Barbarian regions

[Lurker]

Like I mentioned earlier, I was listening to lectures on barbarians of the steppe, but the professor mentioned that tribes could morph from one regional type into another - a steppe tribe that had been defeated and driven from their motherland would either move to another range (displacing other tribes) or move into another region and take up the skills needed for that region - go from horse rider steppe type to woodland hunter/gather type, or a woodland tribe could move into the edge of the steppe and then pick up the skills needed for horse based steppe tribe.

That got me thinking about the regions that would be the source lands for different types of barbarian peoples. However, .... I must be tired, because my brains are locked up ... I can only think of - steppe (horse) tribes, wood (Germanic/Celt) tribes, and desert (Arabian raider) tribes ...

I know there are other source regions ... I just can't define them ...

This is important because I'm kicking around an idea on racial character classes on barbarians and each region would have a foundational skill (steppe horsemanship) tied to it.

Help kick-start my brain a bit

[Rigon]

Mountain, arctic, jungle. Just off the top of my head.

R-

[serleran]

Subterranean.

[Persimmon]

Coastal raiders....i.e.Norse. And of course Native Americans provide a huge range of archetypes. The original D&D gazetteer for the Atruaghin Clans would help as would the "Sons of Azca" supplement, which pairs well with Hidden Shrine of Tomoachan, recently re-published for 5E.

[Lurker]

Thanks for the replies, I can't believe my brain froze on such and easy thought.

Serl, yet again you remind me to stop thinking 'historical' fantasy only. I'd have never thought of yours even if my brain was firing on all cylinders.

Persi, I keep going back and forth on 'coastal raiders' as a true barbarian culture. The professor of the lectures I listened to went out of his way to say the Norse were not 'barbarians' as he used the sense of the word. His focus was on nomadic to semi-nomadic peoples that produced little to no lasting architecture or infrastructure (the peoples they conquered and ruled over could and would provide the infrastructure etc, but not the barbarian tribes).

To me ... it is a gray area, yes the Vikings had settlements and a portion of their society was builders and homesteaders, but then .... a group of guys riding in 60 + feet long ships traveling from Greenland to England to the Baltic to the black sea to the med and back raiding and trading as they go seems fairly nomadic to me ...

That said Rgr on the American Indian tribes, They are good examples of planes/steppe, forest, and mountain barbarians, Oh yeah and Rigon's jungle/tropical too. Plus, they are a good example for pre-historical pre-metal working society. And with that they could be good fuel for a game set in a timeframe before the standard game world.

[alcyone]

It seems like this thread is just a list of biomes, because a barbarian is really just someone who is from somewhere else and isn't civilized by your culture's high standards. So they can be from anywhere.

[serleran]

I think it would be fun to have some islander barbarians, like based on Maori or Polynesian sources. Perhaps Aboriginal.

Plus, it might be interesting to go to other concepts since, as mentioned, barbarian is really just a "less 'civilized'" label so you could have them in all sorts of ways such as cave hermits to the urban underclass.

[Lurker]

It seems like this thread is just a list of biomes, because a barbarian is really just someone who is from somewhere else and isn't civilized by your culture's high standards. So they can be from anywhere.

Like I said, it shouldn't have been this hard to think of them. My brain transmit just vapor locked for a bit and I needed you all to thump it with a wrench and get it to work again.

Rgr on from somewhere else and isn't civilized by your culture's standards. Heck even the Norse considered the Laps and Fins uncivilized 'barbarians'.

I guess I should define it better in that I'm talking about a society and culture that is to a point nomadic or highly mobile regardless of the specific 'biome' they come from. So from that, the question would be better phrased as what regions would, from a history stand point, support a nomadic / semi-nomadic society ...

I think it would be fun to have some islander barbarians, like based on Maori or Polynesian sources. Perhaps Aboriginal.

Plus, it might be interesting to go to other concepts since, as mentioned, barbarian is really just a "less 'civilized'" label so you could have them in all sorts of ways such as cave hermits to the urban underclass.

Rgr that. I've done a little reading on them and they were brutal ! Their whole sticking their tongue out at someone was saying 'I will defeat you, I will consume you, I will strengthen off your essence, and I will poop you out' If that isn't barbaric what is ! Of course, to have them you will have to refocus your game world to a more eastern setting, or have the characters be even further traveled than Marco Polo. However, considering the Greeks even before Alexander were sailing from Arabia to India and back to trade and China traded from East Africa to the Philippians (arguably sailing to America but finding nothing worth trading with here at that time). So, evan a classical setting could have them in it with just a little work.

I'm not sure barbaric (as a racial class) would fit the hermit as they inherently aren't a society. Though surprising to find out the steppe nomads highly respected any and all mystic hermits of all the religions seen on the steppes - Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, and their own culture's shamans. So, they themselves may not be 'barbarian' but they will be seen in barbaric lands (and probably given more respect than if they were in their home lands)

As for the urban underclass, I'd argue they are required to exist to have a civilized society ... what is Rome without her pleabs and the even lower head count ... What is Florence without her day wage wool workers ... What is Baghdad without her street vender, what are they all without their beggars and the like.

[serleran]

It might be a fun thought experiment to determine why they are mobile -- are they simply adventurous, conquerors, or are they moving about because of some other reason such as religious, persecution, or they're just hungry? Maybe their homeland was invaded by some power they cannot battle... easily, so they are wandering hoping to locate a savior. Every type could have its own reason to be "barbarous." It could just be they enjoy the roaming slaughter... or it could be they are peaceful and just want to be left alone. I think that, more than where they come from, really defines what abilities they can have. Sure, native terrain is important, though.

[Lurker]

It might be a fun thought experiment to determine why they are mobile -- are they simply adventurous, conquerors, or are they moving about because of some other reason such as religious, persecution, or they're just hungry? Maybe their homeland was invaded by some power they cannot battle... easily, so they are wandering hoping to locate a savior. Every type could have its own reason to be "barbarous." It could just be they enjoy the roaming slaughter... or it could be they are peaceful and just want to be left alone. I think that, more than where they come from, really defines what abilities they can have. Sure, native terrain is important, though.

Rgr that

From a historic stand point, adventurous / conquers, hungry, and homeland invasion by a stronger group of barbarians were all issues that set dominos of tribal migration & invasion into motion.

[Persimmon]

Regarding the Polynesian/Island barbarians, there are lots of good ones in the D&D/AD&D modules including X1, the underrated X8 (Drums on Fire Mountain) and of course, the King Kong inspired Isle of the Ape by the master himself. The 5th edition Tome of Beasts has an interesting Demon Lord of Apes imprisoned in a volcano that I'm using for the deity of a debased barbarian cult of this ilk in my home brew world.

And lots of groups in the Conan stories beyond the namesake himself, most inspired by real world or mash-ups of real world cultures.