The Rise of Sir Bearington. (Order of the Lycan/beasthide shifter advice)

[Moltenbrisingr]

Hey guys,

I am rolling a new character after an unfortunately successful stunning strike on Aesmodeus and i need some advice. This is the build i'm thinking

Race: Beasthide shifter
Levels:
9 Levels Order of the Lycan Blood Hunter
3 Levels Barbarian Totem Warrior Bear.

Looking for thematic ideas as well as some DM advice regarding the interaction of the two separate hybrid forms I am going to have access to, as well as choices of blood maledict, weapon and etc.

(Yes I am aware I will go berserk when I rage that's just part of the fun)

[GlenSmash!]

Nice combo.

THP from shifting should be helpful when Crimson rights have dropped your max HP. And Resistance will certainly be helpful too.

As far as I know there shouldn't be any conflict between the two forms as one takes an action to transform, and the other a bonus action too shift. Rage and shifting on the other hand...

If it's the fluff your worried about I see the two forms as complimentary rather than conflicting. Calling upon your ancestry to shift, and your "Taming" to transform.

The few problems I see are redundancy in advantage on strength checks and saving through, Rage causing you to fail Bloodlust checks, and Beasthide stats favoring Dex based Lycans of Strength based.

[Ventruenox]

The Lycan form does not have to be lupine in nature. You can RP all three shape changing forms as being some variation of the same bear nature. (Or do a Man-Bear-Pig to make the DM super-serial face slap.) The Bloodlust from the Lycan only kicks in if you take damage while raging while in Lycan form, not Shifter. So one way to view this is that you have three differing sources of power to strategically shift form in battle, or go nova and use all three at once. (If you have a few rounds to power up first - you have Bonus Action competition with Crimson Rites, Beasthide Shift, and Barbarian Rage activation)

This will be a pretty MAD build though. You need Str for Barbarian benefits, Dex for initiative and AC, Con for HP and AC, and Wis for Bloodlust saves and certain Maledicts. I would suggest starting as a Blood Hunter for proficiency in Wisdom saves. It would help if you let us know if this character is starting at level 1 or 12 for progression advice. You will need to decide if your character will be Strength or Dex based right off. Either is viable, and keep in mind that a single Crimson Rite applies to both claws when in Lycan form (bonus action attack). The Rite will fade after you revert in 10 minutes time, whereas on a singular weapon the Rite lasts until your next short/long rest, you let go of the weapon, or you go down. For sheer pun value though, I would choose a maul. Good damage and escaping enemies will report being mauled by the bear-man.

The short rest recharge features of this mix class has some appeal, and you will be able to tank like a panzer. All of your shifting forms either reduces damage or adds AC. As far as Maledicts go, Blood Curse of the Eyeless is a non-wisdom dependent good reaction use, and Mutual Suffering can be a boss slayer (especially if your DM counts total damage before the Rage reduction).

Look into taking the Tough feat for added durability, since you are mixing a glass cannon class with a frontliner one. Distinguish yourself in social settings by always being able to provide marmalade sandwiches that you keep under your hat.

[Moltenbrisingr]

The Lycan form does not have to be lupine in nature. You can RP all three shape changing forms as being some variation of the same bear nature. (Or do a Man-Bear-Pig to make the DM super-serial face slap.) The Bloodlust from the Lycan only kicks in if you take damage while raging while in Lycan form, not Shifter. So one way to view this is that you have three differing sources of power to strategically shift form in battle, or go nova and use all three at once. (If you have a few rounds to power up first - you have Bonus Action competition with Crimson Rites, Beasthide Shift, and Barbarian Rage activation)

This will be a pretty MAD build though. You need Str for Barbarian benefits, Dex for initiative and AC, Con for HP and AC, and Wis for Bloodlust saves and certain Maledicts. I would suggest starting as a Blood Hunter for proficiency in Wisdom saves. It would help if you let us know if this character is starting at level 1 or 12 for progression advice. You will need to decide if your character will be Strength or Dex based right off. Either is viable, and keep in mind that a single Crimson Rite applies to both claws when in Lycan form (bonus action attack). The Rite will fade after you revert in 10 minutes time, whereas on a singular weapon the Rite lasts until your next short/long rest, you let go of the weapon, or you go down. For sheer pun value though, I would choose a maul. Good damage and escaping enemies will report being mauled by the bear-man.

The short rest recharge features of this mix class has some appeal, and you will be able to tank like a panzer. All of your shifting forms either reduces damage or adds AC. As far as Maledicts go, Blood Curse of the Eyeless is a non-wisdom dependent good reaction use, and Mutual Suffering can be a boss slayer (especially if your DM counts total damage before the Rage reduction).

Look into taking the Tough feat for added durability, since you are mixing a glass cannon class with a frontliner one. Distinguish yourself in social settings by always being able to provide marmalade sandwiches that you keep under your hat.

Oh don't worry, its bears all the way down on this build. Also I LOVE the mauled by a bear thing. We are running an updated castle greyhawk so game balance is not a priority (we are rolling stats). Character will be level 12 to start. Also strength based all the way.

Also Funnily enough I already planned on taking the tough feat for lols.