Athel's page

Prerequisite: Barbarian 8, dragon totem rage power

Benefit: While raging, the barbarian gains resistance to the energy type that is associated with her dragon totem—acid (black, copper, green), cold (silver, white), electricity (blue, bronze), or fire (brass, gold, red). This resistance equals double her current DR/— from her barbarian damage reduction class feature; this DR increases by 2 for each dragon totem rage power she possesses, including this one.

Bolded section is the one that's catching me -- does this mean that the barbarian's total damage reduction increases due to this rage power, or the value equal to her DR that is used to determine her energy resistance?

An example: Mazali is a LV8 barbarian. Her rage powers are animal fury, intimidating glare, dragon totem, and the recently-acquired dragon totem resilience. She proudly support DR 1/--, even when not raging. When combat starts and she rages, dragon totem resilience kicks in, but what benefits does it give her precisely?

Does her DR increase to DR 5/-- (because "her current DR/-- [...] increases by 2 for each dragon totem rage power she possesses") and she gain energy resistance 10?
Does her DR stay at 1/--, but she still gains energy resistance 10 (DR 1/-- becomes "DR", where ["DR"+4]x2 = energy resistance)?

Help me get my head around this, please.

Power Attack can be really useful. But what if you want to do some extra damage without taking the full penalty? Maybe -3 is just too much and you would prefer taking just -1.

Here's a quick tweak to Power Attack that can give you more choice over how much accuracy you lose and how much damage you get out of it.

You can make exceptionally deadly melee attacks by sacrificing accuracy for strength.

Prerequisites: Str 13, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: You can choose to take a penalty, from -1 up to -5, on all melee attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to gain a bonus equal to double the penalty on all melee damage rolls. This bonus to damage is increase by half (+50%) if you are making an attack with a two-handed weapon, a one-handed weapon using two hands, or a primary natural weapon that adds 1.5 times your Strength modifier on damage rolls. This bonus damage is halved (-50%) if you are making an attack roll with an off-hand weapon or secondary natural weapon.
You must choose to use this feat before making an attack roll, and its effects last until your next turn. The bonus damage does not apply to touch attacks or effects that do not deal hit point damage.

Thoughts (especially on the clarity of the language)?

Inspired by the Advanced Class Guide, I wanted to see if I could create a hybrid class that emulated the feeling of the Warlock. Seeing a natural connection between sorcerer bloodlines and witch patrons, I pulled this together: The first draft of the Warlock.

There are 3 main concepts here:

1) A spontaneous caster that uses the witch spell list.
2) A caster who gains pact powers from dark forces (reskinned sorcerer bloodlines).
3) A caster who augments the witch spell list with bonus sorcerer/wizard spells from their pact.

I'm looking for feedback in all areas, mainly in ways to infuse more of the witch essence. As it is now, it feels a bit too much like the sorcerer. Any feedback on the pacts would be appreciated as well, especially recommendations to differentiate them from their corresponding bloodlines. I'm already planning on making some pacts based on witch patrons that don't have bloodline equivalencies (Insanity, Ancestors, etc.)