TEXT: Lifepaths of Man:
  Black Barbarian Setting
  Special Rule
  Peaceful Childhood
  Only two lifepaths have leads to the Black Barbarian setting: Born Peasant
  or Born Villager. A character can only come to this setting directly through
  one of those two choices. 
  Lifepath
  Time Stat
  Res
  Leads
  Ripped from Mother’s Arms
  1 yr
  —
  1 rp
  Servitude
  Skills: 1 pt: Slaver-wise
  Traits: 1 pt: Orphan, Family Horribly Slaughtered Before Eyes, Riddle of Steel
  Slave to the Wheel1
  6 yrs
  +4 P
  1 rp
  Servitude
  Skills: 1 pt: Wheel-wise
  Traits: 2 pt: Hardened on the Wheel, Numb, Strength Above All, Depilated
  Pit Fighter2
  2 yrs
  +1 P
  5 rp
  Servitude, Outcast
  Skills: 8 pts: Brawling, Armor Training, Exotic Weapons, Conspicuous, Pit Fighter-wise
  Traits: 1 pt: Brutal
  Failed Pit Fighter3
  2 yrs
  +1 P
  4 rp
  Servitude, Outcast, Peasant
  Skills: 2 pts: Inconspicuous, Betting-wise
  Traits: 2 pts: Maimed, Bitter, Lame
  Champion Pit Fighter3
  2 yrs
  +1 P
  10 rp
  Servitude, Outcast, Soldier
  Skills: 12 pts: Conspicuous, Sword, Axe, Shield Training, Throwing, Reading, Writing, Poetry,
  Philosophy
  Traits: 1 pts: Taste of Victory, Taste for Women/Men, To Know What is Good in Life
  Wanderer3
  1 yr 
  +1 M
  3 rp
  Servitude, Outcast
  Skills: 6 pts: Wasteland-wise, Foraging, Streetwise, Witch-wise
  Traits: 1 pt: Fear of Dogs, Sense of Humor, Hot Sex with Demonic Witches
  Thief4
  1 yr
  +1 M 10 rp
  Servitude
  Skills: 2 pts: Stealthy, Climbing
  Traits: 1 pts: Fear and Loathing of Snakes, Comraderie
  Drunken Lech5
  1 yr
  —
  2 rp
  Servitude
  Skills: 2 pts: Drinking 
  Traits: — pt: Binger, Groper, Camel Puncher
  The Tree6
  1/2 yr
  —
  3 rp
  Servitude
  Skills: 2 pts: Pain-wise, Vulture-wise
  Traits: 1 pt: Rescued: “Owe Them One”, Contemplation, Scarred, Wolverine, 
  Avenger-Assassin7
  1 yr
  —
  5 rp
  Servitude
  Skills: 3 pts: Riding, Cult-wise
  Traits: 1 pt: Honorable, Outright Hatred of Snakes and Cults
  Mercenary
  4 yrs
  +1 P
  8 rp
  Servitude, Outcast, Soldier
  Skills: 4 pts: Merc-wise, Intimidation, Mending, Haggling
  Traits: 1 pt
  
  Mercenary Captain8
  4 yrs +1M/P 16 rp
  Outcast, Soldier
  Skills: 3 pts: Command, Formation Fighting†
  Traits: 1 pt: Unorthodox Brilliance, Aardvark
  King by his Own Hand9
  17 yrs +1 M,P 100rp 
  Outcast
  Skills: 5 pts: Hunting, Falconry, Tyranny-wise, Enemy-wise, Subject-wise
  Traits: 2 pt: Grey-bearded, Self-Made Man, Bored and Brooding
  Requirements
  1: Slave to the Wheel requires Ripped from Mother’s Arms
  2: Pit Fighter requires Slave to the Wheel
  3: These lifepaths require Pit Fighter
  4: Thief requires Wanderer
  5: Drunken Lech requires Thief
  6: The Tree requires Thief
  7: Avenger-Assassin requires The Tree
  8: Mercenary Captain requires Mercenary and Thief
  9: King by his Own Hand requires every lifepath in the setting, except Failed
  Pit Fighter of course.
  Barbarian Lifepath Traits
  Most of the barbarian traits are fairly self-explanatory, Family Horribly
  Slaughtered Before Eyes, for example. However, there are a few of the lifepath
  traits that have attendant rules that bear explanation.
  Hardened on the Wheel
  Years spent toiling under the wheel and lash reduce hesitation from pain
  by one.
  Numb
  As the troll trait—ignore superficial wound penalties
  Strength Over All
  Those who are broken on the wheel learn that only strength can see them
  through, nothing else suffices. Characters with this trait must always have
  a higher Power and Forte than his Agility and Speed exponents. Starting
  character limit for Power and Forte is 7. In addition, Will must also be higher
  than Perception.
  Depilated
  The slavers who run the wheel practice strange rituals of hair-removal. These
  barbarians grow no beards nor chest hair.
  Maimed
  A failed Pit Fighter exits his career in one way and one way only: On his
  back and bleeding. Player must choose how character was maimed and
  indicate which stat the maiming is tied to. All tests against that stat are at
  +1 Ob, max for that stat is 7 rather than 8.
  To Know What is Good in Life
  What is good in life? To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you,
  and to hear the lamentations of their women!
  Sense of Humor
  Barbarians tend to develop a sense of humor, especially for those less fortunate
  who have a story to tell.
  
  Hot Sex
  Any Demon Witch worth her salt wants to get into the loincloth of this
  barbarian. He’s going places!
  Fear and Loathing of Snakes
  What is it with cultists and giant snakes? Gah!
  Comraderie
  The black barbarians tend to be solitary, yet they have a habit of forming
  warm friendships centered around their exploits. Befriend them forever, cross
  them once!
  Rescued: Owe Them One
  The Tree of Woe is bad place that unfortunately many barbarians end up
  visiting. Unless rescued by their friends, the thirst and vultures finish the
  mighty warrior. Should the rescue come, the barbarian owes some mighty
  big favors….
  Honorable
  When sworn to the path of vengeance, the black barbarian learns at last
  his code of honor.
  Unorthodox Brilliance
  A surprise to everyone but himself, the black barbarian makes a brilliant
  captain of soldiers. Whenever he personally leads his men on maneuver, the
  opposition must make a Steel test to cope with his brilliance.
  Designer’s Notes
  I developed these lifepaths as an example of what one can do using the
  Lifepath Creation guidelines in the course of one evening. All told, it took
  me about two hours to design them and type them up. Of course, this doesn’t
  include the 120 minute movie these are based on!
  An evening of work that leads to a lifetime of enjoyment. The great thing
  about developing lifepaths is that it is never throw-away work. They can
  be used over and over again, and be used by other players of the game
  everywhere.
  Obviously, these paths are designed around the character Conan’s exploits
  in his epynonymous cinematic Barbarian adventure. They are meant to be
  humorous and over the top. Be forewarned: The numbers here are very
  favorable. A character taking these paths will start as an extremely powerful
  individual—and there is only meant to be one black barbarian in your
  campaign at any one time.  (Of course a group of them might be fun for a
  one off….)
  Enjoy!
  —Luke, NYC, December 3rd, 2003
  © Burning Wheel, its attendant lifepath mechanics and the original material presented herein
  are copyrights of Luke Crane, 2003. Conan and all of the attendant intellectual properties
  are copyrights of a lot of other people. This work is not for sale and in no way does it intend
  to infringe on the profit-making copyrights of aforementioned entities. This is a work of homage.
  ® The Burning Wheel is a registered trademark of Luke Crane, 2001.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Burning Wheel/Burning Wheel - Black Barbarian Setting.pdf