Revised Berserk - Thanks for the comments

Lots of revised stuff including dumping of shields, revision of WW rules, armor rules (no plate and MP animals added), tag, bonus values/names, and maybe something else I forgot. Also I changed the name to Berserk instead of Berserker. They basically mean the same thing, but for some unknown reason I like Berserk more. It's completely irrelevant but I just thought I would mention it. I don't know if the allowance of MP animals will make it too easy to find good armor but I assume it wouldn't.

I will begin playtesting soon, it will take some time since the variant only becomes whole around level 35 (a few points in WW). Here's the revised version.


Name: Berserk
Classes: Bar
Tag: BERZ

Naming: Historically beserkers were seen as extremely strong, tough, and ferocious and often associated with bears. Legends speak of shape-changers which turned into bears during berserkergang. To show this association berserkers might assume a "bear name", meaning a name containing the element *bjorn* or *biorn*, such as Jaibiorn, Kvarobjorn, Olobiorn, Eflobiorn, etc. See the link below for other possible animal names (i.e. Hildulf = battle wolf).

Website with lots of Old Norse Names:
http://www.flick.com/onomastikon/Europe-Scandinavia/Old-Norse/index.htm

Chest/arms/legs: Berserks often wore animal skins into battle. Legends speak of berserks who shape-shifted into ferocious animals in combat. Therefore, berserks can wear any non-plate armor associated with a powerful animal (specifically: ox, fox, wolf, tiger, mammoth, serpent, drake, dragon, wyrm) Otherwise, berserks are restricted to non-metal armor. The assumption is that armor of a certain animal is a collection of skins from that animal type. To facilitate the survival of berserks, rares which give bonus HP within the range of 5 and 39 or bonus MP whithin the range of 11 and 59 are considered to be skins of their respective animals and may be worn (as long as the base armor is not plate). The Berserker prefix and its respective value (+2 barb skills) is also allowed since it is assumed that a "Berserker" armor already consists of animal skins. However, this doesn't override the non-plate rule.

Helmet: Anything is allowed except for crowns (*crunch* *crunch* you call this armor? *spit*). Helmets that completely cover the face are only allowed with animal properties (and their rare counterparts). Frightening helms (skulls/masks) are favoured, but are optional. Berserkers were usually terryfying on the battlefield due tue their rage, body painting, and their armor, so a frightening helmet fits the role.

Shields: Disallowed, why would a berserk hide behind a shield.

Weapons: Any weapon class is allowed, a frenzied warrior really doesn't give a damn which weapon opens his enemy's skulls. Throwing weapons may only be used in melee. Poisoned weapons are disallowed (ARGHHHH! Oops, wait gotta stop and poison my weapon........ there we go - ARGHHHH!). King's, Lord's, and Knight's are all disallowed (berserkers were pretty low in society because of their tendency to go berserk and kill their own people).

Jewellery: Only one exception. Ease and simplicity (- reqs) are disallowed, battle isn't an easy affair, items that simplify battle are for cowards.

War Cries: Battle Orders and Battle Command are restricted. If you really want to use War cry you can put points into these as prereqs but War Cry takes a lot of mana. Find potion/item are restricted to 1 point and grim ward is restricted to 4.

Combat Masteries: Throwing mastery is restricted (can't throw anyway). According to legends, berserkers were very hard to kill due to their painless rage. Iron skin must be used once you get it and pumped at least once every 5 levels thereafter. Natural Resistance, Increased Stamina, and Increased Speed must receive at least one point after they are available (when in a berserking rage, berserks can go on fighting for long periods of time without tiring). Everything else is unrestricted.

Combat: Leaping can only be used to close in with the enemy, not to escape. Frenzy, Double Swing, and Berserk (called "Power Strike" since Whirlwind serves as the "berserking" attack) are all prized skills and should all receive at least one point. Try to use them if you have a chance, they show a berserker's power without sending him directly into a blind rage. Whirlwind can be used as described in the section below.

Whirlwind (Berserkergang): Whirlwind is considered the "berserking state" which is also known as "berserkergang". Once initiated, the berserker should attempt to continue the rage and kill every opponent on the screen (eg. Dance of Death until everything is dead). Even if mana supply is completely depleted the berserk must kill everything nearby or die in the process. Once there are no nearby enemies, the berserk may leave the berserking state.

Behaviour: Even though no-retreat is only required when in a state of Berserkergang (after using Whirlwind) you should try to not run away from enemies which can be handled without much risk. This is not a limit, but a berserk who runs around a corner just because he doesn't want to use up an extra health potion really doesn't fit his role. Also berserkers are often lonely people. The fact that they can snap at any moment and kill everyone around them makes them a teeny bit unsociable. I don't want to restrict coop-play, so if you do end up in a party try to SCREAM a lot and generally act like a a berserk.

Example:
Sorceress - "Ok, when Diablo comes we retreat back to the-"
Menixulf-RAGE - "I SEE HIM! ARGHHHHHHHHHH!" *charges Diablo*
Sorceress - "What the!? Get back here!"
Menixulf-RAGE - "ARGHHH!" *chop chop smack gut splat slash*
Sorceress - "Damned berserk!" *joins battle*

Bonus Values:
I'm including the allowed animal names and their respective values to facilitate roleplaying. It's kind of strange to wear an animal skin and not know what animal it's from. For the "Berserker's" prefix you can assume any animal you like unless that item also meets the hp/mp/str bonus of an allowed animal. Also if a rare meets multiple animal reqs then it is considered to be a combination of different skins.
STR: ox (7-9)
HP: fox (5-9), wolf (11-19), tiger(21-29), mammoth (31-39)
MP: serpent (11-19), drake (21-29), dragon (31-39), wyrm (41-49)

Resources used:
http://www.florilegium.org/files/NORSE/Berserkergang-art.html
http://www.flick.com/onomastikon/Europe-Scandinavia/Old-Norse/index.htm