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Rfkannen
2015-12-16, 08:00 PM
The barbarian, a terrifying figure on the battlefield. He goes into a ferocious rage and tears apart the battle field. But what is the origin of the rage? Does he simply get very angry? Is it magic? Psychic? Ki? Is he possessed? How did he learn to rage? What is the rage? What does it do to his mind or apperence?

Yeah, I was thinking about diffrent ways that a barbarian could get their rage. Any ideas? Any cool characters you have had with interesting rages? Character ideas?

Āmesang
2015-12-16, 08:04 PM
He goes into a rage whenever his bard cohort plays "Pop Goes the Weasel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_Drunks)."

(It worked for Goku in Dragon Ball! Remember what Freeze said after he killed Krillin?)

veti
2015-12-16, 09:43 PM
Whatever it is, it's most emphatically not magic, or psychic, or ki. The whole point of barbarians is that they treat all those things with varying degrees of suspicion and contempt.

Rage is about tapping into your most natural, primal emotions. Formal training and mental discipline should actually reduce your capacity to rage effectively. That's why you don't get a lot of barbarian/monks, even though the two classes should have pretty good synergy.

holywhippet
2015-12-16, 10:42 PM
I was thinking it could be something they eat. Maybe the meat of some animal or a particular type of mushroom. Something that unlocks the potential within them to get a huge surge of adrenaline and a berserk fury. Possibly they need to keep eating it regularly to access the ability.

If you want a more mystical answer maybe they go on a vision quest to find a spirit animal who infuses them during a fight and lets them fight with the fury of that animal.

Aldrakan
2015-12-16, 10:57 PM
I don't see why it couldn't be magic, it would simply have to be accessed in a different way.

Maybe the shamans of the tribe call up spirits of beasts or rage and bind them within their best warriors. The spirit would try to control him and he would have to hold it back until battle began. It could warp his body to suit itself, growing claws or fangs.

Some depictions of berserkers describe them as being in a sort of violent trance, which could be compatible with psychic or ki - they're not actually angry, they've simply shut down all brain functions not connected with killing everything around them.

Drugs. Lots of drugs. Alcohol, suspicious mushrooms, red pills... Terror on the battlefield, barely functional when they're not hopped up. Veins popping out, muscles looking like they're about to burst out of the skin and so on.

Someone kicked their puppy when they were little, and every time they think about it they just get so mad, you know?

Blessing/descent/infection by something powerful - tribe's god gave them power, descended from giants or just a little dragon blood, tribe cursed by a demon etc. Appropriate visuals; aura of light, eyes go reptilian, grow horns- this might be better for a bloodrager (PF).

Madbox
2015-12-16, 11:45 PM
I have a barbarian character (5e) who is mentally unstable due to head injuries sustained in his past. This makes him prone to fits of irrational anger. I play it as more of a tragic backstory than the usual chaotic stupid that would imply. His behavior keeps him from being promoted in his guild, so he adventures to try to prove his worth in the hopes that if he can do something impressive enough, he can finally be granted the title of master.

CharonsHelper
2015-12-16, 11:49 PM
To blatantly steal from the Dresden series - you could argue that they are always linked to a planar being of ferocity - when they 'rage' - they're just tapping into the power of spirit which they're always linked to in a more primal way than they usually do.

Fable Wright
2015-12-17, 12:07 AM
In terms of origins, I prefer the origin of the rage to be a bit more nebulous. It might be pent-up emotions. It might be the runes painted on his skin. It might be drugs in the war-paint. It might be channeling the spiritual archetype of the berserker, or it might just be cultural beliefs that the warrior holds. It's probably a bit of all them. But to me, the coolest origins are the ones never clearly defined. Focus on what the rage itself is like, not where it comes from, you know?

Mongobear
2015-12-17, 12:28 AM
A short except from my characters 17 page (yeah... I went a little overboard) backstory that I always envision is a good starting point for why I am so easily able to enter a Rage.

...What my eyes finally settled upon was not what I was expected to see. I didn't see the shapes of the homes and hovels of my people. I didn't see the cookfires of my neighbors, or the great braziers of our feasting hall. I didn't even see the small forms of children playing along the river and in the nearby trees, pretending to battle one-another with wooden swords and tiny shields. I didn't see the outline of my fathers great keep atop the large central hill of the valley below. What my eyes came upon was nothing but death and fire, something had attacked the village earlier in the day while I was away on my errand, and wiped out the very existence of my village and the people along with it.
All of the homes were demolished and burnt to the ground, barely a stick standing where they once stood. There were lifeless forms scattered all throughout the pathways between homes and fields, some barely more than charred skeletons, others mutilated beyond recognition. Our crops and food stores were razed to the earth, stamped out, and burnt--whoever did this didn't even attack my people for food. Even the great trees that had stood in our village for centuries were uprooted and burnt away. My fathers keep, the largest and most protected building in the village, was half demolished and inflames, surely about to collapse any moment. Not truly accepting what I was seeing, I rushed down the hillside to the villages edge, this had to be some kind of trick or a spell erected by our shamans as punishment for what I had done earlier. As I reached the first few burnt out homes, I realized this was all real, and I was watching the final bits of my life burning down around me, never to be recovered...

Just thinking back to this moment and how it would make someone feel, instead of sadness and pain, something inside of my broke and I channeled it all towards an intense hatred of whatever it was that did all of this.

Edit: For context incase anyone is curious, my character is pretty much combination of Conan the Barbarian and Thor, he has every one of their faults as a character--Pride, Rage, and Arrogance; along with a destiny similar to Aragorn he is the last of his family-line, and carries a shattered sword that was his Father's. Its not as powerful as Narsil, but it is rather important to the story, reforging quest and whatnot.

Kane0
2015-12-17, 12:33 AM
- Focus: The barbarian goes into something that can be described akin to a battle trance, shutting out all external factors as the battle wages around him.

- Spirits: The barbarian forges or draws upon an internal link to the forces of nature, a totem animal or some other entity allowing him to become a nigh unstoppable warrior

- Stimulants: The barbarian quickly partakes in some sort of substance that pushes his body into overdrive while at the same time shutting down significant portions of his mind.

- Frenzy: The enticing sight, sound, feel of battle sends the barbarian into a bloodlust to match those around him, and even if removed from that environment continues to do so in similar situations out of acquired habit.

- Rage: The barbarian uses some past tragety, trauma or other strong emotion to willingly throw himself into a rage, using it to his advantage to crush those in his way.

- Compulsion: Cursed or affected by some external factor, the barbarian cannot help but assume this state in combat. He often feels helpless as his body acts seemingly against his whim.

- Apathy/Deathwish: The barbarian simply does not care about getting hurt or even killed. As dangerous as a man with nothing to lose, he pushes into the thick of combat focused only on dealing as much damage as possible before he eventually succumbs to the sweet embrace of death.

Mongobear
2015-12-17, 12:41 AM
- Focus: The barbarian goes into something that can be described akin to a battle trance, shutting out all external factors as the battle wages around him.

- Spirits: The barbarian forges or draws upon an internal link to the forces of nature, a totem animal or some other entity allowing him to become a nigh unstoppable warrior

- Stimulants: The barbarian quickly partakes in some sort of substance that pushes his body into overdrive while at the same time shutting down significant portions of his mind.

- Frenzy: The enticing sight, sound, feel of battle sends the barbarian into a bloodlust to match those around him, and even if removed from that environment continues to do so in similar situations out of acquired habit.

- Rage: The barbarian uses some past tragety, trauma or other strong emotion to willingly throw himself into a rage, using it to his advantage to crush those in his way.

- Compulsion: Cursed or affected by some external factor, the barbarian cannot help but assume this state in combat. He often feels helpless as his body acts seemingly against his whim.

- Apathy/Deathwish: The barbarian simply does not care about getting hurt or even killed. As dangerous as a man with nothing to lose, he pushes into the thick of combat focused only on dealing as much damage as possible before he eventually succumbs to the sweet embrace of death.

Going by these examples, my personal favorite is a combination of Rage and Apathy/Deathwish. I am quite literally using those exact reasons whenever I do some of the things that I do in my current game, and have yet to be disappointed in the results.

Esprit15
2015-12-17, 12:58 AM
I tend toward treating it as the same thing every time, whether it's just a character inspired by the class, or a character who is a barbarian. Rage isn't about magic, potions, trances, chi, or any sort of mysticism. Rage is a very primal emotion, stemming from the most basic need of any creature, human, orc, lion, or fish: I want to live. A barbarian will push their body to its breaking point to make sure that the job is done. Rage isn't anger, I will point out, though it can be fed by it. The soldier who fights off dozens of men while dying would likely be a prime example of rage fueled by anger (though this is not always true). However, there is also the example of a mother who hefts a car that would make a strongman strain, to make sure her child is okay. Rage can be just as easily fueled by concern and love for another.

A barbarian is someone who is very familiar with that feeling from brushes with death in the past, or is otherwise quite aware of their own mortality, and accepts that fact. At least as I have played them, a barbarian's line to live by would be "Not today, and if today, after you." A barbarian doesn't gain bonus health like most other creatures that enter a similar state, because everything they do still puts an enormous strain on their body, possibly beyond what it could handle at any time other than rage. Rage puts aside petty things like "fear of death" or "pain" or "necessity of internal organs" and focuses on more important things, like "My insides are outside? I'll show you insides on the outside!"

When I play a barbarian or a similar character, I play them as a normal person, with that one thing that flips a switch in their head. Normally, due to the nature of games, it tends to be personal connection to one of the party members (one of mine adventures with her more fragile, half elf sister), but depending on the context, other attachments work too.

Dexam
2015-12-17, 02:37 AM
One of my favourite literary examples of rage is Regnak (a.k.a. Rek) from Legend, by David Gemmell. The source of his rage is fear - the man is pretty much a complete coward, but when forced into combat he goes completely berserk, attacking with little to no concern for his own safety.

Brother Oni
2015-12-17, 03:11 AM
My favourite one is from Record of Lodoss War, where the berserker character is completely calm and unemotional (to the point where illusions/mind affecting spells have limited effect), until he gets into combat where a spirit of war and anger possesses him and he rages out, much like a loa riding a voudon.

You could change it a bit and up the spirit to a god, thus giving a divine source for their rage. In the words of a song: 'Anger is a gift'. :smalltongue:

LibraryOgre
2015-12-17, 03:38 PM
He is secretly a polymorphed experimental rodent who cannot overcome his upbringing in captivity.

Douche
2015-12-17, 04:09 PM
I sorta like the idea of Barbarian rage being a cultural thing. They live out in the fringes of civilization - in the frozen wastes of the north, or the depths of untamed jungles - where life and the environment is harsh. They don't have the privilege to fight like some dandy-boy fencer, because every day is a desperate fight for survival.

It can also be ancestral as well as cultural. They grew up hearing the oral history of great heroes that came before them (Beowulf, Bul-Kathos, Hercules, every Norse myth in general) who kept fighting with the pure force of will and saved their people. Alternatively, their tribe/clan idealizes the strength of predators of the forest/animal spirits/etc (wolf,bear,eagle). Either way, their ties to the land and ancestors give them the primal fury that they use in combat.

I dunno, I just don't like the whole emo "I can't control my emotions!", that doesn't sound very manly. That fits more with the witch from Left 4 Dead, crying in the corner til someone bothers her. I prefer them to be as swift as a coursing river, with all the force of a great typhoon, with all the strength of a raging fire, mysterious as the dark side of the moon. I don't picture a barbarian being a whiny baby who gets upset and throws a tantrum. Raging should be channeling the ideals he was raised with; protecting those he cares for, proving his worth and his place among the legendary warriors he was raised on, destroying anything that would threaten what he loves.

Kane0
2015-12-17, 04:10 PM
He is secretly a polymorphed experimental rodent who cannot overcome his upbringing in captivity.

Even better with a bard present.

Spiryt
2015-12-17, 05:11 PM
Well, If I remember correctly, actual historically recorded 'bersekr' were some kind of very nasty thugs, who used their battle proves and general insane carelessness to scourge the more 'civilized' ares.

Provoke men to fights they couldn't refuse without dishonor, to take their belongings, leave to avoid any justice and generally wreak havoc.

In a way it would depict rage as losing of all complicated social boundaries, and acting in somehow simpleminded way of 'I want'.

This would be connected to becoming a bit more like a bear, a wolf etc. indeed - biting, tearing trough stuff, enduring elements, pain, mutilation to the end and to the limit.

"Power and dominion are taken by the will"

Flickerdart
2015-12-17, 05:40 PM
He goes into a rage whenever his bard cohort plays "Pop Goes the Weasel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_Drunks)."

(It worked for Goku in Dragon Ball! Remember what Freeze said after he killed Krillin?)
That's not a fair analogy at all - Krillin dies way more often than people have played Pop Goes the Weasel.

GAZ
2015-12-17, 06:35 PM
He is secretly a polymorphed experimental rodent who cannot overcome his upbringing in captivity.

But at least he'd get to ride a landshark as an epic flying mount. You know, a bullette with butterfly wings.

KellKheraptis
2015-12-30, 04:15 PM
The historical counterpart to Rage is berserkergang, which WAS a battle trance, not dissimilar from 'muga' from Japanese martial arts, or every art focused on 'finding your center/meditation'. The idea from a medical perspective is achieving conscious control of your adrenaline - and eventually being able to trigger it at a moment's notice. As a student of the martial arts for over 20 years, and an Ulfhednar, I can speak with some degree of experience on the matter (and while magic/psionics can/could certainly muck with it, as it can all things, it is definitely not needed from a real-world example perspective).

Gastronomie
2015-12-30, 07:10 PM
The historical counterpart to Rage is berserkergang, which WAS a battle trance, not dissimilar from 'muga' from Japanese martial arts

Sorry for going off-topic, but "Berserking" and "Muga" are completely different aspects, mind you.
Mainly because, while "Muga" certainly is a form of meditation, it isn't something you really use in battle. Hell, Japanese martial arts eventually comes down to the arts of "not even starting the fight".

"Muga" is, by definition, a state in which you feel yourself already faded away, blended into the world itself and completely undistinguishable.
It's originally a word derived from Buddhism.

When you reach the state of "Muga", you pretty much "stop" fighting someone else. This does not mean becoming powerless - it means that you've completely mastered your moves and techniques to the point where your victory is confirmed before the fight even begins. Which effectively makes fighting "meaningless".
Thus, they don't fight.

Japanese martial arts were completed in the Edo period, which was an era of peace. Only once did war take place within the period that lasted over two hundred years (save for the constant chaos in the Bakumatsu period, after the American Navy invaded Japan and the shogunate started to collapse).
The people of the Edo period - including Samurai - didn't consider "fighting to kill" to be the ideal solution. They tried to settle matters through peaceful means. Of course they still had katanas and trained to become master swordsmen, but that was to protect the law and and the order of the society. Otherwise, if a samurai killed someone without a good reason, chances were he'd get beheaded too, possibly with his whole family now robbed of the class privileges (quite contrary to how samurai are often depicted in most European/American stories).

tl;dr: The state of "muga" is in no way a berserker-mode. In fact it's totally the opposite.

OT: I think the 5e Player's Handbook has them written, but I dunno about other versions.
If it's the Berserker, I suggest you take a look at Guts from the manga "Berserk", because that's essentially what the whole class is. Because if you read it you'll understand that "I AM VERY ANGRY" can be really enough to make someone super-human (yes, Guts has some other reasons too, but still).
And the Totem Warrior has in its description that the power of the animal totem spirits give them the power of the wild.

Faily
2015-12-30, 07:25 PM
Educational viewing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBUGQkpk3RE).

Āmesang
2015-12-30, 08:38 PM
"My love for you is like a truck; BERSERKER!!"

Also the concept of "Muga" is kind of reminding me of "Musō Tensei (http://hokuto.wikia.com/wiki/Muso_Tensei)" from Fist of the North Star.

KorvinStarmast
2015-12-30, 08:51 PM
What are some cool origins of a barbarian's rage?
hemorrhoids

On a more serious note, did any of you play football and get "up" for the game, or the opening kickoff?

Rage is that same hyper "up" state. You turn it on. You harness it. It doesn't need any more source than that.

Some of the explanations offered in this thread ... :smallyuk:

Brother Oni
2015-12-31, 06:24 AM
Otherwise, if a samurai killed someone without a good reason, chances were he'd get beheaded too, possibly with his whole family now robbed of the class privileges (quite contrary to how samurai are often depicted in most European/American stories).


Except as shown by kirisute gomen, the reason can be very flimsy or entirely manufactured.

AcerbicOrb
2015-12-31, 07:34 AM
Drunk rage can be fun. I once roleplayed a barbarian who carried around a flash of unspecified liquor. Whenever a fight stared, he would drink it all and then dive into battle, drunk out of his mind.

Socratov
2015-12-31, 10:06 AM
At the risk of inducing frozen related trauma, it's all about letting go.

letting go of limitations
letting go of thoughts
letting go of this thin veneer called civilisation
letting go of cares, hopes, dreams
letting go of holding back
letting go of control

there is only now and now is the time for that bastard to die horribly, suddenly, violently, messily and all over the place.

Gastronomie
2015-12-31, 10:08 AM
Except as shown by kirisute gomen, the reason can be very flimsy or entirely manufactured.

No, really guys, stop it with this "kirisute gomen" nonsense because it isn't what you're thinking. Suck it orientalism.

Look up friggin' Wikipedia guise:

Because the right was defined as a part of self defense, the strike had to follow immediately after the offense, meaning that the striker could not attack someone for a past grievance. Also, due to the right being self-defense, it was not permissible to deliver a further coup de grāce. Moreover, the samurai who exercised the right had to prove the correctness of his action in court by producing a witness. Punishment for the incorrect exercise of this right was severe. An offender could be beheaded without being allowed to perform seppuku and have his house abolished, meaning that none of his sons could succeed the title. Due to the seriousness of the punishment, many performed seppuku to pre-empt the verdict. A samurai visiting a different feudal province had to be extremely careful, especially if it was in Edo, the seat of the Shogun. Wrongful executions of commoners from different feudal provinces were seen as an offense against a feudal state. It was thus advisable for samurai visiting different provinces to be accompanied by a servant, so as to provide witness.

Apart from this, the Japanese wikia states:
-Kiri-sute gomen was viewed as the ultimate form of legitimate self-defense, and thus, while it included the right to "slash at someone once", it did NOT include the right to "kill him on the spot" (English wiki states it was the right to kill, but that's sorta bad translation there 'cause it says nothing like that in the Japanese wiki.)
-After the act, the samurai had to immediately go to the local office and tell the officials that he commited it
-After the act, regardless of all situations, the samurai had to stay in his house for twenty days (or more) to compensate for the fact he used his katana against a commoner
-The office temporally confisticated the samurai's katana and other items related to the case, in order to judge whether the act was rightful or not
-Cases in which the samurai was considered "unguilty" were extremely rare

Yes, I know Wikipedia isn't your best source, but I also know it's a better source than random TV shows or some assumptions based on orientalism.
So, basically, you've got it all wrong.

Honestly, the more you learn Japanese history, the more you realize most of what guys in other countries think about these SAMURAI!!! and NINJA!!! are totally different from those in the real world.

Socratov
2015-12-31, 10:13 AM
snip

Honestly, the more you learn Japanese history, the more you realize most of what guys in other countries think about these SAMURAI!!! and NINJA!!! are totally different from those in the real world.

The exact same goes for vikings. they were, as a society, in some ways much more advanced in acceptance of LGBT+ issues, among other things. Yet they can't shed the sterotype of dumb angry brute with horned helm.

Gastronomie
2015-12-31, 10:24 AM
The exact same goes for vikings. they were, as a society, in some ways much more advanced in acceptance of LGBT+ issues, among other things. Yet they can't shed the sterotype of dumb angry brute with horned helm.

I think it's just that the average medieval European was pretty much worst-in-the-entire-universe-level behind with these "LGBT+ issues" due to some random dumb religion. Most countries were perfectly fine with gays and bis. (In Japan's case, almost all Japanese aristocrats in the Heian period were bisexual. And so were most warlords in the Sengoku era. The number of bisexuals decreased in the Edo period, but they never really got tortured or killed or anything, at least as far as I know.)

I'm more concerned with the fact vikings bathed about fifty times more than the average European (once a week with Vikings, once an year with Europeans).

Socratov
2015-12-31, 10:44 AM
I think it's just that the average medieval European was pretty much worst-in-the-entire-universe-level behind with these "LGBT+ issues" due to some random dumb religion. Most countries were perfectly fine with gays and bis. (In Japan's case, almost all Japanese aristocrats in the Heian period were bisexual. And so were most warlords in the Sengoku era. The number of bisexuals decreased in the Edo period, but they never really got tortured or killed or anything, at least as far as I know.)
well, TIL...

I'm more concerned with the fact vikings bathed about fifty times more than the average European (once a week with Vikings, once an year with Europeans).
Also a very valid point. the fact tha they had a rather elegant constinutional rulership brings it home for me...

Spiryt
2015-12-31, 11:38 AM
I'm more concerned with the fact vikings bathed about fifty times more than the average European (once a week with Vikings, once an year with Europeans).





The exact same goes for vikings. they were, as a society, in some ways much more advanced in acceptance of LGBT+ issues, among other things. Yet they can't shed the sterotype of dumb angry brute with horned helm.



:smallconfused:
Where are guys taking this from?

While katana and longbow and so on mythologies are slowly going down, Viking ones seem to be going strong...

Europeans from Italy to Russia had pretty similarly rich vocabulary about washing and swimming, and sanitary structures dependent on their general material cultures.

Simple sauna from some rocks and moss sealed room to Roman thermes.

Medieval guilds had been issuing plenty of laws demanding their members to bath regularly. And funding bathing for poorest townsfolk who couldn't afford it.

http://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2137&context=dissertations_1

Page 223 of this PDF.

You can just Google 'Badegeld' for some info.



And Icelandic laws pretty clearly state that man being 'buggered' or behaving womanly loses drengskapr or honor. And man being accused of such signs of passiveness and weakness has all the right to kill the accuser in retaliation.


In other words, 'Vikings' weren't very different from vast majority of other Indo Europeans as far as their traditions about manhood etc.

Socratov
2016-01-01, 08:32 AM
:smallconfused:
Where are guys taking this from?

While katana and longbow and so on mythologies are slowly going down, Viking ones seem to be going strong...

Europeans from Italy to Russia had pretty similarly rich vocabulary about washing and swimming, and sanitary structures dependent on their general material cultures.

Simple sauna from some rocks and moss sealed room to Roman thermes.

Medieval guilds had been issuing plenty of laws demanding their members to bath regularly. And funding bathing for poorest townsfolk who couldn't afford it.

http://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2137&context=dissertations_1

Page 223 of this PDF.

You can just Google 'Badegeld' for some info.



And Icelandic laws pretty clearly state that man being 'buggered' or behaving womanly loses drengskapr or honor. And man being accused of such signs of passiveness and weakness has all the right to kill the accuser in retaliation.


In other words, 'Vikings' weren't very different from vast majority of other Indo Europeans as far as their traditions about manhood etc.

Except that transgenderism was recognised and if you were born a woman, but proved yourself as good as any man then you had the right to participate as a man. The fact that they had a rape law that recognised touching the arm as worse then touching the crotch (the latter infers a previous engangement, the former a previous rejection) makes you think that they were absolutely nothing like what myth makes then out to be: stinking, horned helmets wearing savages.

Kane0
2016-01-01, 03:21 PM
I imagine reading this thread would be a suitable means to end up in a rage for a barbarian also.

Drakeburn
2016-01-01, 03:32 PM
I'm surprised nobody mentioned Heracles, because he had gotten rage from Hera that drove him to kill his own wife and children.

Now that would definitely make an interesting character background for a barbarian right there.

DiscipleofBob
2016-01-02, 10:00 AM
I've had two chances to play a 5e barbarian, with vastly different sources of rage.

The first was a ronin wandering samurai type who used it as a battle meditation, basically invoking anime tropes in order to shrug off what should have been lethal damage and do lethal sword strikes.

The second was a minotaur who actually defied most of the monster and barbarian stereotypes by being cool-headed, intelligent, and peaceful. He raged as a necessity to survive dangerous encounters. His source? Two annoying dwarves whose antics were a constant source of frustration in the party, and a series of NPC's and setting elements that were designed to be as infuriatingly annoyig to deal with as possible. Any time he needed to rage, he would just go back and remember the latest terrible thing or humiliation he'd suffered, and then take all that rage and focus it on whoever he's fighting.

Brother Oni
2016-01-02, 11:07 AM
No, really guys, stop it with this "kirisute gomen" nonsense because it isn't what you're thinking. Suck it orientalism.

The Namamugi Incident, where accidental disrespect was shown towards a daimyo by British merchants, resulting in the death of one British national and severe injuries to a further two, seems to be a textbook case. It later resulted in the Anglo-Satsuma War and the bombardment of Kagoshima by British warships in retaliation.

There's also bureiuchi, or 'killing for rudeness' which is where the samurai travelling with a servant to provide a witness for the rudeness. I heard an unsourced story where a samurai challenged a peasant for this and in the interests of fairness, lent the peasant his sword for the duel. The peasant then stole and ran away with the sword, resulting in the exile of the samurai from his family until he completed his vengeance (possibly even a katakiuchi; as I said, there's frustrating little detail on the story) on the thief and his entire family a year later.

This is all Edo period though - prior to the sword hunts, peasants were typically armed, so samurai trying to exercise either right (bureiuchi or kirisute gomen) could bite off more than they can chew.

I can find more cases if you like.

M Placeholder
2016-01-02, 11:36 AM
I've got a campaign going in the Unapproachable East, and one of the nations that comprises that section of Toril is the nation of Rashemen. Its based on Slavic and Turkic myths, and its implied that the entire land is sentient. Pretty much everything there has a spirit guarding it, and its a harsh land, but one of the most beautiful of the Realms. Its also the homeland of Minsk, and Gann of Dreams.

The nation has no army, just lodges of berserkers who can enter battle rage. I'm unsure of its origins, but the Jhuild firewine gives a large boost to strength, and I subscribe to the notion that because Rashemen is so harsh and has a pretty nasty neighbour to the south (Thay), combined with the spirits that help to protect their lands, is why Rashemi are so good at going beserk.

One of the NPCs in my campaign (A Rashemi Wolf Lodge berserker) stated that there was once a farmer that was gathering wood for the winter in a forest, and wanted to make sure that her family were warm. She was attacked by a troll, and just as it seemed bleak, a telthor showed her how to dig deep and she was able to chase off the troll.

She set up the first Ice Troll lodge when the snows melted.

Itsjustsoup.com
2016-01-08, 03:20 PM
Blood or ancestry to a powerful being? A tribe wh'os blood is mixed with wayward (not fallen) angels, and responds with diefic might to outrage? Or responds in kind to threats to prepare for the sacrifice that battle calls for and to meet the enemy with the only thing they understand, force?

Rfkannen
2016-01-11, 08:50 PM
I'm more concerned with the fact vikings bathed about fifty times more than the average European (once a week with Vikings, once an year with Europeans).


I love the fact that vikeing were obsessed with hygene and similar stuff.

There were some priests that said that women were sinful because they were attracted to vikeings, with there combed hair, not smelling like poop and having skin that wasn't coated in dirt.

Vikeings braided there hair very often, they wanted to look good should they die in battle and have to go to valhala.

I always thought that would be a fun character to play, a super vikeing barbarian character, who keeps to old truths and does his hair before every battle and makes sure to bath himself every day.

Raimun
2016-01-11, 10:00 PM
Have you ever stubbed your toe on some table leg, corner or doorway?

You have?

Now you know the origins of barbarian rage.

Murmaider
2016-01-13, 04:27 AM
Have you ever stubbed your toe on some table leg, corner or doorway?

You have?

Now you know the origins of barbarian rage.

I thought that was just the Frenzied Berserker prestige class:smalltongue:

StealthyRobot
2016-01-13, 10:35 AM
Popeye. That guy is totally a barbarian.

Argo
2016-01-13, 12:45 PM
Actual source of Barbarian's Rage: The body is flooded with Adrenalin due to the triggering of the Fight or Flight response by the presence of a potentially deadly encounter.

The fun part is figuring out what the Barbarian THINKS the source is.


The Spirits of his fallen Ancestors, great warriors all, possess him in the heat of battle
His sword, axe, hammer, etc. was forged in the same fire that forges all the weapons of his clan, and when in a fight he can give himself over to the Flame of the Forge to destroy his enemies
The Gods themselves see fit to use him as their instrument in the world to destroy monsters and wicked men
Some form of minor lycanthropy is in the blood of his line. His father was Ulmdar the Wolf, and his grandfather was Helmgrad the Bear. This powerful bloodline means he will not be defeated in battle by any mere mortal.



Just a few ideas.

Cluedrew
2016-01-13, 06:44 PM
I think the problem is, if it is something as simple as an adrenalin rush, why doesn't every character get it? I feel that second wind would be a better representation of adrenalin than rage.

So I would rather go with the "pretend" solutions than the real one. Even if it doesn't quite make sense it our world the internal constancy is better.

Raimun
2016-01-14, 04:30 AM
I thought that was just the Frenzied Berserker prestige class:smalltongue:

No, the Prerequisite for that Prestige Class is actually hitting the nerve of your elbow joint on something suitably pointy.

Spiryt
2016-01-14, 04:57 AM
I think the problem is, if it is something as simple as an adrenalin rush, why doesn't every character get it?

Well, people are usually different hormonally, and individual reaction to hormones actually vary ever more greatly.

So this is actually fairly easy to answer.

goto124
2016-01-14, 06:23 AM
No, the Prerequisite for that Prestige Class is actually hitting the nerve of your elbow joint on something suitably pointy.

I think it's called the funny bone.

Funny stuff there, since it's actually a nerve. I think?