[Rivertold]

I don't really get it.

First, barbarism is more of a general lifestyle than an occupation, but yeah, this is a MMO, whatever, I can understand how it is a class. But are there any lore reasons why aqualonians are allowed to become barbarians? Because their king "climbed out of the abyss of naked barbarism and in that climb, he spilled his blood as freely as that of others"?

Makes sense for cimmerians, since they are semi-nomadic, barbaric tribes. How does an disciplined aqualonian, living in the most prosperous and advanced kingdom of their time become a barbarian? Just wondering if anyone knows.

On the same topic, I read in a quest that cimmerians only hunt with a bow and think it is dishonorable to kill opponents in combat with it. Wouldn't it be ironic when someone reads that text on their cimmerian ranger?

[Slith]

It's a fair question. I have pondered about this a while ago and here is your anwser:


"That was true; the Bossonian marches, with their fortified villages
filled with determined bowmen, had long served Aquilonia as a buffer
against the outlying barbarians. Now among the settlers beyond Thunder River here was growing up a breed of forest men capable of meeting the barbarians at their own game, but their numbers were still scanty. Most of the frontiersmen were like Balthus--more of the settler than the woodsman type."

Title: Conan - Beyond the Black River
Author: Robert E. Howard

I think Bossonians are the closest thing in Aquilonia to "barbarians". Keep in mind that thanks to D&D influence barbarians are through more as a "class" (like assassin/rogue) than what REH intended. When we take that as a "class" it totaly makes sense for Bossonians ("breed of forest men") as Aquilonians to be regarder as "barbarian class". They are not, however, barbarians per se.

Aquilonia is made up also from Potain (land of warmth and plenty ), Gunderland (best footmen soldiers in Hyboria) and Bossonia (amazing archers and defenders).

As for a bow: Conan was excellent marksman and used the bow often and to a great effect.

"Give me a bow," requested Conan. "It's not my idea of a manly weapon,
but I learned archery among the Hyrkanians, and it will go hard if I
can't feather a man or so on yonder deck."

Standing on the poop, he watched the serpentlike ship skimming
lightly over the waters, and landsman though he was, it was evident to him that the Argus would never win that race. Already arrows, arching from the pirate's deck, were falling with a hiss into the sea, not
twenty paces astern".

Title: Queen Of The Black Coast
Author: Robert E. Howard

It is weird that Conan had to learn the bow from Hyrkanians. If Cimmerians used the bow Conan would have known it. There might be a chances that "archery" is a different art than merely "hunting with bow", but I don't know anything on that subject.

[Scythie]

The biggest oddity are the Cimmerian Dark Templars.

Dunno, but blood magic seems to be just the sort of thing Cimmerians would frown upon. To put it mildly.

The question is also what the cimmerian soldier class would be. Guardian and Conqueror seem a bit too well trained and legion like. Guard more so than the Conq i guess.

[Invino]

I didn't even realise you can make a Aqui barb for 2.5 years .. just doesn't seem right.

Nor Cimm DTs for that matter

[Misiuggah]

I don't know why do you put your panties in a bunch so much with the starting race

Most classes should be open to any race with only a few exceptions - it would be rather impossible to become a Tempest of Set for anyone except a real Stygian. But why a Stygian can't become a Guardian?

Your character could be born in Aquilonia, but raised by Cimmerians/Vanir/Aesir/etc. - it's easy to imagine a few scenorios how that could happen.

Cimmerians didn't "like" magic, but a Cimmerian bent on gaining power could become a Dark Templar - why not? If he left his village early and traveled the world...

Still - the game is really inconsistent when it comes to classes/races and related stuff. Guardians, barbarians, rangers could be trained, priests could have a natural "gift"... but how mages, assassins and dark templars gained so much power?

[Rivertold]

Originally Posted by Misiuggah Still - the game is really inconsistent when it comes to classes/races and related stuff. Guardians, barbarians, rangers could be trained, priests could have a natural "gift"... but how mages, assassins and dark templars gained so much power?

Nitpicking we could do all day, while the main answer remains - its an MMO where such frivolities are allowed because of non-lore reasons.

However, one more thing that bugs me is why can't all races become Heralds of Xotli. Absolutely EVERYONE can be driven mad by a demon's whispering. You could argue that he chooses his disciples between the magic-gifted stygians, but most of his powers seems gifted, not acquired through research and training (Tongue of Xotli, Vision of Xotli, SOMETHING SOMETHING of Xotli...).

Why doesn't he seduce a power-hungry aqualonians or brutal, relentless cimmerians, gifting them his powers, which supplement their trained battle prowess? It could make sense...

[Misiuggah]

Originally Posted by Rivertold Nitpicking we could do all day, while the main answer remains - its an MMO where such frivolities are allowed because of non-lore reasons. However, one more thing that bugs me is why can't all races become Heralds of Xotli. Absolutely EVERYONE can be driven mad by a demon's whispering. You could argue that he chooses his disciples between the magic-gifted stygians, but most of his powers seems gifted, not acquired through research and training (Tongue of Xotli, Vision of Xotli, SOMETHING SOMETHING of Xotli...). Why doesn't he seduce a power-hungry aqualonians or brutal, relentless cimmerians, gifting them his powers, which supplement their trained battle prowess? It could make sense...

Gaining Set's or Mitra's favor may be restricted to those that are very close to the cult/ritual etc. but anyone should be able to pact with demons, become possessed

Ofc it will be easier to get into that stuff in societies where magic is not a taboo, but your character is not tied to his place of birth

Hard rules for class/race combos really apply to high-fantasy, black'n'white settings - AoC has neither of those.

I'm missing the "career" part in the game. It's said we are only regaining our memories, but more natural would be if we would start as a grunt, Mitra's altar boy etc. This is were the game could explain how a Cimmerian can become a Dark Templar, how one becomes a HoX etc. It would make the levelling much more interesting and it could be tied to "the starter set" (armor and AA)... eh, got carried away

[watchdog79]

One think we need to remember is that the ingame races are merely an archetype. You can create a red-haired Vanir as well as a Kushite warrior.

Aquilonians represent all of the central races - Gundermen, Ophirians, Nemedians, Zingarans, Zamorans...

Stygians represent all of the southern races - Kushites, Shemites...

Cimmerians represent all of the northern races - Aesir, Vanir...

Khitans represet all of the eastern races - Hyrkanians for instance

[Hyrk]

Regarding the aquilonian barbarian issue, it's my personal opinion that it also feels stranger because of the way Aquilonian culture is depicted in the game. I believe that there is too much emphasis in classical cultures, while, at least in my perception, there is also a strong early medieval (Frankish and German Holy Empire) element to it, which allows for some barbarism. However, I'm only mildly acquainted with the lore, and therefore, I might be completely wrong.