Barbarian Warblade

[blade777]

Hi, first post here, hehe.
Well, I started to play D&D this here with some friends and we are useing the 3.5 edition. I'm playin as a Warblade, but I took Barbarian 1st level for Fury and the 10 feet movement speed bonus. Actually I'm level 7 (1 Barbarian; Warblade).
When reading the book I noticed that Warblade's level 18th and 19th are a bit useless unless I can go 20th. But with the rules used by my DM I can only reach 20th character level(if I lvl up more than lvl 20 I die and ascend as a divinity but no fun after that) which mean if I go warblade now I can only reach lvl 19th because of my 1 lvl on barbarian.
Resuming. I want to know which class or classes are better to take with my last 2 lvls? (1 Barbarian, 17 Warblade(18 and 19 are useless or seem useless to me maybe I'm wrong), 2 extra).

I'll thank your advices. :smallsmile:
Blade777

PD: Any one know which fonts are used on the comic(OOTS)?

PD2: Ah, I forgot... my character is a One-handed/Shield Fighter(not class) and a Tiger Claw/Iron Heart Warblade. If you need more info ask me.

STR: 18 + 2 (Gauntlets) (+5)
CON: 16 (+3)
DEX: 16 (+3)
INT: 18 (+4)
WIS: 11 (0)
CHA: 14 (+2)

[kitcik]

Since you can't get to warblade 20, how about slip in a couple of levels of Swordsage for the variety and amount of maneuvers? Slip them in at the right initiator level to get the maneuvers you want.

[blade777]

Since you can't get to warblade 20, how about slip in a couple of levels of Swordsage for the variety and amount of maneuvers? Slip them in at the right initiator level to get the maneuvers you want.

Hmm... a good idea, really. I forgot to put my stats but I think I haven't got enough wisdom to make Swordsage levels useful.

Also I use a shield as a weapon so I'll lose the bonus AC from lvl 2 Swordsage.

PD: Edited first post with Stats

[limejuicepowder]

Taking a small handful of swordsage levels mid to late in a character build is going to be all about the maneuvers; any class abilities are perks at best. I wouldn't worry about not getting optimal use out of class abilities that are only decent to begin with - the maneuvers and boosts to saving throws are what's actually important, and more then make for it.

Much more boring to do, but you could always take 1-2 level of fighter (never more then 2). What melee class doesn't need more feats? I would only recommend this though if you have a specific tactic/feat line you are pursuing.

[blade777]

Hmm... I see now I forgot to mention more about the character. Being a Swordsage is not possible because of his lore or what he's supossed to be.

Cedrik is a nomad from a desert tribe after a war against the evil lich Kar'aleth and his army of undeads his tribe and the other desert tribes now weakened accept the offer from more civilized cultures and start working for them.
Cedrik reject this and began to travel around the desert... but the need of money and food forced him to take job from the "civilized". He start working as a guide and escort from trading caravans along the desert allowing him to not stay to long in cities.
He hate cities and any other type of settlement and preffer to stay traveling.
When in cities he prefer to stay on taverns drinking or fighting in some illegal arenas. But his first years on the cities he trains with the warriors guild.

He is skilled with one-handed + shield fighting using boths, the weapon and the shield, as weapons to strike the enemy with strengh.

One Barbarian level when trining with his tribe until they settled.
Warblade levels training with the warriors guild and now traveling with the party.

The Swordsage doesn't seem to fit on the character. I don't look for the perfect combo but the combination that looks better with the character.

Sorry if I made someone feel like I'm rejecting his idea for nothing, I don't know how to express myself well in English cause is no t may main language. I think Swordsage is a very good class and I like the idea to combine it with warblade for more maneuvres but I just don't see it to fit on my character. He is too much... "barbarian"(not class) for the Swordsage.

Thanks anyway because is my fault. I should have said this before. :smallsmile:

I'll still taking more ideas if you wish to write them.

Blade777

[Feralventas]

Go Warblade for a while and have fun, but at an appropriate time in the campaign, (an uncertain challenge ahead, or a divine favor granted) Drop into Crusader (has access to Devoted Soul School, which has a bit more for Sword'n'board as well as some damn good healing and smiting abilities) before going Master of the Nine PrC.

You'll have the Warblade Int bonuses from early on, a little bit of Steely Resolve for emergencies, and nifty stance combo effects.

You may want to dip Fighter for a couple of the required feats.

[Spuddles]

Two levels of wolf totem barbarian (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#wolfTotemClassFeatures ) gets you improved trip for free, and without need pre-reqs. You can then pick up knockdown (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm#knockDown).

Knockdown will work with maneuvers, unlike a regular trip attack, which is way cool.

[Togath]

Go Warblade for a while and have fun, but at an appropriate time in the campaign, (an uncertain challenge ahead, or a divine favor granted) Drop into Crusader (has access to Devoted Soul School, which has a bit more for Sword'n'board as well as some damn good healing and smiting abilities) before going Master of the Nine PrC.

You'll have the Warblade Int bonuses from early on, a little bit of Steely Resolve for emergencies, and nifty stance combo effects.

You may want to dip Fighter for a couple of the required feats.

you could also pick up devoted spirit maneuvers with martial study on a warblade, which could be somewhat more useful as maneuvers learned from martial study as a warblade use the warblade recovery mechanic(I did the math, and you can[with a combination of martial study and martial stance] in theory get the level 9 manuver from any school on any full initiater class, so you could get strike of righteous vitality on a warblade, usable every other round)

[Feralventas]

I suppose that's true, but I see it this way.

In the same space that you get 20 levels, you get only 6 feats without bonus options, and very few classes allow you to get more feats than levels as part of their progression; the Fighter is one of them, and we've all seen how the Warblade makes that a poor decision for optimization. The Eidalon from Ghostwalk operates on a similar box-of-feats construction, but gets supernatural and spell-like abilities for its trouble.

[blade777]

Hi, took me a lot of time to answer hehe...

Thanks to all for your ideas I take the Wolf Totem Barbarian. (You may note thet I'm a noob player :P)

Now I'm looking for Equipment to improve my character:

My actual equipment is this:
Armor: +2 AC +5 Hide. I think it's a Leather Armor with Shadow enhancement.

Shield:
3 AC with an Arrow Deflection gem. Metal, with spikes and shard edge. 1d6damage

Weapon:
Heavy Flail with Disruption + 2 to Disarm Checks. +1

Others:
Medallion of the Hammer and the Rose
+5 Damage reduc against Bludgeoning and Sonic
1 per day: +1 Ataque/ +1 Damage

Gaunlets of Strengh:
+2 Strengh

Ring of Deflection +2

I think I should improve my armor and I can get some other accesories like capes or belts but don't really know what could be useful. What do you think?

[navar100]

Swordsage is fine. Crusader has its own advantages. You don't lose BAB. Your HP average isn't lowered as much. Crusader offers nice maneuvers of its own. It's a good opportunity to pick up White Raven maneuvers you may have forgoed as a warblade. Your party will love you for White Raven Tactics, but it also has a couple of nice Charge maneuvers. If you need emergency healing, Devoted Spirit provides you with that.

[Slipperychicken]

It's always a good idea to have a ranged weapon (a backup, in case you run into fliers). Don't worry about making it magical or anything, you'll be fine with an ordinary bow, or a thrown weapon like javelins (to apply your Str to damage, albeit at a shorter range than a bow).

Constitution-boosting items are nice to have, because you're going to be taking damage right in the middle of the action. As you grow in levels, you'll find that enemies will have an easy time hitting you (even if you have AC-boosters. AC does not increase as quickly as attack bonus, so it's very tough and costly to keep up), especially if you're Raging, so you'll want a nice big cushion of HP to fall back on.

Power Attack is a good feat when used right (not sure if you have it or not. Posting your feat selection would help). Your attack bonus will likely mean you can hit things with no problem, so you can safely convert that into damage. If you feel like you aren't dealing enough damage, you can weild a weapon in two hands to get double the benefit.

Regarding miscellaneous equipment, its a good idea to have a Bag of Holding (anything that needs quick retrieval can be kept on your belt or something), a lot of rope with a grappling hook (there are countless uses for rope, like tying up prisoners, scaling walls, rapelling down walls, or keeping the party close in poor visibility), a longspear or 10ft pole (to poke anything suspicious-looking from a safe distance), and a Tanglefoot Bag or two (to slow people down, especially fleeing enemies). Basically, you can go to "goods and services" on the SRD (d20srd.com), and take a quick glance at it. Ordinary items are dirt cheap and can come in handy, but don't stress about it, and have fun with your first game.