Bear Warrior Build?

[CaPtMalHammer]

So I am currently playing in a game where I have a dwarf barbarian 2/fighter 2 who will be going into fist of the forest and bear warrior. I wanted to do so at 5th but due to roleplaying etc. The Guardians of the green storyline has just started and I wont have that requirement by level 5. What should I take as my level 5 class then while I wait to fulfill that roleplaying requirement? eventually the build will be :

Barb:2
Fighter:2
Fist:3
Bear:5
Warshaper:4
Deep Warden:2

so I have 2 open levels still that I can take but what should I take?

[Darrin]

What books are available? Or more specifically, is Tome of Battle available? If so, then Warblade 1 or Crusader 1.

If not... what feats have you taken? Is retraining available?

[CaPtMalHammer]

No tomb of battle unfortuntly. Retraining?

Feats:

Improved Unarmed Strike,
Power Attack
Great Fortitude

(All for the eventual prestige into Fist of the Forest which will still happen even if not this level)

and Extra Rage.

Complete books, PH1 and 2, Race of Desitny, Stone and Wild.

[CaPtMalHammer]

Anyone have a suggestion for a single level before prestige can happen? was thinking either simple Barabarian level or maybe a Ranger level?

[ExLibrisMortis]

Duskblade may seem like a weird choice, but it provides some nice save bumps, a few spells, and a few SLAs. Useful if you want to use wands of dispel magic later on.

[CaPtMalHammer]

maybe but mostly going to be unarmed attacks and natural attacks. not really going to use weapons or wands of any kind:)

[Darrin]

Battle Dancer 1 (Dragon Compendium) can get you Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat, which may free up a feat slot for something else. Charisma bonus to AC on a melee dwarf... feh. Maybe switch to Gold Dwarf to shift the Cha penalty to Dex.

If ACFs are available, there's the Trapkiller ACF in Dungeonscape for Barbarian 3. I'm not sure how useful will be, but it's got some flavor, and it folds in nicely to the "Hulk Smash!" toolkit.

If you'd prefer more of a traditional trapmonkey, Ranger 1 with the Trap Expert ACF (same book) can disable traps with a bit more finesse, but will require a lot more (cross-class) skill points to stay competent at it. I would also take the Spiritual Connection ACF (Complete Champion) for the speak with animal/plant SLAs, as direct speech is more likely to produce useful information than whatever Wild Empathy could do for you. Arcane Hunter ACF (Complete Mage) would also probably be useful. And while we're at it... if you traded away Fast Movement for Pounce, then you could get it back by taking the Simple Ranger variant (Unearthed Arcana, trades Combat Style for Wild Shape).

So, I think Ranger 1 gets you the most bang-for-your-buck:

* Trap Expert ACF for trapfinding
* Spiritual Connection ACF for speak with animals/plants 3/day.
* Arcane Hunter ACF for Favored Enemy: Arcanists.
* Simple Ranger for Fast Movement.
* Ranger spell-trigger items (instant of power, blades of fire).
* Skilled City-Dweller ACF for more Tumble ranks.

[Darrin]

My apologies, I forgot you specified which sourcebooks were available. I think Ranger 1 is still your best option, at least from a mechanical standpoint.



* Track is... possibly useful? (I have not found it so.)
* Spiritual Connection ACF for speak with animals/plants 3/day.
* Arcane Hunter ACF for Favored Enemy: Arcanists.
* Ranger spell-trigger items (CLW, entangle, blockade, embrace the wild, healing lorecall).


I'm not sure I can really address the "story" issues or whether this fits your character concept.