Diehard Barbarian

[Coridan]

I am currently building my character for Reign of Winter and want to go down the Diehard feat tree (Endurance, Diehard, Deathless Initiate/Master)

I built a half orc (alternate racial trait to get Endurance instead of Intimidate bonuses) and started with STR 18, DEX 12, CON 16, INT 10, WIS 10, CHA 8 (20 point buy). I am considering swapping the CHA penalty to INT or WIS so I can go for the Spirit Totem rage powers but that's what I need advice on.

What rage powers and traits should I go for? I would love if there were something like the Alchemist's Lingering Spirit ability to keep me up longer in Diehard but I can't find anything. All Paizo is allowed, 3PP is allowed with permission.

[IejirIsk]

there was one feat that allowed you to stay alive a little longer after death. you just needed to be healed before the end of it... check out the racial feats

[Coridan]

Ouch, at the cost of a permanent negative level, thats crazy.

[IejirIsk]

resurrection causes neg level too. but can prevent costly rez or our group is more fond of reincarnate...and can prevent tpk too

[Coridan]

I think I will have to grit my teeth and do a four level vivisectionist dip. At least the mutagen will help

[IejirIsk]

Dont have to... are alot of orcish feats that give like bonuses with diehard active, healing, forgot most of them, looked when i made an inquisitor. hehe... diehard + fast heal while concious...:D

alot of friends think diehard is a death sentence, and not far wrong usually

[blackbloodtroll]

Invulnerable Rager Barbarian.

Ferocious Resolve feat.

Ferocious Tenacity feat.

Resilient Brute feat.

Endure Pain feat.

Fight On feat.

Raging Vitality feat.

[Simkiria]

I think Raging Vitality is a must. Not only +2 CON per rage but also the ability to rage when unconcious or dying. Not exactly what you were looking for because you can still rage in diehard-mode but still a good feat I believe.

[IejirIsk]

just guaranteed death when rage stops? XD and you lose 6/HD hp? XD but, is that much longer for healer to get to you.

[Coridan]

That is why I really want lingering spirit. +10 to my neg hp basically, I think combining with a CON mutagen and swapping my str and con scores would be good for optimizing. Taking another -1 CHA cen get my INT to 12 for formulae. With rage and mutagen at level 5 I could get down to -36 before dying. Level 3 will be fast healing feat and level 5 ironhide which is a prereq

I will just have to work on the fluff justification lol

[Joesi]

Yeah if you go alchemist, lingering spirit can help a bit (although +10 points instead of +con points is kinda lame in my opinion)

While it's doesn't DIRECTLY affect living below 0 health, spontaneous healing and healing touch are EXCELLENT abilities; In my opinion it essentially gives the PC that much extra health, since it heals so fast it seems pretty difficult to kill a person [from full health] before they can use up their fast healing. It's a really efficient thing to have for general survivability/health — I'm no expert, but I'd say it's the most efficient "health gain" (effectively) possible.

edit: looks like you mentioned it while I was writing this post

[Damocles Guile]

This isn't exactly what you were looking for (or perhaps it is and you didn't realize it) - its a Human Barbarian who uses the Diehard and Endurance feats from Unbreakable Fighter to qualify for almost game-breaking Damage Resistance along with a host of other goodies (like Pounce and an ultra-high Superstition bonus). It could be easily modified to suit a half-orc though I think a Human works best - primarily due to the Superstition bonus - all the toughness in the world isn't doing you any favors is you're charmed, held or asleep.

Here is the thread discussing it and a link to the build itself. I've tweaked it a bit since that post, but it will more than adequately lay out the concept and how it works.

I'm not saying your idea is a bad one, going for Deathless Initiate, but my goal would be to never get into that much trouble to begin with, rather than center a build around abilities that don't kick in until you're almost dead.