So anyways, I don't have a lot of free time to make one, so I thought I would point it out and also ask for help optimizing a Level 5 barbarian. All I know is the first few sessions will be a Dungeon Delve into a Gorgon's lair.
I was thinking Goliath Barbarian 4. Are there better Races? Assume that all books are available except for Complete Champion and Psionics. Any Variants need to be approved and We will roll stats the day of.
Con=Str>Dex>Wis>Int>Cha seems about right to me. What should I use the standard starting gold on?
I was thinking some kind of Two-Hander build with an Animated Heavy shield, but I won't be able to afford that just yet, in which case, what should I buy?
Any help is appreciated and if you need more info just ask. Thanks!
~DeeJus~
I mean, yeah, there are others, but none are nearly as popular or powerful.
Any questions?
Charging antics is the way to go. You don't want to be straight barbarian, though. 2 or 4 levels in fighter is a great addition to barbarian. If you can get the Lion Totem ACF from Complete Champion, DO IT. If not... meh. Oh well. If you want Frenzied berserker, you will need to spend a couple of awkward feats that won't really do anything for you, but you want to be charging and doing deliciousness with it. Shock Trooper and Leap attack are, quite simply, the ****. Power attacking with 2-handers will give you so...much...damage. DO IT. I don't generally like having level adjustments, but for barbarian, goliath seems like one of the better ones. Human is always good, of course. Despite your d12 HD, you are a dps class, not a tank. You want to put as much damage onto one target in as short amount of time as possible.
Any questions?
Shock Trooper and Leap Attack are from... which books? And what do they do? Frenzied Berzerker is the only one I was looking at PrC-wise. And my DM is a RP fanatic, meaning I need a reason for multi-Classing into Fighter.
Shock Trooper (Complete Warrior) and Leap Attack (Complete Adventurer)
Shock Trooper and Leap Attack are from... which books? And what do they do? Frenzied Berzerker is the only one I was looking at PrC-wise. And my DM is a RP fanatic, meaning I need a reason for multi-Classing into Fighter.
As for multiclassing reasons... I dunno. That's something we can work on later.
Shock trooper is from Complete Warrior and Leap attack is from Complete Adventurer. Shock Trooper allows you several things (it's a tactical feat) but most importantly, the ability to trade AC for Power Attack damage bonus instead of Attack Bonus on a charge. Leap attack allows you to trade attack for damage on a power attack with a two handed weapon on a 1:3 basis. You do tons of damage. Very worth it. Combat Brute from Complete Warrior might also be something worth looking into.
Shock Trooper and Leap Attack are from... which books? And what do they do? Frenzied Berzerker is the only one I was looking at PrC-wise. And my DM is a RP fanatic, meaning I need a reason for multi-Classing into Fighter.
Here is a simple reason for multi-classing: Characters have no real concept of character classes. They learn what they want to learn. Classes are a meta-game concept, not an in character concept. To believe otherwise is silly. After all, what is your class? Commoner 1?
As for multiclassing reasons... I dunno. That's something we can work on later.
Shock trooper is from Complete Warrior and Leap attack is from Complete Adventurer. Shock Trooper allows you several things (it's a tactical feat) but most importantly, the ability to trade AC for Power Attack damage bonus instead of Attack Bonus on a charge. Leap attack allows you to trade attack for damage on a power attack with a two handed weapon on a 1:3 basis. You do tons of damage. Very worth it. Combat Brute from Complete Warrior might also be something worth looking into.
As a group, we have complete adventurer, but not complete warrior. Could someone PM me the feat Shock Trooper with the Prereqs and such?
I was thinking something along the lines of Mountainous Barbarian turned civilized city guard. For the Barbarian to Fighter thing, but if I'm going for Frenzied Berzerker, it will need to be Civilized guard(raised by humans?) turned by his instincts to the wild.
So you can trade AC for Damage on a charge in place of To Hit from Power Attack. And you can also trade Attack Bonus for Damage as a 1:3 ratio? How would this work exactly, doing both at once?
Here is a simple reason for multi-classing: Characters have no real concept of character classes. They learn what they want to learn. Classes are a meta-game concept, not an in character concept. To believe otherwise is silly. After all, what is your class? Commoner 1?
Agreed. And whatever. Maybe your character got conscripted into an army for a few years and "Fighter 2" is supposed to represent that military training. /shrug. People who are so uptight about cherry picking just don't understand the game. It's about having fun and making a character that you want to play. I'm going to end this rant before I derail the thread.
Here is a simple reason for multi-classing: Characters have no real concept of character classes. They learn what they want to learn. Classes are a meta-game concept, not an in character concept. To believe otherwise is silly. After all, what is your class? Commoner 1?
Please man, you're preaching to the choir here. I've tried that argument a ton of times, as well as others. The in-game characters do not consider themselves Fighter 2/Barbarian 2, but the DM won't hear it, lets not get into that.
Agreed. And whatever. Maybe your character got conscripted into an army for a few years and "Fighter 2" is supposed to represent that military training. /shrug. People who are so uptight about cherry picking just don't understand the game. It's about having fun and making a character that you want to play. I'm going to end this rant before I derail the thread.
Ninja'd, but thanks for ending it.
As a group, we have complete adventurer, but not complete warrior. Could someone PM me the feat Shock Trooper with the Prereqs and such?
I was thinking something along the lines of Mountainous Barbarian turned civilized city guard. For the Barbarian to Fighter thing, but if I'm going for Frenzied Berzerker, it will need to be Civilized guard(raised by humans?) turned by his instincts to the wild.
So you can trade AC for Damage on a charge in place of To Hit from Power Attack. And you can also trade Attack Bonus for Damage as a 1:3 ratio? How would this work exactly, doing both at once?
Frenzied Berserker is in Complete Warrior. How can you have the class that is from that book but not a feat? I don't know if it is something that can be PMed to you. My suggestion would be to borrow a friend's or maybe spend a little extra time at Barne's and Noble on page 112 of CW.
Your DM sounds like he needs a thump to his skull. A Barbarian needs a reason to multiclass into Fighter? He wants to kill things better, DONE.
Shock Trooper (Complete Warrior) and Leap Attack (Complete Adventurer)
Quoted for truth, seconded, +1, and
.Anyway, there are a few things you can do with Barbarian aside from just beating things. Complete Warrior gave us Intimidating Rage, which debuffs an enemy within 30'. Complete Scoundrel gave us the Avenging Executioner, which is THE class for melee fear stacking. Combine the two and you've got a basic Intimidator build.
A full build that I like to advocate (heavily influenced by UA mind you) is Half-Orc w/ Major Red Dragon Bloodline Paragon 3/Hexblade (or Paladin of Tyranny) 4/Avenging Executioner 5/Menacing Brute 5. I don't care that it doesn't get that magical +16 BAB number, it's very scary and hits very hard. That said, it doesn't have any actual Barbarian levels, but you can use it in a less UA intense build.
Frenzied Berserker is in Complete Warrior. How can you have the class that is from that book but not a feat? I don't know if it is something that can be PMed to you. My suggestion would be to borrow a friend's or maybe spend a little extra time at Barne's and Noble on page 112 of CW.
I have the class from a friend. Nifty fact, I spend an awful lot of time in BnN already, so copying that won't be hard. I was just trying to spare myself the time and gas to drive up there. Next time I'm in I can pick up the book or jot down what I need from it, as well as double check the info I have on Frenzied Berserker.
Quoted for truth, seconded, +1, and
Anyway, there are a few things you can do with Barbarian aside from just beating things. Complete Warrior gave us Intimidating Rage, which debuffs an enemy within 30'. Complete Scoundrel gave us the Avenging Executioner, which is THE class for melee fear stacking. Combine the two and you've got a basic Intimidator build.
A full build that I like to advocate (heavily influenced by UA mind you) is Half-Orc w/ Major Red Dragon Bloodline Paragon 3/Hexblade (or Paladin of Tyranny) 4/Avenging Executioner 5/Menacing Brute 5. I don't care that it doesn't get that magical +16 BAB number, it's very scary and hits very hard. That said, it doesn't have any actual Barbarian levels, but you can use it in a less UA intense build.
I like the way that looks, but with this DM I think I'll stick with a more *basic* Barb/Fighter/FB build of some sort.
Here is a simple reason for multi-classing: Characters have no real concept of character classes. They learn what they want to learn. Classes are a meta-game concept, not an in character concept. To believe otherwise is silly. After all, what is your class? Commoner 1?
I don't know about you, but I'm a Factotum. With FoI twice.
So I'm a hardcore skill monkey.
I don't know about you, but I'm a Factotum. With FoI twice.
So I'm a hardcore skill monkey.
In an attempt to keep this thread on track...
What is the best race to get the job done? Human? Goliath? Dwarf? What would be the best way to spend my money?
In an attempt to keep this thread on track...
What is the best race to get the job done? Human? Goliath? Dwarf? What would be the best way to spend my money?
Human/Goliath. Easier FB/Warhulk entry.
You're out Ordained Champ due to lacking Complete Champ, but there's some great discussion of Cleric/FB builds. If you have Savage Species, take Bullheaded + Iron Will + Cumbrous Will. Otherwise, Endurance + Steadfast Determination will have to do. Maxing Will save is great for ending Frenzies, but is just generally excellent advice for a low-Will save meleer.
http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=776085
More help from mercury529.
Dwarf is only good if you're going into Deepwarden for Con > AC, and Fist of the Forest for another Con > AC (is FotF CC? Sorry if it is). Humans always rule with 30' speed and +1 feat.
The reason why there is no Barbarian Handbook is simple: Barbarians can't read handbooks, since they are illiterate.
Dwarf is only good if you're going into Deepwarden for Con > AC, and Fist of the Forest for another Con > AC (is FotF CC? Sorry if it is). Humans always rule with 30' speed and +1 feat.
Dwarf is also good for Battlerager, ya know, being a class designed for dwarven barbarians.
(In case the community was curious, it involves full-attacking with thrown weapons, Master Thrower, and Whisperknife.)
http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=111360
Human is always great for feat as always. Dwarves going Endurance + Steadfast Determination meet prereqs for Deepwarden and Horizon Walker easily, which are great additions to Barb/FBs. Remember that FB 5/10, HW 1/6 and Deepwarden 2 are the main break points.
Whirling Frenzy Barb variant from UA is a great trade, provided it stacks with Frenzy. The Rogue variant from page 58 that gives Fighter feats instead of SA is alright.. only 3/4 bab, but better skills, trapfinding, evasion etc.
Goliath Mountain Rage is pretty good, Half-Minotaur is better if you can get that.
Half-Minotaur is better than damn near everything, thats why people don't play it.
As soon as you've got BAB +7 and Power Attack, go into Bear Warrior. Rather than your usual rage, transform into a bear, for better increases to STR, CON, and DEX, plus progressing natural armor and natural attacks, and access to IMPROVED GRAB.
Get Instantaneous Rage and doses of Extra Rage. You can rage/change into a bear as an immediate action. At the tenth level of Bear Warrior, you can turn into a Dire Bear, with a whopping +20STR, +2DEX, and +8CON, as well as other nifty effects of being a bear.
With the dip into Swashbuckler, you'll have the option to take both those prestige classes (both in Complete Warrior) to completion, or skip the later levels of Reaping Mauler and just tack on another Barbarian level or two.
WIP
The reason why there is no Barbarian Handbook is simple: Barbarians can't read handbooks, since they are illiterate.
:D :D Thinking of sigging this
Reaping Mauler requires you to be medium or smaller size to enter, so arguably you lose the benefits of the class when you transform into a Brown or Dire Bear.
Reaping Mauler covers you for lower levels, and gets you two free feats at first level. I thought it was worth it. *shrug* It's a fun flavorful two-level dip before Bear Warrior is an option, and works with the Barbarian's light armor (if playing a Fast Movement build).
If I go human 5, I can get leap attack now, and in only one level get shock trooper, but no Str/Con boosts.