Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
Ok then. Cool idea, but a lot of the feats here are dramatically worse than others. I know they're bonus feats, but... Ape gives you Power Attack, Horse gives you Run? That seems kind of harsh.
Most barbarians will be taking Power Attack at 1st level either way. The ape gets to choose his first level feat, while everyone else gets theirs chosen for them, essentially.

Neat and flavorful. Approve.
Thank you.

I see what you're doing here. Nifty, and makes different barbarians feel pretty different, with the range of abilities.
Indeed.

All very good and flavorful, but... why do you count as a higher level druid? The druid's animal companion is already both silly-good and an in-game problem in that it's basically a second character that you control, doubling the length of your turn. It's not as bad with a barbarian, since he's not a spellcaster, but... I'd leave it at barbarian level = druid level.
Because I wanted the ability to come online at 4th level and lions are a -6 level adjustment animal.


Huh. On the one hand, this is a nifty ability. On the other hand... barbarians are traditionally anti-magic. Having an explicitly magical ability in the class feels wrong to me, somehow. Perhaps present an ACF that trades this in for a more mundane ability?
I don't think so. It's really just a connection with the wild. My barbarian is much more half-animal/jungle than the traditional barbarian. It's just my chosen flavor/direction.

(oh, and it also has the wild shape problems of lasting all day and making physical stats irrelevant, although the limit to one specific animal makes it less overbearing)
Those aren't problems for a character who won't be contributing out of combat, in my opinion. Let him relax in animal form all day if he likes. He's perfectly capable of destroying creatures in either form.

Nice to see this come online earlier, although I think you could still move it up.
Since it stacks with totem shape, it's actually a lot more powerful than it used to be.

Cool capstone, but the fact that you got a very similar ability back at level five makes it a lot less exciting. Lycanthropy is easier to mesh with the classic barbarian than wildshaping, somehow, so that's good.
Er...they're actually quite different. Have you seen the lycanthrope template? Rather than replacing your existing stats, you take your real stats and add the animals stats -10 to them. So a werebear lord barbarian would change his Strength score to 31 with Totem Shape, but he would increase his base Strength score by +20 with Alternate Form. (And that stacks with Mighty Rage, of course)

Plus, you get a hybrid form that can use manufactured weapons and wear armor. You also get scent, DR 20/Silver, +2 Wisdom, blah blah blah.

Everything is very solid, but... you still don't have many options in combat. You can power attack, and you can turn into one specific animal, and... well... power attack. Some of the totems grant nifty powers, but you'll still be a fairly low-trick pony. Sorry if that seems harsh, but the Tome of Battle casts a long shadow over all other melee classes. Not so much in power, but in options-- being really good at one thing is generally much less fun than being able to do many things, or even just that one thing in different ways.

My recommendation would be to... well... you can look at my own fix and see what my options are. I would encourage you to look at something like the Pathfinder rage powers, though-- in addition to adding options and customization, they make rage (the iconic barbarian ability) a vital part of the class, rather than just a generic self-buff.
I appreciate your suggestion, but I have no interest in adding other options to the class. This entire remix has only one purpose, and that is to cement the barbarian as having very specific flavor, that being a wild savage warrior who draws upon the power of an animal as he releases his anger in combat. Adding non-animal abilities would be detrimental to my original goal.