Developing a dwarven battlerager - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Developing a dwarven battlerager

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
giltintur
Aug 11, 2010 6:02:29 Heyya!

I've been playing with my dwarf for some time now, he is basically a "paladin" of Heila Brightaxe.
We have a homebrew rule stating Heila's weapon isn't a bastard sword but a dwarven waraxe.
His stats at the beginning where:

Str: 15
Dex: 15
Con: 18
Int: 14
Wis: 10
Char: 7

Level 1: Barbarian, Power attack
Level 2: Fighter, Races of Stone racial substitution level -> Axe focus
Level 3: Fighter, Races of Stone racial substitution level -> Racial enemies, Endurance
Level 4: Fighter, +1 Str
Level 5: Fighter, Cleave
Level 6: Battlerager (races of faerun), weapon spec: dwarven waraxe

And that's where I am now, with a mere 76 hitpoints.

I plan as following:

Level 7: battlerager
Level 8: battlerager +1 dex
Level 9: battlerager; Die hard
Level 10: battlerager
Level 11: barbarian
Level 12: cleric, + 1 Wis, combat casting, Domain: Luck, Zeal
Level 13: Warpriest, domain: glory

and from there on I'll stick with warpriest.

It is really a chaotic good paladin, with the basic buffs, level 6 caster level, and a hell of a Brightaxain raging.

Because of the slow development of warpriest spellcasting, I'll always have the wisdom to cast my spells.

My question's are, whether there are way's of improving the concept.

#2
Maat_Mons
Aug 11, 2010 8:01:15
Personally, I'd have taken the extra rage feat (Complete Warrior) instead of taking endurance to get into a prestige class that gives extra uses of rage faster.

The two things that come to mind that are good reasons to take endurance are steadfast determination (Player's Handbook II) and deepwarden (Races of Stone). Steadfast determination is a feat that lets you use con instead of wis for will saves and makes rolling a one on fort saves no longer an automatic failure. Deepwarden is a dwarf-only prestige class that lets you use con instead of dex for AC and gives full attack bonus, d12 hit dice, good fort and will saves, and 6+int skill points with a large skill list. My preferred entry to deepwarden includes strongarm ranger 3. Strongarm is an alternate combat style from Dragon 326 that gives power attack as the second level feat. Earth dwarf is also good.

Diehard sort of gives you +9 hit points, except worse because you can only take partial actions. Improved toughness (Complete Warrior) in the same feat slot would actually give you +9 hit points, and more as you level up. (Improved toughness does not have toughness as a prerequisite.) Even though improved toughness is better than diehard, you still shouldn't take it. You've got enough hit points; you should find a feat that does more for you.

I wouldn't bother with casting that starts 11 levels behind and falls further behind from then on. Also, remember that you can't cast spells while using rage.
#3
giltintur
Aug 11, 2010 8:25:58 I think, I'll change diehard for something else, thanks for the thoughts on that. Possibly for a rage feat.

Re-checking Warpriest, I just realised, that I'll have to choose War as one of my cleric domains, since it's one of the requirements.

You might be right about the casting, however, the feats a WP gets are in a great synergy with the fearless battleragers, and it really ads to the image of the unbeatable leader of forces.

Regarding deepwarden: it's a bit of the flavour I had in mind for this character, however, at 23. level I might take at least a couple of levels. Improved Uncanny dodge is always welcome after all.

Oh, and as I'm already playing this character, I can't change anything, only post-level 6
#4
Balthanon
Aug 11, 2010 20:36:38 Battlerager is one of those classes I've always liked from a flavor perspective, but never used since it was a bit all over the place. Since you're already in though, might as well keep going-- it does give you a bunch of feats, a number of them decent.

You might want to consider taking Superior Unarmed Strike if Tome of Battle is available-- if you're getting Improved Unarmed Strike for free, might as well make it useful. Races of Faerun also had a fairly nice feat called Hammer Fist for dwarves that made an unarmed strike do 1.5 times Str damage. I've always wanted to use that on a character, but never had the opportunity. Improved Grapple is another feat that is worth considering simply due to the bonus feats you pick up from Battlerager.

If Tome of Battle is available, Crusader is also a very nice replacement that I would consider for cleric and warpriest. Same flavor but it fits the build much better and enhances your durability considerably. You only have 1 level of barbarian at this point, so there shouldn't be any multiclassing penalties. In the same line, a couple levels of Warblade would also net you Improved Uncanny Dodge.

The casting is also going to be a bad idea simply because of your stats, incidentally-- you only have a 10 Wisdom, which means without magic items you can't even cast 1st level spells. (I was going to suggest Divine Crusader, but your Charisma is even worse, so we won't go there. ) You don't really want to waste your stat increases on boosting a stat at 10, since you're not going to get much benefit overall.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 giltintur Aug 11, 2010 6:02:29	Heyya! I've been playing with my dwarf for some time now, he is basically a "paladin" of Heila Brightaxe. We have a homebrew rule stating Heila's weapon isn't a bastard sword but a dwarven waraxe. His stats at the beginning where: Str: 15 Dex: 15 Con: 18 Int: 14 Wis: 10 Char: 7 Level 1: Barbarian, Power attack Level 2: Fighter, Races of Stone racial substitution level -> Axe focus Level 3: Fighter, Races of Stone racial substitution level -> Racial enemies, Endurance Level 4: Fighter, +1 Str Level 5: Fighter, Cleave Level 6: Battlerager (races of faerun), weapon spec: dwarven waraxe And that's where I am now, with a mere 76 hitpoints. I plan as following: Level 7: battlerager Level 8: battlerager +1 dex Level 9: battlerager; Die hard Level 10: battlerager Level 11: barbarian Level 12: cleric, + 1 Wis, combat casting, Domain: Luck, Zeal Level 13: Warpriest, domain: glory and from there on I'll stick with warpriest. It is really a chaotic good paladin, with the basic buffs, level 6 caster level, and a hell of a Brightaxain raging. Because of the slow development of warpriest spellcasting, I'll always have the wisdom to cast my spells. My question's are, whether there are way's of improving the concept.
#2 Maat_Mons Aug 11, 2010 8:01:15	Personally, I'd have taken the extra rage feat (Complete Warrior) instead of taking endurance to get into a prestige class that gives extra uses of rage faster. The two things that come to mind that are good reasons to take endurance are steadfast determination (Player's Handbook II) and deepwarden (Races of Stone). Steadfast determination is a feat that lets you use con instead of wis for will saves and makes rolling a one on fort saves no longer an automatic failure. Deepwarden is a dwarf-only prestige class that lets you use con instead of dex for AC and gives full attack bonus, d12 hit dice, good fort and will saves, and 6+int skill points with a large skill list. My preferred entry to deepwarden includes strongarm ranger 3. Strongarm is an alternate combat style from Dragon 326 that gives power attack as the second level feat. Earth dwarf is also good. Diehard sort of gives you +9 hit points, except worse because you can only take partial actions. Improved toughness (Complete Warrior) in the same feat slot would actually give you +9 hit points, and more as you level up. (Improved toughness does not have toughness as a prerequisite.) Even though improved toughness is better than diehard, you still shouldn't take it. You've got enough hit points; you should find a feat that does more for you. I wouldn't bother with casting that starts 11 levels behind and falls further behind from then on. Also, remember that you can't cast spells while using rage.
#3 giltintur Aug 11, 2010 8:25:58	I think, I'll change diehard for something else, thanks for the thoughts on that. Possibly for a rage feat. Re-checking Warpriest, I just realised, that I'll have to choose War as one of my cleric domains, since it's one of the requirements. You might be right about the casting, however, the feats a WP gets are in a great synergy with the fearless battleragers, and it really ads to the image of the unbeatable leader of forces. Regarding deepwarden: it's a bit of the flavour I had in mind for this character, however, at 23. level I might take at least a couple of levels. Improved Uncanny dodge is always welcome after all. Oh, and as I'm already playing this character, I can't change anything, only post-level 6
#4 Balthanon Aug 11, 2010 20:36:38	Battlerager is one of those classes I've always liked from a flavor perspective, but never used since it was a bit all over the place. Since you're already in though, might as well keep going-- it does give you a bunch of feats, a number of them decent. You might want to consider taking Superior Unarmed Strike if Tome of Battle is available-- if you're getting Improved Unarmed Strike for free, might as well make it useful. Races of Faerun also had a fairly nice feat called Hammer Fist for dwarves that made an unarmed strike do 1.5 times Str damage. I've always wanted to use that on a character, but never had the opportunity. Improved Grapple is another feat that is worth considering simply due to the bonus feats you pick up from Battlerager. If Tome of Battle is available, Crusader is also a very nice replacement that I would consider for cleric and warpriest. Same flavor but it fits the build much better and enhances your durability considerably. You only have 1 level of barbarian at this point, so there shouldn't be any multiclassing penalties. In the same line, a couple levels of Warblade would also net you Improved Uncanny Dodge. The casting is also going to be a bad idea simply because of your stats, incidentally-- you only have a 10 Wisdom, which means without magic items you can't even cast 1st level spells. (I was going to suggest Divine Crusader, but your Charisma is even worse, so we won't go there. ) You don't really want to waste your stat increases on boosting a stat at 10, since you're not going to get much benefit overall.