Help with beat-fighter PrC

[Lord Sidereal]

What features would people recommend for a PrC designed specifcallt to fight monsters such as Ogre's, dire monsters, giants etc. ?

[Diggorian]

How would it be different from a high level Ranger in terms of focus?

[Lord Sidereal]

Well essentially I'm lookign for a character that is very specifically geared towards defeating monsters much larger and stronger than it in hand-to-hand combat. Although a high-level ranger would do it, these guys are more "defenders of the realm" perhaps some ranger abilites opened up for knigh/pally.

[Peregrine]

I know there are some feats around that are primarily aimed at Small characters, that help fighting larger creatures. I've seen some homebrew, and I think some mentioned on these forums from official (non-core, non-SRD) material.

One thing I'd suggest would be big weapons. (And not oversized swords or the like, I mean pikes and stuff. I know you said hand-to-hand, but really, ranged combat, especially with siege weapons, is more sensible, so maybe make them skilled artillerymen.) Also ropes. Climbing on, swinging from and tangling up huge enemies for the win!

[Lord Sidereal]

Good idea, I like the rope one particularly.

[sigurd]

I think straight fighter or ranger with a few techniques to fight together. For very big opponents my guess is that its not so much about one class that has all the cards as much as it is planning and squad strategies.

Fighters make great tanks - able to accept some major damage + great feats.
Rangers get good sworn enemy bonuses
Rogues have sneak attack

Baring magic, some combination of the above sounds like the most reasonable strategy.

Sigurd

Squad of 4 high level halberd wielding fighters, 4 Longbow wielding rangers (perhaps with a few magic arrows) and a few stealthy rogue types. Given a little luck and strategy.....