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Greetings, I recently moved to a city where I can actively participate in weekly PFS games, after a lot of thought, I decided that I'd try a barbarian again, its been a bit since I've played PFS, but I think everything here is legal. Would like thoughts on it.
Human invulnerable rager
Ability scores:
Str: 16 +2 racial bonus +1 at 8/12
Dex: 12
Con: 15 +1 at 4
Int: 13
Wis: 12
Cha: 07
Traits: threatening defender, berserker ofnthr society
Feats:
Combat expertise, Power attack
3-intimidating prowess
5-(level of unbreakable fighter) endurance, diehard, stalwart
7- hurtful
9- cornugoun smash
11- imrpoved stalwart
Rage powers:
2- intimidating glare
4- reckless abandon
7- superstitious
9- terrifying howl
11- eater of magic
At level 11 this nets me-
Total DR of 11/-
Free action intimidate on a hit, followed by swift action attack at full BaB
Option to attempt to panick ~2 different enemies every two turns
Items would be, a +1 furious keen falchion(18k) ring of freedom of movement(40k), belt of physical might(str/con +2) 10k, cloak of resistance +3(9k), either headband of havoc or headband of deathless devotion,
Other items I would consider are helm of intimidating mein, boots of striding and springing, cord of stubborn resolve(this would likely steer powers towards more 1/rage ones)
What are your thoughts on a ring of Fom? Its quite expensive for something that may or may not come up often. I'm unsure if its worth the 40k
Stats at 12 would be (roughly)
[While raging]
HP: 137 [167]
AC: non existent
DR13/- (dr5/- without combat expertise)
Saves: fort+16[+19](28 vs SLA&Su), ref +7(+15 vsSLA&Su), will+7(9vs ongoing effects and charm effects) [+15 vs SU/SLA, 17 if charm, or ongoing)
Rage/day: 33
To hits:
+20/15/10 [25/20/15]
Damage:
2d4+10 [2d4+15]
PA+CE
To hit:
+13/8/3 [+22/17/12]
Damage:
2d4+22 [2d4+28]
The other idea, was to just not worry about the DR stacking. Which would have feats and rage powers looking something like-
Feats:
1-PA, intimidating prowess
3- furious focus
5- extra rage power
7- cornugoun smash
9- extra rage power
11- dreadful carnage
Rage powers:
2- intimidating glare
4- superstitious
5- witch hunter
6- strength surge
8- terrifying howl
9- spell sunder
10- eater of magic
12- powerful swing?
This build would make use of the chord of stubborn resolve s, so would be down 2 str and con compar
ed to the other one.
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Hurtful is not PFS legal.
Dreadful Carnage requires Furious Focus, which I do not see in the build.
Not sure what stubborn mule chords are...do you mean Muleback Cords? If so, all they do is increase carry capacity, and you would be better off with a cloak of resistance.
Outside of that, looks decent. Intimidation can be very effective as long as you are not fighting mindless enemies.
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Ah, I didn't realize hurtful wasn't pfs legal, thats quite a shame. At least it opens a spot for furious focus. Which I just completely forgot about being a prereq. Its what I get for trying to go off mostly memory.
As for the chords... They should be- chord of stubborn resolve.
Which for some reason my mind named "mule". It what I get for doing this over the course of a day when I get some free time in between things lol
You have the con for it so unless you want to go Unchained barbarian i would suggest raging vitality in place of furious focus.
He needs Furious Focus as a prereq for Dreadful Carnage.
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at 15,000gp you won't be able to afford the chords of resistance until pretty late in your PFS career unless to really skimp out on your weapon and armor. Rage cycling is also a pretty munchkin tactic, and looked down on by some...if you are going to be playing with a regular group, I'd talk with them first before you build a whole character around it. If you just playing in pickup groups, you might get some eyerolls, but it is a legal tactic most of the time. (I'd avoid trying to rage cycle with Furious Finish, the debate over the legality of that combo can get heated)
DR 13/ is nice and all, but it isn't going to help you against magic at all, so I would consider bumping your HP up, either more Con, Toughness, or maybe even both. Eater of Magic helps some, but there are a ton of damaging spells that do not involve saving throws.
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I won't be worrying about armor at all, At best, I will only wear armor for effects it can give (resist, shadow etc). rage cycling is normally reserved for level 17+, but getting it early doesn't seem so bad, the powers aren't particularly good even with the cycling, even assuming you can cycle multiple times in one turn. But yes, I will speak to them. As said, I'd likely only go this route if the Stalwart/improved stalwart build seems too cumbersome.
Sadly, the only defense I can rely on vs spells, is making a save, and the HP I have. Other than that, I will have to rely on party buffs, or maybe the occasional potion. 167 HP while raging isn't anything to sneeze at at level 12, and I can't really push it up a lot more.
Furious finish is an odd ability, on one end, RAW it is quite clear that you are fatigued no matter what, however, I love the vital strike feats, so if I were to run a game with it, I may allow for the cycling of it. I think it would still deal less damage than a full attack barbarian with rage.
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Bit of a loosely related tangent. I play an earth kineticist who is loads of fun to play...super tanky thanks to being a con focused class and the earth elemental defense gives good DR, and their 1 blast per turn feels a lot like vital strike, but at short range.
Back on topic, if you are doing an intimidation based build, you will want the Cruel enchant on your weapon...makes anything shaken/frightened you hit sickened too.
This guide is a little dated, but still has good info about inimidation builds.