Barbarian Buff (x-post from Pub Thread)

[Ork]

Barbarian is the only pure class I can think of that is significantly less appealing than any others. I like the idea of resembling tenser's transformation on rage. It always confused me how they got Strength & not AB. Dex-Barbarians could become attractive if it was +AB as well (whirling dervish anyone?). Instead of +4 Str/+4 Con on Rage, switch it to +2 AB +2 DMG +2/level temp HP. That way we don't get the nasty Rage Death associated with Con loss. Keep the -2 AC.

At Greater Rage, it becomes +3 AB +3 DMG +3/level temp HP. Getting the Mighty Rage feat becomes useful then as it makes rage become +4 AB +4 DMG +4/level temp HP. That way, Barbarians can fully invest in their main melee stat (Str or Dex) and not get penalized because the +12 stat cap.

With this suggestion, they would receive 46 AB. A much more modest, and still high AB for Arelith. A pure fighter of the same level would receive 44 AB without the HP increase or rage/day so they are pretty comparable while still retaining their unique flavors.

[Mithreas]

I won't deny that barbarians could use some love.

That said, barbarians vs fighters is strength and toughness vs skill. So AB and AC (hitting and not being hit) are fighter competencies, while barbarians focus on doing a lot of damage when they hit and being able to take hits. I'm not going to give barbarians AB boosts, therefore.

Switching the CON bonus to temp HP is probably a good call, though. If I ever make regeneration an option on the server (it's not currently for lag related reasons, but we may have more freedom there now) then barbarians are the class that would get it.