How can I be a weapon-wielding bear?

[Shambolaz]

Hi, I've made and played a lot of d&d characters over the years, but mostly all fighters/barbarians (ok... pretty much entirely). But now I want to kick it up a notch. I want a character who can transform into a bear (temporarily), but crucially, I want to still be able to wield weapons while I'm grizzlin'. The most obvious choice, playing a druid, only seems to allow natural attacks in wildshape, and I can't find any feats that allow me to wield manufactured weapons while in bear form. Anybody know how to go about this?

[Gray Mage]

If you're turning into a bear, it'll probably be better to use a bear's natural attacks then a weapon, so is using a weapon essential for your build?

PS: In before the bear puns become unbearable.

[Lateral]

Well, if you just want to go in for 'I'm a bear, I kill you,' and not the magical stuff that a Druid does, there's the Bear Warrior prestige class in Complete Warrior. It lets you be a barbarian that becomes a bear when raging, which is much better if you just want to fight people as a bear and not do all of the other tricks that come with unrestricted wildshape and crazy spells (Fleshraker/Venomfire, I'm lookin' atchoo).

[Shambolaz]

Yeah I know it might be better build-wise to use natural weapons while in bearform, but I really like the image of a big ol' bear wielding a greatspear (or maybe a sigliin from Frostburn).

[Shambolaz]

Oh yeah I read bear warrior, but unless I'm wrong you can't wield weapons as bear in that prestige class?

[Lateral]

No, not really. The only ways I can think of would be to either be an anthropomorphic bear, which is a wholly different thing, or to get extra arms somehow. I think there are grafts that would do the trick, or I suppose being a Totemist 2 and nabbing Girallon Arms as your totem would also work.

...Come to think of it, that might be exactly what you're looking for. Totemist 2/Barbarian 6/Bear Warrior X would let you be a bear with extra arms, so you could wield a greatsword and use your natural weapons as secondary attacks. Plus, Totemist and Barbarian synergize really well.

[Shambolaz]

I don't want to go awakened/anthropomorphic bear because, ya know, a man can only handle being a bear for so long. What grafts would I need that you mentioned?

[eggynack]

There are a few solid ways to get weapon wielding on a bear. By solid, I mean probably worse than just using natural attacks, but still. Anyways, the first major one is the fangshields druid substitution levels from Champions of Valor page 40. You need to be a non-humanoid, and the fifth level allows you to manifest hands in a wild shape at no cost. You don't even necessarily have to manifest the hands, so there's no disadvantage to picking up the sub level if you have access. I actually rather like the other sub levels as well, so it's worth a look. The second way I know of to get hands in a wild shape is the gloves of man from Savage Species page 47. They cost 42,000 GP, which seems really high to me, but I love the picture, so that's a bonus. Finally, at least until I find more stuff, page 47 of Lords of Madness has mouthpick weapons. For a +1 enhancement, creatures with a bite attack get to wield the relevant weapon in their mouth. You get iteratives with the weapon, as well as automatic proficiency, both of which are neat.

[Lateral]

Ooh, I forgot about Gloves of Man. Those are really expensive, though, so I'd just go with the Totemist thing.

[Gray Mage]

If you're willing to take some pretty big LA and RHD, would a werebear fit your idea? There might be something in Savage Species, although I'm not familiar with the book. Urpriest's Monstrous Monster Handbook (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207928) might also be of your interest.

[Shambolaz]

Hmmm this fangshield druid sounds like it would work rather well, just gotta figure out a thematically appropriate low/no LA monstrous humanoid to go. Thanks all for helping out!

[eggynack]

Hmmm this fangshield druid sounds like it would work rather well, just gotta figure out a thematically appropriate low/no LA monstrous humanoid to go. Thanks all for helping out!
No problem at all. There's not really much of a point in doing an unnecessarily massive write up of druid ACF's if you're not going to use it to solve arbitrary druid problems. I have no idea what an ideal non-humanoid race looks like on a druid though. Actually, come to think of it, anthropomorphic bat from Savage Species page 216 is both a monstrous humanoid and amazing for druids. So, probably that.

[Thrudd]

See if you can make a natural werebear character. There will be LA+3 for that, but while in hybrid form you would be able to use weapons. If you are a natural lycanthrope you have full control over shapechanging. You can be any class you want.

[Arkusus]

Three words my friend... Large locked gauntlets.

Large, because they have to fit over a bears paw, which is wider than a normal person's wrist. And a locked gauntlet so once you jam it on there, you don't need your fingers to be gripping the weapon.


Alternately, there is always sovereign glue... Just glue the weapon to your paw!


Btw, if I was your DM, I WOULD allow these, but I would probably include some penalty to attack...

[Shambolaz]

Natural werebear might work, I like the hybrid form but I'll have to read about the rules for going full on bearmode. The locked gauntlents idea is pretty funny to haha

@eggynack: Unfortunately, I don't think being an anthro bat jives too well with my character, but I'll take a look at Savage Species too see what else fits the criterion for monstrous humanoid.

[CyberThread]

sounds like a job for sentinel of baharai