The anti-magic angle of the barbarian class was big early on, which makes sense if everything fantasy barbarian stems from Robert Howard's works. Magic is always a perversion of nature in Conan, similar to civilization which draws similar if not as vehement distain from him.
I remember, once upon a time, looking for material relating to the Wizard Slayer fighter kit in BG:2 to see if it was a thing they had adapted, and if I remember correctly it was the template for the original barbarian, they had an almost psionic revulsion to magic and magic items that meant they couldn't use magic items and that any magic effect had a chance of failing on or around them, and a paladin-esque quest to purify themselves if they did use magic. I still really like playing as a wizard slayer in BG:2 so I'm always on the look out for stuff like that.
I don't remember this really being much a part of the class in 3e, except of course that rages and magic casting don't mix. It was also fun having a class that started out illiterate.
Last edited by Sozz; 13/04/22 09:20 PM.
