optimizing a smart barbarian

[A Tad Insane]

In a group I'm in, I was the melee. Then I died, so now I'm making a new character, but I want a very specific flavor.
Our wizard is a moron. Sure he has a high int, and he is relatively optimized, yet he does the stupidest, lowest wisdom things imaginable, yet always gets on top because he's a wizard. We joke about it all the time, yet he laughs it of and point out they only one who in our party that could be construed as smart is the jig-saw-esque kobold scout who would make tucker's kobolds cry.
So I want to make a character that fights smart, not guerrilla art of war style smart, just "I'm so smart I know that you're deathly allergic to milk because *Sherlock monologue*, so feast on yogurt!" smart, yet I want to make it something so outlandish that everyone will say "Even the X has more sense than you!", so it must be a barbarian.
How would I make a barbarian who can throw as many points into int as possible, yet still be a monster in melee. I would guess some knowledge devotion, but that's all I can think of.

P.s. the wizard is an extremely good sport, knows I'm doing this, and challenged me to make this.

Lvl 9, no multiclass penalty, all official material ok, and LA buy off is a thing

[Sir Chuckles]

Some form of cross class, definitely skill tricks, and possible Martial Study.

As you said it, the Wizard is high Int, low Wis (Is that actually his stats or is the PLAYER low Wis? :smalltongue:), so rather than hgh-int Barbarian, go with high Wisdom.
Just like that Sherlock situation, that'd be Wisdom from Spot checks, Search, realization, not a Xanatos-esque super plan.

Maybe cross class to Bard for Bardic Knowledge (Then you really could cheese your way into knowing enemies are lactose intolerant), and the fact that there are wonderful Bardbarian builds out there. It would require more Charisma, though.

[Zombulian]

Maybe take some pages out of Korg the Magical's (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195049) book?

[FrznTear]

Looking at X stat to Y bonus (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125732) there doesn't seem to be any easy way to make intelligence useful on a Barbarian.

You could go Factotum into Chameleon and emulate rage and pretend to be a barbarian. Then take rage related feats and items to emphasize it.

[CombatOwl]

In a group I'm in, I was the melee. Then I died, so now I'm making a new character, but I want a very specific flavor.
Our wizard is a moron. Sure he has a high int, and he is relatively optimized, yet he does the stupidest, lowest wisdom things imaginable, yet always gets on top because he's a wizard. We joke about it all the time, yet he laughs it of and point out they only one who in our party that could be construed as smart is the jig-saw-esque kobold scout who would make tucker's kobolds cry.
So I want to make a character that fights smart, not guerrilla art of war style smart, just "I'm so smart I know that you're deathly allergic to milk because *Sherlock monologue*, so feast on yogurt!" smart, yet I want to make it something so outlandish that everyone will say "Even the X has more sense than you!", so it must be a barbarian.
How would I make a barbarian who can throw as many points into int as possible, yet still be a monster in melee. I would guess some knowledge devotion, but that's all I can think of.

P.s. the wizard is an extremely good sport, knows I'm doing this, and challenged me to make this.

Lvl 9, no multiclass penalty, all official material ok, and LA buy off is a thing

A smart barbarian will find a way to get True Mind Switched into a strong barbarian's body.

[Human Paragon 3]

You could take Knowledge Devotion and Educated, maxing out your knowledge skills to get bonuses in combat. You could also multi-class human paragon into it (you'll still have no other classes than barbarian, if you think of it as 3 levels of your race) for the bonus feat and +2 to int. You will also be much more skilled thanks to the extremely versatile skill list.

You could also take vexing and versatile flanker to get bonuses in combat for fighting cleverly with your allies.

[gurgleflep]

Tome of Battle has the... Warblade, I think (if I'm wrong, just look up the class in the book with HD d12 :smalltongue:). They can be made barbaric but they're pretty competent, like Conan the Barbarian, Genghis Khan, and Attila the Hun. Get some good stances, awesome feats, kick-butt magical items and wham-o! Smart melee type with a barbarian feel :smallbiggrin:

If ToB isn't allowed, I don't know what to do. I only recently got to read into it and it now has my favorite "barbarian" class :smallsmile:

[A Tad Insane]

As you said it, the Wizard is high Int, low Wis (Is that actually his stats or is the PLAYER low Wis? :smalltongue:), so rather than hgh-int Barbarian, go with high Wisdom.

Both him and his character lack wisdom, but he also does really stupid things, never succeeds in any knowledge rolls, and tries things that several of us know would end in failure, such as hoping for a nat 20 on a handle animal check for a blue dragon, whom he pissed off, then after we beat him, thought it would be a good idea to put him in an iron cage to sell as a pet/slave/trophy

[Zombulian]

Tome of Battle has the... Warblade, I think (if I'm wrong, just look up the class in the book with HD d12 :smalltongue:). They can be made barbaric but they're pretty competent, like Conan the Barbarian, Genghis Khan, and Attila the Hun. Get some good stances, awesome feats, kick-butt magical items and wham-o! Smart melee type with a barbarian feel :smallbiggrin:

If ToB isn't allowed, I don't know what to do. I only recently got to read into it and it now has my favorite "barbarian" class :smallsmile:

You forgot to add that they get Int synergy!

Though for the Sherlock-y sillyness that the OP brings up, I'll gladly recommend the Charlatan PrC.

[Red Fel]

Tome of Battle has the... Warblade, I think (if I'm wrong, just look up the class in the book with HD d12 :smalltongue:). They can be made barbaric but they're pretty competent, like Conan the Barbarian, Genghis Khan, and Attila the Hun. Get some good stances, awesome feats, kick-butt magical items and wham-o! Smart melee type with a barbarian feel :smallbiggrin:

If ToB isn't allowed, I don't know what to do. I only recently got to read into it and it now has my favorite "barbarian" class :smallsmile:

This. Warblades have a number of class features which key off of Int. In addition, you can make them savage and brutish, or crafty and clever, or simply blunt and to the point (see what I did there?) based entirely on how you build them and what Disciplines you focus on. The class itself has a high floor, meaning it's easy to build and hard to mess up. If you're starting with the Str and Con of a Barbarian, with a high Int, it's a great transition into Warblade. (As an aside, I hope your Barb took the Spirit Lion Totem variant; Pounce is too good to pass up on.)

If you want a beast of a Barb who smashes face and makes the Wizard look bad, not only at smarts but also at magic, consider the Duskblade. It casts from Int, and while it has a more limited spell list than the Wizard, it can use Arcane Channeling to apply those spells to terrifying effect. Get a Bloodstone two-handed weapon, maximize Vampiric Touch onto it, go into Barbarian Rage and completely shred face.

Smartly.

[CombatOwl]

Tome of Battle has the... Warblade, I think (if I'm wrong, just look up the class in the book with HD d12 :smalltongue:). They can be made barbaric but they're pretty competent, like Conan the Barbarian, Genghis Khan, and Attila the Hun. Get some good stances, awesome feats, kick-butt magical items and wham-o! Smart melee type with a barbarian feel :smallbiggrin:

If ToB isn't allowed, I don't know what to do. I only recently got to read into it and it now has my favorite "barbarian" class :smallsmile:

Oh yes. This, this, this. It's a ton of fun to play smart warblades with WRT and Iron Heart Surge.

[gurgleflep]

You forgot to add that they get Int synergy!

Though for the Sherlock-y sillyness that the OP brings up, I'll gladly recommend the Charlatan PrC.


This. Warblades have a number of class features which key off of Int. In addition, you can make them savage and brutish, or crafty and clever, or simply blunt and to the point (see what I did there?) based entirely on how you build them and what Disciplines you focus on. The class itself has a high floor, meaning it's easy to build and hard to mess up. If you're starting with the Str and Con of a Barbarian, with a high Int, it's a great transition into Warblade. (As an aside, I hope your Barb took the Spirit Lion Totem variant; Pounce is too good to pass up on.)

If you want a beast of a Barb who smashes face and makes the Wizard look bad, not only at smarts but also at magic, consider the Duskblade. It casts from Int, and while it has a more limited spell list than the Wizard, it can use Arcane Channeling to apply those spells to terrifying effect. Get a Bloodstone two-handed weapon, maximize Vampiric Touch onto it, go into Barbarian Rage and completely shred face.

Smartly.


Oh yes. This, this, this. It's a ton of fun to play smart warblades with WRT and Iron Heart Surge.

Everything these three said :smalltongue: I'm only just learning about the awesome stuff within ToB - they far exceed me in the knowledge/build area so I suggest listening to them :smallbiggrin:

[Particle_Man]

You should name him Roy. :smallsmile:

[Flickerdart]

You can be a barbarian (stereotype) without being a barbarian (class). Be a factotum, walk around in furs, disregard grammar, swing a big honkin' axe, and grow a beard longer than most dwarves are tall.

[Lyndworm]

I would guess some knowledge devotion, but that's all I can think of.
You could take Knowledge Devotion...
Knowledge Devotion is one of my favorite feats, but I'm afraid that it's terrible on most Barbarians. You can't use Knowledge skills while raging, so you can't use Knowledge Devotion either.

It is, however, fantastic for Factotums and really good for Warblades.

[Urpriest]

To echo what others have said, taking a few levels of Barbarian and then going into Warblade is generally a pretty solid build. It's often said that Warblade is the best Barbarian prestige class.

[ddude987]

I can see three different ways to go about this:

-the factotum into chameleon approach, emulating rage with chameleon and using Int with the factotum class.

-If you want to make use of int, I suppose 1 level in rogue and then into barbarian and go looking for traps to use your Int score.

-Grab 2 levels of Barbarian, trading for Lion Totem, and then enter Warblade.

You enter with initiator level 1 so when you hit 4 warblade and get a second stance, your initiator level will be 5 so you can get a level 3 stance. If you choose to not take the barbarian class you can still act like a barbarian in personality, gear choice, and the like. Also, as a side note, the barbarian class has Listen and survival, both of which are Wis based skills, so that is a valid use for Wisdom.