Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Otto the Bugbear 09-27-06, 08:00 AM	Well, I'm changing around the barbarian a little for my campaign and I ran into a little bit of an issue. I kinda like the animal totems from UA, but I felt they weren't quite there as a complete idea. Well, I went and made some changes and tried to incorporate them into the barbarian rewrite. Now that I look at them, I'm not quite sure about the whole idea. Tell me what you think, give ideas for change, or even just say "drop the idea" if you think that would be a better course of action. -=<*>=- Animal Totem: At level 2, a barbarian chooses an animal totem that represents his connection to nature, his homeland, his ancestors, his people, his mannerisms, his fighting style or his attitude. The animal totem he chooses will dictate what special class abilities are available to him. As a barbarian advances in levels, he begins to display more and more aspects of his animal totem when he rages. He chooses an animal totem from the following list: Ape, Bear, Boar, Jaguar, Leopard, Lion, Ram, Serpent, Stag, Tiger or Wolf. At different levels, each totem grants the barbarian special abilities. Often times a barbarian becomes drawn to displaying his animal totem on himself in some way. Some barbarians choose tattoos, some choose to wear the claws or teeth as decorative garb, some may choose to wear the skull as a fearsome helmet, or some wear hides made from the animal their totem represents. At level 2, totems give the following ability while raging: Ape: The Ape Barbarian’s strength increases by another +2, but his dexterity takes a –2 penalty. Bear: The Bear Barbarian gains Improved Grapple as a bonus feat. Boar: The Boar Barbarian gains Die Hard as a bonus feat. Jaguar: The Jaguar Barbarian gains Uncanny Dodge. Leopard: The Leopard Barbarian gains Uncanny Dodge. Lion: The Lion Barbarian gains +1d6 damage when he makes a charge attack with a slashing weapon. Ram: The Ram Barbarian gains Improved Bull Rush as a bonus feat. Serpent: The Serpent Barbarian gains Improved Grapple as a bonus feat. Stag: The Stag Barbarian gains +1d6 damage when he makes a charge attack with a piercing weapon. Tiger: The Tiger Barbarian gains Dual Strike as a bonus feat. Wolf: The Wolf Barbarian gains Improved Trip as a bonus feat. At level 7, totems give the following abilities at all times: Ape: The Ape Barbarian gains a climb speed equal to half his base speed. Bear: The Bear Barbarian gains Resistance to Cold 5. Boar: The Boar Barbarian gains damage reduction 2/- even when not in a rage. Jaguar: The Jaguar Barbarian gains Improved Uncanny Dodge Leopard: The Leopard Barbarian gains +4 to all climb checks. Lion: The Lion Barbarian gains Sleep for 18 Hours as a bonus feat… or Stealthy as a bonus feat. Ram: The Ram Barbarian gains +4 to all balance checks. Serpent: The Serpent Barbarian gain immunity to all natural poisons. Stag: The Stab Barbarian gains Run and Endurance as bonus feats. Tiger: The Tiger Barbarian gains Alertness as a bonus feat. Wolf: The Wolf Barbarian gains Track as a bonus feat. At level 13, totems give the following abilities: Ape: Whenever the Ape Barbarian hits a foe in melee combat, any foe within his 30 ft. must make a Will save (DC 10 + half character level + str bonus) or become shaken for 2 minutes. Bear: If the Bear Barbarian succeeds as a grapple check to damage his foe, he may deal an extra 2d6+str damage. Boar: The Boar Barbarian no longer dies at negative hit points equal to his constitution score. Instead a boar totem barbarian continues to fight on until his negative hit points are equal to 3x his constitution score. Jaguar: The Jaguar Barbarian is apparently pretty lame. (The Jaguar Barbarian may take full round actions on any surprise round he is allowed to act.) Leopard: If the Leopard Barbarian makes a charge attack, and jumps at least 10 feet horizontally at the end of the charge, he deals an extra 1d6+str damage. Lion: The first time during his rage that a Lion Barbarian hits a foe, he may make a great shout. All creatures in a 40 ft. cone must make a Fort save (DC 10 + half character level + str bonus) or be deafened for 1 minute. Ram: If the Ram Barbarian successfully bull rushes an opponent, he deals an extra 1d6+str damage. Serpent: If the Serpent Barbarian successfully pins an opponent, his next grapple attempt made to damage the opponent in that round may be made as a death attack. If he succeeds at the death attack grapple, the pinned foe must make a Fort save (DC 10 + half character level + str bonus) or be reduced to –1 hit points. Stag: If the Stag Barbarian successfully bull rushes an opponent, he may automatically trample that opponent as well, dealing an extra 1d6+str damage. Tiger: If the Tiger Barbarian successfully strikes an opponent in melee with two different weapons, he may make a rend attack and deal an extra 1d6+str damage. Wolf: If the Wolf Barbarian successfully trips an opponent, any of his allies may make an attack of opportunity on the tripped foe, who is considered flat-footed against those attacks of opportunity. Special: DMs and players are encouraged to create their own Animal Totems. -=<*>=- It doesn't really touch on the rest of the class abilities. Cheers Otto :)
Repeekluos 09-27-06, 10:34 AM	The only real problem that I see, is that some of the powers dont fit the totem. Apes should get the rend, not tigers. Tigers should get pounce. I would just give the stag powerful charge as a bonus feat. The Lion should have the apes 13th level ability. As far as I know, the Jaguar is supposed to be the barb represented in the phb, so it really shouldn't be here. Lastly, the leopard ability to deal extra damage on a leaping charge could result in some insane dmg. I think you'll get a lot of, "its over powered". Combine it with leap attack, and you actually have a reason to take 13 levels of barb. Those are my points on it. I hope it is some help.