You know how the usual defining trait of a berserker is "being really pissed off", and D&D basically treats "berserker" as the defining characteristic of the Barbarian class?
I was thinking the other day about keeping all the rules the same, but changing the flavor of the berserking. Like, instead of a character who is frothing-at-the-mouth burning with raw, screaming rage, having a more "cold", focused fury. Where the warrior isn't screaming and hacking and going full-bore crazypants, but has more of a dead calm, tunnel-vision, inhuman killing machine sort of feel (so if one was after you, they'd look less Tasmanian Devil and more Terminator).
I was trying to think of real-world cultural stuff to see if I could come up with a name to describe that sort of combat trance, but all I could think of was the various takes on rage/berserking (like the "warp spasm" of Celtic stories or the bear/wolf/boar-serkers of the Norse). I was wondering if anyone here might be able to think of something I missed.
I know they kind of thing you mean. Great thing with DnD, if that is the kind of chara your chara is, great. Not all Barbs need to be a frothing at the mouth screamer.
Lightning Bolt posted...
"Phalanx" sounds pretty nifty, and has a sense of settling into a focused battle form. Historically it's been an extremely cooperative thing, though, so hard to pull off alone.
Phalanx is a military manoeuvre rather than a warrior archetype, it also would more imply a more tactical approach to fighting, rather than the more reckless style a barb has.