requesting advice

[geonova]

for my next campaign, which is ECL5, i am a Thri-Kreen 2/ Barbarian 2

my abilities are:
Str-14
Dex-21
Con11
Int-12
Wis-11
Cha-10

and my feats are: deflect arrows, multi-weapon fighting and quick draw

i also possess four masterwork shortswords, 2 +1 bracers of armor and a hevard's handy haversack

should i make any changes?

and where could i go from here

PS. i am thinking of replacing quick draw with weapon finesse

[RaviStrife]

Personally, I'd multiclass into Warblade and pick up the "Blood in the Water" stance and swap to multiple kukri for a light high crit range weapon. Every time you land a critical with any of your 4 arms you'll get a stacking +1 to attack and damage.

You can also pick up 2nd level maneuvers based on how HD still count towards your initiator level, so you can pick up all 3 of Moment of Perfect Mind, Action Before Thought, and Sudden Leap. Together they will cover your abysmal will saves, your abysmal reflex saves, and crank your mobility into a ridiculous range (in that order).

[SolioFebalas]

I would have started with swordsage 3 instead of barb, then took weapon finesse +asassins stance + shadow blade (to completely dump str) + multi weapon fighting + imp multiweapon fighting. And then to maximaze multiple limbs bonuses took some classes with sneack attack or equivalent. Telflammar Shadowlord stack good with shadow hand maneuvers.

[Maginomicon]

The ECL of a Thri-kreen character is +4 (2 RHD + 2 LA). If you're using the "Thri-Kreen Racial Class" rules described in Complete Psionic, that's another matter, but you can't take just the 2 RHD levels in Thri-kreen and ignore the +2 LA (or vice versa).

[geonova]

i'm using a non-psionic thri-kreen, which has 2 RHD and a +1 LA

also, i chose barbarian for fluff reasons, mainly that since thri-kreen are nomadic, they mainly take natural classes like druid, barbarian, ranger or scout

and i know that the MM2 states that thri-kreen clerics exist, but gives no racial domains

[SolioFebalas]

i'm using a non-psionic thri-kreen, which has 2 RHD and a +1 LA


From Shining South i suppose ?


also, i chose barbarian for fluff reasons, mainly that since thri-kreen are nomadic, they mainly take natural classes like druid, barbarian, ranger or scout

Then maybe go with Lion Totem Barbarian 1 and then melee Swift Hunter way ? or Barb/Fighter/Dervish ?

[Feytalist]

2 +1 bracers of armor

They... don't stack.

Unless you don't mean two pairs of bracers, and instead just mean a single pair like usual. In which case, that was really weird wording.

[geonova]

the bracers don't stack? where in the rules does it say that?

[SolioFebalas]

PHB or SRD:


Armor/Shield Bonus

Each armor grants an armor bonus to AC, while shields grant a shield bonus to AC. The armor bonus from a suit of armor doesn’t stack with other effects or items that grant an armor bonus. Similarly, the shield bonus from a shield doesn’t stack with other effects that grant a shield bonus.

so any items granting armor bonus don't stack such armor and bracers, bracesr and bracers, bracers and mage armor and so on...

[Person_Man]

General optimization tips that are relevant to your build:

Though there are exceptions, level adjustment and racial hit dice are generally not considered worth the tradeoff, especially if your game will ever see mid levels. You might gain a lot in the short term, but you're giving up much more powerful higher level abilities in the long term. If you're just interested in getting lots of attacks or lots of damage, there are many other ways to do so.

If you ever want to do something other then just melee and thrown weapon attacks, you may wish to consider a higher Tier class, like Warblade, Crusader, Swordsage, Psychic Warrior, Totemist, Incarnate, Wildshape Ranger, Psychic Rogue, Factotum, Binder, etc.

If you're going to take a Barbarian level, then you might as well give up Fast Movement to gain Pounce via the Lion Totem variant from Complete Champion.

There's not much of a reason more then one level of Barbarian. You can take the Extra Rage feat to get extra rage uses, you can get Uncanny Dodge with one feat (Shape Soulmeld: Impulse Boots), and Uncanny Dodge itself is only worthwhile if you lose Initiative (which is less likely if you're a high Dex character).

Deflect Arrows requires a free hand (holding nothing). So unless you intend to use claws or unarmed strike or to otherwise keep an empty hand, it's not useful. You can also replicate the effect by mid levels with various magic items.

[Ignominia]

i'm using a non-psionic thri-kreen, which has 2 RHD and a +1 LA

also, i chose barbarian for fluff reasons, mainly that since thri-kreen are nomadic, they mainly take natural classes like druid, barbarian, ranger or scout

and i know that the MM2 states that thri-kreen clerics exist, but gives no racial domains

If you are using an alternate Thri-kreen, with 2 RHD and +1 LA, that would still make your ECL 7.

You count racial hit die IN with your ECL. Also, I think if you are using Monster Classes (as per Savage Species) you have to take ALL of your monster levels before you can take a class level.

[SolioFebalas]

He takes (probably) Shining South Non Psionic Tri-Kreen, 2 Racial HD + 1 LA + 2 Barb levels = ECL 5

[Ignominia]

I must be blind, I swear OP had another class at 2nd level class thrown in the mix there... Sorry for confusion:smallcool: