Dire Badger optimization

[BooNL]

So, lately I've been fascinated with the Dire Badger and I'd like to try and build a character around it.

By my own houserules, wildshape, polymorph and anything that looks like it doesn't exist, so the badger would have to be an animal companion.

4th level gestalt.
How would you create a character fully focused on his dire badger?

[Draxar]

So, lately I've been fascinated with the Dire Badger and I'd like to try and build a character around it.

By my own houserules, wildshape, polymorph and anything that looks like it doesn't exist, so the badger would have to be an animal companion.

4th level gestalt.
How would you create a character fully focused on his dire badger?

Lycanthropy may be an option – Dire Badger is medium, thus the Lycanthropic humanoid can be anywhere between small and large. It has the downside that a first level [whatever] Were-direbadger is 6th or 7th level.

Shifter may also be an option, taking an adjusted form of the Weretouched Master class later.

[BobVosh]

Lycanthropy may be an option – Dire Badger is medium, thus the Lycanthropic humanoid can be anywhere between small and large. It has the downside that a first level [whatever] Were-direbadger is 6th or 7th level.

Shifter may also be an option, taking an adjusted form of the Weretouched Master class later.

Weres are much better in gestalt. So it wouldn't be that much an issue.

[riddles]

how does lycanthropy work in gestalt? do you just add the LA+2 on to one side?

[Sliver]

As with other races and templates, any LA and RHD can be put on one side.

[BooNL]

Were-badger... interesting.

Carry on .

Edit: just figured out a were-badger (not dire) can be had as early as EL 4, so that would work within this setting. They get +4 Dex and Con, coupled with +4 Str and Con from rage and you've got some pretty nice adjustments.

Plus, it's a friggin' badger.
Hmmz, and now to add Totemist to the other side of the gestalt .

[Lycanthromancer]

There have been some threads asking about stacking rage. I suggested a dire badger (either awakened, anthropomorphic, or via lycanthropy).

You could try an anthropomorphic dire badger were dire badger barbarian or totemist//warblade...

Alternately, divine minion (badger/dire badger), for fewer points of LA.

[Cyanic]

Feral template from SS (uber)
Permanent Enlarge its size
Barding

Get your char a lance and tower shield.

[Ecalsneerg]

Feral template from SS (uber)
Permanent Enlarge its size
Barding

Get your char a lance and tower shield.

You don't need to permanent enlarge it, play a gnome or so-such.

I mean, they can already talk to badgers, and I think Races of Stone lets Gnome Rangers get them at a higher effective druid level.

[Cyanic]

You don't need to permanent enlarge it

Big is fun. Can never be too big, other then tactically.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Awakened Dire Badger. Awesome in a can.

Alternatively, Druid 4//Wizard 4, with Natural Bond at least. At level 10 you should be a Druid 5/Arcane Heirophant 5//Wizard 5/Beastmaster 1/anything 4.

[BooNL]

Compare a dire badger's rage to a barbarians:

Dire Badger:

Rage (Ex)
A dire badger that takes damage in combat flies into a berserk rage on its next turn, clawing and biting madly until either it or its opponent is dead. It gains +4 Strength, +4 Constitution, and -2 AC. The creature cannot end its rage voluntarily.

Barbarian

Rage (Ex)
A barbarian can fly into a rage a certain number of times per day. In a rage, a barbarian temporarily gains a +4 bonus to Strength, a +4 bonus to Constitution, and a +2 morale bonus on Will saves, but he takes a -2 penalty to Armor Class. The increase in Constitution increases the barbarian’s hit points by 2 points per level, but these hit points go away at the end of the rage when his Constitution score drops back to normal. (These extra hit points are not lost first the way temporary hit points are.) While raging, a barbarian cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except for Balance, Escape Artist, Intimidate, and Ride), the Concentration skill, or any abilities that require patience or concentration, nor can he cast spells or activate magic items that require a command word, a spell trigger (such as a wand), or spell completion (such as a scroll) to function. He can use any feat he has except Combat Expertise, item creation feats, and metamagic feats. A fit of rage lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the character’s (newly improved) Constitution modifier. A barbarian may prematurely end his rage. At the end of the rage, the barbarian loses the rage modifiers and restrictions and becomes fatigued (-2 penalty to Strength, -2 penalty to Dexterity, can’t charge or run) for the duration of the current encounter (unless he is a 17th-level barbarian, at which point this limitation no longer applies).

A barbarian can fly into a rage only once per encounter. At 1st level he can use his rage ability once per day. At 4th level and every four levels thereafter, he can use it one additional time per day (to a maximum of six times per day at 20th level). Entering a rage takes no time itself, but a barbarian can do it only during his action, not in response to someone else’s action.

Is it cheesy to assume a were-badger would be able to use the abilities a barbarian's rage restricts?

Also, would a raging character be able to use the abilities granted from souldmelds or use ToB maneuvres?

[Riffington]

how does lycanthropy work in gestalt? do you just add the LA+2 on to one side?

Undefined. By strictest RAW it probably adds to your level before you divide up into "sides". But by that ruling, nobody would ever take it, so the friendlier ruling is to add it just to one side. Either way, racial HD are also semi-undefined. You may put them all one one side, but it's possible you can put some on one side and some on the other.

[jiriku]

Play a gnomish druid/were-badger with a dire badger companion focused on summoning badgers. You can ride it as a mount so you'll have a badger next to your badger on your badger while you badger badger badger.

Use the Natural Bond feat to mitigate the penalty to your effective druid level when determining the companion's abilities so your badger companion is more effective.

[Ecalsneerg]

Big is fun. Can never be too big, other then tactically.

In that case we need to find some way to let it use expansion as a SLA.... at a high ML, huge badger, to hell with your pathetic Large!

[Fitz10019]

A neat thing about dire badgers is they leave behind a 5' usable tunnel when they burrow, which can be handy for setting camp underground, or just tunnelled horizontally into a hill.

[BenTheJester]

badger-badger-badger-badger-badger-badger-badger-badger-badger-badger-badger-badger-badger-badger-badger-badger-badger-badger-mushroom mushrooooom


(sorry, somebody HAD to do it)

[AirGuitarGod32]

I think the Awakend Fiendish Feral Dire Half-Blue Dragon Were-Crocodyle Badger Barbarian20//Fighter 10/Frenzied Berserker 10

[PinkysBrain]

As with other races and templates, any LA and RHD can be put on one side.

It's outside the rules, Unearthed Arcanum doesn't talk about it at all. Some DMs put it on both sides, some DMs half the LA etc etc.

Anyway, for boosting your animal companion probably Druid/Psychic Warrior or Druid/Psion (assuming magic transparency means personal powers can be cast on your animal companion) with a dip into Beastmaster.

PS. the super/uber mount tricks probably don't work in gestalt because they are all using classes which progress class features from two classes in some way or another.

[gorfnab]

What an Awakened or Anthropomorphic Dire Badger may look like

[Khanderas]

What an Awakened or Anthropomorphic Dire Badger may look like

I thought the awaken spell granted intelligence...

[Sliver]

This special instance of awaken took some of mine actually..

[BooNL]

Hehe, silly badgers.

Any word on that Rage thing I quoted above? I believe by RAW they should be able to use Int, Wis & Cha based skills as well as concentration. Though RAI may say otherwise...
Ditto for my question about using martial maneuvres and soulmelds.

[Fishy]

Don't know about Soulmelds, but you can explicitly use Maneuvers while Wild Shaped into a badger, so I don't see how a natural badger couldn't use them.

Either that, or go Soulbow and be a badger that shoots mind bullets.

[Stephen_E]

There are 3 strong paths for the Dire Badger PC that's an animal companion.

1 is RAW and the other 2 require varying degreese of house rules.

1) RAW - Druid 3/Wizard 3/BeastMaster 1/Arcane Heriophant with Natural Bond feat.
The Dire Badger gains an increase in Int and has animal companion benefits as if his master was a 8th lev Druid.

2) Druid*/Blackguard 5/BeastMaster 1 - Take Devoted Tracker, Leadership and Natural Bond.
House rule Devoted Tracker to blend Beastmaster/Blackguard rather than Ranger/Paladin so that the DireBadger is both Feindish Servant and Animal Companion, which give boosted Int and additional bonus HD (fiendish servant bonuses based on total levels and not class levels) and houserule Leadership to apply to the Blackguard's feindish servant ala Paladins special mount and leadership. This allows your DireBadger to gain class levels in addition to the bonus HD from Druid and Blackguard.

3) Biggest house rules but probably most balanced.
Have another player play a Druid.
Make animal Int stat 1-6 (closer to RL).
Play his Animal Companion DireBadge rolling stats as normal but Int converts
18 = 6
16-17 = 5
14-15 =4
11-13 =3
7-10 = 2
3-6 = 1
Each pt beyond 18 increases it by 1. i.e. 19=7, 20=8
Treat anything that give a set Int bost such as Familiar, Special mount ect as a Int increase based on Int 2. i.e Familiar give Int 6 = +4 to your Int.

You treat all bonus HD as class levels, but don't receive any xp (that's for your boss the Druid).
The Druid receives 2 additional feats to balance effectively losing his animal companion class ability.

[Stephen_E]

Note, with the 3rd option the favoured class would be Barbarian. Obviously. :-)


Stephen E

[Darrin]

Any word on that Rage thing I quoted above? I believe by RAW they should be able to use Int, Wis & Cha based skills as well as concentration. Though RAI may say otherwise...
Ditto for my question about using martial maneuvres and soulmelds.

While that may be a concern, what worries me more about the Rage (Ex) thing:

"The creature cannot end its rage voluntarily."

It has no duration, and the description isn't entirely clear about how it ends. If killing your opponent (or getting killed) is the only way to end the rage, what happens with an opponent who runs away? Teleports? Taken prisoner?

[AirGuitarGod32]

While that may be a concern, what worries me more about the Rage (Ex) thing:

"The creature cannot end its rage voluntarily."

It has no duration, and the description isn't entirely clear about how it ends. If killing your opponent (or getting killed) is the only way to end the rage, what happens with an opponent who runs away? Teleports? Taken prisoner?

I'll address each issue separately

1. Chases the coward down, throwing caution to the wind. may Hell be damned for his insanity

2. Blind Fury. Nearest living thing gets smashed

3. TAKE NO PRISONERS!!!!!!

[Seatbelt]

I thought the awaken spell granted intelligence...

I go to Wisconsin, and I will kill you.

[BooNL]

While that may be a concern, what worries me more about the Rage (Ex) thing:

"The creature cannot end its rage voluntarily."

It has no duration, and the description isn't entirely clear about how it ends. If killing your opponent (or getting killed) is the only way to end the rage, what happens with an opponent who runs away? Teleports? Taken prisoner?

If we're going purely by RAILT (Rules As I Like Them, trademarked) here, a werebadger should still be able to shift back to humanoid form. In that form, he doesn't have rage, so the effects shouldn't apply anymore.

Makes for a nice character dynamic too. The werebadger is ambushed in battle. In response, he quickly shifts to his badger form and enters a rage, slaughtering his enemies. When the last of them is laying broken on the ground and begging for his life the badger shifts back to his human form and falls to the ground, drained. After a minute or so of recovery, he'll be able to question his prisoner.