Classes with full BAB and heavy armor

[Jay R]

Is there any class besides Fighter that gives both heavy armor proficiency and BAB +1 at first level?

I'm trying to build a Kobold Fighter with a Dragonscale Husk. The Kobold Fighter substitution level gives up heavy armor - so I need a one-level dip in another class to get it back, so he can trade it away again.

[Arutema]

Paladin seems the obvious one, alignment restrictions may apply.

[Seerow]

Paladin, Crusader, Knight, Duskblade, and Samurai are all of the ones I can think of.

[Tzardok]

Samurai and knight are the first ones that come to mind.
Edit: Soulborn too.

[ShurikVch]

Also, Knight (Player's Handbook II) and Soulborn (Magic of Incarnum)

[Metastachydium]

Is there any class besides Fighter that gives both heavy armor proficiency and BAB +1 at first level?

Duskblade, Knight, Soulborn, Crusader, Samurai… Warrior, if you're really desperate…

Edit: Well, damn, I've been swordsaged hard.

[Inevitability]

Dwarf Paragons also count, though that's not very relevant in your particular situation unless you already happen to have 3 levels of stoneblessed in the build.

[Quentinas]

If we want to add classes from Diablo II Diablerie there is the Amazon class that is "skilled with all weapons and all armor" that has full BAB , and the barbarian (or khandurian barbarian as it is called by the book) that use the same phrase, but even the shields. Now for me these two classes are wrote quite badly but still they have the two requisite asked by OP.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Is the Kobold Fighter 1 substitution level important to the build? You could skip that one and still take the substitution levels at 2nd and 4th level.

Dipping to get Dragonscale Husk gets you the 1st level version only, it won't scale up unless you're taking more levels of classes that would otherwise grant heavy armor proficiency.

[Morphic tide]

One weird way to resolve the issue, depending on exactly how the "multiclass between variants" text is parsed and if Dragon #310 is available, is multiclassing between variants of Fighter. Targetteer 2 with the first Kobold racial substitution level and a ranged attack benefit on the second level (notably, the spears are all Simple so you're still Proficient in them, and it specifies ranged attack rather than ranged weapons so the Shortspear and intermediate-length Spear can benefit when thrown), then Dragonscale Husk with the 2nd and 4th level substitutions on the standard version could get pretty good mileage.

[ShurikVch]

How about classes from the WotC's official tabletop adaptation of Diablo II? Amazon, Barbarian, and Paladin are all get full BAB and Heavy Armor

[Jay R]

I called the thread "Player Help" because this kind of question usually is, but I'm actually the DM building NPCs.


Dipping to get Dragonscale Husk gets you the 1st level version only, it won't scale up unless you're taking more levels of classes that would otherwise grant heavy armor proficiency.

That's correct, but not a big problem, since these are 6th guys who will soon be facing the PCs. The husk will not be getting better and better over time, since I will be surprised if he survives his first fight. His 1-level husk will be AC +6, while a full one would only be +8.


Is the Kobold Fighter 1 substitution level important to the build? You could skip that one and still take the substitution levels at 2nd and 4th level.

I finally decided to do do exactly this for one of them. He loses the Dodge bonus, but he will take Weapon Focus (longspear) for his first Fighter Bonus feat, and that replaces the most important part of level 1.

I also built a Fighter 5 / Duskblade 1 with a +6 dragonscale husk, just to use the duskblade class for the first time.

Thanks for all the help, everybody. Your answers taught me a lot more that the part I used this time.

[ShurikVch]

FWIW, you can just grant those Kobolds Dodge feat via Character Flaws (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterFlaws.htm) mechanics (unless you already planned to use it for something else)

[Jay R]

FWIW, you can just grant those Kobolds Dodge feat via Character Flaws (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterFlaws.htm) mechanics (unless you already planned to use it for something else)

Yes, I can, but I didn't let the players use flaws, so I shouldn't either.

I violated that rule once -- when building a street gang of orphans, who were supposed to be disadvantaged.

[ShurikVch]

Also, isn't Dodge among the Fighter's Bonus Feats? Just take 6th level of Fighter...