ocato
2008-10-20, 08:03 PM
So, I have an NPC I like to use who doesn't have a very firm set of stats. I know what abilities he has, but I don't have a concrete build for him. I'm aware that as a DM it's my privilege to do stuff like that, but it also bugs me. It kind of bugs me a lot. Especially because I like the character and may try to use him as a PC one day.
The character is a Goliath Barbarian/Ranger mix, having both a powerful animal companion (a dire badger for flavor reasons) and a big two handed weapon. The two of them tend to rage in unison and are meant to be seen as anything but push-overs. So my question is how do I create this character to Rage and have an animal companion that has good progression.
First I thought something simple: Barbarian 1/Ranger X. However, the ranger's animal companion is kind of so-so by itself, and diluting that with a barbarian level doesn't really make this an appealing choice.
Then I thought of the Prestige Ranger: Barbarian 4/Druid 1/ Prestige Ranger X. However that means I have to pay three feats (endurance, track, and either rapid shot or TWF) to get into the Prestige Ranger, and I don't even want to use two weapons or a bow. I'd get pretty weak druid casting at the cost of 1 Base Attack, a bunch of abilities I don't want, and CL-4 animal companion progression. Natural Bond makes that CL-1, but it's a bit of hoping around to get a bunch of stuff I don't necessarily need.
So then I thought Barbarian 5/Beast master 10. Beast master has full base attack, plenty of pretty bonuses that fit the flavor of the Barbarian who is closer to nature like scent and speak with animals, and none of that Ranger crap I didn't want anyway. Barbarian 5 gives me 2 rages a day, improved uncanny dodge and trap sense. That's pretty much all I really needed from the Barbarian levels.
The problem? The main feature of the class is that it gives you 4 animal companions. Friendly with animals was part of the character, being a shepherd was not. I know I can just not take them, but that seems like a bad idea. I was thinking I could homebrew some sort of progression where instead of getting more weaker animal companions, I'd just improve the one I have. For example, at L6 (barbarian 5/beast master 1), I'd have an animal companion as a L4 druid (or, since I went Dire Badger, a L1 druid). At Beast Master L4 (ECL 9, not counting Goliath level), my main companion would be as a L4 druid (+3 beastmaster bonus, -3 for a second tier companion). Instead of getting a new animal companion at a -3 level penalty, I'd simply up my animal companion progression by 2. So now I'm ECL 9 and have an animal companion as if I were a L6 druid. At Beastmaster L7 (ECL 12), instead of getting another animal companion at a -6 level penalty, I'd add 2 levels to my existing animal companion. Now I'm ECL 12 and have an effective druid level of 11 for my companion. At beastmaster 10 (ECL 15), instead of getting another animal at a -9 level penalty, I'd just add 3 to my existing animal companion. So now I'm L15 and I have an animal companion of a L17 druid. Of course now I'm out of Beastmaster levels, so I'd go back to barbarian or find a new prestige class, and probably end up at L20 with the same companion of effective druid level 17. Natural bond would help a little in middle levels and mean that at L17+ my animal companion would follow me in levels up to 20.
If anyone has any ideas about how to do this better or would like to poke holes or promote one of the ideas presented, I'd really appreciate the help. Also if any feats, variant classes, or other neat tricks pop into your heads, please let me know. Thanks.
The character is a Goliath Barbarian/Ranger mix, having both a powerful animal companion (a dire badger for flavor reasons) and a big two handed weapon. The two of them tend to rage in unison and are meant to be seen as anything but push-overs. So my question is how do I create this character to Rage and have an animal companion that has good progression.
First I thought something simple: Barbarian 1/Ranger X. However, the ranger's animal companion is kind of so-so by itself, and diluting that with a barbarian level doesn't really make this an appealing choice.
Then I thought of the Prestige Ranger: Barbarian 4/Druid 1/ Prestige Ranger X. However that means I have to pay three feats (endurance, track, and either rapid shot or TWF) to get into the Prestige Ranger, and I don't even want to use two weapons or a bow. I'd get pretty weak druid casting at the cost of 1 Base Attack, a bunch of abilities I don't want, and CL-4 animal companion progression. Natural Bond makes that CL-1, but it's a bit of hoping around to get a bunch of stuff I don't necessarily need.
So then I thought Barbarian 5/Beast master 10. Beast master has full base attack, plenty of pretty bonuses that fit the flavor of the Barbarian who is closer to nature like scent and speak with animals, and none of that Ranger crap I didn't want anyway. Barbarian 5 gives me 2 rages a day, improved uncanny dodge and trap sense. That's pretty much all I really needed from the Barbarian levels.
The problem? The main feature of the class is that it gives you 4 animal companions. Friendly with animals was part of the character, being a shepherd was not. I know I can just not take them, but that seems like a bad idea. I was thinking I could homebrew some sort of progression where instead of getting more weaker animal companions, I'd just improve the one I have. For example, at L6 (barbarian 5/beast master 1), I'd have an animal companion as a L4 druid (or, since I went Dire Badger, a L1 druid). At Beast Master L4 (ECL 9, not counting Goliath level), my main companion would be as a L4 druid (+3 beastmaster bonus, -3 for a second tier companion). Instead of getting a new animal companion at a -3 level penalty, I'd simply up my animal companion progression by 2. So now I'm ECL 9 and have an animal companion as if I were a L6 druid. At Beastmaster L7 (ECL 12), instead of getting another animal companion at a -6 level penalty, I'd add 2 levels to my existing animal companion. Now I'm ECL 12 and have an effective druid level of 11 for my companion. At beastmaster 10 (ECL 15), instead of getting another animal at a -9 level penalty, I'd just add 3 to my existing animal companion. So now I'm L15 and I have an animal companion of a L17 druid. Of course now I'm out of Beastmaster levels, so I'd go back to barbarian or find a new prestige class, and probably end up at L20 with the same companion of effective druid level 17. Natural bond would help a little in middle levels and mean that at L17+ my animal companion would follow me in levels up to 20.
If anyone has any ideas about how to do this better or would like to poke holes or promote one of the ideas presented, I'd really appreciate the help. Also if any feats, variant classes, or other neat tricks pop into your heads, please let me know. Thanks.