Outlander
Overview
Barbarians are a subcategory of humans with their own unique racials granted them by cultural practices. The term "barbarian" comes from the latin word for "outlander", barbarus, and we have purposefully kept this term to indicate the indigenous tribal civilizations the Thracians encountered as they conquered much of the known world. They are distinct from humans by the usage of tribal marking on their faces. Barbarian cultures are often considered primitive by outsiders, despite having some incredibly sophisticated advancements. All Human cultures have barbaric roots. As the cultures advanced to more agriculture based societies, and villages grew into cities, the Barbarian spirit that once gripped the societies pacified, leaving the Human peoples that occupy various lands today. Most lands still have some remote regions that still live in the traditional lifestyle of their Barbarian ancestry, but there are some entire cultures where the Barbarian spirit never surrendered.
Culture & Customs
Barbarians are not one specific culture, but rather can be members of any tribal culture from around the world, as long as it is placed in the correct analog country. Areas that were never conquered by massive uniting empires like Thracia, Uthmanli, or Shalkara often have a much larger Barbarian populations. The biggest key to the preservation of these cultures is their dedication to their traditions, and limited interaction with outside cultures, either by choice or isolation. Examples of Barbarian cultures within Legacies are:
- Viking
- Native American
- Mongols
- Celts
- Zulu (or other African tribal peoples)
Barbarians live in tribes or clans, occupying steadings or villages numbering usually no more than several hundred, rather than forming large towns and cities. Agriculture typically plays a much smaller role in the society, though livestock and animal husbandry are quite prevalent. Barbarians, regardless of culture, tend to be a very martially oriented society, with a much higher percentage of the society being familiar with the handling of weapons. They tend to be an incredibly honest and forthright people, open in who they are, who they like, and who they don’t like. They also tend to have very strong traditions and sense of community. Regard for cultural outsiders typically ranges from mere disinterest all the way to visceral hatred.
Population Centers
As mentioned before, areas that were never conquered by the big historical empires tend to have more barbarians, which means there are clusters of barbarian countries on the edges of the maps. Most of Southern Meridia is full of various Native American cultures, with some African tribal cultures in Limpopo and Katagonia. Most of Boreas is also a cluster for barbarians, with the exception of Sylvanator and some of the larger cities in Ruslav. Additionally Millmeran is populated largely by Barbarians and mongrels. Otherwise Barbarians are scattered in isolated pockets throughout the world, providing a glimpse into the tribal pasts of humans everywhere.
Racial Trait & Abilities
- Race Trait: Rugged Characters with this Race Trait are hardy, and more resistant to harm.
Races: Barbarian, Dverg. Orc or Half Orc, Optionally Mongrels System: The character’s Maximum Body is increased by 25. Skills such as Toughness and Racial Abilities such as Constitution can be used to further increase Maximum Body. Additionally, should the character need to convert Maximum Body to Vala (See “When Vala is Exhausted” in “Chapter 6: Vala and Spells”) they do so at the improved rate of 15 Body for 10 Vala, instead of 10 Body for 5 Vala.
- Wrath: This Racial Ability puts a character in a controlled rage and grants immunity to most Effects that do not deal damage.
System: The character may use a purchase of this Racial Ability and recite the Signature Call “Wrath” to enter a state of rage for 5 minutes, during which time they reap the following benefits:
- The character receives an additional 200 Resilience while in Wrath. Once the character is no longer under the effects of Wrath they lose these temporary Resilience Points.
- The character, and their equipment, has an Immunity Countermeasure to all Spells from the Confinement and Corruption Spell Schools, Alchemy in the Alchemy Discipline Poisons and the compound Corpus Terra, strikes from the Assassin and Duelist Skill categories that do not deal numeric damage (e.g. Cripple, Stagger, Disarm), Crush Damage from the Racial Ability Strength, and Mind-Altering Effects. (For new players trying to remember what effects they are immune to while in Wrath, a generally accurate metric is that if the weapon attack did not convey a numeric quantity of damage, they are immune, and if the offensive Spell didn’t do a numeric quantity of damage they are immune. This is not a perfect criterion but will likely be good enough while new players become more familiar with the particular abilities they are immune to). For the specific Spell Suppress from Confinement, the character is immune to the Quell Spell Effects delivered by that Spell, rather than the Spell itself.
The player must constantly display the enraged state of their character. If they stop portraying their Wrath, which they may choose to do, the Wrath ends. When the Wrath ends, by duration or by choice, the character is Unconscious and must lie prone on the ground for 5 minutes. During that time they may only use Resistance and Immunity Countermeasures, may perform no conscious actions, and are considered prone for the purposes of Counted Actions. A character may be restored to consciousness via the Alchemy Panacea, the Skill Medic, or any Racial Ability that is a Healing Effect (For Example: Renewal, Recovery, or Regeneration). Characters may consume an additional usage of Wrath while already under its effects to extend the duration by an additional 5 minutes. Doing so also refreshes the Resilience granted by this ability. NOTE: While the character is immune to attacks from the Duelist Skills, they do not have immunity to attacks that are redirected by any of the Redirection Countermeasures within the Duelist Skills unless they would normally be immune to the attack that was redirected.
- Recovery: This Racial Ability enables characters to shake off damage done to them and return to full health.
System: Once per Purchase, while the character is alive, Unconscious, or while Dying (at 0 Body Points) a character may perform a Sixty Count Counted Action while engaged in total rest — standing, sitting, or laying in one spot. At the end of the Sixty Count they must say the Signature Call “Recovery”, at which point their Body Points are fully restored, as are all crippled or destroyed limbs. They are additionally no longer Unconscious. If the character aborts the Sixty Count it is not considered a use of the Racial Ability. If used while Dying the character stops the Dying Sixty Count, however if they abort the use of Recovery they immediately become Dead regardless of where they were in the Sixty Count for Dying. This is considered a Healing Effect.
- Sense Deception: This Racial Ability enables a character to detect when they are being misled by another character.
System: For each purchase of this Racial Ability, when a character with this ability believes someone is being deceptive, they may say the Signature Call “Sense Deception” and the target must respond with either “Deception” if they were lying or otherwise being deceptive or “No Deception” if they were being completely truthful and not trying to hide anything. Sense Deception does not determine the factual accuracy of the statement but rather the intent of the target. If a target believes an answer true, but is incorrect, Sense Deception would reveal that the target was being truthful. If the target answered with something that was a literally true statement, but was intentionally being evasive, the target should respond with “Deception” as they are trying to be disingenuous. When responding to the Sense Deception call, the exchange should be considered Out of Game with regard to other observers, however the player using Sense Deception is aware of the information In Game.
Costuming
Barbarians must have totemic or runic drawings or symbols across their faces.
