Uthgardt Barbarians [Archive] - Wizards Community

Uthgardt Barbarians [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Ellioz_Tlinorzza
01-30-06, 04:39 PM Hey, I was wondering what all you know about the Uthgardt Barbarians. I'm thinking of using them in my next adventure...so yeah.

Thanks
Yanagita Kunio
01-30-06, 05:19 PM A good place to start would be to download the 2e "The North" supplement offered on this very site.
Kuje31
01-30-06, 05:23 PM Savage Frontier also and Son of Thunder novel. :)
Old Sage
01-30-06, 07:36 PM And Silver Marches as well...
Scythe9966
01-30-06, 08:21 PM How are these barbarians potrayed in the official suppliments? I know in the neverwinter nights (not cannon) computer games there kinnda portrayed as corcasion native americans? I sort of have the idea that there more nomadic pre dark ages........germanic peoples, worshiping war, nature and the elements (kind of like the visogoths on there pilgramage across europe).

After all, the civilized people around them in the cities are of the same race (Illuskan). I'm keen on the idea of them being based on the pegans in the far dark places of eastern europe or finland, hanging on to the old ways; but utilizing the armour and swords they plunder, or cruedly forging there own?

What language do they speak? and what is there comparison to the icewind barbarians of the north? I love the idea of a native american equivilent being in existance in the realms.........but the uthgardt?
Yanagita Kunio
01-31-06, 03:02 AM Going from Savage Frontier, the Uthgardt are ethnically the intersection of refuge Netherese and Northmen (PGtF Illuskans?), with the characteristic black-hair, blue-eyes of Nether strongly represented. Their native language, according to PGtF, is Illuskan. In terms of material culture, the descriptions evoke Iron Age Europe--while I can't find it explicitly stated, there's certainly the suggestion that they can work metal; in terms of their "niche" of subsistence, they're nomadic cold steppe/forest foragers, some of whom have transitioned to agriculture; in terms of religion--well, they have a combination of totems, appropriated major gods, and a reverence for ancestral burial grounds.

In terms of "actual" cultures, the Uthgardt really don't have a strong feel. The description of their clothes and art suggests maybe tiny hint/evocation of Germanic/ La Tene Celtic. But they're more representative of the literary depiction of "barbarism" more than a real-world culture.
White_Wizard
01-31-06, 05:25 AM When I roleplay uthgardt characters I think to the three 'S': strong, straight, stubborn.
In my vision they may be clever, but they are not great thinkers: they would never spend time in considering multiple points of view. There is their point of view and the wrong one, fullstop. They are warriors, so they don't need scales of grey in their lives, they need black and white.
I think the uthgardt are like Conan by R.Howard or Druss by D.Gemmel. For an historical view I refer to celts or german barbarians during the early centuries: they were strongly war-oriented and regarder to valour in battle as the highest thing in a man's life. Also their greatest warriors were the berserkers, which fits perfectly to D&D barbarians.
They also give good challenges in roleplaying because they are chaotic characters with a strong sense of honor and they follow indeed a strict code, but it' their own people's code, not that of civilization.

Edit: maybe this post fits well in Faerunian people&places
Kuje31
01-31-06, 10:52 AM Paul, who created them, said this. It can be found in my 2005 file until Alaundo uploads it. :)

"January 11, 2005: So saith Paul Jaquays (author of The Savage Frontier) on the inspirations/origins of the Uthgardt.

Joe:

It has been over 15 years since I wrote the source book, so many details may escape me (and my copies are in storage somewhere else in the house), so I'm pulling from memory here. If I remember correctly, Ed's notes specified that there were barbarians in the region, but that the Uthgardt were my own creation. I probably made them dark haired so that they wouldn't be immediately imagined as Nordic Viking types. While I am a fan of Conan, at that point I wasn't trying to emulate anybody else's barbarians ... only to make my own. And I wanted to stay away from D&D's "known world" habit of co-opting familiar cultures with a fantasy spin (I edited several of the D&D known world source books during that time period). They are intended to be a unique force of nature, not necessarily friend or foe to adventurers. The actual tribes came from some work I did for an update to Griffin Mountain in the early (I source book I co-wrote for Chaosium's Glorantha world). I had expanded upon the Balazaring tribes in Griffin Mountain and made them more varied and with special features. Chaosium chose not to use that work and I re-spun it and made it more compatible with the AD&D game system and Realms world mythos. Places like Grandfather Tree and the burial mounds were based on art that I had originally done and were not used in Griffin Island (from Avalon Hill).

The realmslore of the Savage Frontier came from seven sources: The Forgotten Realms boxed set; the Waterdeep source book; Ed Greenwood's notes, which TSR supplied as pages of photo-copied clippings that had come from many of Ed's notebooks; the unused work for Griffin Island; the as yet unreleased novel The Crystal Shard by Bob Salvatore (the original appearance of dark elf ranger Dritzz Do Urden ... for whom I created the first game stats), The Enchanted Wood (an adventure I had written for SPI's Dragon Quest game, for which TSR owned the copyright due to their acquisition of SPI in the early 80s), and my own imagination.

Much of the prehistory and lore of the place derived from the Enchanted Wood. I was very amused (and flattered) when later writers used content derived from there to flesh out the ancient history of the realms.

Characters like Amelior Amanitas and his side kick Eric were based on people I knew. Amelior was a player in one of my early FRP games and fist appeared in The Enchanted Wood as a mission sponsor. The evil Wulgreth and the demigod Karse came from the same source. If you can find a copy of The Enchanted Wood, you will have access to much of my original source material. ;)

I had a lot of freedom in what I did. Maybe too much freedom. I left the geography and most of the cities as Ed had designed them, but I took a free hand with some of the characters and places and perhaps did things with them that Ed did not like ... since I learned later that he wrote material that went and rescued and redeemed some high level adventurers whom I had caused to come to an unhappy end. If it didn't contradict something in the published world or in Ed's notes, I felt free to interpret as I chose in order to make interesting situations.

Some of my work became Realms canon. Others of it tumbled into the dust bin of history.

Paul"

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Ellioz_Tlinorzza 01-30-06, 04:39 PM	Hey, I was wondering what all you know about the Uthgardt Barbarians. I'm thinking of using them in my next adventure...so yeah. Thanks
Yanagita Kunio 01-30-06, 05:19 PM	A good place to start would be to download the 2e "The North" supplement offered on this very site.
Kuje31 01-30-06, 05:23 PM	Savage Frontier also and Son of Thunder novel. :)
Old Sage 01-30-06, 07:36 PM	And Silver Marches as well...
Scythe9966 01-30-06, 08:21 PM	How are these barbarians potrayed in the official suppliments? I know in the neverwinter nights (not cannon) computer games there kinnda portrayed as corcasion native americans? I sort of have the idea that there more nomadic pre dark ages........germanic peoples, worshiping war, nature and the elements (kind of like the visogoths on there pilgramage across europe). After all, the civilized people around them in the cities are of the same race (Illuskan). I'm keen on the idea of them being based on the pegans in the far dark places of eastern europe or finland, hanging on to the old ways; but utilizing the armour and swords they plunder, or cruedly forging there own? What language do they speak? and what is there comparison to the icewind barbarians of the north? I love the idea of a native american equivilent being in existance in the realms.........but the uthgardt?
Yanagita Kunio 01-31-06, 03:02 AM	Going from Savage Frontier, the Uthgardt are ethnically the intersection of refuge Netherese and Northmen (PGtF Illuskans?), with the characteristic black-hair, blue-eyes of Nether strongly represented. Their native language, according to PGtF, is Illuskan. In terms of material culture, the descriptions evoke Iron Age Europe--while I can't find it explicitly stated, there's certainly the suggestion that they can work metal; in terms of their "niche" of subsistence, they're nomadic cold steppe/forest foragers, some of whom have transitioned to agriculture; in terms of religion--well, they have a combination of totems, appropriated major gods, and a reverence for ancestral burial grounds. In terms of "actual" cultures, the Uthgardt really don't have a strong feel. The description of their clothes and art suggests maybe tiny hint/evocation of Germanic/ La Tene Celtic. But they're more representative of the literary depiction of "barbarism" more than a real-world culture.
White_Wizard 01-31-06, 05:25 AM	When I roleplay uthgardt characters I think to the three 'S': strong, straight, stubborn. In my vision they may be clever, but they are not great thinkers: they would never spend time in considering multiple points of view. There is their point of view and the wrong one, fullstop. They are warriors, so they don't need scales of grey in their lives, they need black and white. I think the uthgardt are like Conan by R.Howard or Druss by D.Gemmel. For an historical view I refer to celts or german barbarians during the early centuries: they were strongly war-oriented and regarder to valour in battle as the highest thing in a man's life. Also their greatest warriors were the berserkers, which fits perfectly to D&D barbarians. They also give good challenges in roleplaying because they are chaotic characters with a strong sense of honor and they follow indeed a strict code, but it' their own people's code, not that of civilization. Edit: maybe this post fits well in Faerunian people&places
Kuje31 01-31-06, 10:52 AM	Paul, who created them, said this. It can be found in my 2005 file until Alaundo uploads it. :) "January 11, 2005: So saith Paul Jaquays (author of The Savage Frontier) on the inspirations/origins of the Uthgardt. Joe: It has been over 15 years since I wrote the source book, so many details may escape me (and my copies are in storage somewhere else in the house), so I'm pulling from memory here. If I remember correctly, Ed's notes specified that there were barbarians in the region, but that the Uthgardt were my own creation. I probably made them dark haired so that they wouldn't be immediately imagined as Nordic Viking types. While I am a fan of Conan, at that point I wasn't trying to emulate anybody else's barbarians ... only to make my own. And I wanted to stay away from D&D's "known world" habit of co-opting familiar cultures with a fantasy spin (I edited several of the D&D known world source books during that time period). They are intended to be a unique force of nature, not necessarily friend or foe to adventurers. The actual tribes came from some work I did for an update to Griffin Mountain in the early (I source book I co-wrote for Chaosium's Glorantha world). I had expanded upon the Balazaring tribes in Griffin Mountain and made them more varied and with special features. Chaosium chose not to use that work and I re-spun it and made it more compatible with the AD&D game system and Realms world mythos. Places like Grandfather Tree and the burial mounds were based on art that I had originally done and were not used in Griffin Island (from Avalon Hill). The realmslore of the Savage Frontier came from seven sources: The Forgotten Realms boxed set; the Waterdeep source book; Ed Greenwood's notes, which TSR supplied as pages of photo-copied clippings that had come from many of Ed's notebooks; the unused work for Griffin Island; the as yet unreleased novel The Crystal Shard by Bob Salvatore (the original appearance of dark elf ranger Dritzz Do Urden ... for whom I created the first game stats), The Enchanted Wood (an adventure I had written for SPI's Dragon Quest game, for which TSR owned the copyright due to their acquisition of SPI in the early 80s), and my own imagination. Much of the prehistory and lore of the place derived from the Enchanted Wood. I was very amused (and flattered) when later writers used content derived from there to flesh out the ancient history of the realms. Characters like Amelior Amanitas and his side kick Eric were based on people I knew. Amelior was a player in one of my early FRP games and fist appeared in The Enchanted Wood as a mission sponsor. The evil Wulgreth and the demigod Karse came from the same source. If you can find a copy of The Enchanted Wood, you will have access to much of my original source material. ;) I had a lot of freedom in what I did. Maybe too much freedom. I left the geography and most of the cities as Ed had designed them, but I took a free hand with some of the characters and places and perhaps did things with them that Ed did not like ... since I learned later that he wrote material that went and rescued and redeemed some high level adventurers whom I had caused to come to an unhappy end. If it didn't contradict something in the published world or in Ed's notes, I felt free to interpret as I chose in order to make interesting situations. Some of my work became Realms canon. Others of it tumbled into the dust bin of history. Paul"