Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 ymuckluck Feb 21, 2009 17:39:54	We are starting at level 1 in an Eberron campaign and I've decided to play a deranged Kobold who believes he is a bear. When he was a young little kobold his family was slaughtered by bears in front of his very eyes and was saved from death by a warforged druid (another PC). I now follow the PC around as if I was an animal companion. Now deep inside he knows he's not a bear, it's a psychosis basically, a defense mechanism if you will. But who cares about the background, This is the optimization boards! Here is my planned build Original Post 1) Barbarian 1: Multi-Attack [Kobold web enhancement offers claw/claw/bite] 2) Fighter 1: Power Attack 3) Fighter 2: [ROD kobold fighter substitution] +2 Con/ Extra Rage 4) Barbarian 2: 5) Fighter 3: 6) Barbarian 3:Extend Rage 7) Fighter 4: [ROD Kobold Fighter Substituion] +2 Strength 8) Bear Warrior 1: 9) Bear Warrior 2: edit: Improved Grapple? 10) Bear Warrior 3: 11) Bear Warrior 4: 12) Bear Warrior 5: 13) Bear Warrior 6: 14) Bear Warrior 7: 15) Bear Warrior 8: 16) Bear Warrior 9: 17) Bear Warrior 10: 18) Barbarian 4: 19) Fighter 5: 20) Barbarian 5:
#2 psorowman Feb 21, 2009 18:18:55	If i remember correctly, 3 levels of warshaper makes for an excellent dip... yeah, that's it. at level 3 of it, immune to crits and stuns, can grow natural weapons, +4 str, +con, and reach when it wants. so... Barbarian3/Fighter4/Bear Warrior1/Warshaper3/Bear Warrior9 feats: use what you've got, switch out improved grab (you'll get that when you're a bear anyways) for instantaneous rage. if you can grab a flaw, Mad Foam Rager is fun.
#3 ymuckluck Feb 21, 2009 20:34:43	If i remember correctly, 3 levels of warshaper makes for an excellent dip... I love this idea thanks I changed my build, I love the 3 level dip into warshaper it is perfect for my build. Also bears get improved grab, not improved grapple, but I think a +4 to grapple checks might be overkill.
#4 ninjarabbit Feb 21, 2009 20:59:11	Bear Warrior is only a 5 level PrC. The difference between a brown bear and dire bear is only +4 str and +2 natural armor, not worth the 5 extra almost dead levels. I'd recommend some levels of psy warrior or warmind so you could become a huge or eventually a gargantuant bear.
#5 Wyvernhand Feb 22, 2009 1:51:42	I'm pretty sure you can get into Nature's Warrior from Bear Warrior. 1 level of it nets you the Serpents Coils ability, which allows you to do constrict damage every time you win an opposed grapple check. Someone trying to escape you is an opposed grapple check, so you get damage on your turn when you squeeze, and damage on their turn when they struggle. Golden if you plan to do a lot of bear huggin. And yea, Mad Foam Rager (PHBII) is pretty freakin sweet. Sometimes, 1 round is all you need to rend your opponent limb from limb, and it buys your friendly casters a round to fix you up if required. Observe: Wizard - DOMINATE MONSTER! Bear Warrior - No thanks...nom nom nom nom... Wizard - CURSE YOU *dies* Bear Warrior - Hmmm, I feel like I should do what that guy wanted, but the fact that he's already 1/3 of the way through my digestive tract makes me think otherwise. Oh look, berries! Also, Instantaneous Rage + Intimidating Rage + Imperious Command is the Barbarian's AoE Celerity. Its pretty fun, but get it early because its not as viable past mid levels when things start coming standard with immunity to [Mind Affecting] and [Fear].
#6 vangrue Feb 22, 2009 3:29:35	Bear Warrior is only a 5 level PrC. The difference between a brown bear and dire bear is only +4 str and +2 natural armor, not worth the 5 extra almost dead levels. I'd recommend some levels of psy warrior or warmind so you could become a huge or eventually a gargantuant bear. I'm going to second this. I made a Bear Warrior build recently (using Totemist for more attacks and versatility and such), and I noticed that almost unanimously that taking the PrC past 5 is just too much dead weight. I've heard lots of good things about Warmind and Nature's Warrior, though I'm not sure Bear Warrior is actually a legal entry into the latter (the PreReqs specifically ask for Wild Shape, whereas Warshaper in the same book mentions a requirement including wild shape or a wild shape-like feature such as Bear Warrior's bear form- Thus being fairly specific about what qualifies; I guess this depends on DM interpretation).
#7 uhm_hoi Feb 22, 2009 9:08:38	I made a bear warrior 1s to, some time ago. I called him bruce banner and i took the vow of poverty feat. He was just the good guy, trying to solve everything peacefully and playing the good, generous guy until he got hit... rawr But anyway you wanted suggestions for feats... I found vow of poverty very, very usefull. That feat is just great for anything thats like shapeshifting. I don't know if that fits your roleplaying idea, but if you can fit it in you wont be disappointed. Also, I only took 1 lvl in barbarian so i really needed the extra rage. I also took extend rage but that 1 was kind of a waste. You get a huge constitution bonus and i already started with a con of 18 so I never had any problems with the duration of the rage/bearform, but that might depend on your DM and your party. I also had a lot of feats left, i also really wanted power attack and after that i was just screwing around with luck feats, just like you, and stuff like night haunt, just for fun.
#8 ymuckluck Feb 22, 2009 15:17:08	But anyway you wanted suggestions for feats... I found vow of poverty very, very usefull. That feat is just great for anything thats like shapeshifting. I have a question now, if I'm wearing a ring of protection and I turn into a bear, what happens to the magical items I'm wearing? Or armor and my backpack, I've tried looking under the polymorph spell but it doesn't mention what happens to everything.
#9 CantripN Feb 22, 2009 15:22:22	Gets absorbed inside you, more than likely.
#10 vangrue Feb 22, 2009 16:52:18	The text for Polymorph says that the spell works like Alter Self, except as noted in the text that follows that line. Alter Self gives the text mentioning that all gear is either still worn/held by the new form if it is capable of doing so (which rules out your bear form), or it gets melded into the new form and becomes non-functional. You could always attach everything with wilding clasps, if you can get your DM to treat Bear Form like wildshape for that purpose.
#11 ymuckluck Feb 22, 2009 18:26:52	You could always attach everything with wilding clasps, if you can get your DM to treat Bear Form like wildshape for that purpose. Awesome thanks! Think I'll use the necklace of natural weapons from savage species with a wilding clasp to overcome damage reduction and go with the feats listed in the original post above. I know bear warrior 10 is stupid, but the only other option I could reasonably do given the role playing emphasis of our campaign would be to alternate between fighter and barbarian. Which just sounds less cool then dire bear I suppose. Logic be damned all of you! Anyway I went with a Dire Charge kind of build, so that I don't have to waste the first round with a single attack. I can use my full attack with a charge, later I get improved multi-attack which combined with warshaper will be a claw/claw/bite/gore at my full attack bonus. I looked at vow of poverty but I want my natural attacks to be able to overcome damage reduction and will probably go with the necklace of natural weapon plus wilding clasp. (probably +1 with the metalline property). Improved Critical is just for fun but if I get that high I might go with mad foam rager instead. Thanks for all the help! If anyone has any more suggestions I won't get to level 20 overnight, let me know!
#12 uhm_hoi Feb 22, 2009 19:28:27	Im not sure if it fits your roleplaying ideas, but you can use maneuvers in your bearform. As a way of overcomming damage reduction, the mountain hammer is a very usefull maneuver and i use it on any build that has excess to maneuvers. Using maneuvers on your bear might actually be a very good idea, as you dont miss out on a lot of attacks when using them and you will most likely hit with every one of them with that amasing str bonus. Some lvls warblade or crusader could turn your bear in the new king of the jungle... That big lion will run in terror ones it has seen you in action. And for roleplaying purposes, im not sure if your little bear is religious, but if he does worship ehlonna or something like that, being a crusader could be very fun to roleplay.
#13 obtusehobbit Feb 22, 2009 21:41:48	If you go with a marshal adept I recommend doing something like Barbarian 4/ Warblade 3/Bearwarrior 5/Warshaper 3/Bloodclaw master 5. Doing this you lose a feat, +2 Con and Str, and 2 BAB, but you gain access to some great maneuvers (Dancing Mongoose) and the Claws of the Beast ability (bloodclaw master 1) allowing full strength damage to both claw attacks. It also retains the flavor of the character well.
#14 heliomance Feb 23, 2009 19:39:21	Actually, I can see some Totemist being great fun on a Bear Warrior...