...offensive operations, often times, is the surest, if not the only ... means of defence - George Washington
The best defense is a good offense. – Jack Dempsey
OVERVIEW
This strength-based build is designed to dish out damage to an opponent using a two-handed weapon (I went with Greatsword). He’s something of a one-trick pony, but fortunately it is a very good trick. Although by the end I took more Barbarian levels than Fighter, this is really a Fighter build with Barbarian as icing on the cake. This build gets the core fighting feats earlier than many other builds I’ve seen, and includes enough skill points to make a more well-rounded character than the typical pure Fighter. Finally, at level 39 you get either Thundering Rage of Terrifying Rage (your choice) which is a nice way to top things off.
This character is very easy to play, and would be a good choice for a newbie to the D&D system to use in any of the official modules. Although not a newbie myself, I still sometimes enjoy the pure simplicity of hacking the bad guys into little pieces.
CREDITS
Here are other combinations of Fighter, Weapon Master, and Barbarian that I looked at (all nice builds):
Eastern Warrior by WarriorCleric: I took Knockdown and Imp. Knockdown instead of 2-weapon fighting feats, and get fighting feats earlier (including Dev. Crit). But I don’t get both Thundering and Terrifying Rage.
AxeMaster by ReallyTwisted: This does a good job of mixing ranged and melee combat, but sacrifices some of the toe-to-toe abilities, including the Knockdowns and Overwhelming and Devastating Critical My build is weaker in ranged combat, but my character doesn’t care. Hard to cut somebody’s arm off with an arrow…
The Thundering Barbarian by TyrPaladin: there seem to be several versions of this build floating around. My comments apply to the one posted on 15 Aug 2003 in the thread “The Screaming Barbarian”. This gets Weapon Master in very early and includes both Thundering and Terrifying Rage, but doesn’t get Dev. Crit. until level 37. I wanted more time to Dev. Crit. baddies before my character was maxed out.
Also, the “How To Build An Effective Fighter” guide by NightFall Myriad on GameBanshee was helpful, even though it was only a to-level-20 guide.
SOME DETAILS
Knockdown and Improved Knockdown are important to this build because they can help against opponents who are immune to critical hits. Unless they’re also immune to Knockdown, in which case you either have to try getting tactical somehow (ranged weapons and running a lot, yuck) or go toe-to-toe and drink a lot of Heal potions while you nickel-and-dime them to death. Or whatever else you can think up.
I sacrificed some Constitution in the initial stats to get Dev. Crit. as early as I wanted, and to get as many skill points as I wanted. A human turned out to be the best choice. A half-orc gets a Strength bonus, but has to spend too many points to make up the Intelligence penalty (INT=13 is needed for Improved Knockdown). A Dwarf would get better Constitution at the expense of Charisma (no big loss to this build), but losing the human bonus feat still hurts.
The DC for Dev. Crit is 10 + (Character Level / 2) + STR modifier. Increasing Strength after level 24 increases attack bonus, damage, and Dev. Crit DC. All of which are the core strengths of this build. If you prefer, you could increase other abilities and/or take some other types of feats.
Make sure to pick up at least 4 ranks in Intimidate at level 1 or level 2, while it is a class skill. They’re a prereq for Weapon Master. If you go for Terrifying Rage at level 39, make sure to have assigned at least 25 ranks to Intimidate – that’s a prereq.
I played a variation of this build in SoU and HotU and he handled everything nicely. The second phase of Barbarian levels came at a really good point in the plot. (Beginning of Chapter 3 – if you’ve played HotU, you can imagine that a character would be building some serious rage at that point…) That version of the build didn’t get Dev. Crit. until level 30. Had I played the version included in this post, I would have had Dev. Crit. before the end of HotU. I only do PvM, so I have no idea how this guy would do in PvP.
Race: Human Alignment: any (I went with Chaotic Good)
Stats: STR=17 (+3, Main ability. Finishes at 32.) DEX=13 (+1, Minimum for Weapon Master prerequisites.) CON=14 (+2, Try to increase with magic items.) INT=14 (+2, Good skill points and Improved Knockdown) WIS=8 (-1, Low WIS allows other stats high but hurts Will save) CHA=8 (-1, Dump a few skill points into Appraise)
And a little backstory on how I play this character:
So I was watching the Inn for Tolbert the other night, and it started out mostly slow. A bit after dark, some fancy fellow comes in, maybe a merchant or a noble or somethin', and he's got this bodyguard fellow with him. You know the type, scowl and suspicious eyes, armed to the teeth. Now, I'm not keen on these two but I didn't pay 'em much nevermind neither. Said they didn't want a room, they'd just sit and eat a spell then be on their way. So I brought them each a bowl of stew and some ale and went on about things. Then after a bit, this big chocolatey-skinned fellow walks in the door. He takes a quick look around and spies the first two. Right off he heads for 'em, walking with the look of someone who knows his own mind. The bodyguard sees him but before he can pull his blade, the point of the big fellow's dagger is sticking out his back. So now the merchant-noble guy jumps up and tries to take off but he doesn't make two steps before the big fellow draws a greatsword and lops his head clean off. So quick did all this happen that two bodies have hit the floor and just now, people are looking around to see what the thumps are. So I says to him, "Friend, what you just did don't bother me none personal or anything, but you might best be movin' along. 'Round here the law don't smile on takin' people's heads off." He turns and looks at me with eyes younger than I'd expected, but a dark face that had already seen way too much. Then he says with a crooked grin, "To the Abyss the law if it gets in the way of justice." He sheathes his blades and heads for the door and maybe I shouldn't have but I asks "What's your name, Sir Justice?". "Coal Swift", he answers, then walks away.
"Why do you fight?" Coal had been asked some variation of this question many times before, and had always given the succinct but elusive answer "I fight because I must". But Coal knew Lord Nasher would not be satisfied with that comfortable evasion. This would not have stopped Coal before; he did not care in the least whether any of his previous questioners were satisfied. But this one was different, not because of his station but because Nasher had himself once been a warrior. Coal considered the question, and realized that he had never really answered it for himself. He thought a moment more, then replied. "It is my nature. I could have chosen a safe trade - I'm good with my hands and would make a satisfactory craftsman - but I would not have been content. There are people who deserve help, and people who deserve a reckoning. I can give both. How could I ignore this? I do not fight for reward or glory. I expect to die in defeat on the blade of an adversary who will leave my body to rot in the dust. I am no mercenary bound to gold. I am no knight bound to servitude. My master is my own conscience, which does not allow me to turn my back on a righteous cause." Coal paused and looked around the elegant throne room. Then he added "If my conscience demanded it, I would strike you down where you stand. If my conscience demanded it, I would serve and defend you to the death. But never would you extract an oath of loyalty from my lips. Never would I surrender my own judgement to yours." Coal paused again, feeling somewhat self-consicous. He did not often speak at this length. For a moment he was unsure how to continue, but then he concluded with a smile: "I fight because I must."
Quote: Posted 12/15/04 06:42:30 (GMT) -- bpirkle Alignment: any (I went with Chaotic Good)
Oops, I should have said any nonlawful. And I made a typo in the Subject: "Figher" should obviously be "Fighter". Sigh. That's what I get for posting after midnight when I should be sleeping...
