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So, a friend of mine plays a barbarian.

He is a bit allergic to bookkeeping, and His Eyes Glaze Over when presented with the vast array of possible choices for feats and rage powers: The meta-game of character building doesn't appeal to him at all. Which isn't a problem at low levels, but tends to make his characters lacklustre at higher levels.

So to have fun, he needs a character that is easy to play, and he needs a bit of help building it. So I'm pitching in, but I'm trying to be tactful about it and not hijack his character... not my forté, but I'm trying...

For his first rage power, he chose Guarded Stance (yes, we're playing Core only, and I am reluctant to suggest we expand: even though my barbarian-playing friend would likely be the one to benefit the most, he would also appreciate the extra options the least).

At the time I hadn't read up on the bbn, so I kept my thoughts on the wisdom of prioritizing AC on a 19 Str (when not raging) greataxe-wielding bbn to myself: I always figured the point of the melee bbn was to "git thar fustest with the mostest"... everything else be damned. But he's free to make suboptimal choices, and it's not a bad choice. Right?

Wrong. Guarded Stance requires a move action to activate. Once activated, it (perversely) doesn't last until the end of the rage, it lasts Con modifier rounds. And to top it off, it only applies against melee attacks.

This was all too much for my friend. Even if he'd been willing and able to learn the mechanics (he hadn't two levels later), he'd still have hated the chore of keeping track of what his AC was at what time against whom.

So I petitioned the GM for a simplifying houserule on Guarded Stance, and we now have it as:

When raging, you gain a +1 dodge bonus to AC.

I think this is much better. It plays so much more smoothly. And I can't see why it should be unbalanced vs. the original. Sure it's more powerful at low levels, and maybe less powerful at high levels due to the original's scaling, but does that matter? (I note the APG Beast Totem has a similar effect, and scales with level, but that it also requires the Lesser BT and grants a nat amr bonus, which is not as good as a dodge bonus. Comments?)

Which got me thinking. The first thing I houseruled when GMing 3.0 was the Dodge feat. RAW 3.x, you had to choose one attacker each round that the dodge bonus applied against; I ruled that it applied against everything. So I cheered when I saw that PF had done the exact same.

Simplify, simplify the needless complexity!

I wondered: Why did the PF developers, who otherwise did a splendid job of simplifying 3.5, merging skills etc., introduce so much needless complexity to the barbarian?

Because, now that I have looked into building one, there's... room for improvement.

There's the silliness that is Rage Cycling. Available to all @ bbn lvl 17, when they gain Tireless Rage. Probably achieavable much sooner; not really interested in the details.

I don't see RCing so much as exploiting a rules loophole as a consequence of flawed rules implementation. The obvious (to me anyway) fix is to not have rage powers that are usable once per rage. Make them 1/rnd or 1/day instead. Not every XdY rounds, either: Needless complexity again. Simplify!

(I do see a way of effectively stopping RCing with just one tiny tweak: Make it a swift action to enter rage. I can't help but notice that most (all?) of the 1/rage RPs are swift or immediate actions to activate. But this, again, begs the question: Why the 1/rage limitation at all? At higher levels the limiting factor is going to be that swift action, anyway. If it's deemed so good it should't be usable-once-per-round-while-precluding-use-of-other-once-per-round-goodies, why not just say "once a day" and call it one?)

What? I'm ranting again? Oh.

Ehhh...

Well anyway, I think our GM will get some more barbarian-related houserule petitions soon.

I searched the boards and found several, but didn't find an answer to these questions:

1) Assume I am a sorcerer of a bloodline that grants me a natural armor bonus, and I cast Alter Self.

Do I lose my natural armor bonus?

While under the effects of a polymorph spell, you lose all extraordinary and supernatural abilities that depend on your original form (such as keen senses, scent, and darkvision), as well as any natural attacks and movement types possessed by your original form. You also lose any class features that depend upon form, but those that allow you to add features (such as sorcerers that can grow claws) still function. While most of these should be obvious,

Well this is not obvious, not to me anyway.

My natural armor bonus was a class feature that was very much part of my old form... but did not depend on it as such. I think. However that class feature wasn't one that "allowed me to add" a feature. It just flat added one.

I think the intention here is that I retain my natural armor?

---

2) I use Alter Self to turn from my natural Elven state into a Gnome (perverse, I know).

Is my speed reduced to 20'?

If a polymorph spell causes you to change size, apply the size modifiers appropriately, changing your armor class, attack bonus, Combat Maneuver Bonus, and Stealth skill modifiers. Your ability scores are not modified by this change unless noted by the spell.

Speed is conspicuously absent, both from this paragraph and the spell description.

However the Enlarge and Reduce Person spells (which, I note, are not of the Polymorph subschool) explicitly state that they do not change the target's speed. I wonder: Do they do so because they break the general rule, or is it because they are "newbie" spells, and reiterate the rule to help new players along?

I think that the intention is that Alter Person leaves my speed unchanged?

My sorcerer just hit 4th level, and I traded Sleep for Enlarge Person.

I feel... like I just ate a family-size bag of Cheezy Poofs. With sweaty hands.

That is: Cheezy.

First thing after leveling, we're trying to sneak aboard a ship to stow ourselves away. Now naturally, the party barbarian wanted me to make the guards fall asleep, like he has seen me do several times before. Me: "Ummm I had a very strange dream last night and when I woke up I just knew that I can't make people fall asleep anymore. However I now know how to make you LARGE"

Yes it is magic -- *MAGIC!* -- and all, but still, it leaves something to be desired in the way of consistency.

OTOH, I have been looking at spells to take going forward, and have seriously considered specializing in Summoning. In such a scenario, I might take each Summon Monster N as spell level N becomes available, and then, at spell level N+1, trade in SM N for something else.

Here, there is no inconsistency whatsoever. I can still summon the monsters on the N list, though more of them than before, and some more monsters besides. The fact that, mechanically, I "forgot" SM N and learned some other spell in its place is rather irrelevant; from a story-POW, what happened is that I got better at my best trick, and learned a new, lesser trick in addition.

Nor would there have been any inconsistency if I had waited until level 6 to trade in Sleep, and then, simultaneously, taken Deep Slumber as my first level 3 spell.

So, to the point then:

I would like to see the swap-any-spell-every-second-level rule replaced with a rule that says, roughly, "when you learn a spell from one of [a set of predefined spell chains, the Summon Monster chain would be a good example of such a chain], you can, if you know a lesser spell from the same chain, trade that out for another spell (but you can only swap one spell for each new spell learned)".

No mention of every second level, no limit on spells swapped per level. With a rule like this, you could, at, say, level 9, take Summon Monster V as your new 5th level spell known (and trade SM III for Dispel Magic), take Charm Monster as your new 4th level spell known (and trade Charm Person for Protection from Evil), et c. You get the idea.

However, sadly, I don't think it will work as a mere houserule, because you also need to do a workover of the spells. Which is a lot of work, and is bound to have unintended consequences (did anyone say "balance"?).

However, the task isn't necessarily monumental, since many of these spell chains are already in place, albeit in rudimentary form: the "Image" chain (silent, minor, major), the "Beast Shape" chain (probably call Alter Self the first one there), the "Wall" chain. Mainly, what is needed is:

1) To create some new spells to fill out the rudimentary chains; these should be relatively straightforward to extrapolate, for instance, there should probably be a "Sleep II" second-level spell, a "Sleep IV" fourth-level spell (and rename Deep Slumber to "Sleep III" while we're at it).

2) Enumerate the chains to make the rules completely transparent.

Obviously every spell shouldn't be shoehorned into such a chain, far from it. Many spells are and should remain unique. Some chains might have spells at every level, some at every other or every third level, some for the first five levels, etc.

If somebody objects that this is a LOT of work just to make the sorcerer, just one of many classes, just a little more believable then well... first obviously I love sorcerers, and second, it would have the additional benefit of making the myriad of spells easier to get a handle on, especially for new players. And we do want those, don't we?

Just a (few) thought(s)...

OK, so I'm a sorcerer, and one of my ancestors was a gold dragon. I have realized that this makes me special, even among sorcerers; I can grow claws, for one thing. But I do wonder what's in store for me as I get more in touch with my Inner Dragon...

Q1: If I cast Enlarge Person on myself, will that increase the damage my claws deal?

My first answer was 'yes', but then I read the Core text on polymorph spells, and it says (p. 212): "You also lose any class features that depend upon form, but those that allow you to add features (such as a sorcerer that can grow claws) still function".

Now that is specifically about spells from the polymorph subschool, and EP isn't one of them; but it does carry the implication that my claws are a manifestation of my Inner Dragon and have nothing to do with my outward, physical form -- or the size of it.

Q2: I see myself flying around a lot, seeing how I get Fly as a bloodline spell at 7th level, Form of the Dragon I at 13th level and finally my very own wings at 15th level. Flyby Attack seems like a must-have feat. But when can I take it?

At 7th level, when I get the Fly spell (and thereby the ability to take ranks in the Fly skill)?
At 13th level, with Form of the Dragon I?
Or must I wait until 15th level, when I get the ability to grow wings?

"Fly speed" is the prerequisite for Flyby Attack, and according to the text on the Wings power, it'll be "giving you a fly speed of 60 feet", so I can definitely pick it up then.

But can I pick it up earlier? The Fly spell says "[t]he subject can fly at a speed of 60 feet" -- is this (granting the ability to fly at a speed of 60') different from granting a fly speed of 60'?

Which leads me to the FotD spell, which says that "[y]ou gain [...] fly 60 feet (poor)". Now this definitely grants a fly speed, but still only temporarily (although it's very much part of me, stemming from the power of my Inner Dragon as it is, and multiple uses per day).

Indulging in some meta-thinking, apart from the Coolness points, at 15th level the Wings bloodline power seem rather underpowered. OTOH, Flyby Attack seems almost too good to be true, seeing how it would let me swoop down on a group of foes, cast a short-range area-effect spell (e.g. Fear, 9th level bloodline spell), and be out of melee reach before they can react. So I feel/fear that Wings were put where they are because they, and nothing else, will qualify me for Flyby Attack.

Q3: I see nothing in the RAW preventing me from using (bloodline spell) FotD to become a white dragon, and then using my Claws power to grow claws that deal fire damage.

In fact, the RAW seems to explicitly allow it, as per qoute in Q1.

I feel, however, that it goes against the flavor/rationale of the bloodline abilities. I wouldn't have any trouble with it if I used a non-bloodline spell (e.g., Greater Polymorph) to perform the feat.

Thoughts?