Bottom-Up Worldbuilding and Pantless Barbarians

I have mentioned several times that I consciously set out to build the eponymous campaign up from a very limited, easy-lifting, world-agnostic base. (I mean, hell, for three and a half years no party ever ventured out of the 30-by-30 mile starting map).

With the six-year anniversary of the campaign coming in a month's time, that steady accretion has created a surprisingly large amount of setting whoha. The process has seemed to run along a predictable routines by this point: the players get curious and start investigating a certain myth, rumored site, or lost artifact—and then almost like clockwork get a wave of inspiration (often a mix of the serious and weird/goofy) and start filling in the big blanks from the broad outlines I already have established.

Quite often this process continues on for a while dialectically, with a player asking, teasing or pushing on one tangent or the other. Case in point would be a recent reveal of the crappy ethnocentric players maps of the larger world (down at the bottom of the post) following some explorations. A imminently silly little in-joke about the classical Greek view of barbarians got picked up by Mike D who immediately stated that he wanted to play one.

Long story short, behold the Pantless Barbarian class.

Pantless Barbarians

Requirements: CON 11

Prime Requisite: CON

Hit Dice: 1d10

Maximum Level: 12

For centuries the barbarian hordes that inhabit the northeastern most point of the southwestern most continent of the Hill Cantons world were riven by two great tribal divisions: that of the shirtless, trouser-wearing followers of the Triple Goddess and that of the tattooed—and wholly pantless--barbarians who follow an aspect of the Sun Lord.

A rough balance of power prevailed on the forests and plains of that land until an enterprising, wily pantless hetman, Vermurmur A-Khan, diplomatically prevailed upon his co-religiousists in the Overkingdom to send landsknechts in a great crusade. Over a fast and furious decade the Goddess worshipers were decimated and retreated into the forbidden reaches of the (perhaps euphemistically-named) Fields of Paradise, leaving the pantless in control of most of the region.

Religious taboos mandate that their privates must be close at hand to the divine rays of the sun.  Even when wearing heavy upper garments like bear skins or armor, this strange tribe is barred from the wearing of pants (a short, revealing kilt is acceptable in colder months). As a result of this predilection, the poor savage has a penalty of -1 from AC and may only wear armor of chain (or half-plate) or weaker.

When striking with a preferred tribal weapons--tridents, bolas, atlatls, and falchions—the barbarian receives a +1 to hit. Every other level the pantless barbarian can also take a +1 to a LotFP-like d6 skill in either Tracking or Wilderness Survival.

Barbarian Level Progression
Experience	Level	Hit Dice (1d10)	Skill Progression
0	1	1	+1
2,187	2	2
4,375	3	3	+1
8,751	4	4
17,501	5	5	+1
35,001	6	6
70,001	7	7	+1
140,001	8	8
280,001	9	9	+1
400,001	10	+3 hp only *
540,001	11	+6 hp only *	+1
660,001	12	+9 hp only *
*Hit point modifiers from constitution are ignored

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