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Barbarian

2026-10-16T11:42:33Z

192.42.116.105: Previous version was better - revert. Keep 2d4 pure

[[File:barbarian.jpg|thumb|right|380px|A modern day barbarian activating his Rage (cum gutters optional).]]
{{Topquote|I would like to Rage.|every barbarian player ever}}
{{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]]
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]]

Fantasy Armor

2026-10-16T11:40:44Z

192.42.116.105: Previous version was better - revert. Keep 2d4 pure

{{Promotions}}

'''Fantasy armor''' has a long and noble tradition of [[awesome]]ness, [[Derp|awe-inspiring]] [[FAIL|stupidity]], and [[skub|lively debates]]. Many kinds of fantastic armor, such as sexy bear skin speedos, chain mail bikinis, massive codpieces, ridiculously massive suits of plate mail, armor made of gold or even gems, and other overly elaborate forms of armor are all standard equipment for adventuring parties. Threads dedicated to fabulous and ridiculous armors are a common sight on /tg/, and discussions regarding people's favorite type of armor are also a common way to pass the time, [[cancer|although doing so has a risk of starting an ugly political debate over issues best not discussed on this page]].

Most agree that even the most over-the-top armor designs aren't a huge problem for anything other than historically accurate settings, and in terms of the [[crunch]] it simply doesn't matter, as the stats and the design do not need to be linked in any way - after all, the key word is "fantasy".

==Common Types==
As you may see with the images to the side, fantasy doesn't need its armor to be logically sound. Due to this, armor design is usually done more to appease the eye than the mind. Thus, armor design and usage that tends to be over-the-top usually leans on the following styles:

===Living Fortress===
The character is so excessively armored with large pieces of armor that you must wonder how they can even walk unassisted without falling over. Usually done to give characters a stoic and/or intimidating look. Issues such as avoiding heatstroke and being unable to use a toilet in that armor are usually sidestepped in fiction, but then those issues are [[Magical Realm|almost]] never addressed in fiction anyway. In real-life these drawbacks were trade offs for the protection the armor offered, and the armor itself can't be put on or removed by the person wearing it without someone else helping - in practice it's usually one of the jobs of a squire. To avoid heatstroke, the wearer had to drink and minimize activity where possible, and as for the toilet problem since the armor can't be properly removed without help, there was a flap at the back - otherwise the squire would have to clean it afterwards. Additionally, in [[Urban Fantasy|modern]] or [[Soft Science Fiction|futuristic fantasy]] settings, diapers can be used to mitigate toilet problem when wearing armor non-stop for long time (e.g. wearing sealed/vacuum-proof armor in hostile atmosphere, for multiple days straight).

===Bare Minimum===
Not an armor type, so much as a lack thereof. Characters in this style typically wear just enough to keep them from being classified as naked (think [[Red Sonja|"Red Sonja"]] and you'll get the idea). Traditionally given to characters who favor speed over protection (or fanservice, depending on the setting), it is also sometimes given to those who use some kind of supernatural protection against damage to supplement their armor or simply happen to be so good at withstanding/dodging attacks that they don't normally need to worry about being hurt in the first place. The average magic user is a good example of this, given that the traditional wizard robes are just natural fiber clothing and aren't usually much better in terms of their protective value (enchantments and other forms of magical protection notwithstanding). One popular example is [[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] being depicted wearing only boots, a loincloth and a belt. This look originated from artwork of Conan by renowned artist Frank Frazetta. Frazetta himself depicted Conan this way because he liked drawing the human body and put that personal preference in his art style (which is why men and women in his art tend to be scantily clad whenever possible).

It should be noted that the "almost naked female armor" is not actually as common as one might expect. The worst offenders are usually fantasy pinups and JRPGs (and in the latter case, often applies to both men and women); for actual tabletop RPGs and most western-developed videogames, they're actually somewhat uncommon in recent years due to - among other things - ideological pushback, the practical objections and widespread mockery (as such, if the setting doesn't revolve around fanservice then the nakedness is usually either made more "artistic", or more effort is used in "justifying" it in-universe).

===Flash to the Extreme===
The character's armor is excessively decorated and designed in an over-the-top manner (ranging from bright colors to it being encrusted in precious gems and metals) that they basically scream: "walking target" and/or "mobile treasure chest" when out into the field. Usually given to the upper hierarchy of a setting to denote either their position or wealth. [[Chaos Space Marine|Large spikes]] count as an "evil" version of this; while they can make a villain look intimidating, they'd also be getting in the way, either poking yourself or your allies ''constantly''.

===Style over Substance===
The character's armor includes elements that reduce its practicality in favor of looking flashy or appealing. Such features are found almost entirely on female armor and includes high heels, contoured breastplates, no clear means of fastening it together, thigh-high boots, and a lack of padding. Then again, one can easily point to countless real-world examples of the above-mentioned traits (Yes, even heels - riding a horse with stirrups is much easier wearing boots with heels), but most of the time were usually reserved for ceremonial armor or just not totally optimized for combat (because even the best armor available for one age would have been outstripped and improved upon in design in later years).

===Fear Me===
The character's armor is specially designed to intimidate their enemies, either by just looking menacing or realizing what the armor is, is enough to inspire dread. This is typically reserved for villains, who will dress all evil-like to intimidate their foes and cement their position as a, or ''the'', big bad. The good guys sometimes use this style, as an attempt to show his allies and the enemy he means business. This can take a variety of forms, such as:
*Dreadful armor - simply designed to intimidate foes while looking dignified. They make take the shape of beings feared throughout the setting, like dragons, wolves, angelic/daemonic warriors, or what else have you. While sometimes they're adorned with iconography that their enemies would fear. Worth noting this isn't just in fantasy either, this is literally [[Batman]]'s shtick in a nutshell.

*Eldritch abomination - armor that looks like something H.P Lovecraft would make. Such style incorporates features that are designed to either disgust or horrify the enemy [[Chaos Space Marines|at the mere thought that something like them could exist.]] Typically used by big bads, who either have armor writhing like its alive - and sometimes ''it is'' - or have fused with their armor like it's their second skin.

*Armored hedgehog - covered in big sharp spikes. Some armors in this school have so many spikes that wearing them in real life would run the genuine risk of impaling oneself. Sometimes the user is even portrayed as using the spikes themselves as a weapon.

*The Faceless - some very intimidating primary villains wear helmets which completely obscure their face. This usually indicates to the viewer what it does to characters - this person is not to be fucked with. For some reason villains with full face protection tend to be very dangerous. They got so strong because they [[Reasonable Marines|wore helmets]] long enough to not get killed before [[Level|levelling up]] a lot.

===What are these "ergonomics"===

One thing should be emphasized about real world armor: It's already bloody uncomfortable to wear an at least 20 pound (or 10 kg) over shirt (which is about what the very lightest armor will weigh), never mind fight in such a thing. Padding was absolutely required for even the most basic of armor (most cutting weapons can do double duty as (expensive) clubs), and that's just the first obvious problem you'll have when fielding armor (and, in fact, there was and is a non-trivial amount of armor that was ''nothing but'' padding (go look up the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambeson Gambeson] if you don't believe us; D&D calls it "padded armor" and undervalues it because game balance)). Padding, needless to say, is hard to move around in. The Ergonomics of Real World armor was (and remains to this day) very important, as a result of these and other factors.

Fantasy armor frequently ignores such considerations as "weight", "flexibility", "range of motion", "chafing", "padding", and "comfort", among other considerations, with exceptions being people who wear armor that shows a lot of skin (which sorta defeats the point of armor, but there you go) or where magic compensates for ergonomics or function (e.g.; a metal bikini enchanted to protect its wearer). This is also ignoring the tendency for almost everybody to walk around without any kind of helmet.

== The Main Source of Skub ==
{{skubby}}

Female armor is the main source of [[skub]] when armor is discussed. Three points are probably indisputable:

# The forces that produce cheesecake outfits in Real Life probably exist in your game world.
# The realities of combat also probably exist in your game world, which directly counteracts #1.
# The armor worn by women in Fantasy Art veers strongly towards the cheesecake side of the line.
# In the real world, there were actual suits of armor that had some ''very'' goofy looking codpieces; [[Wikipedia:Armor of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor | here's one famous example]]. [[wikipedia:Muscle cuirass |Muscle cuirasses]], while somewhat less funny than the silly codpieces, are also brought up. (There's a possibly relevant point to be made here, but the laughter over the goofy codpieces usually drowns it out.)
# In the real world, practical armor is fairly unisex, in terms of shape, if not support - breasts just don't get as much in the way as you might expect, particularly once you start adding the necessary padding. Depending on the size of the breasts, at least.
* [[Derp|Yes, we know that's five points, when we said three are indisputable.]] [[Irony|Which three of the above five are indisputable is widely disputed.]]

For example, point number two is dependent on how much of a roleplayer vs. [[rollplaying|rollplayer]] you are. You wouldn't care much about how well armor covers you if it's +3 defense regardless of hit location, especially where supernatural power - the meat and potatoes of fantasy settings - protecting the wearer regardless of exposed skin is involved. Otherwise, you also have people argue that artistic license is more important than adherence to reality when it comes to fiction, since it's not supposed to be a literal interpretation of reality anyway, but by that point you're entering a philosophical debate.

Further for point five... specialized armor for women is a thing, even in modern times for multiple military forces. This is something this Anon's sisters in arms expressed a great deal of desire for back in the day, and his current coworkers express a great deal of gratitude for now.

Beyond those few points, expect to see nothing but a sea of bullshit, and maybe a few well-meaning but absolutely wrong "Best Practices" suggestions.

==="Breast"plate a.k.a. "Boobplate"===
A somewhat specific case of "Female Armor skub" is a breastplate that has boobs on it, for use by female users who want to advertise their femaleness. There are a metric shitload of arguments centering around just this one specific variant of fantasy armor; the main somewhat objective complaint being that most such designs create an obvious weakness in the armor: you create an inward curve to drive the blow '''towards''' the center of the wearer's chest, rather than an outward curve which drives the blow '''away''' from the center of the chest. But from there, we rapidly enter the sea of skub and bullshit, without even the thin veneer of the "Best Practices" suggestions.

== A Mild Digression about Ceremonial Armor ==

In Real Life, armor was usually divided into practical and ceremonial armor. Practical armor was intended to actually be used (i.e., protect a dude (or dudette, as the case may be) from that spear or knife in the middle of an actual melee). Ceremonial armor was intended to look good. This resulted in occasional wild differences between the two, such as the ridiculous codpieces mentioned above. That is not too say that no piece of ceremonial armor has ever been used in battle: there are more than a few surviving examples with marks of wear, though the circumstances of their incurrence are not always clear.

Fantasy armor is usually inspired by the ceremonial armor, as that's what was usually put into artistic depictions and survived long enough to be put in museums. This is reinforced by seemingly period-accurate reproductions taking their inspiration from both sources.

== The Warhammer Line ==

As a side note, if your armor is as or more ridiculous than Warhammer's (either [[Warhammer 40,000|40k]] or [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Fantasy]]) and if it isn't a parody work, expect to be mocked. Yes, this means you, generic anime-inspired MMORPG, and you, [[That Guy]] who uses a screenshot from said MMORPG as his character portrait.

==Videos==

Unsurprisingly the skub extends to youtube. Shadiversity, a historian, author, and HEMA practitioner has a couple extensive videos on the subject. On the subject of armor click [https://www.youtube.com/embed/lBtvS5yhTA8 here] for the general discussion, and [https://www.youtube.com/embed/6KHz0qWQA9I here] for the specific discussion on if boob plate's dangerous. Then click [https://www.youtube.com/embed/7Iw_RD_h6bc here] for the more general, but related subject of the Fantasy barbarian.

There's numerous responses from other excellent channels like Skallagrim, commentaries from Schola Gladiatoria and other detailed videos from Shad and others ranging from focusing on the chain mail bikini itself to the more general topic of the fantasy Conan style Barbarian. This goes all the way up to scifi boob plate of the far future... not quite [[Sisters of Battle|40k]] to my knowledge. Yet. But people have brought similar kit up.

==See Also==
*[[Helmet]]
*[[Armor]]
*[[Pauldrons]]

{{MedievalWeaponry}}

== Gallery ==

<center><gallery>
File:Skelerotic Warrior.png|It separates, AND supports!
File:Bikini-Armor-Cosplay.jpg|This armor protects the most vital parts of the body.
File:Megnets.jpg|Perfectly safe, proven by practical evidence.
File:Glamour armor.jpg| Fantasy armor is known to reveal Fabulous Secret Powers to its wearer.
File:ArmorTiers.jpg|A possible, yet improbable, explanation.
File:Armour of Bulk.png|[[Centurion Squad|The Centurion armored suit]]. An armor system where [[Derp|the guy wearing powered armor wears another powered armor suit on top of it]]. At least the title is correct.
</gallery></center>

[[Category: History]]

[[Category: Weapons]]

[[Category: Medieval Weaponry]]

[[Category: Armour]]

[[Category: Meme]]

All Tomorrows

2026-10-16T11:39:58Z

192.42.116.105: Previous version was better - revert. Keep 2d4 pure

{{cleanup}}
{{Grimdark}}
{{meh}}
[[File:The Fall of the Qu.png|thumb|Even as horrible Mutants, Humanity exacts vengeance upon Xenos.]]
All Tomorrows is a very cursed book about the dark and EXTREMELY heretical ways Humanity could possibly evolve in unnatural ways due to xenos influence. Recently this book achieved meme status due to its insanely cursed depictions of post-human mutants that perfectly display why strains of humanity that aren't protected by the Imperium of Man are no longer human. It's also considered the spiritual successor to another Abhuman-focused meme-fountain of a book, [[Man After Man]].

== The Story: Intro ==
The story begins as Humanity first colonizes Mars, but instead of turning it into [[Adeptus Mechanicus|an industrial technological hell-hole]], they just kinda live there for a long while, genetically deviating from Earth Humanity. Eventually, Earth and Mars fought a war against each other, because that always happens in sci-fi. The survivors of this war vowed to never wage war on each other again, and united their planets and became a unified people. They continued to evolve into a single species known as the "Star-People", intellectual and adaptable beings who could easily survive on just about any planet. They were the new humanity, the Star-People.

[[File:Star People All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|The Star-People. The first evolutionary step Humanity takes.]]

Humanity expanded and prospered for a while under a "summer of man", an age in which the Star-People thought all was perfect. The Star-People did discover some alien animals, but nothing sentient so far. Some people found bones of dinosaurs on another planet, and so, religions became stronger, as dinosaurs on another planet means god, right? As other Star-People reasoned, no, it means Xenos, and that's potentially bad. Either way, the Star-People started arming themselves just to be on the safe side. A lot of good that did them...

[[File:Qu.jpg|thumb|The Qu, Xenos scum that fucked over Humanity.]]
The Qu are a god-like species of Xenos with incredibly powers of genetic-manipulation. They don't see other sentient beings as sentient, but rather just tools for experimentation. They waged war against humanity and easily won, allowing them to fuck Humanity over by basically turning them into living shitposts.

== Story: Gallery of xenos-influenced mutants ==
<gallery>
File:Worms All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|Worms. This is what Xenos fuckery turns humans into.
File:Titan All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|The great Titans. Still mutants though.
File:Predator All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|Predators.
File:Prey All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|The Prey species of the Predators.
File:Mantelope.jpg|thumb|Mutants that are super-depressed due to their lack of thumbs.
File:Lizard Herder.jpg|thumb|Lizard-Herders be vibing bro.
File:Swimmer All Yesterdays.jpg|thumb|A Swimmer, aka a derpy dolphin.
File:Temptor All Yesterdays.jpg|thumb|Temptors. The males are weak and the females are strong. They are the average E-girl.
File:Bone Crusher.jpg|thumb|Bone-Crushers. They communicate by shitting on each-other. I've heard of shitposting, but this is ridiculous!
File:Colonials.jpg|thumb|Colonials. One of the few groups of Star-People to actually put up a fight against the Qu, [[Grimdark|so they got mutated into fully-sapient waste processors.]]
File:Flyer.jpg|thumb|Flyers.
File:Hand Flapper Censored.jpg|thumb|Hand Flappers. Note the censored magnum-dong.
File:Blind Folk Censored.jpg|thumb|These guys hid underground, so the Qu turned them into Blind-Folk.
File:Lopsider.jpg|thumb|Lopsiders, made to live on a heavy-gravity planet.
File:Striders.jpg|thumb|On a low-gravity planet, the Qu made the Striders, who were wiped out by predatory descendants of chickens.
File:Parasites.jpg|thumb|On a planet were Humans resisted the Qu, they turned them into Parasites.
File:Finger Fishers Censored.jpg|thumb|The Finger-Fishers catch fish with their long fingers.
File:Hedonists Censored.jpg|thumb|Hedonists were made to be the pets of the Qu.
File:Insectophagi.jpg|thumb|The Insectophagi eat insects.
</gallery>

[[File:Spacer.jpg|thumb|The Spacers. The only remaining naturally-evolving Humans.]]
When the Qu invaded Humanity's colonies, there was some Humans who were far way from these battles, these being the Spacers, who naturally evolved in space environments and built [[Craftworld|massive space-ships]]. They grew long arms and moved in zero-g by farting. Amazing. They chose not to help the Human colonists in their war against the Qu. [[Eldrad|Dicks]].

== Story: Post-Human evolved species ==
<gallery>
File:Snake People All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|Snake People are the Sentient evolved version of the Worms.
File:Killer Folk All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|The Predators evolved into the Killer Folk. They had a society built around hunting.
File:Tool Breeder All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|The Swimmers evolved into the Tool-Breeders, using sea life as technology since their first attempts to harness fire and electricity probably went [https://youtu.be/4J9BdL4A6oY?t=11| something like this.]
File:Saurosapient All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|The Lizards of the Lizard-Herders gained sentience and used the herders as their mounts. What a power-move.
File:Modular Person.jpg|thumb|The Colonials eventually evolved into collective organisms known as the Modular People. [[Noblebright|A success story if ever I've heard one.]]
File:Pterosapiens All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|The Flyers became Pterosapiens and established a world-government, since the idea of borders sounds stupid when you can literally fly wherever you want. They also focused on philosophy, since apparently that's what you do when you have a short life-span.
File:Asymmetric People All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|The Lopsiders genetically-engineered the Asymmetric people for space colonization, and then were exterminated by these creations.
File:Symbiotes All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|The Parasites eventually took over another species and controlled them like puppets. They made a society this way.
File:Sail People All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|The Finger-Fishers became the Sail People. They were competitive and tribal, but eventually became sentient.
File:All Tomorrows Satyriacs.jpg|thumb|The Hedonists had their planet destroyed but managed to evolve into the sentient Satyriacs. Still very Hedonistic, they are basically [[Slaangor]]s.
File:Bug Facer All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|The Insectophagi evolved into the sentient Bug facers. They were attacked by an unknown alien race, but survived and are now xenophobic.
</gallery>

[[File:Asteromorph All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb| Finally, the Spacers evolved into the Asteromorphs, becoming smarter and creepier, but they were peaceful, remaining on their Craftworlds.]]

== Story: continued and ending ==
After each of these sentient Post-Human societies achieved inter-planetary communication, the Killer Folk, Satyriacs, Tool Breeders, Modular People, Pterosapiens, Asymmetric people, Saurosapients, Snake People, Symbiotes, and Sail people made contact, and joined together in a vast Post-Human Empire that lasted for 80 Million years. They never actually met face to face, since space is ''huge'', but they prospered nonetheless. The Bug Facers, however, never joined this Empire, because they were conservative and scared of the Universe.

<gallery>
File:Ruin Haunters.jpg|thumb|The Ruin Haunters advanced among intact cities of the Star People. This caused problems...
File:Gravital.jpg|thumb|The new form of the Ruin Haunters, now fully transformed into an Abominable Intelligence.
File:Gravital Attack All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|The Gravitals began attacking all organic Post-Human sentient species.
File:Subject All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|The Bug Facers were turned into Subjects of genetic torture by the Gravitals.
File:Subject All Tomorrows 3.jpg|thumb|Some Gravitals and Subjects loved each other. Feels good man.
</gallery>

The Ruin Haunters advanced inside the ruins of the Ancient Star-People, Humanity's first mutation. They were able to advance so quickly with the Star Peoples technology, that they nearly became extinct, but the survivors came back with a supremacist mindset, that only they were the true reclaimers of the Star Peoples legacy. They rejected the offer to join the Post-Human Empire, and instead remained independent. Their planets star was growing rapidly, threatening to destroy their planet, so the Ruin Haunters pulled a Necron and abandoned their flesh for new mechanical bodies known as The Gravitals. Still having their mindset of supremacy over the other Post-Human species, the Gravitals began a massive war against the Post-Human Empire, eventually beating and rendering all its members extinct. For reasons unknown, the Gravitals chose to keep the shy and xenophobic Bug Facers alive, and use them as genetic playthings and test-subjects of all kinds of disturbing mockeries of Humanity, just like the Qu once did.

Eventually, some Religious and philosophical sects of the Gravitals began to feel sympathy and even love for their organic subjects, and chose to campaign for their rights, not as tools and toys, but as sentient beings deserving of respect. This caused a Civil War within the Gravital Machine Empire. To remedy this, [[War in Heaven|the Gravitals chose to go to war against the Asteromorphs.]] This war was long and brutal, but the Asteromorphs were eventually victorious, liberating the subjects from their control.

[[File:Asteromorph All Tomorrows 2.jpg|thumb|The still-evolving Asteromorphs' victory over the Gravitals.]]
The Gravitals were weakened, reduced to a slave-race of Nanite-beings who were given fair treatment, but still faced discrimination due to their past actions, which they accepted because they were ''that bad''. The victorious Asteromorphs, the one and only naturally-evolving Post-Human species chose to fix the Gravital's colossal fuck-ups with the subjects, freeing them and giving them new colonies to thrive on. The Asteromorphs began to play God, seeding life across the Galaxy, finally free from chaos and war, and kept a respectfully-distant watch over their creations and Post-Human species colonies. The Asteromorphs wanted to make sure that no war or genocide could ever be organized again, so they created the Terrestrials, smaller, simpler versions of themselves that could safely inhabit planets. These Terrestrials were not perfect, some were douchebags with a god-complex, and sometimes the younger Post-Human species rebelled, and they had to be destroyed, but one way or another, eventually, a peaceful Post-Human Empire was reestablished and spread across the stars. Eventually, Earth, Humanity's very homeworld, was re-discovered and colonized, and the Post-Human Empire made contact with a Xenos race with an evolutionary history just as complicated as their own. Each race had grown wise and smart enough to choose not to fight. Eventually the Qu were rediscovered and [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|got their asses handed to them once and for all by everyone they previously fucked over.]]

<gallery>
File:Terrestrial All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|Guides and Guardians of the younger Post-Human Species.
File:Terrestrial All Tomorrows 2.jpg|thumb|A Terrestrial casually re-colonises Ancient Terra.
File:Amphicephali All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|A Xenos species from outside our Galaxy met with the Post-Human Empire, and... it was peaceful. Each race was wise and old enough to not fight.
</gallery>

[[File:Author All Tomorrows.jpg|thumb|The in-Universe Author of All Tomorrows having that last laugh]]
So, a fairly happy ending, right? Well, not exactly. The Author of this book is revealed to be a Xeno archaeologist. Humanity is either extinct, or gone, he does not know which. Maybe Humanity ascended into a new dimension, or maybe the Empire collapsed and war and ruin caused their extinction... who knows. The author does not, but it's the journey that matters to him.

== THE MEMES ==
All Tomorrows quickly became a huge meme in July of 2021 after a youtuber by the username of "Alt Shift X" posted a summary of it. This also sparked a renewed interest in speculative evolution in general, including a book called "Man After Man", which somehow manages to be ''even more cursed'' thanks to the uncanny art style!

Below is a gallery of memes collected from various sources.

<gallery>
File:Jhvbqijztv771.png|thumb|Still very fucking heretical.
File:Allmogus.jpg|thumb|Humanity is sus
File:Adc.jpg|thumb|Yeah thanks Space fuckers.
File:13f.png|thumb|Humanity takes revenge on the Qu
File:13d.jpg|thumb|You are Mutant now
File:9cd.jpg|thumb|The average Vtuber Simp
File:8ad.png|thumb|The virgin star people VS THE CHAD QU
File:694.png|thumb|The Gravitals have some thoughts on Cybernetics
File:6c2.png|thumb|Saddam Husseins Hiding Place
File:Bf9.png|thumb|Gravital reacts to /tg/
File:1uwsfg05sha71.jpg|thumb|<s>DON'T YOU DARE!</s> Actually, [[Erebus]] fucking deserves it. Proceed.
File:Unhumans your Humanity.png|thumb|This is why we need the Imperium.
File:Alll+tomorrows+memes .png|thumb|The Qu doing fuckshit
</gallery>

== Relevance to /tg/ ==
Other than a potential setting for something like [[Eclipse Phase]] or maybe a [[Quest|Quest Thread]], there doesn't seem to be much in this story that is of relevance to /tg/.

C.M Kosemen, the writer of All Tomorrows is a [https://youtu.be/_1DUeMbesM8?t=876 massive Warhammer 40k] nerd.

Another fa/tg/uy says that the book is a good source of inspiration for homebrewing Abhuman Worlds and their populations for Warhammer 40K role-playing games.

Castles & Crusades

2026-10-16T11:39:13Z

192.42.116.105: Previous version was better - revert. Keep 2d4 pure

{{Game Infobox
|name = Castles & Crusades
|picture = [[Image:Castles%26crusades_cover.jpg|300px]]
|type = [[RPG]]
|publisher = Troll Lord Games
|authors = Davis Chenault & Mac Golden
|year = 2004
}}

'''Castles & Crusades''' is a role-playing game published by [[Troll Lord Games]] in 2004. It was conceived as a reimagining of classic [[Dungeons & Dragons]] using streamlined mechanics from third edition Dungeons & Dragons. The game uses many of the [[d20 System]] mechanics, but eliminates skills and feats and expands the number of [[class|character classes]] to 13. Another feature is the reversion of some rules to the original versions seen in original Dungeons & Dragons (often referred to as "OD&D") or first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D).

The system that Castles & Crusades uses is called the SIEGE Engine. A significant new mechanic is the notion of "Primes," often referred to by gamers as the 12/18 system. Through selection of character class and race, players designate some of their character's attributes as "Prime." These Prime attributes use a challenge base of 12, while non-Prime attributes use a challenge base of 18. Tasks based on the Prime attribute are therefore much easier to accomplish than those based on non-Primes. Primes allow a wider variety of characters to be created because characters of same class may excel at different types of tasks. Some players prefer to replace the different challenge bases with a +6 modifier for the Prime attributes.

The first three products produced for Castles & Crusades were an introductory boxed set, the ''Players Handbook'', and ''Monsters & Treasure'', a list of creatures and magic items for the game. A collection of alternate rules and guidelines for modifying the system, the ''Castle Keepers Guide'', came out in 2008. The books have been reprinted multiple times, with more recent printings being in full color (as well as having fixed fuckups). Troll Lord games has published more than a dozen adventures for the system, and small-press publisher Goodman Games has produced three adventures for Castles & Crusades under license.

The name of the game derives from the [[Castle & Crusade Society]], founded in the pre-Dungeons & Dragons era, by [[Gary Gygax]]. The title is in homage to the roleplaying industry's birth.

The shared lineage and resulting similarity in rules between [[Dungeons & Dragons]], [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], [[Hackmaster]], and Castles & Crusades simplifies conversion of rules and statistics between the games.

==Classes==
Castles and Crusades builds on the Second Edition array of classes. It's corebook consists of
*'''Assassins''' - Stealthy trapmakers and poisoners. Dex Prime, d6 HD.
*'''Barbarians''' - Hardy survivalists with a spin attack. Con Prime, d12 HD.
*'''Bards''' - A combination of historian, fighter, and bawd. Cha Prime, d10 HD.
*'''Clerics''' - Healbot and undead defeater, like every other D20 based cleric. Wis Prime, d8 HD.
*'''Druids''' - A nature focused caster with limited shapeshifting. Wis Prime, d8 HD.
*'''Fighters''' - an armored warrior who specializes in fighting mobs. Str Prime, d10 HD.
*'''Illusionists''' - a spellcaster focused on blurring the lines of reality, who got a heal spell in later versions. Int Prime, d4 HD.
*'''Knights''' - Charismatic warriors who are expert horsemen, which will definitely be useful in a dungeon campaign. Cha Prime, d10 HD.
*'''Monks''' - Kung fu action skirmishers. Con Prime, d12 HD.
*'''Paladins''' - The Knights Code of Conduct mixed with the Clerics god bothering. Cha Prime, d10 HD
*'''Rangers''' - A fighter with an assassin's stealth and poison knowledge and a barbarian's wilderness skills. Str Prime, d10 HD.
*'''Rogues''' - Skill monkeys and door openers with stealth. Dex Prime, d6 HD.
*'''Wizards''' - Like an illusionist, except their spells deal damage instead of pretending to. Int Prime, d4 HD.

{{Retroclones}}
[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Knight

2026-10-16T11:37:48Z

192.42.116.105: Previous version was better - revert. Keep 2d4 pure

[[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]], and the idea of a professional and standardized standing army which gradually put an end to the age of knights. Then, in the 19th century and after the French revolution, Romanticists who wanted to defend the old order of things against upstart ideas about "democracy" and suchlike began looking to the past with rose-coloured glasses and forgot about the shitty quality of that period and instead saw dashing knights 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. As stated in the opening paragraphs. This is because during the Victorian and Enlightenment eras, commoners started revolting against them. Around 18th and 19th centuries. The upper classes in Europe began romanticizing the dark ages, knights in particular, in poems and stories until what it originally is now buried under a mound of half-truths and plot twisting. In order to justify ruling over their former peasants and to make themselves feel better. TLDR look up the French Revolution.

Consider that tricky part of the tale of King Arthur: his dad Uther Pendragon wants to have it off with the lady Igraine, who is married to his enemy Gorlois. So, using circumstances and Merlin's magics, Uther takes on the identity of her husband, has his way with her, and then nine months down the line Arthur is born, an illegitimate child. This is left out of many tales except those seriously referencing the old poems as it is not the heroic source of the once and future king that many would expect (in later legend there is emphasis that Gorlois conveniently dies in battle before the conception occurs, therefore changing the fluff of the legend in Uther's favor. A predecessor to Matt Ward, it looks like).

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').

===Why Knights deserved (and still do deserve) the hate===
*Most Knights were a medieval version of [[That Guy]].
*Knights were legally not allowed to be killed in battle. While ransomed by the enemy they would be entitled to food, women and booze.
*They asked the Pope to ban crossbows (and other "missile projectiles") because they were pussies and didn't want to accept the fact that a lucky peasant can royally murder them before they got close. This failed because it was impossible to enforce and unlike today one nation couldn't punish another for doing something they don't like without large military formations. Branding the enemy heretics means shit if they have better weapons than your own.
*They could kill peasants/serfs and get away with it (at least their own serfs; killing the servants of another knight without their permission is frowned upon).
*These assholes only had to work three months per year.
*They could even literally dodge military service by bribing the king instead. So yes, we have a thug that is legally not entitled to be killed, could abuse people with no repercussions and taxed the peasants extra because he could send THEM to battle, a.k.a the Landlord. By 21st century we now know that conscription makes for inferior recruits.
*The general incompetence in the way the Crusades were carried out-- general infighting between various warbands with national rivalries broke out, then murdering and raping Slavs, Poles and Byzantines while they were getting their asses kicked by Muslims and the [[Mongols]] from the East.
**The Mongols did their jobs of driving out the Muslims for them. The Crusading Knights who ran away stole all the credit.
**Instead of going home and letting the Eastern Roman Empire(aka Byzantine Empire) administrate the territory they actually did retake (due to the Byzantine army being crippled by the Turks at Manzikert due to inter-dynasty infighting), these assholes set up their own principalities between the Empire and Jerusalem. During the 4th Crusade, Knights (already ticked off at how the Byzantine populace revolted and massacred Italian merchants in the capital city <s>they were arrogant and were rich due to controlling all the banking like the Jewish people back in Western Europe</s>) led the campaign under orders from Pope Innocent III that ransacked Constantinople once they backed a coup but learned the Emperor didn't have any money to pay for their services. Set up their own empire to get their asses kicked by the "Greeks" a half century later who restored it for a short time. These wars made the eastern empire permanently crippled and easily taken over by the Ottomans. The Crusades also gave Muslims the inroads to take control of Spain for centuries.
*Knights were expensive. Lords could arm several archers and infantrymen for half the price. Knights however, were theoretically the smartest bunches he could summon, as they were trained since birth to be elite soldiers. However without real standardization (unlike modern army recruits), it's hit-or-miss if the training was actually worth a damn or if it even worked in their theater of battle.
*Training wasn't really that practical in the first place. The reason why training of modern soldiers is standardized is so that when brought together they can all function as one unit regardless of origins. Giving each knights' house carte blanche on military training means your army's effectiveness is the equivalent of playing darts blindfolded. While there were Knight Orders that could work together in unison, those groups were rare.
*Only rich kids could become Knights and you had to be part of the nobility in the first place.
*Chivalry only applied when they wanted it to or was only required among [[Templar|specific (usually religious) groups]].
*[[/pol/|Some idiots want to bring them back]], despite the fact that horses are harder to get, guns exist and will get them shot in the face by anyone with a 9mm handgun. Unlike modern wargear medieval armor is not rated against and will perform poorly against bullets, shrapnel and crossbows, etc. Even if it was brought up to spec using modern materials, modern body armor made of polymer, ceramic plates, and synthetic fibers can stop just about everything medieval armor can and more, at a fraction of the cost and weight and minus the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spall glaring downsides].

===Why being a Knight sucked===
*Jousting was pay to win (going back to Knights being [[That Guy]]). Ever play a video game and a new item update releases with cool new weapons and armor? It might have took you days or a week just to get one of them. Then comes this guy with all that new gear stomping you with little skill on their part. Jousting was like that. If a Knight was rich enough he could buy a specialized set of jousting armor that made it impossible to unhorse him. Poorer Knights had to make do with their battle armor, which was designed for movement rather than not falling off a walking glue container.
*Knights had to buy their own equipment, as unlike modern military forces the feudal cheapskates in charge wouldn't foot the bill. If they didn't have a high enough status or weren't buddies with the armorer, there would be a chance of their weapons and armor being of questionable quality and forged by an apprentice instead. This meant that lower ranked Knights may have went into battle with the dark age equivalent of a school science project, regardless of how professional it might look on the surface.
*Your lord can ban you from using a better gear, in the case of poleaxes these were at times seen as a status symbol and were forbidden to use for the men at arms or noble in name only unlanded knights. Basically if your boss was [[That_Guy| that guy]]. He could purposefully underequip you due to a dumb fashion trend.
*Becoming a Knight meant that you had to be hit in the face with a gauntlet. Made out of metal. So you could end up talking like a European Little Nicky if the guy knighting you was a big enough jerk. For obvious reasons, this was eventually replaced with the more traditional tapping of your shoulders with a sword.
*As a [[Squire]] you had a high chance of being [[rape|raped]] by the man training you, more so if you weren't a noble of high rank. Alongside that there was also the risk of being beaten constantly for failing to live up to his overly high standards.
*Because of how the nobility works, there's a decent chance you're inbred and your to-be wife chosen by arranged marriage will be closely related to you by blood (genetic diversity tends to suffer under eugenics). What's that? You don't want to marry and fuck your sister(?)? Too bad, we need an heir, do it or be disgraced.
*Crossbows, Firearms and (better trained) mercenary pikemen ruined your day. Some guys who took a vacation in the Far East came back with pretty cool stuff that kills you in an instant regardless of all that fancy gear you got. Luckily for you their weapon takes forever to reload, making a well timed charge or a sneak attack on him seem like a really good idea. Unfortunately that other guy also has a pistol, maybe even two. Worse, he is likely a German mercenary with a Flamberge, whose sword breaks your own in half. ''Then'' he shoots you with one of his handguns.
**Granted a good enough Knight could become a decent rifleman/gunslinger in his own right, but by that time the utility of your original station was pretty much over.
*The Feudalist system was pretty much the mafia of the Middle Ages. You piss off the wrong person above your rank or if they want what you have (land, wife, daughter, livestock, even just your peasants), you and your family could be stripped of your land and titles, either by other Knights, from a siege via cannons, or condemnation as a heretic and burning at the stake, with your assets divided up and even your family given to other nobility or The Church up to the Vatican itself. The fact that the Mafia arose in Sicily a short time before the Renaissance is more than enough evidence of how bad Feudalism was.
**[[Templar|STILL successful? Still powerful? Pope loves you? Act according to conscience instead of urges? Oh wait, you are now tortured to confess to bullshit charges of worshipping wooden Mohammad heads (Baphomet lul) and burned at the stake for your monies.]]
*Some angry peasant spits on you, or another noble sneezes in your direction. You are now dying of the bubonic plague.
**Or you could get Tuberculosis instead. Or both. Hell, you could just die because of the abysmal hygiene and sanitation standards of the time.
***[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crh26yTqdqk The doctors of the era knew shit all about these things].

==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.

Many fantasy settings are less sexist than the actual middle ages and female knights are far more common than they were in the middle ages.

==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.
* 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.

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

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

Glorantha

2026-10-16T11:35:43Z

192.42.116.105: Previous version was better - revert. Keep 2d4 pure

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[[File:UraldaHeroquestStage5.webp|300px|thumb|right|Sanest Orlanthi heroquester]]
'''Glorantha''' is the setting for the [[Runequest]] TTRPG. It began in 1966 when [[Greg Stafford]] was trying to [[FAIL|pull some wiccan chicks into his wargaming group]]. It is based off of themes found in bronze age myths, rather than from [[Tolkien]]'s works. And given the fact that Greg was a [[Spook|practicing]] [[What|shaman]] with a degree in Comparative Religion... Well, it's completely batshit. Younger gamers may recognize its influence on franchises such as [[Elder Scrolls]] (e.g, the bullshit insane lore) whose lead writers and designers were huge [https://www.reddit.com/r/teslore/comments/m1cjky/comment/gqeolqn/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 fans] and even [https://en.uesp.net/wiki/General:Ken_Rolstone_Interview co-workers] of Greg.

Recently a new, ''gigantic'', lore book titled ''Guide to Glorantha'' was released —packing ''12 ducking pounds'' of lore— and covers (practically) everything. Sadly, it's only available now as a [[PDF]] file, and unlikely to be reprinted. It did make enough money to keep the setting going with new lore, however. So support <s>Greg's retirement fund</s>... [[Chaosium|the company]] he left behind, as Greg passed in 2018 (Rest in Peace you glorious crazy man).

==Premise==
[[File: glorantha cosmology.png|thumb|400px|right|To the north is the continent of Genertela, the usual setting for RuneQuest. Farther north of that is a huge fuckoff glacier and home to ice trolls, ice spirits, and the occasional not-viking. The [[Warcraft|maelstrom]] in the middle is a gaping hole to the [[Warp|Universe]] and is being plugged by shit tons of water. South is the not-africa continent, Pamaltela (note how its entire south is just lakes of fire). Under the map is the Underworld and over the map is the Sun, Orlanth's sky and stars, and the Red Moon. Slightly east are the not-japan and not-southeast asians of Glorantha. The towers at the utmost east and west are gates to the Underworld, populated by powerful alien races, and from which Yelm enters and leaves to light up the both the Underground and Aboveground skies. ]]
[[Belief Function|The gods are real because people believe in them]]. Every belief in this world, no matter how contrary to that of others, is true to a certain degree. This fact is not helped by Chaosium's adage: "Your Glorantha will Vary" (YGWV). This is practically Greg's ultimate fuck you to any fan looking for "the canon" because technically, everything including the most moronic fan-theory, is canon. This is even backed up in-lore by multiple examples of individuals and even entire civilizations who changed others' beliefs and thus changed reality for their own [[Powergamer|ends]].

The "world" is a cube floating in an endless sea topped with a dome of stars, that is really the underside of a land of gods and myths. As for the other planets, there are the various moons which seem to do little more than fuck everything up. Fortunately, that doesn't happen often (unless other civilizations or cults get in the way).

Everything that occurs in Glorantha generally has some sentient being or magical force responsible for it. For example, all rivers flow in any particular direction because a god had decided, been forced, or been bribed to be there (as the god and the river are one in the same). The people/elements/plants/ducks/lizardmen that inhabit Glorantha are generally religious zealots or ingrates that are more than willing to be extorted by any local gods that they have the poor fortune to witness. Aside from these Neanderthals there are a number of civilizations that seem to get by okay when they pool their efforts and trade off with the stronger gods. 
That is, except for the Lunar Empire, which seems to fuck everyone's shit up by using a mysterious magic known as logical reasoning. Aside from the Lunars, there is also the Orlanthi who follow Orlanth (very original guys) and fought the Lunar Empire in order to get [[King of Dragon Pass|their own videogame]] and spotlight status. Besides these major players, Glorantha contains more individual peoples and places than can be covered in a single paragraph.

===Creation Myth===
There are multiple, some of which are in complementary and some of which are contradictory. Best I can do that is that there was a [[Skub|ouroboric dragon/pantheistic being/Glorantha herself/primordial pantheon/creation rune/world machine]] who came out of the ether and [[Skub|spat out/shat out/snorted out/breathed out/puked out/willed into being/built]] everything else. For a while Elves were ascendant because everything was just algae, forests, and prokaryotes, then the sun (Yelm) came out and gave Elves flowers; now he rules because [[Fail|they loved flowers so much]].

Yelm, the sun, was set up to rule a golden age of peace, prosperity, and stasis. A few years/few millennia/few million years/few days later, a god named Umath got mad at the stasis so he made war with Yelm and got badly beaten. Before this he managed to [[What|fuck a mountain]] and who knows what else, that he begets Orlanth and the Storm Tribe. Someone discovered what death is and some [[That guy|trickster]] [[Lulz|tested]] it on this universe's Adam [[Skub|and/or]] Eve, causing all of their descendants to become mortal. Orlanth, replacing his dad as king of the storm tribe, [[Skub|stole/borrowed/forcefully acquired]] death and used it on Yelm, [[Fail|sending the world into sunlessness]].

Orlanth, now technically ruler of the world in this new Storm Age, still has to fight threats to his domain in the so-called Godswar. These threats range anywhere between manageable (e.g, Yelm's heirs and tribe, rival gods and ideologies) to horrible such as [[Chaos]] and trolls, both of which stemming directly from Orlanth's irresponsibility. Chaos was introduced through tears in the world left by Yelm's death and Orlanth's rebellion whilst trolls are refugees from the Underworld now unbearably hot and bright from playing host to Yelm's perpetually burning corpse. This all comes to a head when Orlanth's brother [[Tzeench|Ragnaglar]] dramatically expanded Chaos' portfolio by inventing the concept of rape on his wife [[Slaanesh|Malia]] and his mistress [[Nurgle|Thed]] to create the literal [[Khorne|Devil]] who darkened the world, sent millions into extinction, and killed a fuckton of gods.

During this Darkness Age, darkness, cold, and chaos were rampant (but they fight and hate each other), and only ended when Orlanth decided to man up and accept some responsibility for once in his life. He and his retinue, [[Crunch|Issaries]], [[Fluff|Lhankor Mhy]], [[Healslut|Chalana Arroy]], [[That guy|Eurmal the Trickster]], [[What|Flesh Man]], and [[DM|Ginna Jar]] went through a highly difficult and convoluted [[D&D 3E|quest]] to resurrect Yelm and have him re-light the world. While trying to make peace with Yelm, the Devil [[Fail|got himself killed]] so he can directly enter the Underworld and waylay the Lightbringers Quest until [[Skub|Glorantha herself/Ginna Jar/the Universe Itself]] decided they've had enough and caught the Devil in a web, using him as material for the legally-binding document called Time.

Yelm was returned to light the world but only during the day as he had to include his Underworld empire, and every god of every culture was made to sign the Great Compromise so they can live eternally in a separate, ever-repeating, but constricting Godsplane while their mortal constituents live in a free middle plane (ideally) protected from the clutches of Chaos by the fabric of time/an actual dating system and so, history starts from here.

==Races & Cultures==
===Human Cultures===
'''Orlanthi''' - known by many names such as Vingkotlings, Theyalans, and Heortlings. Can be best described in real-world terms as "greek-celtic-vikings" (basically the pre-roman Hispanians) for their olive skin, tattoos, and widely ranging hair and eye colors. You get to play them, erroneously portrayed with northern european features, as the Heortlings in [[King_of_Dragon_Pass|King of Dragon Pass]] and against them, now faithfully portrayed, as Vingkotling "rams" in [[King_of_Dragon_Pass|Six Ages]]. The posterboy culture of the franchise owing to having the most fluff and that their gods and heroes have had the most effect on Gloranthan history, for better or worse. Is currently, HeroWars era, at a [[What|state of war and/or rebellion against the moon.]] and spiritually led in this endeavor by Argrath who may be one or many. Notable Orlanthi nations are Tarsh - slavekeeping clients to the Lunars, Sartar - the kingdom you build in [[King_of_Dragon_Pass|KoDP]], and the Holy Country - the country you escape from in [[King_of_Dragon_Pass|KoDP]]. Orlanthi men are expected to be fiery, violent, and emotional (manly tears galore) whilst orlanthi women are expected to be cold, calculating, and stoic.

[[File:Average Dara Happan.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A Dara Happan.]]
'''Dara Happans''' - sun (yelm) worshipping, slavekeeping, patriarchal, egyptian-babylonian fusion who look like WASPs stuck in the Bronze Age. So prolific, in fact, that you can tell which cultures are the quite numerous offshoots/cousins of Dara Happans if their art or fluff describes them as midwest american caucasoid. They idealize the city life and the emperor (no matter what form he takes or his claims to power) making them the gloranthan equivalent of the modern, subordinate, weak-chinned, urbanite. They look down upon their rural citizens called Lodrilli (named after Lodril the Dara Happan earth god) which is ironic as the region that they live in, Peloria, is a breadbasket of the continent. Currently ruled as the Lunar Empire by the Red Emperor, demigod son of the Red Goddess (aka the moon), and thus they have [[Fail|subsumed Yelm into a subordinate position]].

'''Hsunchen''' - just your run-of-the-mill spiritual animists who, interestingly enough, despite being of widely varying races and geographical distribution possess mutually intelligible if not identical languages. Hsunchen are divided into tribes based around their totem animal. Shamans of some of the tribes return from their heroquests as the [[/d/|opposite sex]] or permanently [[Furry|afflicted with qualities of their spirit animals]] while some tribes, such as the telmori, are literally just [[Werewolf|were-versions]] of their totem.

'''Agimori''' - living on the southern continent and widely varied. AKA the black people of glorantha. Ranges between the slavekeeping, wealthy Fonritians, to the matriarchal Kresh who roam around the plains on massive (think arena-sized) wagons kept constantly mobile by literal armies of porter slaves, to the Doraddi, the stereotypical bush hunter type, but they are [[Racial Holy War|TOTALLY COMPLEX, NUANCED, AND NOT ABSOLUTELY RACIST I SWEAR.]]

'''Kralorelans''' - [[China|Chinese]]. Just. Chinese. Led by human emperors who somehow [[Awesome|managed to convince everyone (including dragons) that they're dragons]].

'''Vormain''' - [[Japan|Japanese]]. Just. Japanese. But their economy flourishes and depends mostly on piracy. Think Somalian-Wako Pirates.

'''Malkioni''' - the fedora tippers of glorantha. Are characterized by varying pantheistic/atheistic magocratic caste systems wherein they believe that gods are simply entities who managed to [[Magic the Gathering|"Tap"]] very strongly into the runes and orders that represent the aspects of the world, and that they themselves can rise to [[Believers of the Source|"godhood"]] by doing the same. Located mostly in the westerly parts of continents. Currently divided into many philosophies and equivalent kingdoms of varying cosmoplitanism and emancipation. Named after Malkion, who can be described as Glorantha's equivalent to a Buddha-Christopher Hitchens lovechild.

[[File:Morokanth and his human.jpg|200px|thumb|right|That mace is dangerously close to dropping on a unexpecting cloven hoof.]]
'''Praxians''' - horse-nomads but not really. Instead they are a collection of tribes of the various human races present after the desertification of Prax, assigned by draw-lot with their own respective warbeast mounts. There are the massive dark-haired and bearded Bison Tribe, the [[Pygmy|pygmies]] of the Impala Tribe, the swarthy tibeto-burmese lookin High Llama Tribe, among others, and even the Morokanth tribe [[What|wherein the humans lost the draw to the the animals and as such are farmed as food and companions]] to giant aardvarks with no [[Fail|opposable thumbs]]. Hates Chaos with a passion as the head of their pantheon is Storm Bull the Devil-Slayer, analogous to the Orlanthi Urox. [[Furry|Married to Storm Bull]] is the Earth Goddess Eiritha, analogous to the respective cattle goddess of most cultures, and is said to have singlehandedly repopulated Prax by periodically birthing the warbeasts within a cave.

[[File:Image 2023-05-03 232713419.png|300px|thumb|right|A Pentan/Grazer]]
'''Pentans''' - Sexual egalitarian dara happan offshoots [[Mongols|on horses]]. Probably descended from the horse riders you play in Six Ages and/or charioteers you play against. Worships the sun-horse god Kargzant who may or may not be the orlanthi Elmal. Immensely more successful at being rampaging nomads with gloranthan history fraught with them having to get kicked out or subjugated for anything to move forward. There is even a period in recent gloranthan history wherein a warlord called [[Genghis motherfucking Khan|Sheng Seleris]] ravaged [[China|Kralorela]] then conquered the Lunar Empire, [[Awesome|at its golden age]], and ruled over it for A CENTURY before being sent to the underworld by the moon herself. Currently ruled again by Sheng Seleris after Argrath did a Lightbringer's Quest to resurrect him. Sheng Seleris is so feared that not only did the moon birth a goddess specifically for the purpose of putting him back and keeping him in the underworld, but he also ended up taking over from the moon as the [[BBEG]] for Argrath to beat by conquering and consuming the Lunar Empire (emperor, prison goddess, and [[Chaos|chaos]] included)

Glorantha is riddled with many other relevant minor cultures such as

'''Grazers'''- pentan exclave in Dragon Pass. Were practically the reason why the horse is anathema to Prax during their time as rampaging mercenaries/buffer states there. Now concerned with keeping Dragon Pass healthy with rulers of Sartar and Sarsh having to win their incumbent queen's hand to be declared King of Dragon Pass.

'''Votanki/Balazarings''' - Dog lovers. Just. Dog lovers. They have mastered dog lore to the point that they can even breed and foster absolutely massive dogs (think Clifford the Big Red Dog) on the regular. Worships Votank and of course, you've guessed it, his companion Brother Dog. Besides their tribal hearths, Votankiland is dotted with three citadels dedicated to Yelmalio, an ascetic understanding of Elmal/Kargzant/Yelm, and are ruled by Balazaring kings with these citadels basically representing what little civilization there is in this infertile shithole. Named after Balazar, a pentan who tried using the votanki towards his own dreams of kingship dashed by the fact that the land is, as aforementioned, an infertile shithole and that he got killed when dragons ate everyone when he joined an invasion of Dragon Pass.

'''Jrusteli''' - mainly known as the origin of the God Learner philosophy. God Learners were the [[munchkin]]s of glorantha who were cynically collating the world into useful data and minmaxing. They became so good at [[Powergaming]] that they've managed to do things such as 1.) [[Kairos Fateweaver|Predicting future events]] such as the HeroWars, 2.) [[Lulz|Swapping the earth goddesses of the Orlanthi and the Dara Happans for a while]], and 3.) Making the world [[rage]] so hard that it perceptibly moaned and groaned and shook to [[Rocks fall, everyone dies|destroy their empire, their continent in the middle of the sea, ocean travel in general, and all trade and communications in a certain area of the main continent.]]

'''Artmali''' - Blue-skinned people that came to Pamaltela from the Blue Moon. Had a big empire in there during the Storm Age that prospered due to their ability to manipulate tides, before being corrupted by chaos. Pamalt burned it down along with the many chaos creatures and gods. What remains of them are the tribal Veldang who worship their crippled gods and nature spirits, and the Blueskin slaves of Fonrit. Another group called the Zaranistangi went and ruled the lands of Teshnos for a time before getting curbstomped out of existence by the God Learners.

==="Elder Races"===
'''Elves''' - these elves, as opposed to tolkien's elves, are [[Dryad|literal walking talking trees]]. Created by their goddess Aldrya to assist in her quest to preserve and propagate plant life, these elves are divided into many subtypes depending on their pet tree types. Elves who take care of oaks are called Brown Elves and are typically large and very ent-like while elves who take care of tropical trees are small [[Racial Holy War|Yellow]] Elves and inhabit the [[Heart of Darkness|Vietnam(s)]] of Glorantha, while elves who take care of pines and evergreens are Green Elves who are deliberately made to look like [[Nymph|very attractive humans]]. DO NOT attempt to sleep with a Green Elf. Symptoms of elfborne STD include but are not limited to: skin discoloration, itchiness, halitosis, death, miscegenation, vitiligo, allergies, and (in rare cases) apotheosis.

'''Mostali''' - dwarves but not really. made as servitors and maintainers of Mostal, the world-machine, and are divided into many subtypes based on what kind of kiln they were forged in and what they're supposed to do. Rock dwarves are stonemasons, gold dwarves run logistics, and so on. Mind you, actual non-fleshy dwarves are endangered (think a couple of dozen) and have been elevated to the ruling class. To save their kind in the Darkness, most dwarves are now flesh and thus have to commit [[Shortstack|the business]] in presumably the old kilns (imagine the smelle). Currently engaged in "maintaining" and repairing Mostal and they sincerely think (lol) that everything that happened, [[Just_as_planned|whether disasters or miracles]], in Gloranthan history was because of their or someone else's upkeep or breaking of the world-machine. [[Old_Ones_(Warhammer)|They also sincerely believe that the world will return to its normal stasis]], with mostali ascendant over the rogue gods and lesser races, as long as they keep working on the world-machine.

'''Trolls''' - grey ungulate-looking motherfuckers ranging from 7 to 10 ft forced out of their beautiful Underworld by the brightness of Yelm into the middleworld proper [[Dawww|which they call the "Hurtplace"]]. Can eat absolutely anything but has preference for elves, as they are delicious, and dwarves, [[Drugs|as they are hallucinogenic]], and are thus at odds with both of these races. Also despises Chaos for being their main competition during the Darkness and would support literally anyone, including the aforementioned races, currently fighting chaos. Once members of the now defunct World Council of Friends (composed of races who survived the darkness against chaos) but left when the council decided to build an artificial god, Nysalor/Gbaji, who subsequently cursed their race and goddess to have 50% chance to multiple birth stunted trolls called trollkin that they use as [[What|food]], [[Gnoblar|slaves]], and [[Grot|cannon fodder]], weakening the once powerful race. Is a matriarchal society and a matriarch's rank is based on the number of non-trollkin births. Worship mainly Kyger Litor the matriarchal goddess and Zorak Zoran the male troll god of violence.

[[File:DragonewtTrioRitual.webp|200px|thumb|right|Yes, those are wasp nests.]]
'''Dragonewts''' - [[Chaotic Stupid|absolute weirdos who just do what they want]]. They are the larval forms of true dragons who for some reason take way too long to metamorphose. They do believe that every action they commit contributes toward dragonhood for the world and themselves in a philosophy centered around maturing into True Dragonhood. Each nest is ruled by an Inhuman King, a true dragon taking dragonewt form, under whose presence they can be reborn in their original eggs when killed, rendering them effectively immortal. Helped form the Empire of Wyrm Friends (EWF) in Dragon Pass until they quit and killed anyone who might know useful dragon lore as the decadence and tyranny of human side of EWF was simply too deeply rooted. This culminated in the Dragonkill wherein a fuckton of dragons came out of nowhere and ate every human in Dragon Pass as well as those unfortunate bastards who came to destroy the EWF. No human lived in Dragon Pass until King of Dragon Pass proper. Also, Dragonnewts who fail to take control of their desires and emotions devolve into and are the ancestors of the [[dinosaur]]s of Glorantha.

[[File:What the duck.png|200px|thumb|right|Even the characters are starting to think that walking, talking, fucking ducks are too ridiculous for a fantasy setting.]]
'''Beast Men''' - includes minotaurs, centaurs, and [[Disney|talking walking ducks with arms]]. Mostly located in the Beast Valley in Dragon Pass and are typically Orlanthi in culture and religion. Swears fealty to the King of Dragon Pass.

'''Chaos''' - They are composed of beings ranging from [[broo]]s, who can [[what|impregnate inanimate objects]], to [[Ogre]]s, a race of Chaos-tainted humans who look normal until they open their mouths to reveal rows of jagged teeth for devouring other humans in cannibalistic murders, to Walktapus which are big naked humans with an octopus for a head, to vampires and undead, to simple amorphous giant blobs of chaos. Hated by almost everyone except the Red Goddess, who is vaguely affiliated with them, and her Lunar Empire, whose main philosophy argues that they are an essential part of the world. They exist on the rightful basis of kill-on-sight. Chaos as a state thrives on and is spawned by acts committed against the natural order. Notable examples of chaos-creating activities are kinslaying, failing HeroQuests with traditional chaotic villains, and rebelling against a rightful emperor.

'''Triolini''' - Bikini Bottom in Glorantha. Composed of warring subtypes such as the Ludoch, who are dolphin-folk, and Ysabbau, who are Gloranthan [[Deep One|deep ones]], among others. Subtypes are grouped into two based on descent from hated storm gods and nymphs who were either taken consensually, the Cetoi who are friendly to landlubbers, or raped, the Piscoi who would drag you down a trench, by those storm gods. Most of them have to surface to breathe with the exception of the Gnydron who are the giant triolini and [[/d/|whose ancestress nymph castrated her storm god to be impregnated with her own hermaphroditic mating organs]].

'''Wind Children''' - Winged humans descending from sylphs and humans that lived during the Godtime. Largely just hang in their mountain top and cliff face aeries, flying their days away hunting and contemplating. Dislike elves because their trees used to take away their open spaces in Godtime, and [[griffin]]s because they compete for the same enviromental spaces. Also complete wusses when it comes to alcohol, getting drunk from just a couple drops.

==Digestible History==
After the sun came back to the sky, the races of the world formed a United Nations of sorts based on their shared experience surviving Chaos. [[Historical References|As expected]], this council ends up failing as they decided to build a blasphemous artificial god to signify their newfound mastery of the world with most Orlanthi (because of course they're iconoclastic zealots), Trolls (because the new god smells of Chaos), and the Dragonnewts ([[Chaotic Stupid|just because]]) rebelling against the global government schizo/Gaddafi style.

This god was called Nysalor, later called Gbaji, who defeated Kyger Litor and cursed her children. Gbaji was fought by experienced heroquester Arkat, who was of the anti-theistic Malkioni subsect of Brithini in the so-called Gbaji Wars. Arkat got killed and was resurrected through Lightbringers Quest by Harmast Barefoot, who is a descendant of your Riders in [[King of Dragon Pass|Six Ages]]. Arkat is now a transracial Orlanthi who worshipped Humakt, the storm god who owns death.

Arkat made so many successful forays into HeroQuesting that he's managed to map the Godsplane quite comprehensively and has brought back allies and treasures to effectively kill Gbaji. Arkat also learned that Heroquests of all kinds are all true and can exist in mutualism, causing him to join the trolls and to not only try but also fabulously succeed in their own rituals. Arkat became the first and only male and human to be recognized as the leader of general trollkind, [[Butthurt|pissing off Harmast and the rest of the Orlanthi]] who then disowned him for being a [[Weeb|trollboo]]. The final battle between Gbaji and Arkat ended with Gbaji's permadeath and the cursing of his homebase, Dorastor, into a land of rampant chaos and broos with specks of stubborn Orlanthi and Telmori.

After Arkat died, people from Jrusteli landed on Malkioni shores with the God Learner philosophy that they then used to great effect, ruling every coastline in the world in an Empire of Land and Sea. At the same time, people from Dragon Pass decided that dragons are cool and formed the EWF.

The God Learners added to their own knowledge by conquering Arkat's Autarchy and stealing his discoveries. The God Learners, however, faced a brick wall when they encountered the EWF and have gone on a perpetual state of war to steal and protect secrets.

Both empires did however share a mutual burden of, as ever, fanatical Orlanthi subjects with Orlanthi violently opposing both the blasphemy of the God Learners and the alien dragon-worship of EWF. The human rulers of the EWF were so desperate to quash the Orlanthi rebellions, led by the aptly named Alakoring Dragonbreaker, and have fallen off the path of dragonhood in the process, causing the dragonewts to abandon the EWF. The EWF, along with the True Golden Horde sent to vanquiish it, was then crushed and digested by a sudden swarm of dragons (the smallest being the size of an arena) appearing out of nowhere.

Meanwhile, the God Learners continued to violate the natural order, even creating yet another artificial god that Orlanth himself and the rest of the world banded together to turn it into scrapmetal. This all ends with Glorantha herself moving to expel the God Learners with an event called the Closing. The Closing was an invisible wave of force that destroyed ships and prevented sea-travel of any kind, and also caused tsunamis and storms that turned the western Malkionist subcontinent into a collection of large archipelagos

With the God Learners destroyed, sea-travel impossible, the EWF consumed, and Dragon Pass blocked off with a warding spell, a man named [[Murderhobo|Belintar]] somehow amazingly managed to emerge from who-knows-where and swam towards the shores of Kethaela, the Orlanthi heartland of the continent's south. Belintar then conquered Kethaela and formed the Holy Country with himself dubbed as Pharaoh and as a God-King figure syncretized into all the religions within his domain, forcing the most orthodox of Orlanthi to cross the northern threshold to Dragon Pass, by then blocked off to humans for centuries.

At the same time, a woman in Dara Happa apotheosized as the Red Goddess, became the moon, took up space and squatted in Orlanth's plane in the sky, and the Lunar Empire was born. A few decades later, a Pentan warlord called Sheng Seleris conquered both the Lunar Empire and the not-China, Kralorela, into what could possibly be the [[Genghis motherfucking Khan|largest contiguous land-based empire]] in Gloranthan history. This only lasted for a century however as Sheng Seleris got killed and was personally assigned a lunar goddess whose sphere was basically to keep him in the Underworld, he simply is that awesome.

With the opening of Dragon Pass, the people of the continent were no longer isolated from each other. [[King of Dragon Pass|Sartar conquered Dragon Pass]] and married the Grazer Feathered Horse Queen to become its king and built a powerful Orlanthi nation in control of the central trade node of the continent. Whilst the Prince of Sartar is typically the King of Dragon Pass, the ruler of Tarsh may sometimes prove a great contender.

A new period was started when the Pharaoh successfully bypassed the Closing with his son Dormal, who invented the method for doing so, basically apotheosizing as a patron god of sea trade and general bypassing of bullshit magical barriers. Some time after global sea trade was restarted, Tarsh and Sartar were conquered using treachery by the Lunar Empire leaving Tarsh as a highly obedient client-kingdom and Sartar with a sartarite cadet dynast as puppet king. The Pharaoh was assassinated by the Lunars and was magically prevented from reincarnating. Surprisingly, all the par-on-course Orlanthi revolts were successfully put down including one led by the accomplished Sartar-descended warrior-queen and heroquester Kallyr Starbrow.

This left the central Orlanthi nations weak, leaderless, subjugated, and Orlanth effectively dead. The Lunars were on the brink of victory until a man named Argrath, a wolf pirate under Harrek the Berserk, landed on the Holy Country and conquered all the way north and along the way have (may be attributed to one or many Argraths) resurrected Sheng Seleris, brought Orlanth back to life, conquered Dragon Pass, and had every Lunar loyalist in Dragon Pass accidentally eaten by dragons. The HeroWars culminate with the Red Moon crashing to Glorantha to vague and dubious results.

The history of Glorantha is actually documented in-universe in the future Harshax age by none other than a guy with a canonically friendly name of [[Greg Stafford]]. This history is also described multiple times in-universe to be unreliable and has set the precedent for the setting and those that draw inspiration from it to be the most obtuse and opaque in all of fiction, causing frustration for players, theorycrafters, and wiki editors alike. Believe it or not, this article was actually written as a badly needed quick rundown.

==Significant and Notable Deities and Individuals==

'''Orlanth''' - appellations include "Lightbringer", "Lawbringer", "Victorious", and "Ramping, Stamping, Petulant Troglodyte". A real irresponsible fellow who killed the sun, thus creating an entire epoch lighted purely by his [[Zeus|sparkly thunderous]] ego called the Storm Age. He does get better though, and eventually selflessly restores the world. His myths are constantly portrayed as most credible as attributed to his power, the fanaticism and global spread of his smoothbrained namesake worshipers, and by the fact that he's the franchise's [[Spiritual liege|golden boy]].

'''Yelm''' - is the literal sun and the inventor of either enlightened absolute monarchy or tyranny. Depends really on whether or not you're an Orlanthi. Portfolio is expectedly fire, light, imperialism, and photosynthesis. Life flows from this guy, do NOT kill him.

As the setting is big on aspects, avatars, body doubles, and general stand-ins; the other sun gods are either just him or his sons. One of these sun gods is the Orlanthi horse god '''Elmal'''. Elmal is described as an ex-member of Yelm's Fire Tribe, and is described as Orlanth's right-hand, and the guardian and light of the world during Orlanth's underworld adventures. In meta terms however, Elmal was just a balancing patch introduced by [[Cegorach|Greg]] to allow the [[Spiritual liege|posterboy]] Orlanthi access to fire powers. This small move has caused literal decades worth of [[Skub]] ever since within the Glorantha community with half the elders trying to canonize him to non-existence (even blaming him being in the setting on Greg having brain fog) and half welcoming the change and featuring him in his very own video game, [[King of Dragon Pass|Six Ages]], that rationalizes him as the strongest of Yelm's heirs and knits him seamlessly into Dara Happan and latter Pentan mythos.

'''Ernalda''' - Orlanth's wife and following the aforementioned multiple aspects thing, is practically everyone's. May or may not be the many other earth godesses as well as even Glorantha herself. Every earth priestess of every culture will agree that their version of Ernalda has many husbands, but will claim that their culture's primary god is her favorite. It is actually only generally accepted that Orlanth is her greatest husbando-protector because the greatest earth-worshipping nation is located in Orlanthi homelands.

'''The Red Goddess''' - also known as "Sedenya", is the literal moon. Besides the missing Blue Moon of the Artmali, Glorantha did not have a moon before her as tides wax and wane not according to gravity but to the general mood of your local watering hole's resident spirit. Is really putting in a (murderous) spanner in Orlanth's works not just because she took up space in his sky, but has also taken over Yelm's earthly representative empire wherein her priests preach acceptance of Chaos as part of the natural order. Understandably sees Orlanth as a cantankerous fundamentalist for demonizing her idol Nysalor and his art of Illumination, but overlooks the fact that Chaos once killed 98% of the world and that the art of Illumination, described mostly as achieving [[Elder Scrolls 3 Morrowind|CHIM]] in order not to not get sodomized by Chaos, takes a long-ass time to master.

'''The Devil and the Unholy Trio''' - the Unholy Trio is composed of Orlanth's brother Ragnaglar, Ragnaglar's wife Malia, and Ragnaglar's mistress Thed. Ragnaglar is the only one of Umath's sons to fail his coming-of-age ceremony simply because he got the absolute worst one: the [[/d/|Sex Pit]]. What happened in the Sex Pit can be left up to imagination but whatever it may be, this caused him to go mad and he is known as the god of madness to this day. During his crazed spree, he commits the first ever rape on his wife Malia who then [[Fail|decided that she must be the goddess of Rape]] so that the rest of the world would experience the pain she did. The rape led to child and this was delivered by Thed as midwife as she used to be a healing goddess, now taking on the mantle of Goddess of Disease.

Whilst, the Unholy Trio (or at least Ragnaglar) may be a purely Orlanthi aspect of the story of the darkening of the world, their baby the Devil is generally agreed upon by everyone as unfortunately real. The Devil was a motherfucker who've genocided most mortals and most gods, taking the world's worth of a Lightbringer's Quest to kill him. Both he and his dad Ragnaglar are very much dead, with the former used as parchment to write (I shit you not) actual Time.

'''Aldrya''' - the goddess of plants and most things greenery. The elves are her children and are named after her as the Aldryami. Is generally agreed upon by everybody, including herself, that she is Ernalda's daughter thus proving the point the earth predates the sun. Mortals who get to bone her just straight up descend into godhood as it's just that good.

'''Mostal''' - the world machine. Is the, if it can be called it that, god of dwarves. Is typically represented as the world as a machine and a cube and how dwarves actually maintain and repair this is described extremely vaguely. Other cultures tend to represent Mostal as a dwarfking as they can barely wrap their heads around it which goes to show you how dismal the average IQ could get in Glorantha.

'''Kyger Litor''' - is the big, bad, goddess of Darkness of the Trolls. Said to reside in the many palaces of obsidian she sprouted all over Glorantha as safe haven for her trolls from the burning glow of Yelm. As Darkness is now banished half of the time in both the Hurtplace and the Underworld, her power is mostly confined in the relatively small sliver of crust and bedrock between these places.

'''Yelmalio''' - [[Skub|could be anyone]] between Yelm and Elmal, a son of either, or a reinterpretation of either or neither (I hope you're sensing a pattern here). Is unique among versions of the sun god(s) as his sun powers do not include fire nor heat and that his worship is spread throughout the world not in the manner of sprawling empires albeit in the form of fortified <s>mosques</s> "Sun Dome Temples", around which civilizations form and armies of Phalanxes are trained. A fan theory is that he is just Elmal/Yelm as a [[Fanfic|subdeity]] after losing a battle to Zorak Zoran sometime in Godtime (note: time is extremely relative in the Godtime).

'''Genert''' - an earth god and the namesake of the setting's most documented (aka has the most Orlanthi) continent, Genertela. Once bossed over his landmass from his garden until the Devil straight up turned him into sludge and made his garden into the semi-arid veldt called Prax, home of the Praxian beastlords.

'''Pamalt''' - an earth god and the namesake of the setting's not-africa, Pamaltela. Is uniquely not only a male earth god, but also head of the pantheon worshipped by the not-africans of Glorantha with his power levels reflecting this status. Unlike his brother Genert, has managed to defend himself from chaos by doing literal scorched earth tactics of him turning the entire southernmost latitude of his continent into lakes of fire.

'''Argrath''' - the namesake of one or many [[Murder hobo|heroes]] who created a notoriously Lunar-resistant community in the thrice-ruined city of Pavis, who rescued the most recent giant baby along with a literal giant cradle filled with loot and magical treasure, sailed with and fought with and alongside the most powerful warriors of the era, resurrected both Orlanth and Sheng Seleris, summoned a miniature Dragonkill, and is now on a mostly successful march of liberation towards the very center of the Lunar Empire. Note the similarity of his name to that of the man-hero of the last era, Arkat. Greg is really driving it in.

'''Arkat''' - born a slaving Brithini anti-theist who led the most serious resistance effort against Nysalor's empire at the time, as the Brithini are practically a bunch of dusty, old, egocentric wizards who would not brook "gods" to tell em what to do. Was resurrected by Harmast Barefoot in what is probably the first ever mortal Heroquest attempt to replicate the Lightbringer's Quest. Arkat is the greatest ever Heroquester since then with a 100% success rate in ever more complex and frequent Heroquests save that which was used to bring him back to life. Arkat is basically your heroes when you savescum in [[King of Dragon Pass]]. Using the resultant encyclopedic knowledge of godlore, an arsenal of divine-tier treasures and weapons, and an openness to learning from every source he could, he curbstomped Nysalor and an entire region into the void. Ironically died at a ripe old age.

''' Nysalor''' - an artificial god created by the late-stage World Council of Friends (the original Council minus the Orlanthi and trolls, and then led by the recently inducted Dara Happan Empire and "orlanthi" who were leeching at Orlanth's blessings) as a symbol of hope. Was already preaching divine diatribes the moment he left whatever womb he came from. Was the inventor of the art of Illumination which is a long-winded process towards the conclusion that boils down to basically recognizing that everything, especially Chaos, is part of the natural order. Being "Illuminated" to this conclusion usually leads to one graduating from [[Warcraft|"Hostile" to "Neutral"]] reputation for the Chaos faction. Of course, this offended the sensibilities of chaos-hating races such as Orlanthi, Praxians, and Trolls to the point of rebellion and alienated the elves, mostali, and dragonkin. This forced Nysalor to take the military option and imperialize which then led to conflict to the Malkioni nations of the west and Nysalor's proceeding downfall and demonization as Gbaji.

''' Belintar''' - imagine, if you will, being an average orlanthi stickpicker living in what used to be a great international harbor now in disrepair after centuries of no sea travel. The only traveler on the sea that you've ever seen is the occasional pile of garbage or divers bringing back what they could from the most adjacent coral reef. In the distance, within the limits of the magic of the Closing you spot a man butterfly stroking towards the coast at 40 miles/hour. This is how Belintar came to Genertela. This man was so powerful that he conquered Kethaela on his own and personally slew the previous boss of Kethaela, the thousands-year old demigod troll Ezkanekko. Now dubbed Pharaoh, he is the ruler of a golden age of Kethaela as a god-king portrayed to be the delegate of every single god of any race in the then renamed Holy Country. Much like Arkat, not even his godly powers could stop death and assassination from the Lunars. Whilst Belintar can and does resurrect regularly, the Lunars somehow managed to block this and he is now floating around somewhere as a disembodied spirit. The people of the Holy Country, now committed to Argrath's war effort, still hopefully await his resurrection and have even arranged for Argrath to recognize him as the true king of an indepdendent Kethaela once he manages to do so.
==See Also==
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorantha Glorantha on Wikipedia]
*[[King of Dragon Pass]]
*[[RuneQuest]]
*[https://glorantha.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page Glorantha Wikia] - most pages are formatted like bullet points in a slideshow presentation thanks to the co-existence of both great wealth of information and general murkiness in the setting.

[[Category:Roleplaying]][[Category:RuneQuest]]

M150 TOW

2026-10-16T11:34:50Z

192.42.116.105: Previous version was better - revert. Keep 2d4 pure

The M150 is a modified [[M113 Armored Personnel Carrier|M113]] set up to fire the the American TOW or I-TOW missile systems.

==Canadian Variant==
[[File:M150 Canuck.jpg|300px|left|thumb|The Stats]]
This is the only Canadian TOW platform, use it wisely. AP 21 is nothing to scoff at, and when backed up by an [[ADATS]] or two, big scary tanks shouldn't be much of a threat to your efforts. Be aware that it is open-topped and comes with thermal imaging but lacks a 'hammerhead' equivalent rule: this thing will probably die after it fires.

You get 2 TOWs for 3 points or 3 TOWs for 4 points, rather miserable. BUT, this is your cheapest option for popping heavy tanks so you may consider it if an ADATS platoon is too expensive.
{{clear}}

==Israeli Variant==
[[File:M113TOWIS.jpg|300px|left|thumb|]]

For 3 points a mechanized infantry platoon can use 2 M150s. They do not have the hammerhead rule of their American counterparts. The Israeli M150 suffers from the comparison with the [[Pereh|Pereh]]. These are 2 points more expensive but their NLOS rule and their superior range make them an often preferred choice. Nevertheless, they are one of the few anti-tank equipment in the Israeli arsenal. It may be useful to include M150s if a strong armoured opposition is expected. Like their Canadian counterparts, M150 are still the most economical Israeli option for dealing with armoured vehicles.

{{clear}}

==Iranian Variant==
[[File:M150 Iran.png|300px|left|thumb|Iran]]
More armored metal boxes for your Iranians, but with TOWs.
{{clear}}

==IRL==
The M150 was the predecessor to the M901 ITV (hence why it's called the "Improved TOW Vehicle") back before the US really bought into the concept of missile carriers. The idea was to simply provide more mobility to dismounted TOW teams rather than have a dedicated missile-armed tank destroyer, which were believed to be too noisy and conspicuous on the battlefield. After the Yom Kippur war when mounted ATGM vehicles and dismounted ATGM teams worked in coordination to devastate Israeli tank companies, the US changed its tune and quickly replaced their M150s with M901s.

{{Canadian Forces in Team Yankee}}
{{Israeli Forces in Team Yankee}}
{{Iranian Forces in Team Yankee}}

[[Category:Team Yankee]]
[[Category:Vehicles]]