Barbarian3/Swordsage2/FotF2/Frostrager5/FotF+1/
Human, Strength > Con > Wis > Int > Cha, Dex = 15
1 - Power Attack, Two-Weapon Fighting; Fast Movement, Illiteracy, Rage 1/day
2 - Uncanny Dodge
3 - Great Fortitude
4 - Quick To Act +1, Discipline Focus (Stone Dragon, Weapon Focus), Unarmed Strike
5 - AC Bonus (Wis)
6 - Frozen Berserker; AC Bonus (Con), Fast Movement, Feral Trance, Primal Living
7 - Improved Uncanny Dodge, Untamed Strike
8 - Frostrage, Freezing Blood
9 - Extra Rage; One-Two Punch
10 - Absorb Cold
11 - Improved Frostrage
12 - Leap Attack; Rend
Disciple of the Eye ... PrC .... gives Fast movement, and Flurry of Blows
then try Initiate of Draconic Mysteries(Dracominicon)... the 4th lvl ability will Boost Unarmed Damage +1 Size
:D
But yea, charge, hit someone upside the head with the greatsword and kick their teeth in for good measure. Sounds about right. I'd take Whirling Frenzy Barbarian just for the extra attacks to really put the hurt up close and personal. The Dodge-bonus also goes great with your Natural Armor-bonuses from the Frostrager to never get hit (especially with Con, Wis and Dex to AC)...I think I just found my next campaign's Dragon (although he won't be as nice as you - he will pack Pounce).
Oh yeah, one interesting option would be advancing Barbarian even further, gaining the "Street Fighter" ACFs. They give you different charge-related benefits like the ability to switch direction and some increased multipliers and all the fun stuff. Also, definitely take Trapkiller at Barbarian 3. That allows you to sit in front of the party and use your sick Survival-modifiers to find traps. Also, your numbers will be pretty small (-4 to -6 on attacks from the extra attacks and TWF, -5 on Survivals to find traps and so on), so pure numerical bonuses are hot. Two-level dip in Bloodclaw Master would help a bit, eliminating the TWF penalty and perhaps allowing you to add full Str to off-hand Unarmed Strikes too (it talks about wielding two Tiger Claw-weapons, but since it only affects off-hand anyways, seems reasonable to make it work out for this combo).
try this:
Disciple of the Eye ... PrC .... gives Fast movement, and Flurry of Blows
then try Initiate of Draconic Mysteries(Dracominicon)... the 4th lvl ability will Boost Unarmed Damage +1 Size
:D
Won't the hit to BaB in those classes hurt in the long run? Could I take Snap Kick in place of flurry?
Also, go Unarmed Swordsage. And take at least the 4 levels you can in it. After that, remember that you're a Human so you pretty much ignore multiclass rules (you treat any base class as your primary, so Barb or Swordsage is your primary and thus you'll have no experience penalties). I'd probably continue Swordsage or take some Shadow Sun Ninja to Flurry it up, either way continuing your Unarmed Damage Progression - I'd also ask the DM if the Frostrager's abilities allow you to advance your increased Unarmed Damage.
Yeah, I the unarmed strike in on the table. The frostrage unarmed damage should stack, same with fotf. It ought to be pretty impressive by the end.
But yea, charge, hit someone upside the head with the greatsword and kick their teeth in for good measure. Sounds about right. I'd take Whirling Frenzy Barbarian just for the extra attacks to really put the hurt up close and personal. The Dodge-bonus also goes great with your Natural Armor-bonuses from the Frostrager to never get hit (especially with Con, Wis and Dex to AC)...I think I just found my next campaign's Dragon (although he won't be as nice as you - he will pack Pounce).
Are you sure about whirling frenzy? Its already getting lots of attacks if it gets a full routine, and it gets to put the bonus to Con from normal rage to its AC which brings it closer to the ac bonus of WF, and the will save on normal rage will ice my saves (fort is already going to be killer, obviously). Evasion is pretty nice though, especially since it won't be armoured. On that note, whats the best way for this character to get mage armor or something similar? Just wait for a buddy to cast it?
Oh yeah, one interesting option would be advancing Barbarian even further, gaining the "Street Fighter" ACFs. They give you different charge-related benefits like the ability to switch direction and some increased multipliers and all the fun stuff. Also, definitely take Trapkiller at Barbarian 3. That allows you to sit in front of the party and use your sick Survival-modifiers to find traps. Also, your numbers will be pretty small (-4 to -6 on attacks from the extra attacks and TWF, -5 on Survivals to find traps and so on), so pure numerical bonuses are hot. Two-level dip in Bloodclaw Master would help a bit, eliminating the TWF penalty and perhaps allowing you to add full Str to off-hand Unarmed Strikes too (it talks about wielding two Tiger Claw-weapons, but since it only affects off-hand anyways, seems reasonable to make it work out for this combo).
Trapkiller sounds awesome. Definitely going to take that, since the party is usually made up mostly of casters, rolling the tank and trapmonkey into one sounds very efficient.
Don't I already get full str to offhand? Monk unarmed, right? Bloodclaw master might still be worth it: the Tiger Claw abilities alone would help this build enormously (Girallon Windmill Flesh Rip, Raging Mongoose (!!!
), Pouncing Charge...) Also, since unarmed strike is already a Tiger Claw weapon, everything should work, yes? I could also switch to greataxe and everything would work together, change focus from stone dragon to tiger claw (though I don't really have to since greataxe is stone dragon as well anyway). Thats pretty sweet.I think I will get a wounding weapon, for gits and shiggles.
Won't the hit to BaB in those classes hurt in the long run? Could I take Snap Kick in place of flurry?
I'd just get both and do an ungodly amount of damage. Snap Kick works - as a bonus, it can be used whenever you make an attack including charge or standard action.
Yeah, I the unarmed strike in on the table. The frostrage unarmed damage should stack, same with fotf. It ought to be pretty impressive by the end.
Yea, I figured advancing it further and picking up Flurry could be worth it. I'd finish up with around 6 more levels in Medium BAB classes (like Shadow Sun Ninja, Bloowclaw Master, or indeed Swordsage) and 2 more in some full BAB class, like Barbarian itself or any other such class you may end up wanting (some PrC, for example).
Are you sure about whirling frenzy? Its already getting lots of attacks if it gets a full routine, and it gets to put the bonus to Con from normal rage to its AC which brings it closer to the ac bonus of WF, and the will save on normal rage will ice my saves (fort is already going to be killer, obviously). Evasion is pretty nice though, especially since it won't be armoured. On that note, whats the best way for this character to get mage armor or something similar? Just wait for a buddy to cast it?
Get Bracers of Armor or a similar item, really. That or having a caster cast it, indeed. And yea, I feel the +2 AC from Whirling Frenzy is worth it here - Rage breaks even, while Frenzy goes above and gives you the option of hitting once more (while Rage grants you HP - that would be more handy on an arena, but in a campaign, the fact that they disappear when Rage ends is a dealbreaker).
Trapkiller sounds awesome. Definitely going to take that, since the party is usually made up mostly of casters, rolling the tank and trapmonkey into one sounds very efficient.
Yes, I love the ACF. It's from Dungeonscape, and replaces the nigh' useless ability of Trapsense anyways.
Don't I already get full str to offhand? Monk unarmed, right? Bloodclaw master might still be worth it: the Tiger Claw abilities alone would help this build enormously (Girallon Windmill Flesh Rip, Raging Mongoose (!!!
Ah, true about Unarmed Strikes. As for schools, I'd focus on Tiger Claw, while keeping Stone Dragon as the first focus school (just for the weapon focus for both). Note though that you probably won't reach 8th level maneuvers during your career - you have 11 levels of non-Adept classes. 8th level maneuvers would require one more. Although the last level of Frostrager is pretty expendable and offers you a fine means of picking up the extra level to see 8th level Tiger Claw at 20 (makes for a nice capstone). That obviously forces you to take all the remaining levels in Adept-classes, but Swordsage is just fine. That would make the build:
Barbarian 3/UA Swordsage 2/FotF 2/Frostrager 4/FotF +1/UA Swordsage 8
Seems pretty solid. Yes, you'll lose a third point of BAB towards the end, but that's so late it shouldn't really matter - you'll be at almost full BAB for most of the game (and with the free Weapon Focus in both weapons, you'll be hitting as if you had full BAB all the way). Hmm, you'll end up one level short of 2d10 base UA Damage with Superior Unarmed Strike and Monk's Belt, but with Frostrager increments and then FotFs, I don't see that being too much of a problem. You could even afford the 2-level Bloodclaw Master dip without actually losing anything much except Evasion - you'd still have 1d10 Swordsage Unarmed Strike and 2d6 with Monk's Belt. 3-level dip would still retain the 2d6 with Monk's Belt even though your base would drop to 1d8. So yea, feel free to dip 2-3 levels in Bloodclaw Master.
Even with just Monk's Belt, you'll do 2d10 base in Frostrage and then apparently apply FotF's increases as size increases, which pushes it to 6d8. Enlarged and with Improved Natural Attack, that would be 12d8, or average of 54. Then just pimp out your Str, strike with some hawt maneuvers (I'd take Insightful Strikes School Focus in Tiger Claw and use it with maneuvers like Pouncing Charge - alternatively, Diamond Mind and use it with Bounding Assault, but that requires Pounce from another source) and profit.
Oh yeah, and get a Necklace of Natural Attacks for Unarmed Strike and have the Greatsword enhanced with some martial school specializations (probably Tiger Claw, and whichever your preferred stance is - Desert Wind if you like Flame's Blessing; +1 Tiger Claw Desert Wind with Greater Magic Weapon would see to you hitting a lot). Also, do pick up "Adaptive Style" at some point. You're a Swordsage, every Swordsage has it. And look into ways of upping your Dex and picking up Improved Two-Weapon Fighting. Greater isn't so critical, but Improved is a feat you'll probably want still.
Thanks for the help!
I guess I should drop a frostrager level, maybe even a level in barb to get my IL up. I suppose could also try to go Bloodclaw Master / Warshaper, I guess the Bloodclaw Master's ability might qualify it.
Thanks for the help!
It should, since a Shifter's shifting qualifies it for Warshaper.