Fighter or Not?

[Man With Dog]

I rp every week - one of two dependant on who turns up.

The second one is about to start afresh and i was initially going to take a Druid (but as i am already playing a lvl 8 Druid i think going to lvl 1 would be an anti climax)

So i was wondering what character to take next - it seems the fighter is needed and after playing a Half Orc Frenzied Berserker i was wondering if the Totem Barbarian (sorry if i mucked up the name) or if there was any fighter that could be a big asset to a party.

Other class options are open for recommendation too - not the biggest fan of rogues and we already have one


v3.5 - No ToB - All over books should be fine

[Morph Bark]

Considering you apparently have done Druid and Barbarian already and Fighter is a touch bland, you could try just going for a Ranger. Otherwise a Duskblade could be a good idea. I always feel like the Duskblade has a bit of a ToB feel, but none of the system or controversy some people subject ToB to. Psychic Warrior is also a good one, especially considering the animal-themed powers (you could fluff him as a sort of psychic druid even).

[Man With Dog]

Considering you apparently have done Druid and Barbarian already and Fighter is a touch bland, you could try just going for a Ranger. Otherwise a Duskblade could be a good idea. I always feel like the Duskblade has a bit of a ToB feel, but none of the system or controversy some people subject ToB to. Psychic Warrior is also a good one, especially considering the animal-themed powers (you could fluff him as a sort of psychic druid even).

Our DM for this game is somewhat... strict and i think the Psionic Handbook is one of maybe 2 books we dont have in hard copy.
Duskblade could be fun though - i would have to have a look through what Duskblade offers and such.
What book does Duskblade come from?

(No evil classes either by the way - that wouldnt sit well with him)

[Binks]

What book does Duskblade come from?

PHBII. Page 19, one of the new starting classes added.

[Man With Dog]

So no other options than maybe a ranger or a duskblade?

[true_shinken]

So no other options than maybe a ranger or a duskblade?

Well, you have a lot of choices, really.
If you really want a twist, you could try an Incarnate or Binder.

[Morph Bark]

Well, you have a lot of choices, really.
If you really want a twist, you could try an Incarnate or Binder.

Wouldn't Totemist be a better Fighter-ish choice?

[FlamingKobold]

Totemist would be cool and better than incarnate for a fighter-type. Binders are excellent, and if you want to be a good melee-er, cleric is always an option.

[Man With Dog]

Totemist would be cool and better than incarnate for a fighter-type. Binders are excellent, and if you want to be a good melee-er, cleric is always an option.

Totemist sounds kinda cool.
Gonna have to do some reading up on them.

Would any of these builds stand up against the DPS of a Frenzied Berserker?

[Snake-Aes]

What is the compunction with sources? If you need one for psionics, the SRD has it for free.


Totemists get to play Spore on themselves. Basically they gain natural weapons all over the place. If you still like the style of a barbarian, the Totem Rager is the prestige class to mix totemists and barbarians. It can get quite nasty.

[Man With Dog]

So starting with totemist? and PrC into Totem Rager is a good idea?

[Greenish]

Totemist sounds kinda cool.
Gonna have to do some reading up on them.

It is a fun class, and works as a meatshield. The handbook is here.

Would any of these builds stand up against the DPS of a Frenzied Berserker?

Not really, but then again you rarely need as much damage as the pouncing, leap attacking, shock trooping FB can deal.

Though if you do need to deal several hundreds of damage per round in the low-mid levels, Arcane Strike-abusing Duskblade or a psywarr with proper shenanigans might get there.

[Snake-Aes]

I have little experience with totemists (or barbarians at that), but I usually hear people having orgasms with diamonds at them.

[Wings of Peace]

If you can convince your DM I would try for Generic Warrior instead of Fighter. Not that many of your feats for a FB build won't be Bonus Fighter, feats anyways but if you say, wanted to add a dash of uncarnum or a smattering of the nine swords you would have the option to do so easily via feats.

[Man With Dog]

What about the 'Charger Builds?'

Is this idea jsut to take a Human or Orc strength kinda thing and working towards Leap Attack and Shock Trooper with a big ol' greatsword?

[TooManyBadgers]

What about the 'Charger Builds?'

Is this idea jsut to take a Human or Orc strength kinda thing and working towards Leap Attack and Shock Trooper with a big ol' greatsword?

Kind of. There are other things you can also stack.

And usually you'll use a Glaive or something because you shoot your AC to hell and need to use AoO's to stay alive/milk the most damage from a charge.

...But one-trick pony builds =

[Man With Dog]

Kind of. There are other things you can also stack.

And usually you'll use a Glaive or something because you shoot your AC to hell and need to use AoO's to stay alive/milk the most damage from a charge.

...But one-trick pony builds =

Any tips on the aforementioned builds?
Totemist (which book is this in) and then going Totem Rager for the big DPS?

[Greenish]

Any tips on the aforementioned builds?
Totemist (which book is this in) and then going Totem Rager for the big DPS?

Totemist is in the Blue Book, also known as Magic of Incarnum, and isn't the first choice for most charger builds. It'll work though.

[Man With Dog]

Totemist is in the Blue Book, also known as Magic of Incarnum, and isn't the first choice for most charger builds. It'll work though.

Oh no, i didnt think of totemist as the charger build.

I was wondering how to get the most out of either kinda build.
Barbarian and Frenzied Berserker are prolly the best charger combo

And Totemist/ Totem Rager sound slike nice dmg and a bit of fun.
I just dont have any experience with Totemist and Totem Rager

[Snake-Aes]

Well, the mechanic is exclusive to that book so it'd be surprising if you had any :p
Soulmelds are sort-of-magic-items,sort-of-not. Once per day you can redo them, granting yourself bonuses, feats, attacks and so on. On top of that, every round you can adjust some of those bonuses if you want to.
You could, for example, give yourself claw attacks, a rend effect to them, a few skill bonuses and immunity to flanking.

[Morph Bark]

Not really, but then again you rarely need as much damage as the pouncing, leap attacking, shock trooping FB can deal.

Dang, I knew I had forgotten something on my FB...