The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games - Michael J. Tresca [54]
The term “barbarian” comes from the Greek “barbarous,” denoting a foreigner or anyone who did not speak one’s language. The related Sanskrit word “barbaras,” which means “stammering,” indicates that the term probably meant “unable to speak intelligibly” (Ayto 1990:52).
In the second and third editions, the barbarian was a brute with the highest hit dice of any class (d12). Barbarians were survivalists and extremely nimble, with the ability to jump further and higher than other characters, run faster, and move stealthily in outdoor environments. They were also highly perceptive, resistant to being surprised or attacked from behind, and had the ability to detect illusions and magic. Most tellingly, the barbarian avoided magic and would destroy it given the chance.
The early version of the barbarian emulated Conan in all his aspects— as a thief, a plunderer, a warrior, and a savage. However, the barbarian’s failure to embrace magic items was a fundamental weakness in the long-term viability of the character. The Dungeons &Dragons advancement system was as much about the acquisition of magical items as it was about personal power through leveling. Even Conan used magic items, albeit unwillingly, against supernatural foes.
The barbarian changed significantly in the first edition Unearthed Arcana, which elaborated on the class’ restrictions and improved its combat abilities to compensate. The class became an official part of Dungeons & Dragons in the third edition, replacing many of the barbarian’s abilities with barbarian rage, which has a more immediate application on the battlefield. Gone were the magic item restrictions. By the fourth edition, the barbarian was once again removed from the core rules, to be added later as an optional class in the Player’s Handbook 2.
CLERIC • Clerics appeared in Men & Magic, combining the advantages of fighting men and magic users, a hybrid between the two with the ability to cast healing spells (Gygax and Arneson 1974:8). Gygax described the cleric as a character capable of using both heavy weapons and powerful magic (1987:29). The term “cleric” comes from a Biblical reference, in Deuteronomy 18:2, to the Levites, members of an Israelite tribe whose men were assistants to the Temple priests: “Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the Lord is their inheritance.” The Greek word for “inheritance” is “kleros,” which became “klerikos” to reference matters relating to the Christian ministry. In ecclesiastical Latin it transformed into the word “clericus,” which was borrowed into late Old English as “cleric” (Ayto 1990:117).
The cleric’s healing abilities hail from the divine connection bestowed upon bishops and the miracles they were able to perform. The cleric’s power to repel the undead had its roots in Dracula, which both coined the popular term “undead” and established a vampire hunter’s ability to turn away vampires by the presentation of a crucifix (a holy symbol).
The Dungeons & Dragons cleric was a religious warrior who disdained pointed weapons, wore armor, and invoked miracles. The cleric’s origins are drawn from the Bishop Odo of Bayeux, who was depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry as wielding a clublike mace at the Battle of Hastings. Popular perceptions of the time believed that the bishop wielded the mace to avoid shedding blood, as mandated by clergy taking a vow of nonviolence. Odo’s brother Duke William was depicted carrying a similar item, suggesting that the mace may have instead been a symbol of authority (Aeon 2001).
Maces in any form are likely to shed blood. Nevertheless, the notion of a bishop wielding a weapon has precedent. Warrior bishops existed as recorded in church history as early as the fourth century of the Christian era. The archbishop of Turpin wielded both spear and sword in