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Myself and 3 others (Monk (trip specialist), Rogue (Knife Master), and Wizard (Evoker), all humans) are playing through Jade Regent, and I'm playing Gant Thicketsnicker, an Undead-Blooded Gnome Bloodrager and hopeful Daughter of Urgathoa.
The party has just begun Act 2 of Jade Regent 1.
25 point buy.
Str 16
Dex 13
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 11
Cha 14
Combat Reflexes @ level 1.
One thing jumps out at this level. I'm really not much different from a Barbarian at this point. I wanted to make a melee-based sorcerer at the time the playtest was announced, and a combination Sorcerer/Barbarian would be great...BAB and Arcane ability! Right now, I'm a Barbarian with a slightly smaller HP total and a 1-round debuff on charge attacks. Which I've missed both chances I've had to make. I've felt far more effective playing similar to a reach fighter- -making AoOs as often as possible. I used a Lucerne Hammer at level 1, then recently obtained a Masterwork Glaive.
Noteworthy things:
During the giant fight with 20-some odd goblins in Brinestump Marsh, reach + combat reflexes did far more than a debuff on charge attacks (which are not easy to pull off in most cases). The final fight led off with me getting hit directly with a skyrocket and knocked out (11 damage on 2d6 (had a bit of lingering damage prior)).
Fighting against the undead remains of Tsutamu, one critical hit ended that encounter before it began (max damage on 2d10 + 14). So not really too much that was bloodrager-specific on that fight- -could have been a barbarian (or a 20-strength fighter) and not felt too much different.
One thing that is nice (and different than most Barbarians) is that I've had decent ability to affect social encounters. Diplomacy (class skill via trait), Intimidate, and Handle Animal are nice to have with positive Charisma modifiers.
My overall impression:
This feels like a barbarian so far. I don't get the sense that what I'm doing is very arcane at all. I'm sure higher levels will sort that out, but in the meantime I'm not anything more than a differently flavored barbarian (which is admittedly still pretty damned fun).
I know I won't get to play again before the end of the playtest, but I will continue playing Ms. Thicketsnicker and can provide further feedback if need be.
One thing that is nice (and different than most Barbarians) is that I've had decent ability to affect social encounters. Diplomacy (class skill via trait), Intimidate, and Handle Animal are nice to have with positive Charisma modifiers.
From the GM: Gnome magic makes the character more arcane than the class itself, so far at any rate. The reduced casting abilities makes multi-classing with an arcane class (at a BAB penalty) and rage cycling with moment of clarity more reminiscent of an arcane barbarian. Since there's no integration of casting at an early level, and very restricted casting starting at level four, the character relies primarily on brute strength. It seems, given how often MF Kip forgets things like power attack on his other characters, that when Gant finally is able to cast, he'll forget to have her do so. For something that's supposed to be a key feature of the class, I have yet to witness what his character actually is.
Also, which such a high point buy and the inability to sell stats, Gant would have had a positive charisma anyway. Honestly any barbarian can have a positive charisma, so I barely see his "one thing that is nice" as a benefit of the class; it's more a perquisite of the build rules.