OSR Review & Commentary On Barbaric! 2nd Edition by Omer Golan-Joel For 2d6 Cepheus Engine Powered Rpg's and Old School 2d6 Science Fiction Rpg Campaign

 "Barbarians! Civilized men huddle behind tall stone walls, trembling at the thought. The soldiers of civilization tighten their shield walls against the oncoming onslaught. And then they come. Savage men and women, screaming at the top of their lungs, oblivious to fear, frothing at the mouth from rage and lust for war. Wave after wave, they storm shields and fortifications. Many die; the pagan gods bless their souls. But eventually, mail and castle fail. Then, the flames of barbarism will sweep the land, leaving no stone unturned!

Sword and sorcery tales speak of cunning thieves, power-hungry sorcerers, and, indeed, barbaric warriors. This game – Barbaric! – lets you play such heroes. Or, more often, anti-heroes. Pit your sword-arm and knowledge of eldritch secrets against ravaging bandits, scheming nobles, diabolic demons, mighty dragons – and, ultimately, the rotten and ugly face of moribund civilization itself.

So, pour your drinks, devour your pizza, turn up the volume of your favorite heavy metal album – and prepare to become… Barbaric!

Barbaric! 2nd Edition is a lightweight sword & sorcery ruleset perfect for convention games, one-off adventures, and mini-campaigns where easy-to-learn rules and fast play are preferred. It includes:

• Simple skill-based task resolution!
• Lightning-fast but highly customizable character generation!
• 20 sword & sorcery character Archetypes!
• Brutal combat with varied combat maneuvers and murderous critical hits!
• Dangerous sorcery - risk your soul to gain vast eldrich might!
• 36 deadly spells!
• 50 fearsome monsters!
• Unique treasures for your barbarians to loot!

All in a mere 63 small pages!" 

What's New in the Second Edition?

• Character archetypes to round up your character rather than Traits.
• Streamlined character defense to reduce calculations in combat!
• Streamlined and deadlier damage system for more dramatic combat!
• Revised sorcery, moving away from d20-fantasy cliches - all spells are now powerful and flavorful, and all are equally risky to cast! No weak spells anymore!
• Revised and much more flavorful magical items - all based on the new spells, and all with full creation rules for aspiring artificers!
• Faction rules to make the campaign world feel alive - and let players establish their own guilds and mercenary bands!
• New and better layout and art!

Barbaric! 2nd Edition is compatible with Stellagama Publishing's Cepheus Atom post-apocalyptic rules. Mutate your barbarians! Arm them with laser rapiers! Bring dark sorcery to your post-apocalyptic wasteland! Also compatible with Stellagama Publishing's Quantum Starfarer - take your barbarians and sorcerers to the stars!

Barbaric! 2nd Edition by Omer Golan-Joel is a lean beast of a game clocking in at sixty three pages of Cepheus Engine Sword & Sorcery goodness. Full disclosure I bought Barbaric! 2nd edition as soon as it was published. 
 Omar Golan Joel is no stranger to OSR Sword & Sorcery. He's the co author of Adventurer Conqueror King System: Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu from Autarch LLC along side Alexander Marcius. Also the co author of  Cepheus Engine powered Gargolye 74 So the man knows his OSR Cepheuse Engine poweredd Sword & Sorcery rpg's. And this is exactly what Barbaric! 2nd Edition is a Sword & Sorcery add on rules set for any Cepheus Engine or 2d6 powered rpg  system. 

Barbaric! 2nd Edition does in sixty three pages what other games do in 263 pages. That is present a compatible and solid supplement that works with other 2d6 rpg powered games. Now there are tons of applications for Barbaric! 2nd edition and these include failed colony worlds, worlds that have suffered the return of magic, etc. 
What makes Barbaric! 2nd edition unique is how all of  this comes back into very fast PC generation and how the entire lot is quickly slotted into the Cepheus Atom post-apocalyptic rules set. This gives the DM & players a quick beer & pretzels game capable of supporting a 2d6 Thundarr The Barbarian style game. 

Barbaric! 2nd edition takes the system that we've seen in Stellagama Publishing's Quantum Starfarer. And then pushes it into a Sword & Sorcery gaming convention. And while it is similar to the 'world's most popular fantasy' rpg. Omar has  moved away from the White Box tropes by a. making the magic more dangerous and b. making the combat really nasty! 
And this new Barbaric! 2nd edition combat system is both cinematic and spot on for the Sword & Sorcery genre. Combined with Cepheus Atom the results are far more flavorful then I was expecting. Is Barbaric! 2nd Edition worth getting?! In a word? Yes if your looking to add in a really nasty and highly dangerous combat &  magick system that emulates the look, feel, and systems of Sword & Sorcery in a 2d6 rpg format this might be for you!