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I went to play pfs this weekend and spoke with a vl about a character rebuild of mine to see if it had been 'legalized'. A few different players and others joked that one day I would surprise everyone and show up with something simple like a fighter. We all laughed.
Then I started to wonder, is there a simple martial character concept that I have any desire to play? For the record, my character builds feel standard to maybe above average and only mildly complex. How strippd of interesting features and ability interactions can I get and still find a character plausible for me?
Somehow, and I honestly don't know how, I found myself looking at the Pain Taster PRC. I don't even recall looking for it or fighters but I am sure it got mentioned in some thread and I followed the link, curious. From that moment I was hooked. This was my fighter. This was my path to simple yet interesting.
Let me start by saying that this is only a backup of a backup. However, despite showing up to play pfs frequently, I have difficulty qualifying for any games to join (and am sick of playing pregens when I do). Therefor, it is likely that this concept won't be played for a long time. But the iron is hot now so I might as well strike.
Race: Human, Half-Orc or Tiefling.
Class: Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager), Fighter (Lore Warden or Unbreakable).
Prestige Class: Pain Taster.
Traits:
Threatening Defender, Second Chance (Adopted-Tiefling Chain Master and Defender of the Society are contenders as well).
Rage Powers:
Intimidating Glare, Renewed Vigor, Ground Breaker (Superstition, Ghost Ranger and Increased Dr are high priorities as well).
Feats: Combat Expertise, Stalwart, Deathless Initiate, Weapon Focus: Whip, Great Fortitude, Improved Stalwart (Power Attack, Raging Vitality, Toughness, Iron Will, Improve Whip Mastery, Extra Rage Power, Racial Heritage, Bolstered Resilience, Disarm/Trip feats, Serpent Lash and Eldritch Heritage are all fighting for room).
The character would probably use a whip/scorpion whip and a light or heavy steel shield to shield bash with in melee. Ac helps but is not a priority.
If human with heart of the wilds, it is possible to survive at around negative 40 by 8th level. That sounds darn impressive and neigh immortal enough to me.
The only pieces of equipment I have looked at are enchanted whips and the cord of stubborn resolve.
Pain taster is not 100% necessary but it is quite thematic and offers some very useful and simple abilities.
I tried to deviate my interest from the whip but it became difficult to find an appealing alternative weapon (chains look cool but whips can do so many neat things). Ground breaker + whip just screams fun for offense and defense due to the range and eventual 10-15' of threatened area.
If Pain Taster is taken, whip mastery or whip focus is gained for free. Any weapon can be used but the whip is really an attractive selling point and seems to be the fuel for this inspiration.
I have never played a barbarian or made one so I defer to the forums opinion and judgment here to inform me and help make this a really cool character that works like a charm.
PS. All of this is just a rough draft. As you can see, a lot of things have not been decided yet (like what feat is power attack replacing, etc).