D&D 3.5 Runescarred Berserker

[Lateral]

Could you guys critique this build? The guy is a Half-Fiend Minotaur 6/ Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian 1/ Runescarred Berserker 9 Runescarred berserker 10. (I'm the DM and it's the BBEG's muscle. LA and RHD don't matter much.)

Stats (after racial and leveling bonuses): Str 32, Dex 18, Con 24, Int 6, Wis 15, Cha 13.

Feats: PA, Imp. BR, Imp. Sunder, Shock Trooper, Combat Brute, Awesome Blow Knockback, Steadfast Determination, Rampaging Bull Rush, one Two flaws (Shaky), (Vulnerable)

Runescars known: 1- Protection from Good, Resist Energy, True Strike, See Invisibility, 2- Invisibility, Bear's Endurance, CSW, Protection from Energy, 3- Greater Magic Weapon, Haste, Freedom of Movement, Cure Critical Wounds Air Walk, 4- Greater Invisibility, Righteous Might, Restoration, 5- AMF or and Polymorph Heal

He ends up with Rage 4/day for 11 rounds each, full attack charge PA'ing for (correct me if I'm wrong here) 4 attacks (5 when hasted) with a scythe, one gore that does 1d8 damage, one that does 4d6 damage, two claw attacks that do 1d6 damage and one bite that does 1d8.
I could use a little help with the spell selection tho. Here's the RB spell list. (http://spelldb.com/showSpell.php?class=156) Thanks in advance!

Edit: I am NOT looking for (more) cheese or to make any major changes. I'm just looking for advice on whether I should switch any feats and some advice on my spell list. Plus, if I change any level AT ALL, I lose my 5th level Runescar. Also, he has a keen, adamantine scythe.

[dobu]

if you look at the runescarred berserker spell list, you'll notice 'divine power'. if you combine that with war hulk (miniatures handbook)... :-)

[jguy]

your spare level 1 slot should be Divine Favor since it gives luck bonuses to attack and damage. Very nice. Keen edge works for a level 2 since it lasts so dang long, it can be a buff he does at the start of the day. That extra 5% chance to crit is nice with a x4 crit weapon. If he doesn't have an item of +Con, bears endurance is an ok pre-fight buff if he knows there is about to be one

[Eldariel]

if you look at the runescarred berserker spell list, you'll notice 'divine power'. if you combine that with war hulk (miniatures handbook)... :-)

Unfortunately, he's kind of out of levels here. Divine Power is nigh' worthless.


Here's what I'd suggest:
1. Divine Favor, True Strike, Blank, Blank (e.g. Pro Good and See Invisibility)
2. Darkvision, Invisiblity, Keen Edge, Protection from Elements
3. Death Ward, Freedom of Movement, Cure Critical Wounds
4. Righteous Might, Restoration
5. Anti-Magic Field

Note, you can have 7 scribed on your body at any time. Levels don't matter. And no, you don't gain bonuses from high stat. At least 2 should be AMFs. At least 1 should be Restoration and probably 1 Righteous Might. The rest can be whatever; Freedom of Movement is good singleton, True Strike has obvious uses, maybe a Protection from Elements. Invisibility is nice if you want him to surprise the PCs, something you wouldn't otherwise expect from a dumb brute.

AMF & Righteous Might are probably the two best against casters and physical opponents, respectively. Imagine a hellishly strong Huge Half-Fiend Minotaur with 30' reach, natural flight and company. Yeah, I'd be ****ting my pants at about that point too. +4 Str and +2 Con isn't bad either, but it's the size increase that makes it so awesome. Divine Favor is a nice generic buff that stacks with everything else so if +3/+3 interests you, that's your number.


Other stuff, feats:
- Awesome Blow is turrible. It takes a Standard Action to use. What you want to the same effect is Knockback (Races of Stone). Every attack initiates a Bull Rush. Booyah; combined with Shock Trooper, you get to play pinball!
- Knockback combines really well with Rampaging Bull Rush [Races of Stone]. It allows you to Bull Rush people prone.
- With those stats, you can afford to give him Combat Reflexes. If he's Bull Rushing people prone left and right with a huge reach, there'll be AoOs provoked.
- Consider Mage Slayer with the second flaw. That would make casting spells near him very difficult due to his potentially immense (and automatically impressive 20' with a reach weapon) reach, potential AMF and the inability to cast defensively within his threatened area.


I'd drop Combat Brute + Improved Sunder for the Rampaging Bull Rush + Combat Reflexes. Awesome Blow needs to go for Knockback. Also, consider Whirling Frenzy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#rageVariantWhirlingFrenzy ) for standard Rage. Greater Frenzy is very, very good both defensively and offensively. His Will-saves and Fort-saves while Raging will suffer but his AC, Ref-saves and offense will improve. Both are good, of course; pick one.

...I just noticed you're missing prerequisites. Runescarred Berserker requires Iron Will, one Berserker Lodge feat [Unapproachable East] and Survivor [Player's Guide to Faerun]. Iron Will can be gained through Otyugh Hole [Complete Scoundrel] but the other two need to be picked the oldfashioned way. And Steadfast Determination costs Endurance. I suppose as a DM you can handwave some of that stuff tho. Or give him like two Fighter-levels or something.

[Lateral]

I handwaved it. And he focuses on sundering, then bullrushing. Namely, charge, full attack, make the first attack a sunder, still get to attack from it (combat brute), slice 'em up, knock them on their ass. Knockback looks good. He already has Darkvision and a Keen scythe, so those two spells are moot. Death Ward isn't necessary since none of my PCs can SoD and he has a massive Fort save anyway. Can I still activate Runescars in an AMF? Or is it not just scribing them.

[Eldariel]

I handwaved it. And he focuses on sundering, then bullrushing. Namely, charge, full attack, make the first attack a sunder, still get to attack from it (combat brute), slice 'em up, knock them on their ass. Knockback looks good. He already has Darkvision and a Keen scythe, so those two spells are moot. Death Ward isn't necessary since none of my PCs can SoD and he has a massive Fort save anyway. Can I still activate Runescars in an AMF? Or is it not just scribing them.

Runescars are spells and thus don't work in AMF so it'd be relatively pointless. I don't think you can even activate them. But it shouldn't matter really; those two should present modal options; either use magic to kick butt or turn magic off when it's advantageous to you. You could take Haste over Death Ward. Or Greater Magic Weapon if you see him deprived of magic weapons for a prolonged period of time.

And huh, Sundering? Well, I'd cut Awesome Blow for Knockback anyways, and add the second Flaw for Rampaging Bull Rush. Means you miss out on all the AoO fun but gives you a nice base shell of stuff to do. Mostly, means you can combine Sunder thanks to Cleaving Sunder, and Bull Rush. All on full attack :smallbiggrin: Rampaging Bull Rush just allows knock people prone so it's not that big a deal but it's really cool ("his blow lands so hard you land 10' away on your back").


I do hope you're not wrecking PCs' toys TOO bad though. Kinda sucks to lose that artifact sword 'cause a Barbarian got angry :smallbiggrin: But yeah, Sundering is definitely viable, just really painful in that regard. Then again, so is Disjunction and Rust Monster so I guess it's not the only case.

[Angry Bob]

If the artifact sword snaps 'cause a barbarian got angry, it can't have been that much of an artifact...

[Lateral]

Okay, yeah, I'll take Rampaging Bull Rush. Also, turns out he needs to be 17th level, not 16th- I did my math wrong. I'll put Restoration in for his new 4th level scar and... hmmm... DP for another third-level, although I probably won't need it. Polymorph for 5th level, obviously.

[Eldariel]

Okay, yeah, I'll take Rampaging Bull Rush. Also, turns out he needs to be 17th level, not 16th- I did my math wrong. I'll put Restoration in for his new 4th level scar and... hmmm... DP for another third-level, although I probably won't need it. Polymorph for 5th level, obviously.

I'd actually put Heal on the second 5th level slot. He's so ridiculously strong, Polymorph isn't THAT good, while Heal makes his rather impressive HP total seem even more impressive.

[Greenish]

He ends up with Rage 4/day for 11 rounds each12 rounds each, by my count. 3+7(base con)+2(con bonus from raging).

[Lateral]

Actually, 14 (16 with Bear's Endurance). Runescarred Berserker grants Greater Rage.

You're prob'ly right about Polymorph. If I have heal, then what would I need with CSW/CCW? CSW, there isn't anything better (bull's strength is unnecessary and Darkvision/Keen Edge are redundant), but I'll switch CCW out for Air Walk. His DR/magic is largely useless at this level, his DR/- is too low, and his AC is gonna suck. (He has a Major Cloak of Displacement, tho.) His HP ended up at 219, BTW.