Half-Orc Barbarian

[HauntWrigs]

I have been invited to join up with a new group of players to play Pathfinder. I've never played but I want to hang with these guys so I agreed. I don't plan to buy any of the books so I want to stick strictly to the PRD available online. I've decided to create a Half-Orc Barbarian and I just rolled for my abilities at got these scores:


10
15
11
15
12
8

I don't want to be well-rounded--I want to be the best barbarian I can be, despite any faults I may have. Which ability score should be the highest? How would you rank them in order of importance? (REMINDER: A Half-Orc get +2 to any one Ability Score.)

Also, do you have any tips for Rage Powers?

Thanks in advance.

[torrasque666]

Plug a 15 into both STR and CON. Rage is 4 + CON +(2*Level) per day so a high CON can keep you raging, thereby boosting your Strength. Possibly put that +2 to CON as well, then you'll have a +3, come 4th plug another point in for +4. Or you might want to put that other 15 into DEX so you can eventually start tripping all day, ere' day with a spiked chain(which i believe Half-Orcs can get proficiency in for an ART)

Side note: You don't have to buy a single book anyway. Everything on the PFSRD is Paizo so the only real reason to have a book is for a situation where you might need it and not have internet access. Except for the things that say 3rd party. Most don't allow those due to being 3rd partyish.

[Aergoth]

Your priorities as a barbarian are to be big and strong. I would advise that your constitution be among your two highest scores. The number of rounds of rage you have is keyed off of your constitution modifier and raging will increase your strength. You'll also be able to make the most out of your d12 hit die.

Right up there with constiution is strength, since there aren't a lot of longbow barbarians. You'll want strength to leverage your d12 hit die by getting into people's faces and being murderous and angry. You could put strength higher than constitution if you so chose, since there's a lot of skills and useful things keyed off of strength.

Ideally then what your stats might look like is

17 (Str/Con)
15 (Str/Con)
12 Dex (For the AC modifier)
11 (Wis)
10 (Cha/Int)
8 (Int/Cha)

Whichever stat you elect to take as a dump stat is up to you. If you're not going to be an intimidating barbarian Cha is a good stat to ignore. You can also get around Cha/Intimidate issues by taking a feat that lets you add your strength modifier to intimidate (your muscles will be very scary). I'd recommend dumping charisma since you don't have that many skill points anyways. Having the extra point in Wis might be helpful if you run into enemies with ability drain later on down the road, but you could also shuffle that wherever you have need of it.

[grarrrg]

Plug a 15 into both STR and CON. Rage is 4 + CON +(2*Level) per day so a high CON can keep you raging, thereby boosting your Strength. Possibly put that +2 to CON as well, then you'll have a +3, come 4th plug another point in for +4. Or you might want to put that other 15 into DEX so you can eventually start tripping all day, ere' day with a spiked chain(which i believe Half-Orcs can get proficiency in for an ART)

Spiked Chain is bad now. It lost reach. That and you can Trip with _any_ weapon now.


The 15's go into STR and CON, the 8 goes in CHA.
The rest don't much matter. +1 AC/Initiative, +1 Skill/level, or +1 Will Save. All have advantages.


What books are allowed? A Half-Orc can make a very nice Barbarian, but it would help if certain things were available.

[HauntWrigs]

What books are allowed? A Half-Orc can make a very nice Barbarian, but it would help if certain things were available.

Two of the players only have the Core Rulebook while one of them also has the Advanced Player's Guide. It looks like the information (sans artwork) is available on the PRD. What would you suggest (if they were available)?

[grarrrg]

Two of the players only have the Core Rulebook while one of them also has the Advanced Player's Guide. It looks like the information (sans artwork) is available on the PRD. What would you suggest (if they were available)?

Well, start by reading (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1plVgdYb5KYxtXiysgd_pzdK-37PCmz2u9VzpuvNPDdo/edit?pli=1) a Guide (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?233032-PF-Anger-Management-A-Pathfinder-Guide-to-the-Barbarian&p=12732426#post12732426) if you haven't already.

Next, start trading away Race Features (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/core-races/half-orc).
If you are OK with skipping the Intimidate route, then trade that away for something, can get a variety of small Skill bonuses, or the Endurance Feat. Probably go with the feat, it's not that great on its own, but it is a pre-req for some decent stuff.
Next, decide if you want Orc Ferocity, +1 Luck to all Saves, or a Bite attack.
For Alt-Favored Class bonus, they can get +1 Round of Rage, or 'borrow' the Human bonus of +1/3 to the Superstitious Rage Power (read up on Superstitious, and decide if that's what you want or not, it can be quite good AND very annoying).

Then pick an Archetype (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/barbarian#TOC-Archetypes-Alternate-Class-Features).
Invulnerable Rager (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/barbarian/archetypes/paizo---barbarian-archetypes/invulnerable-rager) is solid, but another may suit your needs better.

Then comes the Rage Powers and Feats...there's a good variety of stuff you can do here. This is where reading a Guide gets handy. Suffice to say, Half-Orcs and Orcs get access to some of the more fun 'barbarian' flavor feats.

[HauntWrigs]

Well, start by reading (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1plVgdYb5KYxtXiysgd_pzdK-37PCmz2u9VzpuvNPDdo/edit?pli=1) a Guide (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?233032-PF-Anger-Management-A-Pathfinder-Guide-to-the-Barbarian&p=12732426#post12732426) if you haven't already.

Next, start trading away Race Features (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/core-races/half-orc).
If you are OK with skipping the Intimidate route, then trade that away for something, can get a variety of small Skill bonuses, or the Endurance Feat. Probably go with the feat, it's not that great on its own, but it is a pre-req for some decent stuff.
Next, decide if you want Orc Ferocity, +1 Luck to all Saves, or a Bite attack.
For Alt-Favored Class bonus, they can get +1 Round of Rage, or 'borrow' the Human bonus of +1/3 to the Superstitious Rage Power (read up on Superstitious, and decide if that's what you want or not, it can be quite good AND very annoying).

Then pick an Archetype (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/barbarian#TOC-Archetypes-Alternate-Class-Features).
Invulnerable Rager (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/barbarian/archetypes/paizo---barbarian-archetypes/invulnerable-rager) is solid, but another may suit your needs better.

Then comes the Rage Powers and Feats...there's a good variety of stuff you can do here. This is where reading a Guide gets handy. Suffice to say, Half-Orcs and Orcs get access to some of the more fun 'barbarian' flavor feats.

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I did trade out some Race Features but I didn't grab the Endurance Feat. I have yet to pick an archetype--still not sure how that works exactly. Picked out some gnarly Rage Powers, though.

My first experience with the group will be tomorrow night (Monday). I'm looking forward to meeting up with them. Earlier my son asked me if there were other Barbarians in the group and I suddenly realized that I know nothing about the party. To be honest, I know nothing about the guys I'll be gaming with.

I'll definitely post here how it goes. I suspect that all of the missing holes in my character will be filled in by the DM. Thanks for all of your suggestions!