PDA

View Full Version : [D&D 4e]Background for a new Bugbear Barbearian. (How is it?)



Thajocoth
2010-07-03, 07:23 PM
I have a lot of trouble coming up with new proper nouns... But I want my character's background to provide some people and places that the DM can use. In the words of Dory: "Well, you can't never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him. Not much fun for little Harpo." So I don't want my BGs to be completely DM-proof. My current character's BG accidentally is. Had him for 6 levels, and he feels repetitive now, as I left no real room in his BG for growth. I want to avoid that pitfall too, if possible. I don't think I'm doing that now, but it's difficult for me to tell.

EDIT: I've filled in the proper nouns now.

-----

Grizz the Bugbear Barbearian (I can likely expect a lot of bear themed puns at the table.)

Basic story:
He's been a mercenary for a while. He enjoys the battle. But it's starting to get too easy. Maybe his skills are too sharp? He's heard that a group in Opal knows where to find good battles, so he travels to Opal to seek them (the party) out. (In the game world, the party's gotten pretty famous.)

Grizz was raised to be a warrior in the Medvedev tribe of Bugbears, lead by Baribal. Baribal was the tribe's Shaman. The tribe had very primal leanings, worshiping the spirits, with particular interest in the spirits of the bear. They believed the bear to be the most powerful of beasts, and that there are many lessons to be learned from the bear. Grizz still holds onto these beliefs, though he is no longer with whatever remains of his tribe. His immediate relatives were Gedt - Father, Inuka - Mother, Ursius - Brother.

One day, he comes back from sparring with one of the other warriors, Wojtek, and sees the place ransacked, dead Bugbears everywhere. Assuming that the rest of the tribe is dead, and being unable to track down who did it, Grizz and Wojtek eventually began selling their fighting services as mercenaries nearby in Woodville. They did not do a particularly thorough search though, as they were too wrought with anger to concentrate, and Bugbears are not exactly known for their detective work. They initially fought together, but eventually just kinda split up. They've never opposed one another on the battlefield.

Grizz has sold his services to forces of Good & Evil alike. He does not discriminate between the two. In his eyes, both are necessary for him to continue doing what he loves to do. (Fighting) He also wishes he could figure out what happened to his tribe, or find someone of his tribe escaped, but he assumes that neither is possible at this point.

Once, a long while back, he was fighting in a battle between Lord Quinston & Lord Taralius. Both claimed that they were to inherit Arcteria after the death of King Arcturus. Lord Taralius happened to hire Grizz, and so he fought. He cornered Lord Quinston. He could kill him easily... And the fighting would be over. Then, he looked back at the battlefield, at all the soldiers fighting on both sides, and decided... "I can't put all these people out of work." So he tells Lord Quinston that he'll kill him slowly and painfully if he does not retreat. Lord Quinston refused, so Grizz gouged out his eye (with a large waraxe, Grizz's weapon of choice). This quickly changed Lord Quinston's mind and he retreated temporarily. For this desertion, Grizz never went back to pick up his pay for that battle, as he did not do what he was hired to do to the best of his ability. He hasn't seen either lord since then. After another month, Grizz heard that Lord Taralius gave up, and remained a lord, with Lord Quinston becoming king. It's the only time he ever deserted a battle. He never returned to the region. After all, he gouged out the king's eye!

Looks:
Grizz is tall and imposing, with dark brown fur. His appearance is immediately similar to an upright bear, but anyone who doesn't run at the sight of him might notice a few more Goblinoid features, such as a lack of a snout, pointed ears and an underbite with a pair of underfangs. He has a tattoo of a bear, a marking given to all warriors of his tribe, though it is difficult to see with his fur in the way.

In each of his very large hands is an axe larger than any human could realistically wield. One of his axes looks more crude... It's jagged edge and unrefined wooden handle. This axe has been his since he was still in his tribe. The other looks very well sculpted and perfectly symmetrical, with a very smooth edge. The second axe, despite it's size, is symmetrical and well balanced enough to throw. This axe was made for him by a Dwarven blacksmith by the name of Harbek, who hired Grizz to escort him from the Human settlement of Blackport to the Dwarven city of Stonehammer, but lacked other means of payment upon arrival. Harbek told Grizz that it was the largest weapon he's ever made.

-----

Here (http://www.gamecheetz.com/Grizz.pdf)'s his character sheet, if his stats & decisions help at all (We get a free expertise feat, so there's an extra feat on his sheet. Also, his Waraxes will grow to Huge at 24, and Grizz's body will grow from 7'2" to 14'4")

So, how is the BG after the edits?

Mando Knight
2010-07-03, 08:27 PM
1.) Barbarians have little to gain from using rapiers. Why not just stick with Longswords or upgrade to Bastard Swords?

2.) What's up with looking at Fullblades for a Tempest Fighter? As an Eternal Defender, you get to use Large Bastard Swords, not dual-wield Fullblades.

Thajocoth
2010-07-03, 08:32 PM
1.) Barbarians have little to gain from using rapiers. Why not just stick with Longswords or upgrade to Bastard Swords?

2.) What's up with looking at Fullblades for a Tempest Fighter? As an Eternal Defender, you get to use Large Bastard Swords, not dual-wield Fullblades.

1) The defense bonus of a Rhythm Blade (light blade only). Adds 1 to my shield bonus, which, thanks to a couple feats, is for all 4 defenses. Huge Rapiers are d12. Huge Longswords are d12. So it's the same. If I went for another weapon, it'd be, like, Waraxe, for 2d8 in each hand. (2d6 right now, but 2d8 in a level and a half). -1 to hit, replace Nimble Blade with something else, lose the +1 to defenses from Rhythm Blade, but add 2.5 average damage per W... I think that's quite worth it... Thanks for the advice!
EDIT: Editted the build for Waraxes. A pair of big axes certainly feels more barbaric! Not incredibly happy about my feat choices though... Not seeing much better. I kinda see Durable as a complete waste. Since they were only giving +1 each now instead of +2, I changed Stout Shield (Shield Bonus to Fort) and Encouraging Shield (Shield bonus to Will). Rethinking that, since Durable does nothing of any remote value, and one of the other feats I took adds a damage bonus to a single encounter power...

2) A Large creature can wield a 2-handed Medium weapon one-handed (In the PHB somewhere). The Character Builder also agrees on this, allowing me, as an Eternal Defender, to equip 2 Fullblades, since I weild weapons as if I was 1 category larger. Not that the Fullblade is much better than a Large Bastardsword... Same W dice. I can't use the Bastardsword's versatility with another in my other hand. Just adds High Crit for being a Fullblade, really. Bugbear doesn't get this bonus from Oversized, because of the wording of Oversized, applying specifically to weapons one size larger than you can otherwise wield. So a Bugbear Eternal Defender wielding 2 weapons would have a choice between 2 huge one handed weapons or 2 medium two handed weapons.

Mando Knight
2010-07-03, 11:01 PM
1) The defense bonus of a Rhythm Blade (light blade only). Adds 1 to my shield bonus, which, thanks to a couple feats, is for all 4 defenses. Huge Rapiers are d12. Huge Longswords are d12. So it's the same. If I went for another weapon, it'd be, like, Waraxe, for 2d8 in each hand. (2d6 right now, but 2d8 in a level and a half). -1 to hit, replace Nimble Blade with something else, lose the +1 to defenses from Rhythm Blade, but add 2.5 average damage per W... I think that's quite worth it... Thanks for the advice!
EDIT: Editted the build for Waraxes. A pair of big axes certainly feels more barbaric! Not incredibly happy about my feat choices though... Not seeing much better. I kinda see Durable as a complete waste. Since they were only giving +1 each now instead of +2, I changed Stout Shield (Shield Bonus to Fort) and Encouraging Shield (Shield bonus to Will). Rethinking that, since Durable does nothing of any remote value, and one of the other feats I took adds a damage bonus to a single encounter power...
Yeah. Going that deep for just another +1 to all defenses at the cost of quite a bit of potential damage is kinda silly when you're a Striker. It might have been worth it if you were a Rogue (since then you're already attracted to light blades anyway), but Barbarians scoff at such puny little girly weapons.

2) A Large creature can wield a 2-handed Medium weapon one-handed (In the PHB somewhere).
See, I always forget this.

Thajocoth
2010-07-03, 11:14 PM
I was just thinking... If I gave Grizz the feat "Striking Resurgence" and the armor enchantment "Armor of Enduring Health", would there be any reason at all to play Tarak over Grizz? (I'd have to decrease his armor to +4, as Enduring Health +5 is a higher level than he may choose, but I can put the difference into something else.) That's 2/encounter, Second Wind and make a free Melee Basic attack. Then perhaps change his tattoo to the one that grants an attack & damage bonus to his next attack when he Second Winds... Which would be the attack from Second Winding. Not so conditional if I can just put it on the Second Wind Attack card. Tarak's got marking, a good attack bonus to opportunity attacks and +to hit over Grizz. Tarak's also got low defenses and lower W (by 2 sizes).

Mando Knight
2010-07-03, 11:20 PM
Depends on what the party needs. If it's pure DPR, then no... Barbarians, as Strikers, are better at DPR than Fighters. (Warlocks and Avengers often go hang their heads in shame when reminded of this necessity, though)

If you need someone with tricks and marks who can lock down enemies to keep them from fighting, then Tarak takes the lead. Barbarians, being Strikers, can rarely get the enemy to focus on them like a Fighter can.

Thajocoth
2010-07-03, 11:22 PM
Depends on what the party needs. If it's pure DPR, then no... Barbarians, as Strikers, are better at DPR than Fighters. (Warlocks and Avengers often go hang their heads in shame when reminded of this necessity, though)

If you need someone with tricks and marks who can lock down enemies to keep them from fighting, then Tarak takes the lead. Barbarians, being Strikers, can rarely get the enemy to focus on them like a Fighter can.

The party has one of each role without me. Fighter, Ranger (ranged), Warlord & Psion. They don't NEED me to be anything. My current char is a melee controller, which they've dubbed an offtank. I just want to have fun, and simple = fun. I think I'm gonna drop Tarak from the running. Post edited. Tarak the Half-Orc Fighter removed from the running.

EDIT: Fixed Grizz up some more, and chose him as the character I'm picking.