What is too strong for 13th level barbarian

[Darth That Guy]

I am building a 13th level Human Barbarian from scratch in Pathfinder, using CRB and APG only, and want to know what would be too strong for final ability score stats? I don't want an over powered character but I do want a strong, well balanced one. The GM told me to use the PC level 13 starting wealth, which is 140,000 GP, to buy weapons and wonderous items to add to my ability scores. I plan on buying one thing for each stat, but not buying the most expensive thing lol.

So if I was to buy a belt of physical strength (+4 or+6) and my str stat at 13th level is 21 already, would that be too much?

Keep in mind I am building the Invulnerable Rager archetype so maybe there's items I can buy to help me on will saves LOL.

[Rerednaw]

Darth That Guy wrote:

I am building a 13th level Human Barbarian from scratch in Pathfinder, using CRB and APG only, and want to know what would be too strong for final ability score stats? I don't want an over powered character but I do want a strong, well balanced one. The GM told me to use the PC level 13 starting wealth, which is 140,000 GP, to buy weapons and wonderous items to add to my ability scores. I plan on buying one thing for each stat, but not buying the most expensive thing lol.

So if I was to buy a belt of physical strength (+4 or+6) and my str stat at 13th level is 21 already, would that be too much?

Keep in mind I am building the Invulnerable Rager archetype so maybe there's items I can buy to help me on will saves LOL.

Could you clarify a few unknowns.

Campaign setting?
GM style?
Party makeup?
Standard adventure (AP) or custom?
Point buy (how much)?

Assuming standard/high/epic fantasy (15-25 point buys).

I think that strength 21 is not too high at all.

If you were to compare to say a druid's animal companion.
Let's say an Allosaurus.

14 base strength
+2 ability score increase
+4 levels
+8 large size at 7th level
===
28 strength.

Or say the amazing eidolon.

14 base strength (quadruped)
+5 (levels)
+2 (ability score increase)
+2 (evolution)
+2 (evolution)
+8 (Large evolution)
===
33 strength.

These are pets, not the main character...though that role could be debatable :) Both examples are not including any buffs or items.

[Srtz]

as a summoner junkie i agree with Rerednaw..

Need more infos though

[RumpinRufus]

"Too strong" depends entirely on your party and their playstyle. If they are optimizers, you can't really build a "too strong" martial character.

[Muddman72]

21 at 13th level too strong? With a belt? Heck no! Heck, the paladin of my party is 9th level and hes got a 20. Its your most important stat (along with Con) and determines your usefulness to the party. A weak barbarian is like having a dumb wizard or clumsy rogue.

[Darth That Guy]

I only sat in one the game the week before last and played a NPC Bard, and had a lot of fun, though some of it was confusing. Can not remember the campaign setting. The group is comprised of a Monk, Wizard, Cleric, Rouge, and me Barbarian or possibly Ranger. I am leaning toward barbarian but seems like Ranger would be easier and more fun to play.

The GM seems less strict type.

25 point buy, epic fantasy. He allowed me to roll for my stats though. GM said I could even create a weapon and he might allow me to have it and stuff, so seems like he is not too much of a rule sticker. He was very adamant about using only the CRB and APG for use of creating characters and selecting gear, weapons, and wondourous items.

The highest ability score I saw on my NPC Bard's character sheet was a 22. I didn't get a chance to look at the others's ability scores.

[Dark Immortal]

This topic supports my theory that all barbarians are invulnerable ragers. :D

Back on topic: I second what has been said above. Look at your allies to see your relative power. If the group is mostly martials with the best having a 16 str then your 21 will stand out but shouldn't make you too overpowered but will probably make you the best martial. Much more so once you enter a rage.

If your group is all spellcasters, optimized with high dc's and crap, you'll feel weaker and may as well grab all the overdone, heavily played power cheese: superstition, Witch hunter, eater of magic, spell sunder, and if you want, you can deviate from every other optimized barbarian and pick some things you might actually enjoy and want as your remaining two rage powers.

So again, it all depends group makeup and optimization level.

*edit* missed your reply Darth. Your party is golden. You have a nearly classical party composition and depending on what kind of monk is being run, you have an opportunity to make whatever kind of barbarian you want. Just check the groups optimization levels if you can.

@Mudman, I have a barbarian build that has a 20 strength (possibly 22) after raging at level 11. He is far from weak or poorly built for his class. It's like saying that a cleric with a low wisdom score is terrible. There are plenty of cleric builds (mine included) that barely use the classes primary stat and function exceedingly well. As reference, my cleric has a 14 wisdom. By level 13 he would maybe bother getting it to 16.

[Darth That Guy]

I never even seen the Beast Master archetype in the Ranger class, damn it! Glad you mentioned that animal companion stuff in your post Reredenaw!!!! I was looking through it and might switch to Ranger Beast Master. The more I was looking into Barbarian the more I didn't like having to rage cycle and stuff.

The only question I would pose about that is, how many animals could I have at 13th level? All I read was this listed below:

"A beast master forms a close bond with an animal companion. This ability functions like the druid animal companion ability except that the ranger’s effective druid level is equal to his ranger level – 3. The ranger gains a +2 bonus on wild empathy and Handle Animal checks made regarding his animal companion. Unlike a normal ranger, a beast master’s choice of animal companion is not limited to a subset of all possible animal companion choices—he may choose freely among all animal companion choices, just as a druid can.

The beast master may have more than one animal companion, but he must divide up his effective druid level between his companions to determine the abilities of each companion.

For example, a beast master with an effective druid level of 4 can have one 4th-level companion, two 2nd-level companions, or one 1st-level and one 3rd-level companion.

Each time a beast master’s effective druid level increases, he must decide how to allocate the increase among his animal companions (including the option of adding a new 1st-level companion). Once an effective druid level is allocated to a particular companion, it cannot be redistributed while that companion is in the ranger’s service (he must release a companion or wait until a companion dies to allocate its levels to another companion). The share spells animal companion ability does not give the ranger the ability to cast a single spell so that it affects all of his animal companions."

So, this means my effective level would be ten (Ranger level 13 minus 3)correct? And I can divide those ten points up anyway I'd like, such as getting a single 10th level animal or getting two 5th level animals, or even ten 1st level animals, haha?