Raging Skald

Playable from level 1 to 40, PvM.

Spawned from the tribes of the wilderness comes the Raging Skald. With a draconic heritage providing magical power and with great strength and endurance to back him up, this keeper of tribal lore has the ability to beat his foes to a bloody pulp. With a tribal chant on his lips quickly changing to a fierce scream of rage, he has the power to terrify his foes, rendering them either helpless or unnerving them to the point of not being able to fight effectively. Meting out punishment and absorbing even more, he'll cut a swath through his opponents, then return blood-soaked to the mead hall to spin tales of heroics and sing the death songs of fallen companions.

Probably best suited to a low magic environment.

Human, any non-Lawful

Barbarian 22/Bard 8/RDD 10

STR 16 (28)
DEX 12
CON 15 (22)
INT 14 (16)
WIS 8
CHA 10 (13)

1 )BBN1: Weapon Focus/ Luck of Heroes*
2 )Bard1
3 )BBN2: Knockdown
4 )BBN3: CHA (11)
5 )BBN4
6 )RDD1: Blind Fight
7 )Bard2
8 )RDD2: CON (16)/ +2 STR (18)
9 )RDD3: Improved Knockdown
10)RDD4: +2 STR (20)
11)RDD5
12)Bard3: Improved Critical/ CON (17)
13)RDD6
14)RDD7: +2 CON (19)
15)RDD8: Toughness
16)BBN5: CON (20)
17)Bard4
18)BBN6: Skill Focus:Intimidate
19)BBN7
20)BBN8: CON (21)

21)BBN9: Epic Weapon Focus
22)Bard5
23)BBN10
24)BBN11: Epic Prowess/ CON (22)
25)BBN12
26)BBN13
27)Bard6: Epic Skill Focus:Intimidate
28)BBN14: STR (21)
29)BBN15
30)BBN16: Terrifying Rage
31)RDD9: +2 INT (16)
32)RDD10: +4 STR (25)/ +2 CHA (13)/ STR (26)
33)Bard7: Epic Skill Focus:Taunt
34)BBN17
35)BBN18
36)BBN19: Thundering Rage/ STR (27)
37)Bard8
38)BBN20
39)BBN21: Mighty Rage
40)BBN22: STR (28)

*Heavy Armor Proficiency may appeal to some for this feat slot.

Naked AC: 23, 36 when buffed and wearing mundane Chain and Tower Shield

AB: +40 (up to +48 when buffed and Raging)

HPs: 573 (no rerolls)
Max HPs: 676

Saves (buffed and Raging):

Fort: 30 (37)
Refl: 20 (23)
Will: 22 (30)

Skills (modified):

Discipline: 43 (52)
Intimidate: 43 (57)
Lore: 8 (11)
Perform: 14 (15)
Spellcraft: 37 (40)
Taunt: 43 (54)
Tumble: 40
UMD: 39 (40)

24 points left for whatever you want. I put them in Listen (it's a class skill for Barbarians).

Advantages:

Rages: He can stack the Mighty and the Greater Rages for the full +12 STR and CON cap
Terrifying Rage: at 57 base DC, he's got a damned good chance of Terrifying anyone in his range, and enough levels to make it count.
HPs: A bucketload of HPs, which are augmented while Raging by up to 240 more.
Bard Song: Although only a level 8 Bard Song, it adds +1 to all saves, +2 AB, +2 damage, and +1 to his skill checks.
Bard Spells: I chose only buff spells: Bull's (superfluous when Rages are stacked, but still handy), Cat's Grace, Mage Armor, Identify, Protection from Alignment, Keen Edge, See Invisibility, Ultravision, Find Traps, and Wounding Whispers.
A modicum of DR from Barbarian levels (6/- I believe)
Movement speed increase.

Disadvantages:

AB: Not bad, but not great either. When buffed with Song and +12 to STR (either through Raging or with items/spells) he can get it up to +48. More, if a magic weapon is available.
Saves: Reflex is low, but the RDD immunity to fire will help out a lot. Will is okay when raging, but still not the greatest. PfE/G will go a long way to help out there.
The Rages, while stackable (as long as you go with Mighty first), are only a few times per day. Mighty can be used 3x/day, while the Grtr Rage can be used 6x/day.
No Heavy Armor, but it can be taken as a feat instead of Luck of Heroes.
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It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!!

Edited By Cinnabar Din on 06/26/05 05:37

Can you get work in a few Epic DR feats? I'm not a barbarian player, but I know that epic dr could be a nice addition to any build. DO you need epic skil focs? All rages?

peace
Quote: Posted 06/26/05 16:15:14 (GMT) -- avado

Can you get work in a few Epic DR feats? I'm not a barbarian player, but I know that epic dr could be a nice addition to any build. DO you need epic skil focs? All rages?

peace

Sure you could work them in, but you'd have to sacrifice some of the other feats. The focus in Taunt and Intimidate is to make sure you'll have the best chance possible of succeeding against most any opponent in those skill checks. (You'll lower your enemy's AC and either scare him into total ineffectiveness or reduce his AB - and saves - by 2 points.)

Do I need the Epic Skill Foci and the Rages? No, but that's basically the point of the build though. If I weren't going for the Rages, I'd take far fewer Barbarian levels and pick up more Bard (and end up with a far different build).
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It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!! Very minor change:

Start with 15 STR and 12 CHA. Change the first stat boost from CHA to STR. You'll still end up with the same finishing strength, but your CHA will be 14 instead of 13. I know you stopped at 13 since you only get 3rd level bard spells, but the 14 gives you an additional spell slot per day, as well as making your Taunt and Intimidate checks 1 point higher. Also I guess it frees up one skill point from perform that you can put somewhere else.

As I said, very minor change, but it does improve some of the key aspects of the build with no downside.

Steve
Quote: Posted 06/26/05 19:43:49 (GMT) -- Stravinsky00

Very minor change:

Start with 15 STR and 12 CHA. Change the first stat boost from CHA to STR. You'll still end up with the same finishing strength, but your CHA will be 14 instead of 13. I know you stopped at 13 since you only get 3rd level bard spells, but the 14 gives you an additional spell slot per day, as well as making your Taunt and Intimidate checks 1 point higher. Also I guess it frees up one skill point from perform that you can put somewhere else.

As I said, very minor change, but it does improve some of the key aspects of the build with no downside.

Steve

It would actually free up a couple skill points, as the UMD would only need to be 38.

Good suggestion Steve. Thanks.
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It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!!