Half-Orc Barbarian Wrestler Help!

[Georgemew]

Hey all,

So I'm fairly new to 3.5 after playing a butt-ton of 4th (yeah I know) and 5th. I'm playing an 8th level campaign with a friend, and I got inspired by the Los Tiburon post on 1d4chan (Have a look at the Monk article, I can't post links yet :smalltongue:).

What I want to do is create a masked wrestler type character not unlike Killbane from Saints Row 3, who uses a Heavy Flail for unworthy opponents, only to hurl it aside and engage in glorious hand-to-hand combat once a suitable foe is found.

I was thinking of going Barbarian with all the relevant feats for grappling and unarmed damage, using spiked armour to get a bit of extra damage in there. I reason Barbarian as they get all the cool bonuses from raging to push strength into the stratosphere, and putting skill points into climb and jump for some great elbow drops and dramatic entrances.
Am I doing a bad thing by using a Barbarian in lieu of a Fighter or a Monk? I wanted to stray away from Monks because they focus more on Dex, and my friend is playing a Monk as my tag-team partner.

I'm using the SRD for pretty much everything, as well as the Magic Items Compendium for cool stuff where we have around a 15,500 GP budget on items. I'd ideally like to have a mask and cape for the full Luchadore look.

Any advice would be well appreciated!

[Erit]

You say you're using the SRD for pretty much everything, but are you limited to it by your own volition or by the will of the table? Because if the former, a lot of people are going to suggest that you look into Tome of Battle material; the Superior Unarmed Strike feat gives you the unarmed strike progression of a Monk one size smaller than you if you aren't already a Monk. That coupled with Improved Natural Attack (Unarmed Strike), which is indeed a thing, lets you punch people absurdly hard. Use the item creation rules in the MiC to get yourself an item of Greater Mighty Whallop to further increase the damage of your bludgeoning hand-hammers.

If the latter, I still suggest the item of GMW and Improved Natural Attack.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Barbarian 1/warblade 7 with Crushing Weight of the Mountain as your stance. City Brawler Whirling Frenzy Spirit Bear Totem barbarian (Improved Grab + Improved Unarmed Strike, TWF when using US), you get INT to damage versus flat-footed opponents (such as the ones you have pinned), you have sweet maneuvers all over the place, and Constrict for 2d6 + 1.5 x STR, which is almost greatsword-like.

If you want a bit more oomph and don't mind losing the int-to-damage, you hit the required IL with warblade 5, so you can switch your race over to half-ogre half-minotaur goliath (+2 LA), giving you rather a bit of strength (+12), Powerful Build, and Large size.


Edit: Oops, sources. Well, just get the warblade/Spirit Bear Totem barbarian approved, they're pretty damn useful.

[Georgemew]

You say you're using the SRD for pretty much everything, but are you limited to it by your own volition or by the will of the table? Because if the former, a lot of people are going to suggest that you look into Tome of Battle material; the Superior Unarmed Strike feat gives you the unarmed strike progression of a Monk one size smaller than you if you aren't already a Monk. That coupled with Improved Natural Attack (Unarmed Strike), which is indeed a thing, lets you punch people absurdly hard. Use the item creation rules in the MiC to get yourself an item of Greater Mighty Whallop to further increase the damage of your bludgeoning hand-hammers.

If the latter, I still suggest the item of GMW and Improved Natural Attack.

I'll give it a go! Thanks!

[Erit]

and Constrict for 2d6 + 1.5 x STR, which is almost greatsword-like.

Nothing "almost" about it. You're using a greatsword as a dragonchain while having neither.



Edit: Oops, sources. Well, just get the warblade/Spirit Bear Totem barbarian approved, they're pretty damn useful.

I see your signature remains apt.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Nothing "almost" about it. You're using a greatsword as a dragonchain while having neither.
You don't get PA bonus damage, so that's a bit of a downer.


I see your signature remains apt.
:smallfrown: I can't help it!

[Erit]

You don't get PA bonus damage, so that's a bit of a downer.

And in return for not having all the damage in the world at your disposal, you're locking an enemy almost completely out of the fight barring magic. My opinion might be the heretical one, but I consider that a fair trade.

[ExLibrisMortis]

And in return for not having all the damage in the world at your disposal, you're locking an enemy almost completely out of the fight barring magic. My opinion might be the heretical one, but I consider that a fair trade.
I would tend to agree that it's not a bad trade, but it's why I called it 'almost a greatsword'. It just doesn't respond to most damage buffs like a greatsword does (e.g. Inspire Courage or Sneak Attack or magic item creation).

I have to say, now that I think about it, it'd be cool to play something like this. Maximum grapple damage and lots of attacks, and keep rolling those checks!