Rage

[bartman]

I was curious if anyone could think of another way to get the rage ability or something like it, without dipping into barbarian. Is there a feat, prestige class, different base class? I know about the Frenzied Berserker, but I cant think of anything else off hand right now

[Eldariel]

Half-Orc Paragon, off the top of my head. Many PrCs get similar abilities too, like Fist of the Forests and Wildrunner (Complete Champ and RotW respectively).

[the_archduke]

Half-orc paragon from UA gets rage 1/day at level 2

edit: Ninja'd

[golem1972]

symbiote from fiend folio - gutworm

has incite rage ability - no limit on times per day

[Last Laugh]

I know of
Eye of Grumush(CW) gives rage and stacks with barbarian levels to determine # per day
and
Half-Orc Paragon (UA) gives rage at second level. Also +2 to str and no alignment restrictions.

Half Ninja'd

[Fineous Orlon]

Avenging Druid from Unearthed Arcana gets rage [starting at 1st], and you'd be a druid....

He loses a bit as well. DanD wiki is good on it.

Good Hunting

[HunterOfJello]

there are a few ways. barbarian dips are awesome though, you get +10 ft running speed and rage right off the bat


also, there are tons of alternate class features that are really great like Pounce instead of Fast Movement or Whirling Frenzy instead of Rage

[Person_Man]

Here you go.

[bartman]

awesome post Person_Man, thanks alot

gives me alot to think about

I am trying to make a Wolverine type build, using the Sword and Fist Bladed Gauntlets that I am going to try and figure out how to make extend and retract.

Anyone every build a wolverine build?

I want to try and do it in 12 levels if that is possible, without templates (found the Disciple of Dispater PrC and love the 3x crit range feature, so will be ending the build with 8 levels of DoD)

[Dusk Eclipse]

.... Shifter totemist with sphinx claws bonded to arms or totem chakra ( I don't remember which one, then enter into totem rager and be good.

[Greenish]

I am trying to make a Wolverine type build, using the Sword and Fist Bladed Gauntlets that I am going to try and figure out how to make extend and retract.

Anyone every build a wolverine build?

Totemist/Totem Rager? Sphinx Claws are essentially the Wolverine blades, if the art is to be believed, and can be extended and retracted without action.

[Edit]: Ninjaed. Sphinx Claws give Claw attacks when bound to Totem chakra, Pounce (with natural weapons only) when bound to Hands, I seem to recall.

[2.Edit]:Here it is (along with totemist class).

[bartman]

Hmm, im gonna have to read Magic of Incarnum, ive been staying away from that and Tom of Magic, mainly because I mainly play melee, or warlock (tried a sorcerer, wasn't pretty) The whole Incarnum thing is another layer that I would have to read and understand.

For the wolverine build, I was thinking more along the lines of fightre/barbarian, or something like that.

guess I have some reading to do...

[Greenish]

Hmm, im gonna have to read Magic of Incarnum, ive been staying away from that and Tom of Magic, mainly because I mainly play melee, or warlock (tried a sorcerer, wasn't pretty)

MoI has three melee classes (though you can build totemist or Chaos Incarnate as ranged).

The whole Incarnum thing is another layer that I would have to read and understand.

guess I have some reading to do...

In my opinion, it's worth it.

For the wolverine build, I was thinking more along the lines of fightre/barbarian, or something like that.

Outside MoI, Tiger Claw styles from ToB would work, it even had a stance called Wolverine's Fury or something (which is very situational though). Then just claw-like weapons or slight refluffing of Unarmed Swordsage.

[Person_Man]

Anyone every build a wolverine build?

Classic King of Smack formula:

Claws of the Beast + Claws of the Vampire + anything that increases your virtual or actual size and/or manifester level + Karmic Strike and/or Robilar's Gambit

Claws of the Beast gives you scaled claw damage. Anything that increases your actual or effective size increases that damage. It's not hard to get 12d6ish damage by level 12. Expansion + Improved Natural Attack + Totem Avater will do it. You might also want to look at Overchannel, Midnight Augmentation, Practiced Manifester, and/or a Totemist/Psychic Warrior/Soul Manifester build. Oh, and Claws of the Beast lasts all day, and since they're part of your body they can't be Sundered. (Though you still have to deal with them being Dispelled). Nearly unbreakable claws: Check!

Claws of the Vampire heals you 50% of your claw damage. So you can essentially heal yourself back up to full hit points every round. And you have other nifty psionic powers that can give you temporary hit points, DR, AC, etc. Healing Factor: Check!

Karmic Strike gives you an AoO whenever an enemy hits you in melee. Robilar's Gambit gives you an AoO whenever an enemy swings at you in melee. When combined with Claws of the Beast and Vampire, it's nearly impossible to kill you in one turn in melee unless someone one-shots you. You're still vulnerable to ranged attacks, magic, etc. But these can be covered by other psionic powers which boost your abilities. You also get easy access to Hustle and Psionic Pounce, so you never have trouble moving yourself to wherever you want to be. Angry rage that let's you move around the battlefield quickly and punishes enemies for coming close to you: Check!

Any questions?

[Dusk Eclipse]

Classic King of Smack formula:

Claws of the Beast + Claws of the Vampire + anything that increases your virtual or actual size and/or manifester level + Karmic Strike and/or Robilar's Gambit

Claws of the Beast gives you scaled claw damage. Anything that increases your actual or effective size increases that damage. It's not hard to get 12d6ish damage by level 12. Expansion + Improved Natural Attack + Totem Avater will do it. You might also want to look at Overchannel, Midnight Augmentation, Practiced Manifester, and/or a Totemist/Psychic Warrior/Soul Manifester build. Oh, and Claws of the Beast lasts all day, and since they're part of your body they can't be Sundered. (Though you still have to deal with them being Dispelled). Nearly unbreakable claws: Check!

Claws of the Vampire heals you 50% of your claw damage. So you can essentially heal yourself back up to full hit points every round. And you have other nifty psionic powers that can give you temporary hit points, DR, AC, etc. Healing Factor: Check!

Karmic Strike gives you an AoO whenever an enemy hits you in melee. Robilar's Gambit gives you an AoO whenever an enemy swings at you in melee. When combined with Claws of the Beast and Vampire, it's nearly impossible to kill you in one turn in melee unless someone one-shots you. You're still vulnerable to ranged attacks, magic, etc. But these can be covered by other psionic powers which boost your abilities. You also get easy access to Hustle and Psionic Pounce, so you never have trouble moving yourself to wherever you want to be. Angry rage that let's you move around the battlefield quickly and punishes enemies for coming close to you: Check!

Any questions?

Yes, what would be the optimal entry to do a totemist based soul manifester

something like totemis 2/ Psywar...4?

[LichPrinceAlim]

Let's not forget Sohei from OA, who gets Ki Frenzy

[bartman]

Classic King of Smack formula:

Claws of the Beast + Claws of the Vampire + anything that increases your virtual or actual size and/or manifester level + Karmic Strike and/or Robilar's Gambit

Claws of the Beast gives you scaled claw damage. Anything that increases your actual or effective size increases that damage. It's not hard to get 12d6ish damage by level 12. Expansion + Improved Natural Attack + Totem Avater will do it. You might also want to look at Overchannel, Midnight Augmentation, Practiced Manifester, and/or a Totemist/Psychic Warrior/Soul Manifester build. Oh, and Claws of the Beast lasts all day, and since they're part of your body they can't be Sundered. (Though you still have to deal with them being Dispelled). Nearly unbreakable claws: Check!

Claws of the Vampire heals you 50% of your claw damage. So you can essentially heal yourself back up to full hit points every round. And you have other nifty psionic powers that can give you temporary hit points, DR, AC, etc. Healing Factor: Check!

Karmic Strike gives you an AoO whenever an enemy hits you in melee. Robilar's Gambit gives you an AoO whenever an enemy swings at you in melee. When combined with Claws of the Beast and Vampire, it's nearly impossible to kill you in one turn in melee unless someone one-shots you. You're still vulnerable to ranged attacks, magic, etc. But these can be covered by other psionic powers which boost your abilities. You also get easy access to Hustle and Psionic Pounce, so you never have trouble moving yourself to wherever you want to be. Angry rage that let's you move around the battlefield quickly and punishes enemies for coming close to you: Check!

Any questions?

OK, this is just awesome!
No questions at the moment, but I may get back to you about it.
now I have to read up on Psionics as well as the whole Incarnum thing...

[Person_Man]

Yes, what would be the optimal entry to do a totemist based soul manifester

something like totemis 2/ Psywar...4?

If your goal is offense, then Totemist 2/Psychic Warrior 4/Soul Manifester X/Anything that progresses psionic powers Y is probably your best bet.

If your goal is balance, then consider Incarnate 3/Psychic Warrior 4/Soul Manifester X. This trades the offensive power of the Totemist (tons of natural weapons, boosts to those natural weapons, and plenty of mobility) in place of the defense and utility of the Incarnate (SR, bonus hit points, concealment, near immunity to ranged attacks, UMD, Skill boosts).

If your goal is defense or battlefield control, then don't play a King of Smack build.

Also, I would add that Incarnum generally requires several read through in order to understand it. It's very complex. So if you want to play with a Totemist or Incarnate, you should consider strait Totemist 20 or Incarnate 20 before messing with multiclassing and prestige classes.

[Dusk Eclipse]

If your goal is offense, then Totemist 2/Psychic Warrior 4/Soul Manifester X/Anything that progresses psionic powers Y is probably your best bet.

If your goal is balance, then consider Incarnate 3/Psychic Warrior 4/Soul Manifester X. This trades the offensive power of the Totemist (tons of natural weapons, boosts to those natural weapons, and plenty of mobility) in place of the defense and utility of the Incarnate (SR, bonus hit points, concealment, near immunity to ranged attacks, UMD, Skill boosts).

If your goal is defense or battlefield control, then don't play a King of Smack build.

Also, I would add that Incarnum generally requires several read through in order to understand it. It's very complex. So if you want to play with a Totemist or Incarnate, you should consider strait Totemist 20 or Incarnate 20 before messing with multiclassing and prestige classes.

I am pretty familiar with incarnium thanks to Sinfire Titan's handbooks on the matter and I have also played totemist up to 10-ish levels, so I think I can do it.

but since claws of the beast already provide a good natural attack the incarnate/psy warrior/soul manifester sounds great, now what would be the best aligment for this?.. IIRC lwful incarnates got some good options but I am not sure

[Curmudgeon]

I think there's an overlooked PrC in that list: the Berserk, which is part of the Deities and Demigods content not released as OGC. This one's a bit tricky, though, because the ability is actually called Battle Fury, but the class description says this:

Berserks whip themselves into a battle frenzy, biting their shields and howling like animals. They are ferocious fighters and seemingly insensitive to pain while this madness lasts. Berserks make formidable enemies. In their rage they have even been known to attack the boulders and trees of the forest, and it is not uncommon for them to kill their own people.

To me, this seems like it should count for either rage or frenzy.

[Eldariel]

I think there's an overlooked PrC in that list: the Berserk, which is part of the Deities and Demigods content not released as OGC. This one's a bit tricky, though, because the ability is actually called Battle Fury, but the class description says this: To me, this seems like it should count for either rage or frenzy.

It's practically identical to Frenzied Berserker (except for the bonuses of the Frenzy itself) so yeah, I'd say it definitely qualifies as "Frenzy".

[sofawall]

It's very complex.

People keep saying that, but both myself and my DM got it on one read-through, with a bit of looking back at some specific rules (mainly what do they look like).

[Person_Man]

I am pretty familiar with incarnium thanks to Sinfire Titan's handbooks on the matter and I have also played totemist up to 10-ish levels, so I think I can do it.

but since claws of the beast already provide a good natural attack the incarnate/psy warrior/soul manifester sounds great, now what would be the best aligment for this?.. IIRC lwful incarnates got some good options but I am not sure

I would go with Lawful for the bonus To-Hit (especially important with your piss poor BAB). If you can put together a sizable To-Hit bonus from some other source (buffs from psionic powers, magic items, Knowledge Devotion, etc) then go Evil for the bonuses to damage and easy access to Necrocarnate soulmelds.

People keep saying that, but both myself and my DM got it on one read-through, with a bit of looking back at some specific rules (mainly what do they look like).

In my opinion, the main problem is that the incarnum rules are extremely fiddly. Your essentia capacity is a function of your Hit Die, your class choices, feats, and magic items. Investing essentia into soulmelds work on one set of rules (move them around as a Swift Action), whereas investing essentia into everything else works on a different set of rules (once per day, then it's gone for 24 hours). Each soulmeld has one power for being shaped (which often provides multiple bonuses), and one additional powers for being bound. But most soulmelds can be bound to multiple slots. Soulmelds have different forumula's for providing bonuses (4 + 2 * essentia, 2 + 2 * essentia, 1 * essentia, etc). You can open chakra slots with class levels, feats, psionic powers, or spells. Shaping a soulmeld does not close a magic item slot, but binding it does. And many soulmelds and chakra binds are duplicative. Plus the Soulborn and a few PrC are horrifically nerfed.

Alas, I doubt it will ever be picked up again by WotC. Maybe in 5E?