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So we will be playing this Mythic AP and I am considering using the Two-Handed Archetype. I am hoping some of the archetypes drawbacks with respect to armour training will be obviated by Mythic abilities.

I am planning on playing a Bastard sword using, Cranestyling Fighter (6 feats), twelve feats for the usual>>>>( Power attack, Dazing Assault, Combat reflexes, Lunge, Toughness,Iron Will, Improved Iron Will, and five in the weapon chain) this leaves 4 feats.

I wonder if the Trip ability off of the 11th level two-handed archetype ability ( Pile Driver) is a bit of a trap as the 19th level archetype ability is equivalent to a Vital Strike and would likely be preferential at that point. To get Greater Trip is 3 feats and hard to train out of by 20th level, would Vicious Stomp be worthwhile as an alternative (or is damage too low?)

Pin Down required? I would expect that a champion movement ability would be selected and eventually the move and full attack.

The Bastard Sword will allow powerful attacks ala the archetype and then switch to one-handed and cranestyle to survive Mythic Vital stikers. Dual Path allows Mirror Dodge for more damage mitigation.

At high levels, Devastating Blow, would a Pick-axe or scythe be weapon of choice for *6 single attacks or just stick to Bastard for *4 ( about 600 damage versus 400). To keep using the Bastard sword and a heavier crit weapon Quickdraw could be required. Mechanically it might be easier to just use the Bastard!

A foray into Eldritch heritage (orc) might just be possible but at the cost of any utility feats. Actually by using Mythic Eldritch Heritage the direct feat cost of "mundane" feats would be three (Skill Focus , EH, and Quicken SLA) The human racial ability could them provide Skill focus on Perception and ??

The capstone for this Archetype seems quite powerful but with a caveat.

The whole archetype is built around full-attacking as weapon training is foregone for a bonus to hit and damage on full attacks (yes technically other abilities are provided for weapon 2,3,4 but not germane) so the Fighters always on +4/+4 (level 20) is replaced by a situational equivalent "Twin Blades" , not aided by Gloves of Dueling.

The capstone provides for a retaliatory AOO to attacks after full-attacking but nothing in its language suggest that "Twin Blades" would apply to such an AOO. Now I suppose Deadly Defense is quite dangerous enough as is, but would it have been overpowered to suggest that Twin Blades applies to AOO's on the round following a full-attack?

Browsing Youtube and came across this trailer. It actually has a nice representation to me of a Pouncing Barbarian and some more traditional Fighter/Warrior types!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwJOe-Y918A

if you mute the sound try syncing this video from Two Steps from Hell at about 35-36 seconds!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIxas0a-KgM

I am thinking at the end the "Barbarian" is wondering if he has any applicable rage powers.... Sorry my link-fu is weak

OK so I am likely going to have to roll a fighter. Not the end of the world I suppose... Granted Stat line will be excellent with both Str and Dex at 18. So my question would be, assuming a fighter character would 5 feats for TWF be better than 5 feats for full Crane Style? I assume the Crane Style would use a two-handed grip on a one handed weapon to account for the style. In many ways it seems to wash out..opinions??

I am not sure if this would be allowed, for instance Med Fort on a shield and Heavy on Armour, Crit "resistance" would be about 87.5%. OR is this a case of like bonuses not stacking so only best Fort would apply, at 75%? I guess I am not clear as to what the Fortification property is considered to be!

Imagine a world very much like Warhammer, a human empire besieged by Chaos. Certainly amongst Chaos's champions are Barbarians, but likely all classes are represented there. Bottom line I have a Barbarian who faces barriers in this world's social structure. He has World Traveller (diplomacy) and Skill Focus (diplomacy) to help mitigate this problem. What is your opinion on this; too much bother and reroll or stick with it for role play? I imagine him as a sophisticated individual who uses his rage to enter a combat trance to the exclusion of extraneous factors, how would this Rage be perceived?

Can you attack wielding a Falcata(or any one handed weapon) with two hands and then using a free action convert your grip to one handed and enjoy the perks of Crane Style?? I would have assumed yes previously but with the new ruling on Two-Handed weapons and Armour Spikes am not so sure.

The header is basically the question. Imagine a Two Weapon Warrior who gets many abilities only after full attacking. Could you use that action on a dust mote lets say, to activate some of their armour buff or riposting abilities??(Defensive Flurry,Deadly Defense) Visually I imagine a martial arts movie (Conan doing a Kata!) in which the character flails his weapons around before actually engaging a foe.

I am considering a cleric build with the trickery domain. Traits to include Reactionary and Magical Lineage(Cold Ice Strike) Feats: Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Spell Focus (conjuration) , Augment Summoning, Superior Summoning, then Rime, Persistent, Heighten, and Quicken Metamagics to allow preferred Spell {Confusion} and Spell Perfection [Summon Monster 9]

Does this stretch the Cleric too far? I think that by wording of the Preferred Spell feat that I could indeed cast this domain spell with Cleric spell slots. With Heighten and Persistent metamagic will it scale well? Does Cold Ice Strike have enough oomph with Rime and Persistent (I would consider an Empower wand..)

Is Spell perfection for level 9 Summon Monster worthwhile?

The build will be challenging as far as bringing the feats into the build in a timely manner. Likely one of the Metamagics will have to be delayed to level 19. Which one? I am thinking perhaps Rime but feel uncertain about that decision.

Any comments or guidance appreciated!

This is related to the back story threads that we are seeing. There seems to be alot of talent on these boards for stories about characters as prequels , if you will, to adventuring days that follow!

What about afterwards however? Surely there are stories generated by Pathfinder or other systems that would be of interest to us all?

This came to mind when pursuing an old interest in Warhammer I came upon this thread....

http://forum.strike-to-stun.net/viewtopic.php?t=2124[/url]

Any items that help these casters? The Candles and Pearls seem to help prepared casters. What items , if any , are of similare benefit to spontaneous divine casters?

I am thinking about this feat in a small chain:

Heroic Preparation:

PREREQUISITES: BAB +3, Party has suffered a death or had at least half party reduced to negative hit points in a previous encounter with foe.

BENEFITS; +1 competence/insight (whichever is better? ) to Attack rolls , damage, ability checks, saves, skill checks, save DC's , overcoming SR (ie EVERYTHING, and beneficial to martials and casters. The plus one bonus can be chosen for a monster class as per ranger favoured enemy. If the bonus is taken versus a single creature it equals +2. Only one foe can be prepared against at a time, with a minimum of ???? training requirements.

SuperHeroic Preperation:

PREREQUISITES: Heroic preparation, BAB +9

BENEFITS: +1 vs "favoured enemy" , +2 vs organization. +3 vs BBEG

Rationale: This feat chain is meant to duplicate the "Montage" effect in movies where by hard earned experience translates into a tangible benefit. I would like the benfits to apply to all possible avenues and to be powerful. Does the +1/+2 benefits seem reasonable with regard to feat cost and encounter aspect? I feel that the feat while powerful would allow good role-playing opportunities. So a party with a disatrous encounter with trolls or Vordakai for example could learn by bitter experience and come back stronger for a second attempt. I am thinking of Rocky (or perhaps Team America lol ) here.

This spell specifies that both characters use a shared initiative roll, and then if attacking the same opponent share attack rolls as well. Great, a very useful way to crit-seek and obtain more hits in general. The weird thing is that the 2 characters involved are unlikely to have identical initiatives so one will always?? act first.So imagine that both characters are full attacking a foe, 2 rolls are made and a crit results...the foe is dropped (magine that the second character has not even taken his 5 foot step yet but certainly intends to attack the 'same' foe. This process could concievably repeat before the second character can make any attacks!?
So how do people use this spell? Does the perfect coordination mentioned in the spell over-ride the initiative rules [even the spell doesnt seem to suggest that as characters use their own initiative modifiers...}
I must be misunderstanding the spell so any help would be appreciated!

so a RLP (no disrespect intended but RAGELANCEPOUNCE is a mouthful!) is considered to be 3d8 +150 [AM BARBARIANS is likely MUCH more.... ;) ]

However Mounted Skirmisher lets other classes do this feat, albeit with movement and range disadvantages, so with these accepted limitations are builds with full out lance attacks viable for other classes? I am thinking Paladins (SmiteLANCEPOUNCE) Cavaliers (ChallengeLANCEPOUNCE) Rangers {FavouredLANCEPOUNCE} and even Fighters {SpecWpnTrainLANCEPOUNCE} would all do very well indeed damage wise and likely push or better RLP for damage. Fighters lacking a "tough" mount are perhaps a tier down?

I am wondering about this combination. Stalwart requires DieHard, Endurance and likely Combat Expertise. Giving ultimately a DR10. I think these feats:Stalwart and Improved Stalwart are a means to improve the Combat Expertise feat. The application is still awkward as the DR is capped at level the level 16 CE level....(not here or there however , just an observation! Maybe level 20 Combat Expertise and Improved Stalwart should give a 10% Fortification????)

However , back to point why not let Shield of Swings give access to Stalwart and it's improved form. Mechanically interesting as you still suffer loss of 50% damage and the DR would only go to a maximum of 8 (based on SoS AC bonus of 4). Was this even considered by the developers? It doesnt seem unbalanced to me, Shield of Swings like Combat Expertise is not a "must have" feat. The Feat Tree concept is nice but allows for lack of integration of all the rules books, why not look for interactions and allow them where thematic? So the Feat "Bush" for Stalwart and Improved Stalwart would be Diehard,Endurance and either Combat Expertise or Power Attack/Shield of Swings leading to very similar effects but different flavours!

This occurred to me while watching Avatar. Yes, it does indicate my inherent geekdom......

Avatar 2, sequel cut scene to an Earth military office. A grizzled officer sits at his desk. After a crisp knock; a young cadet is ushered into the room by an enlisted sailor.

"Well son, your latest results have been impressive, very impressive. However Command is thinking of giving you a break from Fleet exercises."

"Sir? My results are excellent, while some fatigue is present I feel my mental capacities are unaffected! Sir!"

"Yes, Yes Cadet but this new series of exercises will train you in some classic colonial anti-insurgency operations. The premise is that xeno-natives are interfering with our mining Unobtainium for our Fleet Ansibles. Your goal is to rectify that situation"

"Yes Commander Rackham"

"That will be all Cadet Wigggin"

I am not saying that the Navi are in trouble,Ender excels at lateral thinking and problem solving but...... I would expect the unobtainium to be mined

Dear, Paizo do you offer your rule books with out the dying fighter art? I am in love with your, products just not the artwork. I am trying to get my boys involved in role playing and am looking for more melee friendly covers. I don't want my boys to be exposed to dying mortally wounded fighters (or being dragged off to his death, and seriously Merisel fighting beetles while Valeros has to deal with THREE wererats??). I understand the market you are going for and I am not judging you at all I just am not a proponent of "heroic deaths" and was wondering if you have alternate covers? Also it doesn’t help to show Valeros with a medium melee weapon and a small one, it is really screwing up the kids feat selections

Have Barbarians been bypassed by the growth of the game? I believe that Barbarian high level class defining abilities have been surpassed by the new Pathfinder books...

Mighty Rage level 20 Barb ability easily matched by Fighter Gloves of Dueling [besides some neat CMD mods these provide plus one to hit and damage] Furious weapons grant only a plus 2 enhancement bonus which caps out at 5, climbing and swimming penalties for one-handed actions are??? High level fighters will be glad to have the Gloves as an alternative way to raise "/to hit/damage" than weapon enhancement.

Tireless Rage the class capstone ability? is matched by taking one level of Oracle[lame] with the Metal mystery [Dance of Blades] allowing the movement penalty to be eliminated...

A 12Barb/1Oracle/7Fighter[weapon master] will act in all ways as a higher level Barb. Some damage will be lost on level based rage powers , but selection:eg Clear Mind,Unexpected Strike,Mighty Strike will alllow avoidance of many penalties. Fighter feats can be used to provide additional Rage Powers.12 level Barb is chosen as being a "break point" for many rage powers and DR of Inv Barbs.

Boasting Taunt?? or Antagonize feat?

I guess the thesis is that the high level Barb abilities are achieved by multiclassing and this seems to be outside the design intent of Pathfinder rewarding single-classing.Maybe Ultimate Combat will bring some fixes, but Barbs still have a low feat count, so these would likely have to be in the form of Magic or?

ps A prediction...UC will have a new Barb feat "Raging ?????" granting plus 1 or 2 to strength while enraged!

The Battlefield Control Barbarian or BC barbarian is based on a couple of concepts. The German Battlecruisers of WW1 were not the heavy hitters of the German fleet but were very survivable, fast and controlled the tempo of naval operations to a large degree. The Barb in PF seems to lack some of the DPR firepower of the Fighter but does have survivability enhancing options. The build I am proposing uses some of the APG feats and rage powers to provide a distinct role for the Barb.

My build is as follows, [Invulnerable Rager]
1) Power attack , Cleave
2) RP-Superstitious
3) Toughness
4) RP-Lesser Beast Totem
5) Raging Vitality
6) RP-Reckless abandon
7) Combat Reflexes
8) RP-Beast Totem
9) Critical Focus
10) RP-Greater Beast Totem
11) Dazing Assault
12) RP-Come and “GetSome”
13) Lunge
14) RP-Flesh Wound
15) Staggering Assault
16) RP-Clear Mind
17) Stunning Assault
18) RP-Damage Reduction??
19) Great Cleave?
20) RP-Guarded Life

This build provides a lot of damage mitigation and arcane resistances [ty superstition!] The fact that Invulnerable Rage confers double resistance to non-lethal damage makes Flesh Wound and Guarded Life no brainers. The Beast totems, Superstition, CAGM and Reckless Abandon seem to be the “big six” of rage powers . This character would have the option of applying both Stunned and Dazed conditions at the same time to the correct foe types which leads to a greater chance of one or the other condition being applied. Staggering critical is chosen to help deal with Fortitude based save types. The build does call into question some Rage Powers, DPR is not helped by many of the Damage mitigation Rage Powers. Surprise Accuracy may in fact be a crucial Rage Power here to help land a -10 dual Daze/Stun Assault! Also 2 feats could be saved by foregoing the Critical Focus and Condition for just “Mighty Swing”. When rinse-cycle raging occurs at level 17 this may prove very viable. A saved feat could be used for leadership and a Savage Skald…. Lunge and Great cleave would allow dispensation of the necessary Assaults to larger groupings. My concern is whether the advantages of both Assault feats are worth the penalties? Is Great Cleave a useful feat here? Would an offensive RP work better?