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Barbarian

2026-10-17T01:06:28Z

185.100.87.166: Howard's writing deserves more a spot on this page than a generic reference. Undo revision 1018637 by 192.42.116.105 (talk)

[[File:barbarian.jpg|thumb|right|380px|A modern day barbarian activating his Rage (cum gutters optional).]]{{Topquote|"Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet."|Robert E. Howard: The Phoenix on the Sword}}

{{Topquote|Barbaric rage and unrelenting savagery make for a powerful ally.|[[Darkest Dungeon|The Ancestor]]}}

Barbarian characters have been a staple of fantasy at least since [[Conan the Barbarian]] (ie. since the beginning) as "noble savages" (to a varying degree of "noble") who impress with their might and courage. Today, barbarians in fantasy retain this image of a savage warrior, clad in simple or primitive clothing that rely more on brute strength and chaotic violence than any precise fighting style or cunning. Seriously, when was the last time you saw a barbarian with more than 10 [[INT]] in D&D ? Derp.

The term "barbarian" comes from the ancient Greek ''βαρβαροί'' or "Barbaroi," and is used to designate an uncivilised person or a person of an inferior culture. In reality, practically all foreigners or those who did not speak Greek (as prior to the age of exploration, nationality was actually determined by language rather than skin tone) were deemed to be "barbaros" and sometimes the term was used even for Greeks from other states. In fact the root word was "barbarbar," an otomotopea for someone babbling in a language you didn't understand. Later on, the term was picked up by the Romans and used to designate anyone who could beat them reliably in a fight and wasn't a rival empire or another Roman army; it is particularly associated with the migrating tribes that ultimately conquered them during the dark ages and after that it referred to Goths and Vikings more specifically. In the pre-modern [[China|Chinese]] view of the world, there was the "Middle Kingdom" (China itself), the center of human civilization which was surrounded by Barbarians which got more barbaric the further away you got from China, though they actually had four different words for barbarians depending on which cardinal direction they came from relative to China and sometimes consign them to a different noun later.

Barbarians are usually the subjects of the best fantasy movies. ''Conan the Barbarian'' and ''The Barbarians'', as well as ''Fire and Ice'', are excellent examples of awesome, cheesiness, and awesomeness and gayness, respectively.

==13th Age==
In [[13th Age]], Barbarians are considered the "easiest" class (the CRB classes are lined up from easiest to play to hardest, Barbarians are 1st). This is unfortunate for Barbarians as the consensus is that the simplified classes generally suffer in the gameplay department, and Barbarians get the worst of it. Their role remains just "get angry and smack things", but their ability to do so is sadly limited.

Barbarians can Rage, which is a Daily effect they can perform as a Quick Action, when attacking they Roll 2d20 when making attack rolls and take the higher die, but if both die are 11+, they crit, after Raging, you have to make a Con roll of 16+ to keep it. This isn't always the easiest to reach, though the feat chain tied to rage allows the class to instantly rage once the escalation die reaches a certain turn.

Talent wise Barbarians are one of the few classes that get more then the base selection of Talents, they all focus on making [[Khorne|bitches bleed]] and making you bleed less, they were given an update in 13th Age [[Glorantha]] by being remade into the Orlanthi Warrior class.

The big change of the Orlanthi Warrior is the fact that rage is replaced by Inspiration, a special state they reach once the escalation die reaches a number as rolled on a d6 at the start of the fight. Once inspired, there are special actions they can use, with the default being a special quick-action attack that can be used each turn and others being given by class-exclusive talents. In effect, this makes rage a lot more consistent and versatile at the cost of not being able to trigger it at will.

==(Advanced) Dungeons & Dragons==
===1st Edition===
[[File:Barbarian UA 1e.jpg|right|200px]]
The very first Barbarian appeared in [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition, in the [[Unearthed Arcana]] splatbook. Here, it was a variant [[Fighter]] who had a background in a primitive culture; as a result, they have certain abilities (some shared with the [[Ranger]], such as wilderness survival, others unique), but also very strict penalties against using magical items or associating with [[wizard]]s. This mark 1 barbarian has a D12 hit dice and better saves than the [[fighter]]; it can also Climb Walls as per a thief of the same level, as an increased ability to surprise foes (3 in 6, or 4 in 6 in familiar territory) or resist being surprised (90% resistance, 95% in familiar territory), has a 5% per level chance of nullifying a Backstab, has increased jumping abilities, has a 5% chance per level of Detecting Illusion (maxes at 75%), a 25% (+5% per level) chance of Detecting Magic (maxes at 90%), and access to the [[Ranger]] abilities of Survival, First Aid, Outdoor Craft, and Tracking. Plus potentially access to regional skills such as animal handling, horsemanship, running, handling small boats and imitating animal calls. Also, depending on their level, they can strike creatures normally vulnerable only to enchanted weapons of a specific potency; starting at "can hit +1" from level 4 and increasing by +1 every two levels thereafter, a level 6 barbarian for example can hurt creatures normally resistant to anything less than a +2 weapon, whilst level 12 barbarians can hurt anything that normally needs a +5 weapon. Eventually, rather than a fighter's keep and followers, you started attracting a horde.

The downside? They cannot use ANY magical items at 1st level, and in fact are actually compelled to destroy them if possible. As they reach certain levels, they gain access to magical items (starting with potions at level 2 and culminating at "most magic items available to fighters" at level 10), and no longer need to destroy those items, but, ''shockingly'', most parties didn't seem to want to keep them around in the time it took to reach those thresholds. Gee, I wonder why someone literally ''compelled'' to smash loot in an edition built around looting might be unpopular? At least they got bonus XP for it.

The next version of the Barbarian was as one of the [[kits]] seen in the [[Complete Book Series|Complete Fighter's Handbook]]. This is a kit restricted to [[fighter]]s with [[Strength]] 15+, and all it does is add a +3 bonus (or -3 penalty) to reaction rolls. It was, frankly, rather stupid and nobody ever bothered with it.

It also introduced a ''separate'' fighter kit in the form of the berserker, which was ''explicitly identical'' to the barbarian aside form the added rage feature. Which took '''''TEN. FUCKING. ROUNDS''''' of you psyching yourself up to activate (though admittedly this would be more realistic than the 5e barbarian's ability to just instantly become angrier than Alex Jones at the drop of a hat). But don't worry, if there ''just so happens'' to be a cleric in your party who took the barbarian/berserker kit from ''their'' handbook, it only takes you five rounds. If you want to do it in one round then this cleric also needs to have ''just so happened'' to take the "incite berserker rage" ability granted by that same handbook (which normally is explicitly mechanically different from your rage, as they can use it on any fighter).

As if to make up for this, rage had a FLUTTERING FUCKLOAD of effects:

'''Pros'''
* You were ''outright immune'' to a number of spells, and got a +4 to saves against a number of others.
* ''Fear'' effects simply popped you out of your rage instead of having their normal effect, and ''Charm'' effects affected you they way a 5e charm would.
* The ''Finger of death'' spell, if cast at you, didn't actually take effect until after you came out of your rage.
* You were immune to KOs from someone punching you in the face, and the actual damage was halved.
* You got a +1 to attack, +3 to damage, and +5 hp (unfortunately however it had not yet occurred to anyone to make buffs like this scale with level).
* If you hit 0hp, you don't actually drop until your rage ends.

'''Cons'''
* You got a -3 penalty when attempting to socially interact with an NPC who wasn't also from a berserker tribe.
* You were actually required to stop keeping track of your HP while raging, that responsibility being temporarily transferred to the DM, who optionally also rolls all your saves for you.
* You weren't allowed to use ranged weapons (which is odd since you weren't even allowed to take this kit if you had any ranged weapon proficiencies at the time, though weirder still you ''were'' allowed to accrue some afterwards).
* Once you attacked a target, you weren't allowed to switch to a different one until the first one dropped, and even then you were only allowed to pick the nxt closest one.
* Barring a fear effect as described above, you came out of your rage if and only if every last enemy was down (though strangely the rules explicitly said that they only had to be literally laying down on the ground, not necessarily dead).
* You couldn't take cover against missile fire.
* If an ally did something that might be misinterpreted as an attack (such as shoving you out of the way of an incoming attack), you had to pass an intelligence check for them to not aggro you.
* ''Bless'' and healing spells cast on you wouldn't take effect until your rage ended.
* Amusingly, ''taunt'' was automatically successful, and caused you to immediately abandon your current target in favor of the taunter.
* Upon coming out of your rage, you collapsed in exhaustion for a number of rounds equal to the duration you spent raging. You also lost that bonus 5hp, which, yes, could drop you to 0.

===2nd Edition===
The Unearthed Arcana barbarian would return in 2e with the [[Complete Book Series|Complete Barbarian's Handbook]], alongside the [[Shaman]], a kind of barbarian cleric. This version lost most of its 1e powers, retaining only the D12 hit dice, the enhanced leaping/climbing affinities, and the backstab resistance. It also gained the ability to dual-wield weapons, and far less stringent restrictions on magical weapon use or associating with spellcasters. It also double-downed on the idea that Barbarians hail from pre-Iron Age cultures, and included various [[kits]] based on those cultures.

Ultimately, the AD&D barbarian was not very well received, and might have passed forgotten into history...

===3rd & 3.5th Edition===
[[File:Barbarian PHB 3e.jpg|left|200px]]
But for the debut of [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition]]. Like the [[Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)|Sorcerer]], the Barbarian of D&D fame is a true child of 3e. Everything that is viewed as iconic about the barbarian? Was invented by 3e, for 3e. They get d12 hit points, uncanny dodge, illiteracy, damage reduction and can fly into a rage for some stat bonuses at the expense of AC and passes out when the fight is done. Until you get Tireless Rage, dip into Horizon Walker or a billion other solutions past core. Notably, it was ''this'' incarnation of the barbarian that was back-adapted into 2e for ''[[Baldur's Gate]]''.

Barbarian was changed a bit in the transition from 3e to 3.5e. There Barbarian lost all their "empty" levels by gaining Trap Sense and Damage Reduction. While trap sense is normally considered super lame and Damage Reduction advances too slow to be meaningful, this does make Barbarians have zero empty levels. Alongside [[Ranger]] (who gained abilities ''other'' than super-racism), Barbarian is easily the class that benefited the most from the transition from a strict look at the class themselves, but the introduction of Natural Spell puts [[Druid]] far ahead of it.

While Rage ''does'' scale, it does so quite slowly, and while they have no dead levels, the class features they get aren't very good. This and them losing their illiteracy if they multiclass makes them quite viable as a [[Dip Class]] or entry to [[Prestige Class]]es. In core only, Horizon Walker grants immunity to fatigue with a one level dip. One prestige class designed for them was Frenzied Berserker, which unfortunately causes you to lose control of your character and potentially kill the party. Bear Warrior is a much better Barbarian focused prestige class, which lets you get so angry you turn into a bear.

Barbarian is considered a [[Tier System|tier 4]]. They are very good at smashing things in melee, and have some wilderness/physical skills that help a bit when that's not applicable, but are quite easy to shut down with some pretty basic challenges, like a monster that isn't just a grounded wall of meat (like one that can fly or turn invisible), can't do much beyond direct HP damage (or tripping if specialized in it) and their skills are only an accessory.

{{D&D3-Classes}}

===4th Edition===
[[File:Barbarian 4e.jpg|right|200px]]
4th edition initially left the Barbarian out of the game, one of the many things that triggered a kneejerk [[Rage|fa/tg/uy Raeg]], whilst the designers tried to give it a more solid identity than just "[[Fighter]] who gets really angry".

Their decision? To tie it into the new mystical power group on the block; the [[Primal Spirits]]. Barbarians now mechanically emphasized their distinct culture background by having a certain level of affinity for primal magic, which mostly manifested through a deep, instinctive connection to totemic or guardian spirits. By allowing these spirits to partially merge with them, the Barbarian could carry out feats of superhuman prowess. But, unlike the similarly themed newcomer class, the [[Warden]], the 4e Barbarian was more of a Martial/Primal hybrid; the bulk of its powers still relied on its combination of distinctly ferocious fighting style and the ability to tap into a "primitive" wellspring of feral vitality and brutish prowess, thematically very close to [[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] and his "savagery-bestowed" might. Only the Daily powers, the Rages, were distinctly magical in nature, as it was in this state of primordial ecstasy that a Barbarian could open itself up to let a spirit channel its magic through their veins. Or, if they didn't want to be magical at all, they had a class feature called Rage Strike, which let them burn unused Daily powers with the Rage keyword to make a perfectly mundane (just really, '''really''' hard) blow.

Thus, Barbarians made their triumphant return in the [[Player's Handbook]] 2 and were surprisingly welcomed.

Like all 4e classes, Barbarians have a precursor to 5e's subclass system. For them, it's the class feature "Feral Might", which is more or less their particular fighting style, granting them a bonus Encounter power and bonuses to certain appropriate attacks. 4 Feral Might branches were ultimately released; Rageblood Vigor & Thaneborn Triumph in the PHB2, and the Thunderborn Wrath & Whirling Slayer in Primal Power.
*'''Rageblood Vigor''' gives you "old school" barbarians; they charge into battle headlong and rely on rage to weather the counterattacks as they kill shit. Their bonus power is Swift Charge (instant charge once a bitch dies), and they gain temporary hit points whenever they drop an enemy with their attacks.
*'''Thaneborn Triumph''' allows for "chieftain"-flavored barbarians; they dabble a little in the Leader role, as they work particularly well with others and specialize in Charisma. Their bonus power is the Roar of Triumph, which lets them penalize nearby enemy defenses once per encounter after killing an enemy, and their class feature is that enemies they bloody grant an attack roll bonus to the next attack against them made by either the barbarian or one of his allies.
*'''Thunderborn Wrath''' gives the most overtly magical barbarian subclass, with fluff about how their battle cries are so awesome, spirits of thunder follow them and join in whenever the barbarian starts hollering. They do bonus thunder damage to each adjacent enemy whenever they bloody an enemy, and their War Cry is like the Thaneborn's Roar of Triumph, except that it pushes instead of dropping defenses.
*'''Whirling Slayer''' permits dual-wielder barbarians who rely on mobility more than other barbarians, lashing out in all directions and skipping away from retaliation blows, which their class feature and their Whirling Lunge power supports.

The Essentials subclass for the Barbarian, the [[Berserker]], was released in "Heroes of the [[Feywild]]". Overtly called a part-Martial Striker/Defender (in contrast to the Barbarian being pure Striker), it basically dropped the rages to focus on purely mundane attacks based on being tougher, stronger and quicker than a "civilised" man... you know, the same shit Barbarians could already do if you wanted to play them that way?

{{D&D4-Classes}}

===5th Edition===
[[File:Barbarian PHB 5e.png|left|300px|''"Bjorn looks on sadly, all too aware of his status as one of the last manly humans in 5th edition"'']]
Barbarians in 5th edition D&D are largely unchanged from 3.5 barbarians, except their rages are better. While raging they get resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage, damage bonuses and advantage on strength checks, including athletics for wrestling people down. Barbarians can add their Con bonus to AC if they don't wear armor, meaning that you can now be a truly manly berserker and charge into battle without a shirt on, all the while having the AC of a knight in full-plate as enemy blades bounce off your manly abs (just don't ask where this effect is actually coming from). Their rage only applies to melee attacks now, though, so bows are less viable than previous editions. Barbarians have the easiest advantage generators in the whole game with Reckless Attack, which makes them the best class for great weapon master feat, offsetting that -5 to hit for massive massive damage. As they level up Barbarians get simple but powerful abilities, like increased movement speed, stronger criticals and ability to ''[[Nasuverse| not die when they are killed]]''. Oh, and they are also the only class that gets to go over the hardcap of 20 for Strength and Constitution, gaining '''+4''' to both at level 20.

The Class Feature Variants UA gave Barbarians two benefits: Survival Instincts gave them double proficiency in two skills out of the gate, but cost them Danger Sense, and Instinctive Pounce replaced the default speed boost with the power to immediately walk up to half their speed in response to an enemy moving closer. Come ''Tasha's Cauldron of Everything'', both of these got reworked so as to not replace actually vital features, a major plus. They now gain proficiency in an additional skill (from what they could take at creation) at levels 3 and 10, and level 7 grants them the ability to immediately move the moment they rage.

They also seem to be WotC's favorite target for weird subclass ideas, called "Primal Paths":

* '''Path of the Berserker''' turns the Barbarian into a rage warrior of death. Compared to the other subclasses, it has more thematic similarities with early editions.
:* Their first subclass feature is Frenzy, which can be used when entering rage to gain a bonus attack each turn for the rest of the rage. Besides the boost in damage, it also ''doesn't need'' the Attack action to be taken (unlike other sources of bonus attacks like Two-Weapon Fighting or feats), letting you Dash, Dodge, chug potions, etc. and then attack in the same turn. Any Barbarian's rage will end early if a turn passes without attacking or taking damage, so Frenzy's bonus attack maintains rage while freeing up your main action. The other unique part of Frenzy is that instead of being limited to 1/long rest it's tied to levels of exhaustion (an obvious nod to how rage in previous editions ended with fatigue and possibly at negative HP). Exhaustion level 1 isn't a big deal for Barbarians so they'll usually Frenzy once per long rest, but if the situation gets really dire you can Frenzy multiple times and increasingly overtax yourself; just remember that you'll be feeling it for a few days.
:* They also gain immunity to charm/fright while raging (a nod to how rage in 3e gave a bonus to Will saves), Intimidating Presence (basically a single-target version of the ''fear'' spell), and Retaliation which lets them immediately strike back after being hit. Combined with Frenzy this adds up to a possible 4 attacks per round ''at level 14'', all with advantage and enhanced criticals, without taking feats. All in all, this Path is a single-minded killing machine with no regard for defense.
* '''Path of the Totem Warrior''' grants abilities based on the selected totem spirit. It also gives you ritual-only spells to communicate with animals and to summon one of the spirits for information about the area. You can pick from the different totem spirits 3 times total, and each totem gives a different benefit based on whether you selected it first, second, or last, as shown in order below:
:*''Wolf'' is the pack-hunter one, giving advantage to your friends when you are surrounding your enemy, better tracking and stealth during travels, and the ability to knock enemies prone instantly after hitting them.
:*''Bear'' is the hardy one, making you resistant to '''all''' damage (minus psychic, because [[meme|GET OUT OF MY HEAD, CHARLES]]), making you better at pushing and carrying stuff, and forcing enemies to focus fire on you while raging. Bear totem barbarian is pretty much the default barbarian ~~tank~~ meatshield.
:*''Eagle'' has the best utility ones, giving you a bonus-action dash and making opportunity attacks less likely to hit you, eagle vision (you can literally see something a mile away without a problem) and eventually [[Sly Marbo|'''allowing the barbarian to fly while raging...''']] but not allowing him to stay in the air after his turn. So essentially, it's just the ability to jump your speed and change direction midair whilst raging.
:*''Elk'' is a weird set of mobility powers that makes you move faster while raging, makes your group faster when traveling distances together, and lets you run people over while raging.
:*''Tiger'' lets you jump better, skillmonkey a bit and eventually pounce on a target with an additional attack. Not great on its own, but if you're mix-and-matching, some of the powers aren't bad trades. Getting a couple extra skills is never a bad investment, for instance.
*'''Path of the Battlerager''', named after a temp-HP-gaining [[Fighter]] subclass, actually borrows its lore from a special order of [[dwarf]] barbarians in the [[Drizzt]] novels, and so is a heavily armored barbarian who wears massively spiky armor and basically specializes in hurling himself blindly into the fray so he can use his armor to rip 'n' tear people whilst he rages. With an extra attack per round (admittedly an unarmed strike, but 1d4 plus modifiers is still a buncha damage when you're a barbarian) and bunches of temporary hitpoints to offset Reckless Attack whenever you use it, the main downside is that your powers only work when you're wearing a very-specific suit of very-mediocre armor.
*'''Path of the Ancestral Guardian''' is able to commune with/summon its ancestral spirits while raging (meaning that if you are a dragonborn you can [[awesome|summon the ghost of a dead dragon]]), giving it overtones of the [[Shaman]] from 4e. Don't be fooled, though; this is the tanking subclass. At 3rd level, as the Ancestral Protectors, they can distract any enemy you hit while raging, imposing disadvantage and halved damage on attacks not targeting yourself. At 6th level, upgrading to Spirit Shield, the spirits can use your reaction in response to a nearby creature taking damage and reduce the damage. At 10th level, you can Consult the Spirits once per short/long rest to cast ''augury'' or ''clairvoyance'' without spell slots or materials. Finally, at 14th level, the Vengeful Ancestors can react to someone hitting an ally by beating the shit out of them, inflicting force damage equal to the amount of damage prevented by Spirit Shield.
*'''Path of the Storm Herald''', meanwhile, has a little in common with certain Rage Powers from the 4e Barbarian, in that it's a barbarian who taps into primal magic while raging to cloak itself in a shield of elemental energy. You need to pick whether your storm comes from the Desert, Sea, or Tundra at 3rd level, which determines what sort of benefits you get whilst raging. Your aura starts off by inflicting fire damage to everyone in your aura, zapping one target with lightning, or giving temp HP to nearby allies, respectively. These effects can be reactivated as a bonus action during rage. Later your choice gives you fire resistance, lightning resistance and water breathing, or cold resistance, at all times. At 10th level your aura extends that resistance to your allies, and finally it gains more powers to use against foes, dealing fire damage, knocking down a target, or freezing it in place. Two of the auras require saves every turn for middling damage, which means that this subclass can slow down a game something fierce.
*'''Path of the Zealot''' can be summed up as "holy berserker of the gods/Khorne Berserker", but can be refluffed into more of a necromantic [[Bloodrager]] type; the crunch can be summed up as the "MAN LITERALLY TOO ANGRY TO DIE" meme made manifest. It inflicts extra necrotic or radiant damage (chosen when you gain this feature) to the first target you hit on your turn, allows you to be resurrected without burning through those expensive diamonds (not that most DMs pay attention to that sort of thing anyway), can choose to re-roll a failed saving throw once per rage, can unleash an inspiring battle cry once per long rest, and can keep you fighting at 0 hit points so long as you're raging. It's recommended to yell about [[Vermintide|spending your blood willingly and your god blessing your ravaged body]] while you rage.
*'''Path of the Wild Soul''' is basically the first official 5e [[Bloodrager]]. These guys have access to a pool of wild magic when they rage, which results in them gaining overtly magical effects to their raging rather than being able to rage and cast spells. A Wild Soul Barbarian can Detect Magic Constitution modifier times per day and gains one of eight random wild magic auras when it rages, from 6th level can grant spellcasters a random spell slot or grant a small bonus to any rolls for everyone else, from 10th level can re-roll which wild magic aura they get whenever they get hurt, and from 14th level can roll their magic aura twice and pick the most favorable one.
*'''Path of the Beast''' is basically a shamanic simulation of lycanthropy - less potent but with no side effects like uncontrollable frenzy. Beast barbarians transform into half-animal monstrosities when raging, growing natural weapons, choosing each time for great flexibility:
:*Snapping jaws or giant mandibles to bite people with, which actually lets them heal a bit if they damage their target. The healing is rather small, but over the course of battle it adds up to quite a lot. Great meatshields at early levels, almost on par with Bear Totem, although later that healing drops off compared to the level of damage you take.
:*Claws on hands that grant one extra attack. Not extra attack as a bonus action, just extra attack. This is flat out better than Berserker with the only downside being rather mediocre d6 damage die of those claws. The obvious damage dealing option.
:*Long prehensile tail is a hard hitting reach weapon, pretty much a pike/lance that works at close range and don't take hands. For when you need to hit hard over hitting a lot. More importantly, if someone you can see within 10 feet of you hits you with an attack, you can use your reaction to apply a d8 to your AC!
:The obvious downside is that their natural weapons don't get the same cool effects high-end magical weapons do. The less obvious downside is freaking out towns guard and attracting all the werewolf hunters around. Jaws and tail don't take hands, so the Beastbarb can wield two weapons and a shield for great versatility, have an empty hand for wrestling people down, or even wield two shields (+2 AC don't stacks, but if both shields are magical, their enchantments do stack). Later they could make their beast-weapons magical and gain beastly mobility, either swimming and breathing underwater, crawling on the walls and ceiling, or jumping insane distances. They get to infect enemies with frenzy when they attack them, forcing them to either attack their allies or suffer decent psychic damage, and finally get to give their allies extra damage during their rage while also healing for each ally they catch.

{{D&D5-Classes}}

==Diablo==
===Diablo: Hellfire===
The very first [[Diablo]] game did not include a Barbarian class. One was designed for its expansion pack, Hellfire, but internal bickering between Blizzard North, Blizzard South, Sierra, and Synergistic Software (which were all owned by the same parent company) prevented its official inclusion. The relevant data and assets were still on the CD, though, so the Barbarian (and a fuckton of other disabled features, like the Bovine Plate quest) could be easily re-enabled with a simple text file.

This version of the Barbarian was more or less a modified Warrior. It sacrificed the Warrior's already-meager ability to use magic in favor of a slightly increased strength cap (255 instead of 250) and a vastly improved health pool. The Barbarian could also wield two-handed weapons in one hand, an ability that would reappear in later versions of the class. Because the dickheads at Blizzard wouldn't let Synergistic finish the class, it uses the same artwork and sound effects as the Warrior.

===Diablo II===
Diablo II included the barbarian as one of its five core classes. This version of the barbarian had some ability to use magic, though more in a "calling upon nature spirits" kind of way than a fireball-throwing kind of way. From the Hellfire version, it copied the ability to use two-handed weapons with one hand; from the Hellfire's other hidden class, the Bard, it copied the ability to dual-wield. Its signature attack moves included the ability to spin around like the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Toons, cutting down everything in its path. The expansion pack, Lord of Destruction, included an entire fifth act full of nothing but barbarian NPCs, including ones that you could hire to follow you around and kill things for you.

===Diablo III===
Diablo III dares to be different and is thus contentious between longtime fans who expected more of the same from previous entries and fans of the designs and mechanics of the class who are new to the series. Many deride the entry for deviating from their expectations, others applaud the choices. Like it or not, pick the right equipment and skills and the Barbarians can rampage through entire hordes of enemies without fear. Then again, so can most other classes, but just not always in melee.

Interestingly enough, the male Barbarian in Diablo III was actually ''the same character'' as the Diablo II barbarian. Just older and, presumably, angrier that he has to do this all ''again''.

==Magic: the Gathering==
Barbarians are/were a very common creature type in [[Magic the Gathering]], and have usually been red. The first were the Balduvian Barbarians and Barbarian Guides from Ice Age.

==Pathfinder==
[[File:Amiri.png|thumb|right|300px|Amiri, Pathfinder's iconic Barbarian]]
===1st Edition===
A lot like 3.5 barbarians, with the loss of illiteracy (unless your archetype forbids reading), the addition of more trap sense (pfffffff), a "rounds of rage per day" mechanic that went up with level and constitution modifier (good thing, unless you were dipping barbarian) and, the major new feature and draw, ''rage powers''.

That's right, every two levels your barbarian bro learns a new way that getting ''really fucking angry'' can give him superpowers. These powers range from the useful (making combat maneuvers in place of regular attacks) to the impractically awesome (beating an opponent with another opponent) to the outright supernatural (sprouting claws and horns before gaining a pounce attack) to the ''hilarious'' (gaining big bonuses on swim checks)... That last one makes sense ''mechanically'' (rage buff strength, after all, and strength is the stat used in swim tests), but the mental image is never not funny. ("''FUCK YOU WATER! WRAAAAAAAAGH!''")

The most powerful of those abilities can be used once per rage only, which usually means you can either use them once per combat, or have to cancel out your rage and fight without almost all of your abilities while also being fatigued. But, if you manage to somehow get immune to fatigue, you can "rage-cycle" every turn and use those powerful abilities once per round. In practice, it means going berserk, calming down for a few moments after a couple of seconds, and then turning nuts again, which looks ridiculous, stupid and outright cheesy. This usually involves some multiclassing, but then Paizo released this belt called Cord of Stubborn Resolve, which makes you take a tiny bit of non-lethal damage instead of getting fatigued, which both lets you rage-cycle, saves your rounds of rage when you can't smash stuff in combat, and protects you from getting powered down by enforced fatigue. It's still pretty cheesy, but also not even close to some stuff casters are able to do.

It's not necessarily top-tier, though it may be the best among its fellow beatstick classes, and it's certainly fun as hell and much more customizable than before. It's still tier 4, but the skill compression and rage powers make them more versatile. Lost a lot of its draw in 2014 when the [[Bloodrager]] class was released. Why play a guy who fights by getting angry when you can play a guy who fights by getting angry, grows claws, wings, and fangs when he gets angry, and can cast spells like a weak sorcerer? Shoot, with the "this really shouldn't exist" Primalist archetype, you can even get enough rage powers to make it practically obsolete (though practically everyone knows this to be utterly fucking cheese and thus refrain from using it). The only draws left are basically the few archetypes that can do things it can't, like the Invulnerable Rager for Damage Reduction shenanigans. Also the Bloodrager's rage is classed as a supernatural(Su) ability and so is affected by anti-magic. Whether it some how stops him being angry all together or just cancels the magical effects is down the GM. The PF Barbarian is also the foundation for [[Wrassle Baba]], the D&D equivalent of Brock Lesnar.

'''Pathfinder Unchained''' offered a revision to the barbarian, introducing a rage that wasn't so dependent on stats (so now you get +2 to melee attack/melee damage/thrown damage/Will and +2 THP/HD to prevent death once rage runs out and your HP drops with your Constitution) and a few reworded rage powers. Most of the "once per rage" powers and some of the others were reworked into the new "stance" powers that are active until the end of the rage, but require a move action to start working. The problem is - those do not stack with each other, and the most fun and badass high-level rage power, Come and Get Me (which gives your enemy a huge bonus to hit and damage, but lets you make your own attacks before your enemy), got turned into a stance too instead of an at-will rage power. Some of the other rage powers were reworked or outright removed, which even broke some of those still available (for example, some unchained rage powers require you to take those that are not available for the unchained barbarian). It was largely considered a sidegrade at best and a mild downgrade at worst since it lost out on all archetypes RAW and killed the rage cycling (which was intended, to be fair). But it at least made it harder for you to instantly drop dead the second your rage ends at higher levels, and made the class more fun to play if you don't want to bother with rage-cycling shenanigans.

{{Pathfinder-1st-Edition-Classes}}

===2nd Edition===
Raging, being the core feature of the class, pretty much behaves the same as Unleashed, granting THP and extra damage, but taking -1 to AC and losing access to certain actions that require concentration. Notably, Rage is no longer restricted to any number of times a day, but you instead just rage for a full minute before falling out of it and then being unable rage again for another minute. Of course, a majority of the class feats focus on adding new abilities when raging, almost all of them being focused on combat.

Most significant among the changes to the class is the fact that they now have subclasses called "Instincts". They're pretty much last edition's Totems, granting a Barbarian special powers when they rage, but for whatever reason, they also have their own "anathema" - because Paizo couldn't let [[Paladin]]s be the only ones who fall. That said, this has a slightly less awful penalties, only stripping powers related to the Instinct for breaking the anathema for a day.

* '''Animal Instinct''' grants the Barbarian special unarmed attacks based on a certain animal, with later feats granting natural armor and shapeshifting. This is absolutely necessary, as their anathema forbids them from using any weapons. If you're not raging, you'd better consider multiclassing in something like [[Monk]] so you're not hosed when fighting.
* '''Dragon Instinct''' makes the Barbarian's attacks deal elemental damage when they rage and eventually develop resistance to that damage, depending on what dragon they descend from. Notably, the feats tied to this instinct give special powers like flight, breath weapons, and even literal transformation. Not only is refusing a challenge considered anathema, but there's a second one depending on whether you worship your dragon (in which case refusing their orders is considered bad) or hate them (in which case you need to beat any dragons of that type).
* '''Fury Instinct''' represents your basic vanilla Barbarian who just gets real mad without superpowers. In place of any weird powers, they get an extra class feat and develop resistance to any weapon damage, but not to anything besides that.
* '''Giant Instinct''' lets a Barbarian pick up an oversized weapon, though its exclusive feats let the Barbarian grow big too. Fighting with this weapon lets them deal extra damage when raging, but they suffer the Clumsy condition while using the massive thing. Refusing any personal challenge is considered anathema.
* '''Spirit Instinct''' makes the Barbarian spooky and deal either positive or negative damage, though most significant is that they get Ghost Touch built in so they can hurt ghosts. Their anathema is disrespecting the dead, though any unruly spirits and undead don't count.
* '''Superstition Instinct''' (from ''APG'') gives a particular disdain for magic and thus Barbarians gain a bonus to saves against spells as well as dealing bonus damage against casters. Their anathema forbids them from accepting any sort of magic assistance, though potions and magic items that don't cast are still fair game. Notably, this lack of any healing spells means that they'll need to rely on their Rage's ability to recover HP instead of just gaining THP.

{{Pathfinder-2nd-Edition-Classes}}
{{Pathfinder-2nd-Edition-Archetypes}}

==Warhammer==
Warhammer Fantasy has the [[Warriors of Chaos]]. 40K has a bunch of them: [[World Eaters]], [[Space Wolves]], [[White Scars]], [[Space Sharks]], and during the Unification of Terra, various nations existed of Techno-Barbarians.

==...and more===
Barbarian Prince (a solitaire board game from 1981) - [[Cal Arath]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Barbarian ODD1.png
Barbarian CBH 2e.jpg|Art from the ''Complete Barbarian's Handbook''
Conan.jpg|The comics dumbed down the original Conan, who was not a stupid muscle-man but also a thief and a wise ruler. Though still he was primarily a man of action, rather than a man of thought.
ThulsaDoom.jpg|Turning people into barbarians since 1982.
</gallery>

[[category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons Classes]]

Knight

2026-10-17T01:04:20Z

185.100.87.166: Undo revision 1018633 by 192.42.116.105 (talk No.)

[[Image:NormansKnight.jpg|right|thumb|Medieval Europe's equivelent of Hell's Angels]]
''Not to be confused with the [[Imperial Knight|miniature Imperial Titan.]].''

{{topquote|The knight is a man of blood and iron, a man familiar with the sight of smashed faces and the ragged stumps of lopped-off limbs; he is also a demure, almost maidenlike, guest in a hall, a gentle, modest, unobtrusive man. He is not compromise or happy mean between ferocity and meekness; he is fierce to the nth and meek to the nth. The man who combines both characters – the knight – is not a work of nature but of art; of that art which has human beings, instead of canvas or marble, for its medium.|[[C. S. Lewis]]}}

{{topquote|I tell you there is not so much savor in eating or drinking or sleeping, as when I hear them scream, “There they are! Let’s get them!” on both sides, and I hear riderless horses in the shadows, neighing, and I hear them scream, “Help! Help!” and I see them fall among the ditches, little men and great men on the grass, and I see fixed in the flanks of the corpses stumps of lances with silken streamers.|[[Bretonnia|Bertran de Born]], Occitan knight and troubadour}}
''

The '''"knight"''' [[Monty Python|(pronounced 'Kuh-niggit' for you Frenchies with outrageous accents)]] is a title given to a loyal servant of a [[monarchy]] in olden Europe. To start your knightly lineage, you must be valuable enough to your lord that he eventually bestows knighthood upon you. Once that is done, you are officially part of your kingdom's [[noble|nobility]] (albeit at the near bottom of the ladder, but you're leagues better off than the common folk) and any children you bear will also be knights, who will then continue your proud lineage throughout the ages.

The etymology comes from ''Cniht'' / ''Knecht'' among Saxons in England and Saxony - a house servant. But if you were serving a lord, he might lend you a horse thus making you a ''rādcniht''. Meanwhile in the post-Latin parts of the post-[[Roman Empire|Rome]], the [[cavalier]] was still riding around the estates of post-Gaul. As with the Equestrian class in the Roman Republic, they had to own the land and resources to ''keep'' a horse - and in Dark Age Western Europe, that meant signing on to some feudal lord. So the Venn between "knight" and "cavalier" was a slightly blurry single circle.

The knight started becoming the chivalrous, romantic daredevils we all know and love by the 12th, due to the influence of Christianity and Islam throughout Europe, and to a lot of romantic bullshit from the Languedoc troubadours. They are usually rich-enough blokes that knight families typically owned at least one estate that they may develop as they see fit.

These guys were the greatest thing in Europe's arsenal for nearly a thousand years before being weakened by Swiss pike formations, [[firearm|another Chinese import that was improved by European engineering]], and the idea of a professional standing army which gradually put an end to the age of knights. Then, around turning point of the 1700s, Romanticists began looking to the past for inspiration, and the combination of myth and legend mixing with the legitimate tales of mighty warriors and began the wider spreading of the ideal of the dashing knight in shining armor (a phrase that originally meant "the new guy who has never been through battle").

==Misconceptions==
In modern parlance, Knight is the catch-all term for some posh bloke who fought on horseback with decent armour and weapons. It was the case for some time, but the term 'Knight' has started to refer to the ''social rank'' of the man, not the way he fought, around the XIIth century. 'Chivalry' does refer to horsemanship, however.

Most armored guys on the battlefield of High and Late Medieval period (usually carrying shield, non rusted armor and a decent weapon) were [[Men at Arms]] -- a better equipped class of soldier. Through patronage of a wealthy lord, large groups of these blokes were kitted out with decent weaponry and armour (to varying degrees). They sometimes had a horse if there weren't enough cavalry; otherwise they were just a better equipped form of infantry. They were usually of better social standing than their comrades serving in a Lord's (or Knight's) armies as meat shields and arrow fodder (conscripted peasant), although that itself would vary: from men who their overlord might socialise with to a degree, to a better-off commoner like a merchant who simply bought better armor than the smelly peasants, or just some smelly oik with an aptitude for combat who was kitted out at his Lordship's expense.

Since most Knights were fairly wealthy, they nearly always fought as Men at Arms (being that they could afford decent plate armor, an arsenal of weapons, and a war horse, on their own), though not all Men at Arms were Knights. It is also worth noting that Men at Arms usually were poorer equipped than Knights, and often received little to no training which usually lasted between a fortnight and a month. Knights, however, were trained from the age of six and this training lasted until their mentor deemed them ready to be a full knight (that age varied, but generally was around 17-18 years; Edward the Black Prince, for example, was granted full knighthood in 16 years). They also had the option and means of having their own armor and weapons specially made/procured for them. Additionally, any non-noble who was able to attain knighthood though exemplary military service would have been a warrior few could equal.

Knight's tournaments were NOTHING like how we picture them through Hollywood; they were not leisurely affairs of organised jousting with the King's retinue and nobles looking on. Jousting itself was regarded as a sideshow compared to the main attraction of a tourney - the ''melee'', which was in many respects a mock battle, designed to keep knights practiced in combat (hopefully) without actually killing anyone and an attractive prospect for many young knights to rise in stature through winning the tourneys. Two sides of knights would meet in the tourney ground (usually a massive area encompassing the length between ''two towns'') and clash in brutal hand-to-hand combat with the aim of securing opposing knights for ransom (that were subject to the regular rules of war).

It is also worth noting that some Knights did not fight at all, being too sickly, too old when war broke out, or simply too scared. Due to this, some knights engaged in civilian leadership roles, rather than military ones.

==The Modern Take==
In our current times the misconceptions mentioned above have created a stereotype in the general public's mind of what it means to be a knight: an owner of land and a castle, wearing that ridiculous heavy armour on top of a mighty horse and being the upmost example of honour, valour and nobility. The first is mostly accurate, though there was a distinction between a knight of rank and training and a landed knight (the difference should be obvious if you have the lightest grasp of English). The second point is also both true and untrue. While full plate and chainmail are definitely heavy pieces of equiptment, especially to the modern man who has rarely had reason to wear anything heavier than a backpackon a hike, being trained from childhood to carry and more importantly use the equipment of war meant that the knight was more or less a living tank. That being devastatingly strong and surprisingly fast. Imagine if you will, dismounting a knight from his horse, only for him to hit the ground, roll away like an acrobat, and then being face to face with a man charging at you at a full sprint with a warhammer. Finally, on the idea of being the great and noble hero; while this was certainly the case for some, after all, most stereotypes are founded on a seed of truth, there were also a large number of knights, landed or otherwise, that were huge dicks. Sadly this has become one of the more common ways to portray any man in armor on a horse despite generally every boy dreaming of being one at some point in his life. (George Martin is said to gain another five pounds both monetarily and weight-wise for every knight that's portrayed as an utter bastard post-1990).

Many still use knights as a standard for human warriors of chivalry going out and slaying various beasts and saving various maidens (most fantasy settings, RPGs and MMORPGs use knights as a class type, some renaming to <s>make them sound more original</s> rip off D&D like 'Paladin' or 'Crusader'), but they are at a constant war with the line of pop-culture being pressed into having any European setting pre-1900s looking like the Dirt Farmers from the The Holy Grail revolted and took over the government.

==Fantasy Knights in a Nutshell==
If you are a chivalrous knight in a modern fantasy setting, your usual duties will include:

* Quest Taking: from killing a dragon to driving the moles out of the fields of farmers, anything that troubles the people you must take care of. It doesn't have to be you directly, though. If the task is too unworthy for your stature, but still needs fixing, sending your apprentice or hiring other people to do it in your stead also works.
* Monster killing: a category of its own (although often a Quest as well). There are various nasty critters around and in ye olde times you would serve as a pest exterminator for hire. The bigger and badder the monster you slay, the more famous you are with the kingdom.
* Damsel rescuing: even if she is married (or you are), you could get a kiss, a handkerchief, and hopefully [[Profit|a hefty reward]] for giving her a hand.
* Helping out your king: at times you'll be called on to help your king or lord and hook up with a bunch of your knightly mates to rout some naughty foreigners giving the kingdom trouble.
* Wench pulling: you keep an entire industry of busty women in business with the profits from your questing.
* Looking impressive: your armor and weapons aren't just your tools but also your icons. It gives the peasants something nice to gawk at are and often symbols of your deeds and character. Many knights are recognized simply by their gear (i.e: Excalibur for King Arthur).
* Example setting: along with looking good, you have to practice being good to and showing everyone how to be a goody-two-shoes. From escorting ladies to putting your cloak out across a puddle, from saying hello to Ted the stable boy to upholding your kingdom's faith and smiting any heretic who dares besmirch your god, being a choir boy is a 24/7 job. This is also the reason why Knights are typically [[Paladin]] equivalents in fantasy.
** If you should fall short in your chivalry, it usually suffices to take on a particularly challenging and meaningful quest to restore your honor. If there's one thing peasants like better than tales of upstanding knights, it's tales of knights who stumble and get back up again (or die trying).
** The flip side of upholding the code of chivalry is enforcing the code against oath-breakers. Knights who completely ''forsake'' their vows are especially harmful to your profession's reputation, so be vigilant for rumors of 'black knights' and the like.
* Training a [[squire]]: Building up a knight household is a ton of work, and if you died without a legitimate heir to your name, all your hard work over the decades would have been for naught. So, you had to train a successor who will carry your knight household throughout the ages. Train them well and don't just treat them as a glorified servant, as that little buttmuncher will be the one who'll be representing your legacy once you're gone, and you don't want your house to be remembered for that dastard who became the unbearable shame throughout the land.
*Impractical Chivalry: In [[Isekai|some fantasy settings]] there are examples of knights who will refuse to fight enemies with lesser quality equipment, never use deceitful tactics in combat, stop in the middle of a fight to have a conversation with their enemy, and [[lolwut|some even refuse to kill at all]].
*Unusual Armor: In fantasy settings there are authors and designers who sometimes [[Fantasy_Armor|pick aesthetics over function]] some armors are not armor at all leaving various open areas to stab at, others go to the complete opposite direction and make the knight carry [[pauldrons|anvil sized pauldrons]] on his shoulders.
*Female knights are far less rare in fantasy games and settings then they were in real life in that they actually might exist and be encountered. Boobplate abounds and should be enjoyed, for any woman strong enough to carry around tens of pounds of armor would have the muscles required to hold off back pain.

==Real Knights in a Nutshell==
* Bureaucrat: in most areas of Europe, barons were the main land holding class and baronies roughly analogous to large townships (the modern word county coming from the slightly higher rank of count). Knights owed allegiance to barons and generally served as their officers of government, from constable to tax collector. A knight's fee (the quantity of land to sustain a knight) was roughly a couple thousand acres, and the typical barony consisting of roughly a dozen fees. Since a family could reasonably tend a few dozen acres (acre being an amount of land one man with one ox could reasonably plow in a day), this basically means a knight was responsible for a few hundred homes.
* Landlord: This went hand in hand with the former section; as while one could mistreat the peasants and tax them for breathing your air, this typically lead to dead peasants or poor crop yields. Usually from the dead peasants. Remember, a knight may have ruled over the people farming his land, but if he didn't treat them at least well enough to turn a consistent profit, that meant that the knight would quickly find himself without people or land to rule. And the people, despite what many would tell you, did in fact have certain rights. (Moreover, petty tyrants tended to wind up on the king's shit list for a reason, so take care of your farmers, dumbass.)
* Officer: you owe service to your lord. If they call on you to fight, you have to. In this regard knights were analogous to lieutenants or sergeants. Being men at arms, knights were expected to know how to fight, how to lead and teach others to fight. If they were particularly good fighters they might be used more like champions and vanguards, while the less martially able would still be expected to be capable of organizing and leading some men. In medieval Europe, the basic formation was the "lance", roughly equivalent to a squad, consisting of a knight and his retinue (perhaps a dozen men). Lances were organized into companies, captained by a noble (typically a baron or count). Lances wouldn't necessary take the field intact; for field warfare, knights would assemble as cavalry and their retainers would form the body of infantry. As the medieval wars dragged on, the concept of lances broke down and it became more normal for nobles to outfit and lead companies of their area's local men with consistent equipment and some once-a-month training (bowmen of Dumbhollow, Shitcreek company of pike, etc), which would be the norm until wars started waging so far away that kings and governments needed armies that were liable for service anywhere, not just in their area.
* Politician: you're part of the elite which means you have to spend an infuriating amount of time jockeying for influence or just protecting your current position. If you don't play ball by engaging with the rest of the aristocracy and maintaining your status, you'll find yourself in disfavor. If you're not seen as pious enough, the church will start hectoring you with the same effect.
* Mercenary: You fight for neighboring kingdoms in search for gold to pay for your needs but most importantly land to eventually claim as your own even after you claim a county or barony your descendants are not fully guaranteed to inherit the land. One example in history with many mercenaries is the taifa state period of the reconquista. Knights turned mercenary were common as the christian realms were not truly unified yet and the caliphate had collapsed into rump states meaning mercenaries would fight for various lords in attempts to become landed nobles.

== Old-School D&D ==
Both 1st edition [[Dungeons & Dragons]] and [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 2e featured the knightly archetype in their options. For 1e, [[Gary Gygax]] himself created the [[Cavalier]] in an issue of [[Dragon Magazine]] as a variant [[Paladin]]. It... didn't work out so well. For 2e, the knightly motif was conveyed by certain [[Kits]], predominantly for the Warrior class-group, with the most obvious version being, again, the Cavalier.

The Cavalier is not held up very highly by most [[Grognard]]s, for reasons explained on its page.

==D&D 3.5==
Third Edition's version of the Knight was introduced in ''Player's Handbook II'' and [http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060501a&page=2 released for free as part of the book's preview]. They have a high base attack bonus and roll D12s for HP. Their abilities are purely related to taking hits and forcing a single target to hit them, similar in concept to a 4E tank class, but with significantly less versatility in terms of providing damage output, boosting allies or disrupting the flow of the fight to suit his party. Probably one of the weaker classes as too much of its abilities are focused on being a punching bag of HP instead of an actual tank that is hard to hurt and lacks the ability to fuck things over, if you're familiar with how Marking a target works in 4E, its based off this guy, but at least in 4E you have penalties other than the -2 to hit to control your opponent. Like paladins this class has a code of conduct. Unlike paladins, the consequences of breaking this code of conduct last a day tops (directly anyways, who knows what larger setbacks it might result in). The code of conduct consists of what they consider a "fair play". Part of the code of conduct is not dealing lethal damage to helpless foes. By the way, some creatures are immune to non-lethal damage.

Knight is [[Tier System|tier 5]]. Their one task, tanking, is theoretically useful but they aren't that good at it and simply unable to try against most threats. Outside that they aren't very useful.

'''TL;DR''' A bunch of Hit Points that prototyped the tank class mechanics of 4E that lacks any choice beyond taking it in the gut. Avoid and just refluff a paladin as an atheist.

{{D&D3-Classes}}
{{D&D3e-Variant Classes}}

==D&D 4e==
The knight was introduced in "Heroes of the Fallen Lands", the first of the two Essentials splatbooks for [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]]. Flavorwise, knights are protection-focused warriors, champions who lead village militias, caravan guards and adventuring parties, favoring the use of heavy armor, hand weapon and shield to endure attacks as hold foes in place as the rest of their party closes in for the kill. Many knights belong to benevolent military orders, and whilst they are not [[paladin]]s proper, they are still respected for their dedication to good (or at least martial perfection).

Mechanically, the knight is a "simplified" take on the 4e [[Fighter]], this Martial Defender (with some Leader aspects) abandoned the [[AEDU System]] to something closer to an old-school fighter. Instead of the traditional front-loaded approach to class-features, the 4e knight gains different features at different levels. Instead of using the martial exploits system, it uses a combination of heroic-tier Utility powers and at-will stances, which modify the effects of its basic attacks. This formula would be reused for the [[Slayer]], introduced in the same book.

A knight's core power is Defender Aura, an at-will utility used to mark foes, which goes in tandem with its Battle Guardian at-will attack to punish marked foes that try to slip past it. Its other level 1 features are Weapon Talent (+1 to your attack rolls with weapons), Shield Finesse as a bonus feat, access to two of the knight stances, and its only Encounter attack, Power Strike. It gains Improved Power Strike (use Power Strike 2/encounter) at level 3, Combat Readiness (+2 Initiative) at level 4, and Weapon Mastery (+1 damage with weapon attacks) at level 5. At level 7 it gains both an extra knight stance and one of the two Weapon Specializations, which adds a rider to its Power Strike attack; Bladed Step for heavy blades and Staggering Hammer for hammers. At level 8, it gains the utility power Shield Block, and at level 9 its Improved Combat Readiness feature boosts its initiative bonus to +4.

At level 11, it gains Stalwart Assault (Add Con bonus to Speed and melee weapon damage rolls in the first turn in an encounter), Stalwart Action (when you spend an action point, gain Resist 10 to all damage until the end of your next turn), and another Improved Power Strike (Power Strike 3/encounter). At level 12, it gains Greater Weapon Specialization, which gives it either the Shielding Blade or Bludgeoning Counterstrike utilities, ''another'' Improved Power Strike (4/encounter) at level 13, Paragon Weapon Mastery (+2 to all weapon attack rolls) at level 15, Armor of Conviction (gain Resist 5 to all damage while bloodied) and the Bolstering Strike utility at level 16, another new knight stance at level 17, Devoted Knight (using your second wind or total defense creates an aura 1 until the end of your next turn that grants your allies +2 to all defenses) at level 19, and Tactical Focus (you can slide a target you hit with Power Strike by +1 square) at level 20.

In the epic tier, it gains the Knight's Valor utility power at level 22, the Relentless Knight feature (can spend +1 healing surge when you use second wind) at level 23, Epic Weapon Mastery (+3 to all weapon attack rolls) at level 25, and finally Spirit of War (you can make a save to end an ongoing effect at both the start and end of your turns) at level 29.

It gains a chosen Utility Power at levels 2, 6 and 10.

General opinion is that it's a pretty badly handled class. It's strong at the Heroic Tier, but quickly falls behind the [[AEDU System]] classes from epic tier onwards, as its stance-modified basic attacks just don't cut it anymore.

{{D&D4-Classes}}

==[[Pathfinder]] - The Cavalier==
Paizo has added traditional knights/men-at-arms to the Pathfinder roleplaying game, as the [[Cavalier]] class. They're a lot like Paladins without the magic. They differentiate themselves from the ''other'' melee classes in two major important ways: mounts and orders.

==D&D 5e==
Since knightly orders are a big thing in [[Forgotten Realms]], the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide for [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] features two class variants with a knightly theme.

The Banneret (or Purple Dragon Knight, in-universe) is a [[Fighter]] martial archetype revolving around the concept of an elite and noble warrior whose skill allows them to inspire others to greatness in battle. It gets a bunch of class features reminiscent of 4e's [[Warlord]], like healing allies when the fighter uses their Second Wind, triggering an ally to attack when you use Action Surge, and the ability to extend Indomitable to your allies.

The Oath of the Crown for [[Paladin]]s, meanwhile, specifically represents the blur between knight and paladin, with a focus on lawfulness, order, and the sanctity of civilization in contrast to the paladin's general focus on doing good. It has features that let it serve as a mighty champion, and spells that tap into its spiritual authority, mostly enchantments like Command and Geas.

That not enough for you? Not only did we get a [[Cavalier]] subclass for the Fighter in the Kits of Old unearthed arcana, November 2016 gave us a full-fledged Knight subclass, which is essentially an even tankier version of the Cavalier. It can mount and dismount for only 5 feet of movement cost, has advantage on saves against falling off, always lands on its feet if it does fall off (providing it's no higher up than 10 feet and isn't incapacitated), has what is essentially the Fighter's Marking ability from 4e, a bonus skill with a "knightly" theme, the ability to make an attack as a reaction to an enemy moving within 5 feet that stops them moving if it hits, the ability to trade combat advantage for a bonus attack, gains a free opportunity attack each round, and gains +1 AC when wearing Heavy Armor.

{{D&D5-Classes}}

==Warhammer==

'''Warhammer Fantasy'''

On average most nations in the old world have arrived into the early renaissance and have an understanding of the uses of gunpowder even so [[Knightly_Orders_of_the_Empire|knights still exist]] the knightly orders of [[Tilea]], [[Estalia]], & [[Empire|The Empire]] have adjusted to this change through combined arms strategies as represented in their use of [[Dogs_of_War|mercenaries]] and [[Men_at_Arms|infantrymen]] to supplement their ranks. The knightly traditions of the empire along with their mercenary allies take much inspiration from the written word of human military leaders like [[Myrmidia]] and [[Sigmar]] along with advice from the [[Dwarfs_(Warhammer_Fantasy)|dwarf ancestors.]]

[[Brettonia|Brettonian knights]] however along with their darker counterparts the [[Blood_Knight|Blood knights]] are still wholly focused on medieval style cavalry charges seeing the methods of warfare used by other nations as dishonorable. The knightly traditions of the brettonians are inspired by their own heroic legends along with the discovery of [[High_Elves_(Warhammer_Fantasy)| the depictions of elven knights found in the ruins they settled]].

Elven knights whether it be the dark elves [[Nauglir|nauglir riders]], high elven [[Caledor_the_Dragontamer|knights of caledor]], or the [[Wild_Hunt|wild riders]] of the wood elves all heavily use magic to assist them in battle and restrict the membership in their orders through levels of exclusivity that go beyond the traditions of even bretonnians which itself is not strange as the bretonnians knightly culture is based on that of their elven forebears.

== [[Castles & Crusades]] ==
Here, the Knight exists primarily as a way for players to play non-divine Paladins, complete with a Charisma focus and a customizable Code of Honor that is flexible enough to allow one to play a chaotic evil dick and still technically be honorable (GM fiat need apply). They receive many bonuses to mounted combat and are actually granted a horse at level 1 free of charge (insert snide section about horses and dungeoneering not mixing well), but the real trick that most players would clue into upon reading their abilities is that they are the game's martial managerial class alongside Bards. Buffs to your party members' ability to hit, AC, and saving throws abound. Moreover, they are lauded by the book as having the distinct advantage of being the class that most readily gains access to land to earn coin from and followers to bravely lead into getting mulched by whatever monster you might try and punch above your weight class with.

At higher levels, they actually start to resemble the knights of myth as they gain increasingly strong buffs to combat as well as being able to command armies and make sure that Bill the Pitcher boy doesn't fail his morale check to charge the ancient red dragon. Eventually knights can become so honorable that they make a fantasy samurai blush, and can crush opponents in 1-on-1 encounters with debuffs and deal extra damage with their swords thanks to their winning smiles. You can even magically skip the years of training required to attain knighthood and transform Bill into a level 1 knight (provided he survived) Finally, the level cap allows one to finally get to do the cool mythic stuff that you'd imagined this class could do from the beginning, and provided that you never back down from a challenge, insult, fight, or shopping spree opportunity, you gain the power to prevent morale breaks, have a + to hit and damage equal to the number of hit die/level difference if said opponent is stronger than you, have a shine in your smile bright enough to intimidate anything of animal or lower intelligence away from you, and to even force a Control Weather spell as a 10th level caster once per month.

==See also==
*[[Bretonnia]]: A nation in [[Warhammer Fantasy]] based around these fuckers.
*[[Samurai]]: The Eastern version.

[[category:history]][[category:Pathfinder]]