Bugbear PC - Which Class?

[Ramien Meltides]

I'm beginning a new campaign where ECL characters are accepted. I've decided to play a Bugbear character, and I'm really wanting to play a fighter or barbarian type of character. (Although I wouldn't be opposed to a psionic warrior either)

Basically I am asking for some ideas on what class and prestige class to aim for to create a versatile and powerful melee character.

I have a few ideas... The first one involves going some levels of fighter and then going into the Master Samurai prestige class. Blades of Fury and Blades of Death are nice abilities for a bugbear with high STR.

Another possibility is to go barbarian, take some nice exotic weapon, and head for Tribal Protector or Frenzied Bezerker.

Finally, I'm contemplating trying out the psionic warrior. Deep impact makes a high-str bugbear character dangerous while the psionic feats make him versatile.

Any suggestions or comments would be welcomed! I'm just having a hard time making up my mind...

 

[ForceUser]

Bugbear
Barbarian 16/Fighter 4

Cleave
Great cleave
Iron Will
Power attack
Weapon focus (greataxe)
Weapon specialization (greataxe)

...and that barbarian feat that adds +1/- DR, the one from Masters of the Wild. Lots of ranks in Intimidate.

 

[Lucius Foxhound]

My DM, Tom Cashell, loves the idea of a Bug Bear who's a Barbarian ...

Bugbearians he calls them..

 

[Ramien Meltides]

One day I'd like to make a Master Samurai character, but... there's an exotic weapon I look forward to using (and Master Samurai are pretty much bastard-sword focused), and another PC is planning on a Oriental Adventures Samurai. Not wanting to step on his toes, I've abandoned this option.

The psi-warrior was very tempting... all those psionic feats! But the complexity is still something I'm not fully comfortable with.

What seems to fit the character concept the best is what I've decided to go with:

2 Levels of Barbarian
Followed by
2 Levels of Fighter
Followed by
2 Levels of Tribal Protector
Followed by
10 levels of Frenzied Bezerker

For now, anyways. Thanks for the advice