I'm building a barbarian and want to take Chaos Totem because it would fit my concept well. I know it is not necessarily the best totem change but I had hoped it would be better - I'm not a total min/maxer, I don't want to take beast totem, but I had hoped for better here.
The lesser version is made redundant by a ring of protection and a cloak of resistance (items I am likely to buy because I will want their protection when not raging, when not fighting lawful enemies, I will want the resistance bonus to apply against more than this limited set of attacks, and I will want the bonus at the end of an adventure path to be greater than +3).
The medium chaos totem power is actually the best one, IMO, because I rarely buy fortification armor but would be happy to get it. I'm less convinced about the escape artist bonus - my STR will be higher than my DEX (as it is for virtually all barbarians) and since so much of acrobatics is off limits while raging it is not a great skill choice.
The greater power is okay. At level 17 (the end of a typical adventure path) you have DR 8/lawful. Of course without this totem you have DR 4/- anyway, so the incremental is only 4 points. Also, invulnerable rager is a very good option which dominates the DR of this power, as it will reach DR 8/- at level 17. Overcoming lawful DR at level 10 is good when the BBN likely does not have a +5 weapon, but by L17 the BBN likely will have a +5 weapon that overcomes alignment based DR in its own right.
...I guess my main source of dissatisfaction is that most of these powers are superseded by commonly obtained magic items. You also don't save much gp on these items, because the chaos totem powers are not as reliable as the equivalent powers from a magic item (e.g., cloak of resistance) or you get an item that overcomes the power as an ancillary bonus (e.g., +5 weapon and alignment-based DR).
Am I missing something here? I'm assuming these things don't stack with other powers or magic items. Please tell me I'm wrong.
I pasted below the actual powers for your convenience.
Chaos Totem, Lesser (Su)
Benefit: While raging, the barbarian gains a +1 deflection bonus to AC against the attacks of lawful creatures and a +1 resistance bonus on saving throws against confusion, insanity, polymorph, and effects with the lawful descriptor. This bonus increases by +1 for each chaos totem rage power she possesses.
Chaos Totem (Su)
Prerequisite: Barbarian 6, lesser chaos totem rage power
Benefit: While raging, the barbarian’s form becomes infused with chaos. She gains a +4 bonus on Escape Artist checks and has a 25% chance to ignore extra damage from critical hits and sneak attacks.
Chaos Totem, Greater (Su)
Prerequisite: Barbarian 10, chaos totem rage power
Benefit: While raging, the barbarian gains DR/lawful equal to 1/2 her barbarian level. Her weapons and natural weapons are considered chaotic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
