I have an idea for a character build. Orcish barbarian with one level dip into sorcerer (red dragon) then Dragon disciple.
Here's my problem; I've never played a barbarian. I'm looking over rage powers and with the exception of Spirit Totem (lesser) i'm unimpressed with the lower level ones.
What are some good/synergistic rage powers for low level? If I take any high level one's I'll have to burn a feat, so probably won't do that unless its really worth it.
Fiend totem.
Claw/claw/bite/gore is not a bad attack lineup.
Moment of clarity.
Can't cast spells when raging. Requires concentration. MoC lets you stop and cast a spell, which is highly useful in situations like-- you're raging, and a bad guy flies up in the air or casts a spell like mirror image or displacement. Stop, dispel it and run right up to him.
Fiend totem.
Claw/claw/bite/gore is not a bad attack lineup.
Moment of clarity.
Can't cast spells when raging. Requires concentration. MoC lets you stop and cast a spell, which is highly useful in situations like-- you're raging, and a bad guy flies up in the air or casts a spell like mirror image or displacement. Stop, dispel it and run right up to him.
Draconic bloodline gives me claw/claw/bite, but Moment of Clarity is good. I was looking for something like that.
I have an idea for a character build. Orcish barbarian with one level dip into sorcerer (red dragon) then Dragon disciple.
Here's my problem; I've never played a barbarian. I'm looking over rage powers and with the exception of Spirit Totem (lesser) i'm unimpressed with the lower level ones.
What are some good/synergistic rage powers for low level? If I take any high level one's I'll have to burn a feat, so probably won't do that unless its really worth it.
Funny, I have a virtually identical character that I'm playing right now. Only differences are that I'm Half Elf and I'm sneaking in the Eldritch Heritage and Imp Eldritch Heritage feats for Abyssal (wooo bonus strength!)
Reckless Abandon lets you make up for the lost BAB from the multi (since DD is mid-bab and Sorc is low). If you run 4 Barb/1 sorc/10 DD/5 Barb, you end up with 16 BAB, so enough for full iteratives.
Moment of Clarity is a biggie. Your best spell option on Sorceror for level 1 is True Strike (again, big on the BAB). Being able to cast it mid-rage is nice.
I think I have Mighty Swing (auto crit confirmation 1/rage) in my line-up, as well. Ultimately, what I found is that the Rage Powers are kind of a throw away. The 1/rage powers are usually your biggest bang for the buck.
Fiend totem.
Claw/claw/bite/gore is not a bad attack lineup.
Moment of clarity.
Can't cast spells when raging. Requires concentration. MoC lets you stop and cast a spell, which is highly useful in situations like-- you're raging, and a bad guy flies up in the air or casts a spell like mirror image or displacement. Stop, dispel it and run right up to him.
Absolutely... Fiend Totem is terrifying
take Intimidating Prowess as a feat... scare everything to death
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I second the Fiend totem motion. With a one-handed weapon equipped (and, if your DM allows the multi-attack feat from the Bestiary), you'd be looking at (at 8th level):
Weapon/Weapon/Claw/Bite/Gore
And, if you follow the suggested level progression above, you get some your 4 attacks, plus 3 more natural attacks made at BAB-5 (or -2 for multiattack), which is probably stronger than two-weapon fighting if you can get 'em enchanted.
Personally, I'd do something more like:
Barbarian 4/Sorcerer 1/Dragon Disciple 6/ Barbarian 9. That way, you'd get Greater Rage, access to 12th level Rage Powers (there are some awesome ones), the full strength AND constitution bonuses from Dragon Disciple, 2nd level spellcasting (for staple buffs like Enlarge Person, Shield, Mirror Image, etc.)... and, of course, +17 BAB, which isn't much better, but a +1 to-hit is always nice.
But that's all just personal reference.
I second the Fiend totem motion. With a one-handed weapon equipped (and, if your DM allows the multi-attack feat from the Bestiary), you'd be looking at (at 8th level):
Weapon/Weapon/Claw/Bite/Gore
And, if you follow the suggested level progression above, you get some your 4 attacks, plus 3 more natural attacks made at BAB-5 (or -2 for multiattack), which is probably stronger than two-weapon fighting if you can get 'em enchanted.
Personally, I'd do something more like:
Barbarian 4/Sorcerer 1/Dragon Disciple 6/ Barbarian 9. That way, you'd get Greater Rage, access to 12th level Rage Powers (there are some awesome ones), the full strength AND constitution bonuses from Dragon Disciple, 2nd level spellcasting (for staple buffs like Enlarge Person, Shield, Mirror Image, etc.)... and, of course, +17 BAB, which isn't much better, but a +1 to-hit is always nice.But that's all just personal reference.
Dude...
Wings+Flyby Attack = WIN! Or so I think. >.>
I use a Glaive and have Lunge in my line-up, though, so I can hit 20 ft with Enlarge Person on. I think I have Hover in my line-up, as well, which synergizes humorously. When you're large, there's a debris effect from hovering.
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Meh, I never cared for flight. Yeah, it's nice, and you need it for some enemies, but I never pictured my characters swooping around whacking stuff.
Still, it all depends on what you wanna do. By going Dragon Disciple for the full 10 levels, you miss out on barbarian perks, but you get access to 3rd (and I think 4th) level spells, which means Haste, Slow, and other fun buffs, not to mention the wings, breath weapon, claws doing elemental damage, etc.
Still, I've always used Dragon Disciple for the stat bumps and the minor buffs/magic, not as a means of advancing spellcasting, but then, I'm not a real big fan of spellcasting, myself.
Summoner and Bard also allow access to Dragon Disciple, and can wear light armor, which at higher levels gives you better AC. And the summoner list is really good for buffs. And Bard gets invigorate, which is a spell that allows you to ignore fatigue.
Summoner and Bard also allow access to Dragon Disciple, and can wear light armor, which at higher levels gives you better AC. And the summoner list is really good for buffs. And Bard gets invigorate, which is a spell that allows you to ignore fatigue.
All good points, but I find the Sorc/Wiz spell list to be stronger. In particular, since you're getting your spells so much later, meaning the monster saves will be so much higher, you can look effectively at Abjuration and Transmutation as your primary schools, with a small splash of Divination, avoiding the spells with saves in favor of self-buffs.
Being able to cast Resist Energy and/or Protection From Energy (vs. the Bard) and True Strike (vs. Summoner) is pretty important (at least to me). I make up for the armor on my character by taking Arcane Armor and using a Mithril Chain Shirt, which gives me 0% ASF.
The other big thing is you get an entire tier of additional spells vs. the partial casters.
@Davor, you lose out a lot of really nifty toys if you drop 7-10 of DD, including 2 uses of Form 2, Blindsense 60 ft, and an extra use of your BW. This is besides the 3rd and 4th level spells.
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Meh. I'd probably go up to 7th level then (so I still get access to Mighty Rage AND 12th level rage powers), which would keep the same BAB, increase caster level by one (granting 3rd level spells), get the extra natural armor, and get me Form of the Dragon 1/day. Still, form of the Dragon isn't all that great, considering the size of the dragons you can assume with it, which limits your natural attacks.
But you already get blindsense out to 30', which is all you really NEED. The breath weapon... really, to me, is a toss up. It's nice, but really, the damage won't be that spectacular, especially considering that you won't be working with your full character level.
*Edit: Actually, never actually used the form of the dragon spell. Read up on it, actually it would be pretty cool, but considering it's be difficult to get a decent attack bonus without explicitly focussing on natural weapons to make it a good form, I still wouldn't consider it a "vital" ability.
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Hello everyone, I know this is a bit late for this thread, but I am building this same character for tonight.
I want to use Fiend totem, get the gore, plus claw claw and bite, but it only lasts as long as 3+cha mod from sorcerer? Help me out here, it seems pointless to build off of a skill i can only use for 3+cha mod rounds!