I'm going to make Manny (the Ogre gourmand) as the party's tank but need to decide between Barbarian and Fighter.
Half-Ogres can reach unlimited levels in either class so starting at level 18 is no handicap.
I'd prefer to play him as a barb simply because I've always wanted to play a barb but they are nearly impossible to work into a party because until level 6 a barb will not associate with a magic-user and then only if absolutely necessary. Starting at level 18 gets me past that problem but even that level barbs generally won't adventure with magic-users even though they won't kill them on sight.
Therein also lies the trouble with running a barbarian in this game at all since we are working for the Circle of Sequestered Magics and everyone else in the party is a spell-slinger of some sort.
HackMaster PHB p44
Barbarians in general detest magic and those who use it. They will, at low levels of experience, refuse to employ any sort of magic item if they recognize it as such. They will often seek to destroy magic items, and if successful they receive an experience-point award as if they possessed the destroyed items. While magic-users will be shunned initially, and always viewed with suspicion, cleric spells of the type used by shamans and witch doctors are not so viewed, though high level cleric spells are still suspect.
Since Manny is well-educated (he is a gourmet chef, after all) I could see that he would have learned to mostly give up his superstitious suspicion of all things magical and would thus be alright in this party but I'd like to gather other people's opinions... especially those of non-HackMaster players.
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