I'm prepping for book 4 of this and realized Armag is Barbarian 5/Fighter 9, and the old Tiger Lord Barbarian skeletal champions are Fighter 6.
Can anyone explain to me why this is from a design/balance standpoint or did anyone change them to be full Barbarians?
he was raised by clerics for a specific purpose i imagine some actual formal fight training not just barbarian rage
Fair enough, I can accept that. The Skeletal champions though?
They are divine servants of Gorum i thought? has been a long time since i looked did it say they were body guards for the original Armag?
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There's a difference between being a barbarian tribe member and a barbarian class member. A typical barbarian tribe has more than just barbarians in it... they'll have other things like clerics or oracles or druids or bloodragers or rangers or so on.
Or, as in this case, fighters.
The skeletal champions are servants of Gorum but were also part of the original tribe of Armag (terracota warrior types). Personally, I didn't catch that when I ran it and looking back on it I would probably change it. However, it doesn't really matter in the end.
That is unless your PCs retrieve and use the sword in which case it would be far more thematic to give them at least one level of barbarian.
I had to rebuild him anyway (my Tiger Lords are instead the Talon Lords, a Lizardfolk tribe) so I went ahead and changed his class while I was at it.
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No, it was actually a mechanical issue. Undead are immune to mindaffecting effects, including rage.
Actually undeads are immune to all mind-affecting effects, which includes morale effects. Undead barbarian can rage, but doing so they are immune to the moral bonus to Str and Con, as well as the morale bonus on Will saves... A raging undead basically only takes the -2 penalty to AC (which is not morale)...
That's why it's a better idea to avoid undead barbarian.
Same reason Undead Bards suck, too. My Council of Thieves GM reported this a problem where apparently a major boss fight is severely neutered when you find out the Vampire Bard can't benefit from any of his Bard Song abilities.
Doesn't the inability to receive morale bonuses only apply to mindless undead?
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Nope, pretty much all undead are unaffected by mind affecting effects.
Also, remember that that damn sword is in the process of a hostile takeover. Armag himself probably wasn't Barbarian 5/Fighter 9, but the poor bastard holding that sword right now IS.
My group was more shocked that Armag, with his explicit goal of kill everybody, wasn't evil.
Though perhaps that might again be reflecting the poor bastard who's getting overwritten by that damn sword.
Nope, pretty much all undead are unaffected by mind affecting effects.
Yep. It's listed under the section for traits for being the Undead type.
Nope, pretty much all undead are unaffected by mind affecting effects.
That's more of a guideline than a rule. Don't get me wrong, it should always apply to PCs so that the game doesn't become broken. But if a GM wants to throw raging undead servants of a deity boosted by a flute wielding vampire bard at me...
Who am I as a PC to complain as long as the encounter is fun and memorable?
I personally get very irked when rules apply differently between characters simply because one is a PC and one is an enemy. That's one of my major dislikes of 4E.
Rules work differently for monsters pretty much across the board. Monsters simply break rules and that's not unique to any edition. I don't see why that should adversely affect your game. Don't get me wrong, the GM and the PCs should play by the same rules. But if a story could be told better when rules are bent then you have something entirely unique. When the servants of gods are involved, I expect no less than something out of the ordinary.
We'll have to agree to disagree on this particular thing, I imagine.
The Skeletons make sense, so here are my changes to Armag himself if anyone wishes to critique I would welcome it.
Armag the Twice-Born CR 13
XP 25,600
Human Barbarian (Scarred Rager) 10/Fighter 4
CN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +10
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Defense
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AC 24, touch 13, flat-footed 21 (+9 armor, +2 Dex, +2 natural, +2 deflection, +1 dodge)
hp 204 (10d12+4d10+108)
Fort +17, Ref +6, Will +8 (+1 vs. fear); +1 morale bonus vs. fear
Defensive Abilities bravery +1; DR 2/—
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee +2 keen battleaxe +19/+14/+9 (1d8+16/19-20/×3) and
enemy of all enemies ovinrbaane +21/+16/+11 (2d6+26/17-20+1 bleed)
Special Attacks rage (26 rounds/day), rage powers (auspicious mark, intimidating glare, regenerative vigor, renewed vigor 2d8+6, terrifying howl [21])
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Statistics
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Str 22, Dex 14, Con 22, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 13
Base Atk +14; CMB +17; CMD 33
Feats Cleave, Dodge, Great Cleave, Improved Critical (greatsword), Improved Vital Strike, Iron Will, Power Attack, Toughness, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (greatsword), Weapon Specialization (greatsword)
Skills Acrobatics +7, Climb +11, Intimidate +18, Perception +10, Survival +14, Swim +15
Languages Common
SQ armor training 1, tolerance, scarification, terrifying visage, tireless rage
Combat Gear potion of cure serious wounds (3); Other Gear +3 breastplate, +2 keen battleaxe, enemy of all enemies ovinrbaane, amulet of natural armor +2, belt of physical might (str & con +2), ring of protection +2
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Special Abilities
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Auspicious Mark (1/rage) (Su) Gain +1d6 bonus on one d20 roll, once per rage.
Bravery +1 (Ex) +1 to Will save vs. Fear
Cleave If you hit a foe, attack an adjacent target at the same attack bonus but take -2 AC.
Damage Reduction (2/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks.
Improved Tolerance (Ex) If gain certain negative conditions, new save next rd. ½ duration if not saveable.
Intimidating Glare (Ex) While raging, use Intimidate to shake your opponents.
Power Attack -4/+8 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Rage (26 rounds/day) (Ex) +4 Str, +4 Con, +2 to Will saves, -2 to AC when enraged.
Regenerative Vigor (Fast Healing 1) (Ex) After using renewed vigor rage power and until the current rage ends, gain fast healing 1.
Renewed Vigor 2d8+6 Hp (1/day) (Ex) As a standard action while raging, you can heal yourself the listed amount.
Scarification (3) (Ex) Ignore specified amount of bleed damage each round.
Terrifying Howl (DC 21) (Ex) While raging, howl to panic shaken foes.
Terrifying Visage +5 (Ex) Add to intimidate vs civilized/diplomacy vs tribal humanoids. +1 to fear DCs.
Vital Strike Standard action: x2 weapon damage dice.