Help building character

[Stryyke]

So 3.5, most first party sources accepted.

The character concept is a Goliath, from Races of stone. He uses a great hammer, and 4 throwing axes for ranged work. He wears no armor, and nothing but pants.

Goliaths have lithoderms, coin-sized bone and skin growths as hard as pebbles speckled across their bodies. In the tribe my character grew up in, one lithoderm is pierced for every giant killed, and young Goliaths aren't respected as adults until all their lithoderms are pierced.

Though goliaths as a race aren't warlike, this particular tribe had such a life forced on them because of a number of nearby Giant tribes that were constantly trying to enslave my character's tribe.

The Giants successfully captured and enslaved someone from my character's tribe, prompting the whole tribe to attack. Though every giant was defeated, only my character survived. He couldn't find another tribe because of the shame involved in failing to save his enslaved brethren, so he began his life of exile.

He still needs 5 more giant kills to be considered an "adult" so he goes to the nearest settlement to join a party, and get his last 5 kills.

The idea is that in lieu of armor, he has his lithoderm piercings enchanted to provide defensive bonuses.

Now I know that often Goliaths tend toward barbarian, but "my character" doesn't like the downside of rage. So I'm looking for a strength based melee class that would be ideal for this type of build.

With the 1 LA, I have 2 class levels.

[MisterKaws]

Dungeoncrasher Fighter is a natural choice for Goliath.

I gotta advise you that the choice for no armor is a bit sub-par. Maybe you could get your DM to re-fluff Dragonscale Husk into some lithoderm version for you?

[Darrin]

The idea is that in lieu of armor, he has his lithoderm piercings enchanted to provide defensive bonuses.

Now I know that often Goliaths tend toward barbarian, but "my character" doesn't like the downside of rage. So I'm looking for a strength based melee class that would be ideal for this type of build.


There are two Rage variants that don't involve horking up your Constitution or constantly recalculating your HPs. In Uneathed Arcana, there's the Whirling Frenzy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#rageVariantWhirlingFrenzy ) ACF that buffs your Strength and gives you an extra attack along with an AC/Reflex bonus. The second is Ferocity from the Cityscape Web Enhancement Part 1 (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a), which essentially shifts the Constitution bonus to Dexterity while giving you a penalty on ranged attacks.

If you just don't like any version of Rage at all, there's also a "Simple" Barbarian variant (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#barbarian) in Unearthed Arcana that trades away Rage for the Ranger's Archery Combat Style. When you combine this variant with the Wolf Totem (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#wolfTotemClassFeatures ) for Improved Trip and Spirit Lion Totem (Complete Champion) for Pounce, you get quite a potent mix of class abilities/feats for only a 2-level investment.

Ok, as for class levels, Ranger is the easiest entry into Goliath Liberator, which is your racially-sanctioned PrC for hunting down and killing giants. Ranger 4/Scout 4 (or Ranger 3/Scout 4/Barbarian 1 for Pounce) lets you take Swift Hunter and gets you into Goliath Liberator around ECL 10-ish. If you want to TWF with a two-handed greathammer, you can take Improved Unarmed Strike as your offhand attack. Otherwise, you can take Quickdraw and use the Archery feats for your throwing axes.

I would also consider the Wildshape Ranger variant from Unearthed Arcana, not necessarily so you can turn into animals, but so you can pick up the Stone Form feat from Races of Stone. This allows you to convert your Wild Shape uses into a +4 Natural Armor bonus. Duration appears to be the same for Wild Shape, so with enough Ranger levels, it's essentially an all-day bonus. If "Stone Form" counts as a form other than your own, then adding some Warshaper (Complete Warrior) levels would be quite nice.

The other class I'd suggest would be take a look at Totemist in Magic of Incarnum. It's got some tribal flavor, and you can invest essentia into soulmelds like Totem Avatar and Wormtail Belt to buff up your natural armor bonus. If you're going to rely on lithoderms for armor, might as well crank out the best armor bonus you can get out of them.

[Particle_Man]

Warblade comes to mind, as a barbarian substitute.

[RNightstalker]

Stoneblessed and Fist of the Forest would go quite well together with what you want.

[Falontani]

You don't like the downsides of rage, meaning the skills, the concentration, and the fatigue that comes with it. Perhaps the lapse in ac as well.
You are also a giant hunter. You in fact, do not want armor. But would like to throw a few hand axes and use a giant hammer.

1. If you want a simple option, Warblade is your best choice. Possibly grab 2 monk levels and carmendine monk with it for intelligence to ac, unarmed strike when you want it, and you've got yourself a decently intelligence/strength based tactical warrior. Hidden Talent into Warmind (and convince your dm for int based manifesting) and you've got yourself a powerful build if nothing else.
2. Crafty Hunter Barbarian will get you better with thrown weaponry while allowing you to focus on melee.

3. Got cut