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I've always loved the idea of playing a barbaric version of a paladin, a tribal holy warrior type character, who upholds the laws of his tribe and dishes out punishment with brutal ferocity and mystical prowess. The idea of a barbarian, marching fourth to battle clad in armor festooned with tokens and fetishes, carrying a large weapon, and chanting curses while calling forth the holy rage to smite his tribes enemies, has always appealed to me.
With that in mind, I'm looking for what would be the best way to build this character at 16th level. Barbarian is an obvious choice, though I'm unsure which archetypes would got best, if any. As for the mystical side, I'm leaning towards oracle, but are there any other options that would make for a good gish build like this? A friend mentioned an orc witch archetype, but I haven't had a chance to look at it.
Any help would be much appreciated, thanks in advance!
Sounds like you definitely want a Rage Prophet. One of my fellow players is playing one now, and is basically the same as what you're describing.
As far as Archetypes, I recommend "Scarred Rager" for Barbarian and "Seer" from Oracle for maximum tribal witch doctor feel.
I think what your friend might be mentioning is the "Scarred Witch Doctor" from Advanced Race Guide. It's a very powerful build on Witch, and is most definitely iconic of what you are describing.
The problem is Rage Prophet...is bad. I know it makes me sad too as I love the idea of it.
At work at the moment so can't give a full breakdown but in short you can get better BAB and higher level spells with a Barb/Oracle without taking the PreC. Sadly none of what it offers is good enough to warrant the casting and BAB loss.
I'd go with Rage prophet. I think it's a lot of fun, but I know I've seen others on this board swear that it's not worth it. I think Barbarian 2/Oracle 18 ends up being better.
However, for a recent Council of Thieves campaign I joined my DM houseruled to let me play a Half-Orc Barbarian/Witch (Scarred witch Doctor)/Rage Prophet. With some obvious tweaks (Since the Witch uses CON to cast with there's a particularly brutal double CON to DC which we removed). But it's been a blast to play, and full of flavor.
The Scarred Witch Doctor is a very powerful archtype, but I'm not sure it meshes with Barbarian...
What you want sounds like the Armoured Hulk is the archtype you're looking for. Pair that with a Lame Oracle of Battle and rage-cycle strength surge with either sunder or stunning assault and you have a pretty versitile build.
The problem is Rage Prophet...is bad. I know it makes me sad too as I love the idea of it.
At work at the moment so can't give a full breakdown but in short you can get better BAB and higher level spells with a Barb/Oracle without taking the PreC. Sadly none of what it offers is good enough to warrant the casting and BAB loss.
Huh. Well, that kinda defeats the purpose of the PrC, doesn't it? I know my buddy likes it for the RP aspect. And that's what it sounds like the OP is going for...since he wants to be a Paladin without Paladin levels...
What you want sounds like the Armoured Hulk is the archtype you're looking for. Pair that with a Lame Oracle of Battle and rage-cycle strength surge with either sunder or stunning assault and you have a pretty versitile build.
Not sure how that builds or plays like a Paladin or Holy Warrior at all, but it sounds pretty epic for an armored Barb/Oracle.
As for some more useful info there is always Cleric with rage sub-domain. Destructive Smite fits your want for something smite like and you get rage. Though not until lvl 8. The same could work for Inquisitor as well if you want to trade some spell-casting for class abilities that could very well fit the concept.
If you want more melee power with just a bit of spellcasting there is Wild Stalker Ranger. Trades out favored enemy/terrain for rage/rage powers and a few others things. So you end up full BAB, d10 DH, Some style feats and a splash of casting to go with your rage. Not a bad package imo.
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This dips into homebrew territory, but when I was trying to make my holy straight-classed barbarian work my GM's houseruling of the Spirit Totem line of rage powers to deal holy damage instead of negative energy was a godsend. Especially with the visuals it made possible.
There's also going to be more official holy/good options available for all classes when Champions of Purity hits next February.
Why not use the ranger class?
He gets divine spellcasting, gets a mountand is a martial.
If you really want/need more holy powerd dip into inquisitor or one of the full divine casters.
You could always just build it as a straight paladin. There's nothing in the concept you've laid out that excludes the class. I had actually flirted with the idea of a barbaric human paladin that used a lot of primitive equipment to ply the Fragile quality (Splintering Weapon, etc).
Considering it's 16th level you could be a sacred servant paladin of Ragathiel with the rage domain and be able to rage as a lvl 6 barbarian for 12 rounds per day and have a rage power.
Otherwise a Barbarian 2 /Cleric 14 of Ragathiel with the domains of rage and good would be treated as a 9th level barbarian for rage and if you pick up quicken spell like ability for the good domain spell like ability you can have +7 to hit, skills, and saves 3+wis times per day. As well as netting you free proficiency with a bastard sword .
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I think I probably put too much emphasis on the divine aspect of the character. I'm more leaning towards shaman-barbarian in theme. Who sees their duty as divine.
After the advice given I'm leaning towards barbarian(not sure which I like for archetype, but scarred rager seems good), followed by a couple levels of battle oracle(probably seer?) And a couple levels of scarred witch doctor to round things out, with the rest being levels in barbarian. Not sure how many levels of each though, but it send like a good way to class the character.
If spells are not going to be the main focus, then barbarian (invulnerable rager) 6/ranger (spirit ranger) 10 might be worth looking at; full BAB, bonus Combat Style feats, Rage, and minor spellcasting (including barkskin; and greater magic fang with a 14 Wis and a headband of unshakeable resolve). Take Lesser Spirit Totem and Spirit Totem as two of your rage powers and Two-Weapon Fighting as your Combat Style (especially as a half-orc; Toothy alternate racial trait and a +3 cunning/+3 furious orc double axe, plus lead blades and juggernaut's pauldrons; with both the at will enlarge from the pauldrons and a lead blades spell in effect, the orc double axe does 2d8 damage). A helm of fearsome mien gives use of the Intimidating Glare rage power. A vest of the vengeful tracker is also appropriate for the concept.
You could also just play a straight barbarian.
The sight of injustice causes the character to "smite" his foes-- really just going into a rage.
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Well, part of the point was that I did indeed want some kind of casting ability, though after much though I believe I've settled on Barbarian(Scarred, Invulnerable) 8/Oracle(Seer) 2/Witch(Scarred Witch Doctor) 4.
That leaves me with 2 levels to fill, and I'm still undecided on which mysteries and stuff like that, as well as which rage powers to give him as I want to atleast somewhat optimize the character.