. My friends are going to be a Pious Cleric and a Monk. The DM is also bringing two friends to the campaign who have yet to either make or tell us what they plan to play. I have always found something oddly charming about Barbarians but have yet to play one since i am always the "What needs to be filled"-guy. This campaign is low magic and probably won't make it past level 4 at best. So here is the challenge, I want to make a Barbarian who is properly built if not optimized, no more than 4 levels high AND to make it more fun can only use PHB 1 rules.I have a couple desires with this build that must be met;
1. he/she hits hard
2. he/she is capable of doing more than just being the combat junkie
We random rolled and my rolls are currently13,11,15,14,15,12 i can put them in any order i like.
Hopefully this one is fun, so far i am kinda stumped mainly because my charachter is just generally an above average charachter.
Human: Str 15, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 11. 6 skill points/level. Feats: Power Attack, Cleave.
Half-Orc version gets more Str, but is not really worth it IMO.
You can Handle Animal to have a companion. Be a horseman and an archer. But if you really want versatility, go Ranger 1/Barbarian 3.
to make it more fun can only use PHB 1 rules.
Is this restriction something you're imposing on yourself? If so, I'd recommend at least allowing yourself to take the extra rage feat from Complete Warrior. Being able to use your signature ability in 3 fights per day at 1st level is significant. I'd also recommend allowing yourself to use the wolf totem barbarian variant in Unearthed Arcana. That trades uncanny dodge for improved trip.
In any case, I'd probably go barbarian 2 / fighter 2, not necessarily in that order.
@Tr0llman- why would the extra +2str not be worth it as a main melee charachter?
@Maat_Mons- nope, since he is a new DM he has requested that we only us PHB 1 i would love to use Complete warrior though because the melee classes are much more flavorful.
would love to use Complete warrior though because the melee classes are much more powerful.
FTFY.
Penalty to both Intelligence and Charisma is harsh, so people aren't that fond of Half-orc because of that. Beyond that? It's playable as a barbarian or a monk, sure.
Hurts being able to do anything besides combat.
For humans, the extra skill point and feat are tasty always.
Feat-wise, there isn't much to do besides picking Power Attack and a two-handed weapon. You might as well go for the WF line for your weapon of choice in core. Gives you more to power attack with.
A fun build would be Barb X/Bard 4/Dragon Disciple 4. Mirror Image, Alter Self, and the slots to cast them from, in addition to +2 AC and +4 STR.
I'd suggest some mix of barbarian/rogue/fighter/ranger. All of those give their best benefits in the first few levels, and at levels 1-4 it's not hard to be effective as a melee guy in D&D.
So something like:
rogue1/barb1/ftr 2
Int 13, Cha 11, Str 15, Con 14, Dex 15, Wis 12
Feats: Combat Expertise, Improved Trip, Power Attack, Cleave, EWP: Spiked Chain
Flank people, trip them, dump the extra "to hit" into Power Attack to beat them up while they're down. You could take something else instead of EWP if you don't mind using a guisarme + armor spikes instead.
Get the party mage to cast Enlarge Person on you, and you'll make a nice 20 foot wide wall of protection for him.