Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game Discussion Thread

[tbone]

Originally Posted by Kromm

Nothing says a barbarian can't do that!

I like that DF/DFRPG barbarians are free to wear all the armor they want (none of that "Your class can't can't wear armor because... because" nonsense). There's nothing wrong with the concept of a heavily-armored barbarian warrior. (DFRPG, to its credit, doesn't try to pretend otherwise; Exploits p88 notes armor as a good reward for the profession.)

Even the DF SM+1 barbarian is hardly forbidden from wearing armor; yes, his armor weighs twice as much, but he can schlep nearly 3x what a normal person can (and x1.5 what the knight can, so even relative to Mr Tin Can, he's never been horribly hampered in armor capabilities).

On top of that, even the DF barbarian has always come with the option of enjoying normal armor weights: just build an SM 0 version.

All that said, I like DF's built-in disincentive for piling armor into the stock big barbarian. For those of us who'd like to nudge DFRPG's barbarians toward that same look... hmm, your discussion of cost and cash is a help – though, as you note, that's a matter of starting wealth. After enough treasure hauls, even the barbarians are going to be able to afford all the normal armor they want. (Then again, even DF's big barbarians eventually become able to purchase all the armor they want, so it's not some new thing unique to DFRPG...)

That's where knights' Armor Mastery makes a difference, as you note. Though I'd been wondering whether there should be some corresponding "unarmored mastery" to further buff barbarians in the buff: say, cheap Enhanced Dodge or extra-cheap Tough Skin that only work in the absence of armor. But those sound... forced. Meh. Hmm, maybe an advantage (probably a cousin to Berserk) that lets barbarians fight with more focused fury when wounded (something armor would prevent)? That'd be more interesting, though I haven't tried to work it out...

For now, I have no nifty ideas for keeping SM 0, ST 17 warriors away from full, heavy armor. Let's just see how it goes with DFRPG. Maybe its barbarians will tend to stay lightly armored the way we like 'em, thanks to 1) the cost issue, 2) good non-armor protection (HP, Tough Skin), 3) the benefit of keeping Climbing, Stealth, and Swimming high (a good point!), and 4) plain ol' "But I want to play a bare-chested Conan type!"