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View Full Version : Need Help with a Barbarian build (3.5- Urskan using SS)



AzazelSephiroth
2009-08-11, 07:28 PM
Hey all, I am starting a new game soon with my friends and we decided to play in a Savage Species world aka a world where all players and alot of badies are going to be non standard creatures. My Dm has allowed any and all books- but I would like to stay within Core/Complete/Savage/and ToB.
(these are all I have easy access to).

Any way I want to Play an Urskan from Frostburn. They are basically large talking polar bears with armor and opposable thumbs. They have 5HD and a 4 level adj. for a total of 9 monster level before I get to classes. I am hoping to become a Barbarian/Frenzied berserker or Charging monster of doom! I have seen some amazing builds on these forums and so I am asking you the people---What are your Polar Bear Barbarian Builds? Any and all ideas will be accepted and I would love to hear any interesting feats or comments.
Thanks Guys and Gals:smallbiggrin:

Eldariel
2009-08-11, 08:10 PM
Can you somehow negate some of that Level Adjustment? 'cause -4 is huge due to losing 4 Hit Dice (= 4 points of BAB, 4 HD worth of HP (a LOT), 4 levels worth of class features, 4 levels worth of skill rank cap and skills, 4 levels worth of base saves, 1 1/3 feats and 1 stat advancement).

Something like getting you a savage progression or giving up some stats or taking some fixed penalties in all checks or some such; LA buyoff isn't doable for an LA 4 character due to first time you can buy something off being level 12 or something (going way into epic to buy the rest off; level 30 is the last point). If you could somehow mitigate it to LA 3, you'd be able to reasonably buy the rest off.


Anyways, the Magical Beast-type isn't horrible. D10 HD, two good saves, good BAB and horrible skills. You also have various Charge-related goodies and the ability to use weapons (!!). This screams to me "Charger!!", especially combined with your desire to be a Barbarian.

Two levels of Barbarian gets you everything you want: you can pick up Pounce on level 1 (instead of Fast Movement - Complete Champion "Spirit Lion Totem" substitution) - an ability allowing you to make a full attack after a charge. Second level buys you Improved Trip (Wolf Totem Substitution (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#wolfTotemClassFeatures )) as an example; the feat is probably worth the second level, but Uncanny Dodge is probably not.

At this point, if you're going Frenzied Berserker, this would be a very good time. Without flaws, you're going to need a Fighter-level to qualify, so Flaws would be very useful (and this still dominates all your feats thus far). After entering Frenzied Berserker (this is around ECL 12), you will need to buff your Will-save so as not to annihilate your companions when you get angry. Cloak of Resistance +5 is a given and Steadfast Determination [PHBII - Con to Will-saves] is heartfully recommended.

If you put 16 to Con, this gives you Con 26, which means +8 to your Will-saves. At this point, you should have +2 base Will-save (provided you're using Fractional Saves, which is a v. good idea) and +5 resistance. Additionally, if you acquire a Luckblade, you'll have +1 Luck to Will-saves and you can try twice should you roll poorly. Further, Con +4 item gets you to Con 30 for +10, netting us +18 Will-saves altogether, which is sufficient to succeed the key check on all but 1 (which you reroll anyways). This may be hard to afford for level 12 so bide your time, but prioritise these items as their existence directly correlates to your party's capability to survive.


Now, you're finally free to pick up feats for charging. You'll need Extra Rage first though since the standard Rage-uses just don't cut it (note that if you use standard Rage, it improves your Will-save but I'd tend towards either Whirling Frenzy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#rageVariantWhirlingFrenzy ) or Ferocity (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a); Ferocity makes best use of your Intimidating Rage [prerequisite for Berserker], while Whirling Frenzy is your best bet if you use manufactured weapons - your Will-saves should be good enough as worked out above already so the alternative benefits take priority). After this, you need three feats:

Improved Bull Rush (prerequisite)
Shock Trooper (the key)
Leap Attack (another key)

Combine those three and you get what we call Charger. Goes great with Frenzied Berserker too. You'll have feats as follows:

1: LA
2: LA
3: LA
4: LA
5: HD - Feat (plus two more flaws if applicable)
6: HD
7: HD - Feat
8: HD
9: HD
10: 1st level - Feat
11: 2nd level - Possible bonus feat (if taking some alternative Barbarian or a Fighter-level)
12: Frenzied Berserker 1 (hopefully)
13: Frenzied Berserker 2 - Feat
14: Frenzied Berserker 3
15: Frenzied Berserker 4
16: Frenzied Berserker 5 - Feat
17: Frenzied Berserker 6
18: Frenzied Berserker 7
19: Frenzied Berserker 8 - Feat
20: Frenzied Berserker 9


Now, this is a total of 6 feats over the progression plus two possible flaws plus one possible bonus feat. Feats you'll want to be picking up are:

Frenzied Berserker Prerequisites: 4 of them
Steadfast Determination + Prerequisite (Endurance): 2
Extra Rage: 1
Charging Feats: 3

You can't get them all in time, but you could accomplish Otyugh Hole [Complete Scoundrel magical location] and ask for Intimidating Rage (it's in line with the rest of the feats in there) as a bonus. This would allow you to finish the whole chain by level 20. You also need to decide whether you'll want to fight with manufactured weapons or your claws. If you fight with claws, Rapid Strike [Draconomicon] could be of interest to you for iteratives.