So I feel I am misunderstanding the Barbarian class? I can’t see a reason I’d want to play one aside from flavour.
In my mind a barbarian is a damage dealer and a causer of chaos.
Am I looking at the class from the wrong angle. I hope I am because I really like the flavour and especially the fact they can be whatever race they want ( I like orcs. Sue me)
Isn’t the flavor why you’d want to play any DW class? The whole “mechanics” part of the game is a direct support of the flavor of the type of game it wants to be and the specific flavors of each class.
I think they both matter. The thief has some cool moves that are really useful narratively speaking. Like disguise or dirty fighting. I don’t see a whole lot in the barbarian that screams “oh sweet” to me
The DW Barbarian is quite different from the D&D barbarian, I feel. Damage dealer? Certainly it can be. Causer of Chaos? why not! But it’s less about being a berserker, and more about being Conan.
The barbarian has plenty of narrative useful moves. It gets a bonus on the dice for persuing its own drives , but doing so also has a reasonable chance of making things more complicated. Some choices in the class make you a well traveled wanderer, some make you an unstoppable force, some make you an immovable brick, some make you a wily cheater. I think it covers the literary barbarian range pretty well. Half of the barbarian advances are about directing the narrative first and all of the other mechanics second.
Barbarian is a pretty potent class, and they wreak all sort of chaos.
The “roll d8+d6 when pursuing your hunger” move means they are often getting the equivalent of +1 ongoing. And “if the d6 is higher than the d8 there’s fallout” bit generates all sorts of chaos.
Plus, every attack they make is forceful and messy. (Okay, fine, every attack with a weapon, but improvised weapons are still weapons.)
Also, a subtle thing, but a thing I’ve definitely seen: when you play the barbarian, there’s a subtle impetus to go big in your actions and behaviors and descriptions. And there’s a general license from the other players to accept that, yeah, sure you wield a goblin as a flail and sweep aside two or three of his cohorts at a go. Because BARBARIAN.
What Are You Waiting For is surprisingly excellent. It’s like, I had initially overlooked it a bit, then ended up using it EVERY MOMENT.
Herculean Appetites is my favorite move in all of DW. It’s like a mini-adventure generator.
OK in now totally sold on it 😀 . now torn between playing an elf spearman fighter and this though 🙁
Or the idea I had for a guy using a chain as his signature weapon ( huge and versatile)
Go for the barbarian. Huge huge fun.
True but my friend who will be gming HATES “elf bullshit” as he calls it. It would be so satisfying to just dex all over the place as he glares at me