So, I'm planning on playing a Serene Barbarian from 4 Winds Gaming. For those who haven't seen it and don't feel like clicking, a Serene Barbarian replaces Rage with Serenity - bonuses to Dexterity and Wisdom, as well as a +2 bonus to all saves (not just Will) and no penalty to armour.
For obvious reasons, this is most likely going to be a dex-based build, and I intend to acquire Dervish Dance with a single level dip into Lore Warden Fighter at level 2 - I don't need the armour and shield proficiencies, and the extra class kills and points aren't going to hurt.
What I'm less certain about is Barbarian Archetypes (obviously only ones that don't alter Rage), Rage (Serenity) Powers and race. I'm thinking of going for Half-Or (the extra round of Rage is nice) and the Spirit Totem, but would love some advice. I'm also happy to change the type of fighter dip, but since most of them don't change anything at first level and I do need the bonus feat I haven't spotted any good alternatives.
I'm open to 3.5 and 3rd Party stuff, so long as it's not broken - I want effective, not a one man Tarrasque Killer.
As long as the Serene archetype doesn't replace any of the same things as another archetype you can have multiple archetypes. As far as archetypes go, the standard sugggestion around these parts is the Invulnerable Rager, because everyone loves more DR. The Spirit Totem is not the Totem you want, especially when you can have Beast Totem. At level 10 you can pick up Greater Beast Totem, which allows for a pounce at the end of charge. That's how you get a full attack virtually every round. At the end of the day, being able to full attack is the best rage power you can get.
Yeah, Serene only messes with rage - so no Urban Barbarian or Wild Rager. Although I had no idea Urban Barbarian existed until I started looking - it's not quite as cool, but it does offer a Paizo alternative.
Invulnerable Rager might be fun, if only so I can try finding a vicious weapon and watch it's damage bounce off me. And yes, Beast Totem is definitely the most powerful, but I'm not 100% sure it would fit a character whose whole thing is going into a happy place when they fight.
Any suggestions on good races? Azata or Gaurda blooded Aasimar are possible, as are Rakasha-Spawn Tieflings, but neither get a decent Favoured Class Bonus. Human's get the ever useful bonus feat, but a lot of Archetypes ditch trap sense. The bonus to Superstition is good though. And Half-Orc's get the +1 round 'o rage, which is nice.
Hmm... would you consider multi-classing? Serenity would work surprisingly well with a Zen Archer Monk.
Other than the Lawful/Non-Lawful problem, yeah, it would be awesome. I could always ask the GM though. I had thought about taking a dip into Martial Artist Monk anyway - if I can crank Wisdom high enough, whenever I hit Serenity it would add +4 to my AC from both Dex and Wisdom.
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Invulnerable Rager might be fun, if only so I can try finding a vicious weapon and watch it's damage bounce off me. And yes, Beast Totem is definitely the most powerful, but I'm not 100% sure it would fit a character whose whole thing is going into a happy place when they fight.
Speaking purely for thematics, the new celestial totems in Champions of Purity might fit pretty well with the serene barbarian. It leans towards the defensive side of things: First granting enhanced healing while raging, then a blazing halo granting daylight and a short range invisibility purge, then finally a large boost to SR vs evil spellcasters only.
On the offensive side of things(with a bit of a defensive boost in the middle), if your GM is okay with reconfiguring them, the Spirit Totems rewired to do holy damage rather than negative energy damage might work too.(it's the route I went for my "holy barbarian", and it's worked out nicely, mostly trading off power for flavor since it only harms evil enemies)
Invulnerable Rager might be fun, if only so I can try finding a vicious weapon and watch it's damage bounce off me.
Sorry, this wouldn't work. Vicious is untyped magical damage, so it ignores DR. You'd still take the damage.
Darn, foiled again.
The Celestial Totem sounds promising, although I didn't think Champions of Purity was out until the end of the month? Well, the characters not being used too soon (except maybe as a NPC for a test run) so I can wait.
Interesting. I guess I'll just have to be all patient and stuff.
You could always get rid of melee altogether since you wont be getting bonus to strength like a regular barbarian and work instead on using a bow. However, most barbarian rage powers are focused on melee. As far as race, its impossible for me to pass up human + superstition. You combine that with a ring of evasion and you're avoiding all of the AoE damage you enemies can throw at you. You could also say that the beast totem isn't about being angry, it's about devloping a bond between you and the natural world, a zen sort of thing, that allows you to wield the power of dangerous dexterous animals like a leopard (which gets pounce).
I'm glad to see an official take on the Celestial Totems. Is it already out though? I thought it was April 24th, so I'm curious how you know so much :O
Thank you, I shall take a peek.
I'm multiclassing a Serene Barbarian with a Zen Archer Monk. I'm only level 2 now with one of each, so I can't say much yet, but I'm excited by the combination. While I think the DM should allow the combination, if they don't, there is an Aasimar racial trait that will allow an Aasimar to take levels of monk with a NG or N alignment. This is what I've had to do, but Aasimar is hardly a consolation prize. Go with the Archon-blooded variant.