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You could play up the reincarnation angle as well, since that is a thematic part of the samsarans. In times of stress, all that calm and tranquility gained by hundreds of lifetimes goes out the window, and the ancient, primitive, violent incarnation rises...
Bloodrager suits your idea better while still maintaining an identical feel. The Samsaran Mystic Past Life trait can give you access to some powerful spells that you normally wouldn't get as a Bloodrager, which means you can pull some crazy shenanigans.
The Con penalty is a killer, though. Thankfully, 12 Charisma is all you need, though it only nets you one or two bonus spells not normally available to you. With any luck, that is all you will need.
I'd advise against going Bard for your second level. But if you feel you absolutely have to, then fair enough. I'd instead recommend Skald, but their Inspired Rage won't stack with your own personal rage, so it'd be pointless to take it.
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You could play up the reincarnation angle as well, since that is a thematic part of the samsarans. In times of stress, all that calm and tranquility gained by hundreds of lifetimes goes out the window, and the ancient, primitive, violent incarnation rises...
I like that notion, that the Samsaran has either not reincarnated recently (and by 'recently' I mean, for thousands of years, and their most recent past lives were brutal savages, and not peaceful mystics and philosophers), or that their most recent past life had a reason to be quite different than most Samsaran (ended up far from the Samsaran home country at birth, and was forced to ride with the local nomadic tribesmen of the steppes or whatever, and assume their 'barbaric' customs to survive).
A Samsaran who reincarnated after their soul went on to become a chaotic outsider of some sort, and then was destroyed and recycled, could be totally out there. ("I had a dream, and in it, an angel was cutting me in half with a greatsword of shining silver. I looked down at my severed lower half and the legs were red-skinned and ended in hooves, and I had a tail. So, yeah, I have no idea how this might relate to my being angry all the time..."}
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I’d say go for it; I know samsarans are unoptimized for this build, but a bonus to will saves and an extra skill pount doesn’t hurt. As for the backstory, you’d be mad, too, if you kept dying in various humiliating manners and remembered every single g-dd—n second of them. Wouldn’t you get angry?
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That's awesome, Reduxist!
"Roll initiative."
"NOT AGAIN! HOW MANY LIFETIMES DO I GOTTA DO THIS?! HRRRGGGHHH!!!"
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That's awesome, Reduxist!
"Roll initiative."
"NOT AGAIN! HOW MANY LIFETIMES DO I GOTTA DO THIS?! HRRRGGGHHH!!!"
Yeah, I can see a ton of good roleplay opportunities with this character!
“Hey, killer! Remember me?” *THWACK* “NOT SO SQUISHY OF A WIZARD NOW, HUH?!”
But yeah, a samsaran barbarian could also benefit from shards of the past to get a few more class skills.
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It reminds me of Agrajag from Hitchhikers Guide.
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"After countless incarnations spun out by the wheel of fate, after being kings and insects and gods and bodhisattvas, after having sampled every experience a being can experience, after dwelling in the bliss of nirvana for ten billion billion years and suffering in the pyres of hell for that long as well, I have concluded that I got it right the first time: The greatest thing is to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women."
How long is this campaign expected to last? When you're already going for an underdog concept, splitting your levels might result in mediocrity. And mediocrity is not fun to play.
You might be able to do the split personality thing by taking advantage of Shard of the Past to be perfectly competent at diplomacy and some other non-barbarian skill.
Have the character be extremely civilized, right up until the moment it's time to dismember someone.
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I was involved in a very shortlived Wrath of the Righteous where my Samsaran's previous incarnation had died in a raid against the demons gone awry. Just as the previous life (Paladin of Iomedae) bought the caster enough time to teleport them out of there, some BBEG injured/cursed her soul, and so when the reincarnation happened, that curse followed my character without her knowledge. A similar idea could work for you, some corruption from a past life that has worn away the usual tranquility and replaced it with rage.
And which weapon do guys recommend?
Two handed weapons are usually the way to go with martial types. Barbarians and Bloodragers, however, don’t depend on dexterity and take a hit to AC whenever they rage, so a shield might be advisable.
if your barbarian is 18 or more strong, I'd advise a 2h weapon, otherwise go sword and board, you're unoptimized enough without adding insult to injury.
Since you might a little fragile for a normal barbarian, you might want a reach weapon? Naginata, Bardiche, Glaive-guisarme, or some exotic one like the fauchard (an 18-20/x2 reach weapon).
It's kind of hard to recommend weapons without any idea of what feats you want or your basic build.