[3.5] Bar(d) Brawler

[A.A.King]

Everyone knows that guy, the old dude who gets arrested about every other week. You know, that guy who gets arrested every other week for starting a bar fight. You don't know in exactly which bar he is, you just know he is in one. But what you may not know, is that he knows pretty much everything. He knows the secrets, the gossips and the hidden agendas. The well known stuff and the near forgotten legends. Basically, he's a bard.

What I want to create is an unarmed Bard, and what is important is 1) his fighting capabilities 2) Bardic Knowlegde and Knowledge "synergy" in general. I figured that for the unarmed part I would take two levels of the City Brawler Barbarian variant and take the feat Superior Unarmed Strike. However after that I'm not so sure what to do because I don't want to go just Barbarian 2 / Bard 18. The 18 levels of Bard over me very little in melee power (other then some of the better Bardic Musics obviously) and instead offer me spellcasting which I don't really need on this character. War Chanter is an option but then you lose out on the more knowledge aspect of the charachter


So, any tips on creating a guy who is good in unarmed combat and very knowledgeable but also a bit of a brute and a drunk. (So no Factotum because that just doesn't strike the right chord with me for this guy)

[mabriss lethe]

Maybe Bard/Warblade with Song of the White Raven to tie the two together and an emphasis on Tiger Claw Maneuvers. Get some bardy bits, be a melee steamroller. Maybe throw in Knowledge devotion early on.

[holywhippet]

The vigilante PrC sort of matches what you want. It mainly focuses on local knowledge though.

[A.A.King]

The Vigilante PrC doesn't quit fit the theme. He's more of fighter for good then a fighter-because-I-don't-like-your-face kind of a guy. His abilities are too much focused on fighting crime.

[Diovid]

I don't know if homebrew is on the table but something like my Paragon (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=301897) might fit. It's pretty much the base class version of the War Chanter (but with bardic knowledge and fighter feats).

[A.A.King]

Homebrew isn't on the table, your class seems okay but if I was going to use homebrew I could make something fit the theme even better. Like drawing a bit more from the Drunken Master PrC and a little bit less from Warchanter. So yeah, no homebrew

[Gwendol]

Check out warrior skald in races of Faerun, you get the music abilities but not much else.

[Socratov]

How about bard mixed with unarmed swordsage? Throw in a level of barbarian for rage and I think you are set. If you want more collateral, get yourself some form of sonic dragon ancestry and get DFI.

If one of the persons here with greater OP-fu then I have can marry the 3, you are set.

[Pickford]

Everyone knows that guy, the old dude who gets arrested about every other week. You know, that guy who gets arrested every other week for starting a bar fight. You don't know in exactly which bar he is, you just know he is in one. But what you may not know, is that he knows pretty much everything. He knows the secrets, the gossips and the hidden agendas. The well known stuff and the near forgotten legends. Basically, he's a bard.

What I want to create is an unarmed Bard, and what is important is 1) his fighting capabilities 2) Bardic Knowlegde and Knowledge "synergy" in general. I figured that for the unarmed part I would take two levels of the City Brawler Barbarian variant and take the feat Superior Unarmed Strike. However after that I'm not so sure what to do because I don't want to go just Barbarian 2 / Bard 18. The 18 levels of Bard over me very little in melee power (other then some of the better Bardic Musics obviously) and instead offer me spellcasting which I don't really need on this character. War Chanter is an option but then you lose out on the more knowledge aspect of the charachter


So, any tips on creating a guy who is good in unarmed combat and very knowledgeable but also a bit of a brute and a drunk. (So no Factotum because that just doesn't strike the right chord with me for this guy)

How about Drunken Master? (CW) I mean, thematically it would certainly fit.

[A.A.King]

Yes it definetly would, for something that fits so perfectly thematically I would even not complain about losing the knowledge aspect of the Character (which I find just as important as its combat abilities) however I see no entry other then Monk (or Monk + Something) which doesn't fit with the character at all (thematically)

[LordBlades]

Yes it definetly would, for something that fits so perfectly thematically I would even not complain about losing the knowledge aspect of the Character (which I find just as important as its combat abilities) however I see no entry other then Monk (or Monk + Something) which doesn't fit with the character at all (thematically)

Refluff monk to something that fits your concept maybe?

I'd suggest something like monk/cloistered cleric. Tank Wis so you can't cast and get Kung-Fu Genius to switch monk abilities to Int. You get Lore, tons of knowledge skills and high int to make use of it.

[Krobar]

I love brawlers. My favorite was a monk 1 who changed alignment and went cleric of Kord until 20th level. He had a big mouth, an angry disposition and was massively fun to play.

His name was Krobar, and he was my first 3.0 character.

[Hangwind]

Bard/Cleric

Take a level dip in bard and the rest in cleric. Then declare your god to be Thor or Dionysus or some other drunken god (there are a LOT to choose from) and call the bar your temple and drinking your prayer.

I figure even the single level dip is thematic since the guys that sing in bars are usually good enough, but almost never great.

Extra points if you make every bard song a drinking song.:smallbiggrin:

[SoraWolf7]

Bard/Cleric

Take a level dip in bard and the rest in cleric. Then declare your god to be Thor or Dionysus or some other drunken god (there are a LOT to choose from) and call the bar your temple and drinking your prayer.

I figure even the single level dip is thematic since the guys that sing in bars are usually good enough, but almost never great.

Extra points if you make every bard song a drinking song.:smallbiggrin:

I agree with this, and then also you get triple points if they're Irish Drinking songs from Whose Line is it Anyway?.