Berserker
A tall human tribesman, cloaked in fur and wielding an axe, strides through a blizzard. As he charges toward the frost giant who dared to steal his people's elk herd, he laughs.
A half-orc snarls at the latest challenger to her rule over their savage tribe, ready to break his neck with her bare hands as she did the previous six.
A dwarf slams his helmet into the face of his drow opponent, then turns to drive his armored elbow into the gut of another.
These berserkers, no matter how different they are, are defined by their rage: unbridled, unquenchable, and unthinking fury. Their rage is more than just an emotion; it is the ferocity of a cornered predator, the unrelenting assault of a storm, the churning turmoil of the sea.
Some people's rage stems from a connection with fierce animal spirits. Others draw from a roiling reservoir of rage at a world filled with suffering. Rage is a power that fuels not only a battle frenzy but also uncanny reflexes, resilience, and feats of strength for every berserker.
People in towns and cities take pride in how their civilized ways distinguish them from animals, as if denying one's own nature is a sign of superiority. Civilization, on the other hand, is a sign of weakness to a berserker. The strong embrace their animal nature, which includes sharp instincts, primal physicality, and ferocious rage.
Berserkers are uneasy when they are hemmed in by walls and crowds. They thrive in their native lands' wilds, such as the tundra, jungle, or grasslands where their tribes live and hunt.
Berserkers come to life in the midst of battle. They can go berserk, where rage takes over and grants them superhuman strength and resilience. A berserker can only draw on this reservoir of rage a few times before needing to rest, but those few rages are usually enough to defeat whatever threats arise.
Not every member of the tribes labeled "barbarians" by civilized society possesses the berserker class. A true berserker among these people is as rare as a skilled fighter in a town, and he or she serves in a similar capacity as a protector of the people and a leader during times of war. Life in the world's wild places is fraught with danger: rival tribes, deadly weather, and terrifying monsters. Berserkers charge headfirst into danger so that their people do not have to.
Berserkers are ideal for adventuring due to their bravery in the face of danger. Wandering is often a way of life for their indigenous tribes, and the rootless life of an adventurer is little more than a nuisance to a berserker. Some berserkers miss the tribe's tight-knit family structures, but these are eventually replaced by bonds formed among the members of their adventuring parties.
Berserkers prefer to travel light, carrying few personal effects or other unnecessary gear. Small items of special significance are frequently among the few possessions they do carry. A personal totem is significant because it has a mystical origin or is linked to an important event in the character's life—perhaps a reminiscence from the berserker's past or a foreshadowing of what is to come.
A personal totem of this type may be associated with a berserker's spirit animal, or it may be the animal's totem object, but such a connection is not required. A person with a bear totem spirit, for example, could carry an eagle's feather as a personal totem.
Berserkers' perspectives on life vary greatly. Some people worship gods and seek guidance from those deities through the cycles of nature and the animals they encounter. These berserkers believe that spirits inhabit the world's plants and animals, and they look to them for omens and power.
Other berserkers place their faith solely in the blood coursing through their veins and the steel in their hands. They are uninterested in the invisible world, instead relying on their senses to hunt and survive like the wild beasts they resemble.
Both of these attitudes have the potential to give rise to superstitions. These beliefs are frequently passed down through families or shared among members of a clan or hunting group.
Career
Career Progression
Berserkers instinctually follow a path that guides their development and how they channel their rage. Mano, with the assistance of several of the other gods, laid out the different paths that the chaos of uncontrollable anger will reveal to a true berserker and each berserker will find themselves following strands and branches of that path and learning how to channel and control the anger that fuels them. The paths that Mano laid out are:
by R
Human Berserker
Alternative Names
Barbarian
Type
Military
by Rob Taylor
Goblin Berserker
by Rob Taylor
AOG Berserker
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