class skills:

• Strength: Climb, Jump, Swim.

• Dexterity: Balance, Flexibility, Ride.

• Constitution: Endurance.

• Intelligence: Medicine.

• Perception: Awareness, Creature Handling, Deception, Persuasion, Survival.

• Other: Intimidate.

6.3.2 Battleforged Resilience

This archetype improves your durability in combat.

Rank 1 – Second Wind

Rank 2 – Battle-Scarred

You gain a +4 bonus to your durability (see Durability). However, you also increase your injury point by 4.

Rank 3 – Resilient Blow

Rank 4 – Primal Resilience

You gain a +1 bonus to your Constitution.

Rank 5 – Limitless Recovery

You can use the recover and second wind abilities any number of times between short rests. In addition, when you use the recover ability, you can also remove a vital wound. When you do, you increase your fatigue level by two.

Rank 6 – Battle-Scarred+

The durability bonus increases to +8, and the injury point bonus increases to 20.

Rank 7 – Unbreakable

Your hit points cannot decrease by more than 100 during each round. This includes hit point loss below 0 hit points. Any excess damage beyond that point does not reduce your hit points, but it does offset any healing you receive during the same round. Attacks with special effects, such as inflicting conditions on you, still treat you as if you lost hit points from the attack.

6.3.3 Battlerager

This archetype grants you a devastating rage, improving your combat prowess.

Rank 1 – Rage

For most barbarians, this represents entering a furious rage. Some barbarians instead enter a joyous battle trance or undergo a partial physical transformation into a more fearsome form.

Rank 2 – Amplified Anger

You gain a +1 bonus to your mundane power. If your Willpower is 3 or higher, you gain an additional +1 bonus.

Rank 3 – Aggravated Violence

Rank 4 – Primal Brawn

You gain a +1 bonus to your Strength.

Rank 5 – Insensible Rage

During your rage ability, you are unaffected by all vital wound effects except for unconsciousness and death. Each vital wound still causes the normal -2 penalty to vital rolls.

Rank 6 – Amplified Anger+

The power bonus increases to +2. If your Willpower is 6 or higher, you gain an additional +1 bonus.

Rank 7 – Titanic Rage

When you use your rage ability, you can grow by one size category, to a maximum of Huge. Increasing your size gives you a +1 bonus to Strength for the purpose of determining your weight limits, a +1 bonus to your Brawn defense, a -1 penalty to your Reflex defense, and a -4 penalty to the Stealth skill. It also increases your base speed (see Size Categories). Since this is a mundane ability, it stacks with other size-increasing effects (see Stacking Rules).

6.3.4 Outland Savage

This archetype improves your mobility and combat prowess with direct, brutal abilities.

Rank 1 – Outlandish Weaponry

You can gain proficiency with exotic weapons at the cost of one insight point per weapon group (see Exotic Weapons). You must already be proficient with all non-exotic weapons from that weapon group.

Rank 1 – Savage Precision

You gain a +1 bonus to your brawling accuracy (see Brawling Accuracy).

Rank 2 – Outlandish Movement

You gain your choice of one of the following benefits:

• Climb: A climb speed 10 feet slower than your base speed.
• Jump: A +10 foot bonus to your maximum horizontal jump distance.
• Swim: A swim speed 10 feet slower than your base speed.

You can invest up to two additional insight points into this ability. For each insight point, you can choose a different one of these benefits.

Rank 3 – Savage Rush

Rank 4 – Primal Agility

You gain a +1 bonus to your Dexterity.

Rank 5 – Outlandish Speed

You gain a +10 foot bonus to your speed.

Rank 6 – Versatile Savagery

Choose one of the following tags: Clinch, Impact, Maneuverable, or Thrown (30/60). You may treat all non-projectile weapons you use as if they had the chosen tag. If you choose the Thrown weapon tag, it does not affect your natural weapons.

Rank 7 – Primal Rush

You can use the sprint ability during the movement phase without increasing your fatigue level. After using this ability, you briefly cannot use it again.

6.3.5 Primal Warrior

This archetype grants you abilities to use in combat and improves your physical skills.

Rank 1 – Primal Maneuvers

You can channel your primal energy into ferocious attacks. You gain access to one of the following combat styles: brute force, dirty fighting , or herald of war. You may spend insight points to gain access to one additional combat style per insight point, including combat styles other than those three. You can only learn primal maneuvers from primal combat styles that you have access to.

You learn two rank 1 primal maneuvers. You may spend insight points to learn one additional maneuver per insight point.

When you gain access to a new rank in this archetype, you can exchange any number of maneuvers you know for other maneuvers, including maneuvers of a higher rank.

Advancement: Some primal maneuvers also increase in power in unique ways based on your rank in this archetype, as indicated in their descriptions.

Rank 2 – Augmented Maneuvers

You gain the ability to customize your primal maneuvers. For each rank 1 primal maneuver you know, choose one augment from the list below and apply it to that maneuver. The augment permanently changes the maneuver, so you can’t use an unaugmented version of the maneuver. However, you can learn the same maneuver more than once and apply different augments to each version.

Augments scale in power with your “excess rank”. Your excess rank with a maneuver is equal to your rank in this archetype minus the rank of the maneuver.

Whenever you increase your rank in this archetype, you can change your augments. However, you must still apply them to rank 1 primal maneuvers.

Finishing Maneuver: You gain an accuracy bonus equal to twice your excess rank against creatures who are injured.

Mighty Maneuver: You take a -1 accuracy penalty, but you deal extra damage equal to twice your excess rank.

Precise Maneuver: You gain an accuracy bonus equal to your excess rank.

Reckless Maneuver: You deal extra damage equal to twice your excess rank. However, you briefly take a -4 penalty to your defenses after you use the maneuver. You can only apply this augment to maneuvers which cause you to make a melee strike.

Widened Maneuver: The area affected by your chosen maneuver doubles. If your excess rank is at least 4, the area triples instead. You can only apply this augment to maneuvers that affect an area.

Rank 3 – Primal Maneuvers+

You gain access to rank 3 primal maneuvers.

Rank 4 – Augmented Maneuvers+

You can also choose an augment for each of your rank 3 primal maneuvers.

Rank 5 – Primal Maneuvers+

You gain access to rank 5 primal maneuvers.

Rank 6 – Augmented Maneuvers+

You can also choose an augment for each of your rank 5 primal maneuvers.

Rank 7 – Primal Maneuvers+

You gain access to rank 7 primal maneuvers.

6.3.6 Totemist

This archetype allows you to embody the spirits of apex predators to improve your combat ability.

Rank 1 – Totem Animal

You choose a totem animal that represents you. Each totem animal grants you abilities that are associated with that animal.

Bear: You add half your Constitution to your mundane power.

Crocodile: Once per round, when you damage a creature with a melee strike, you can use this ability to push it up to 5 feet into unoccupied space. This is a Size-Based ability, so it has no effect on creatures that are two or more size categories larger than you.

Eagle: You gain low-light vision, allowing you to see in dim illumination (see Low-light Vision). In addition, you reduce your longshot penalty by 1 (see Weapon Range Limits).

Lion: You add half your Willpower to your mundane power.

Shark: You gain a +1 accuracy bonus against creatures that are injured.

Rank 2 – Animal Instincts

You gain benefits based on your totem animal:

• Bear: +2 Endurance and +1 to your vital rolls.
• Crocodile: +2 Stealth and you can hold your breath ten times as long as normal (see Endurance).
• Eagle: +2 Awareness and +10 feet to your maximum horizontal jump distance (see Jumping).
• Lion: +2 Intimidate and +10 feet to your speed while you are affected by the sprint ability. This speed bonus is doubled as normal for that ability.
• Shark: +2 Swim and you gain the scent ability (see Tracking).

Rank 3 – Feral Frenzy

At the end of each round, if you attacked a creature other than yourself that round, you gain a frenzy point. Otherwise, you lose a frenzy point. You can have a maximum of 4 frenzy points and a minimum of 0. Frenzy points increase the power of your feral frenzy ability.

Rank 4 – Totem Animal+

The benefit from your totem animal ability improves.

Bear: You add half your Constitution to Climb, Swim, and Strength checks.

Crocodile: When you use this ability, if your strike injures the target, you can also knock it prone (half speed, -2 Armor and Ref) or enter a grapple with it (see Grappling). This is a Size-Based ability.

Eagle: You gain a +1 bonus to your Perception.

Lion: You add half your Willpower to your accuracy with Auditory attacks.

Shark: The accuracy bonus increases to +2.

Rank 5 – Animal Ferocity

You gain a +1 accuracy bonus.

Rank 6 – Animal Instincts+

The benefits based on your totem animal improve:

• Bear: +4 Endurance and +2 to your vital rolls.
• Crocodile: +4 Stealth and you can hold your breath indefinitely, though you cannot rest while holding your breath.
• Eagle: +4 Awareness and +20 feet to your maximum horizontal jump distance.
• Lion: +4 Intimidate and the movement speed bonus applies at all times, not only while sprinting.
• Shark: +4 Swim, +2 Survival, and +2 Awareness.

Rank 7 – Totem Animal++

The benefit from your totem animal ability improves further.

Bear: You gain a +1 bonus to your Constitution.

Crocodile: If your attack hits the target’s Brawn defense, you do not have to injure it to knock it prone or grapple it.

Eagle: The Perception bonus increases to +2.

Lion: You gain a +1 bonus to your Willpower.

Shark: The accuracy bonus increases to +3.