The 4-Armed Barbarian

[RUMBLETiGER]

I'm toying with a character build, I would appreciate input.

My buddy wants to run a winter-wasteland, viking-like campaign. Low magic, danger everywhere, etc. PC's start at level 2.

I'm considering a Human (race could change, I just like the extra feat. No 4-armed races exist in his campaign world) Barbarian with a 2 level dip into Alchemist to design a killing machine that can do serious damage at low level. First off, I need to know if this would work:

level 1- Barbarian. Feat: TWF, Feat: Power Attack
Level 2- Alchemist.
Level 3- Alchemist. Vestigial Arm Discovery, Feat: Extra Discovery- Vestigial Arm

At this point, dual wield 2 Greatswords between 4 arms. Would this work based on the above build? Can two Vestigial Arms be used to hold a 2-handed weapon on either side of one's body and fight with them correctly, still getting 1.5x STR damage on both the attacks?

Between Rage and Mutagen, this character can get a +8 to Strength to help compensate for the lower attack with TWF. I'm worried about this character becoming too MAD, needing DEX to be 15 for TWF, INT at least 11 to use first level extracts (Enlarge Person, Expeditious Retreat, Shield are all excellent buffs for this build), I'll need decent CON and I'll want as much STR as possible. I'd rather take the Multiweapon Fighting feat for the lower DEX requirement, but I'd have to wait until I have a feat after getting 2 more arms (So level 5) and I want this guy to be as awesome as he can be as early as possible.

I'd expect progress from here would be to improve the TWF feat and Power Attack feat line. I'm still new to Pathfinder, I don't know all the tricks. Since he'd not really make use of bombs, I'm interested in archtypes that trade out the bomb usage (like Vivisectionist for a +1d6 in certain circumstances) and I don't know the Barbarian archtypes very well, is there one that would grant TWF like a Ranger?

I'd appreciate any suggestions you could offer to make the most of this idea. The goal is to deal as much damage as possible wielding two weapons that are two handed, and than adding other fun ideas with Feats, Rage Powers and Extra Discoveries as long as they don't take away from the primary goal.

 

[Daniel Runge]

It seems like it would indeed work. But the Two-Weapon Fighting feat is replaced by Multiweapon Fighting for creatures with more than 2 arms(hands).

Multiweapon Fighting needs Dex 13, and seems to have no Improved or Greater version, means you only need 13 Dex, solving a little of the MAD
There is no sense in taking two-weapon fighting at level 1, unless you plan to use one-handed/light weapons from the get-go

You could go half-elf, take the Alternate racial trait to get exotic weapon proficiency, pick Fauchard and run around with 2 reach weapons by level 3.

Progression:
Level 1 Alchemist. Extra Discovery (Vestigial Arm)
Level 2 Barbarian.
Level 3 Alchemist. Discovery (Vestigial Arm). Feat (Multiweapon Fighting)

Hope this helped

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

It seems like it would indeed work. But the Two-Weapon Fighting feat is replaced by Multiweapon Fighting for creatures with more than 2 arms(hands).

Multiweapon Fighting needs Dex 13, and seems to have no Improved or Greater version, means you only need 13 Dex, solving a little of the MAD
There is no sense in taking two-weapon fighting at level 1, unless you plan to use one-handed/light weapons from the get-go

You could go half-elf, take the Alternate racial trait to get exotic weapon proficiency, pick Fauchard and run around with 2 reach weapons by level 3.

Progression:
Level 1 Alchemist. Extra Discovery (Vestigial Arm)
Level 2 Barbarian.
Level 3 Alchemist. Discovery (Vestigial Arm). Feat (Multiweapon Fighting)

Hope this helped

Oh... Love the Fauchard suggestion, didn't think to make this a reach build! Yes, I'll definitely consider this. Half Elf for weapon proficiency definitely a good idea, and the Cold-Honed racial trait would fit the campaign. Going Dwarven for all Dwarf-exotic weapons and martial would make the Dwarver Longhammer a good option as well.
Problem with the Extra Discovery feat is you have to have the Discovery class ability first as a prereq., and that doesn't occur until Alchemist level 2. So no taking it first level. I'll see what I can wiggle around.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Or, instead of all-reach, you could go for I reach and one regular 2 handed weapon. Or 1 reach, one medium and one small. Or one reach, one medium, and one spiked shield, or a bunch of spears/javelins and some melee weapons...

Oooooohhh...what about 2 bows?

But, while all of this is entertaining, remember that effective reach builds are somewhat feat-intensive: you'd want combat reflexes, stand still, hold the line, deft opportunist, etc.

 

[tomBitonti]

I'm toying with a character build, I would appreciate input.

I'd expect progress from here would be to improve the TWF feat and Power Attack feat line. I'm still new to Pathfinder, I don't know all the tricks. Since he'd not really make use of bombs, I'm interested in archtypes that trade out the bomb usage (like Vivisectionist for a +1d6 in certain circumstances) and I don't know the Barbarian archtypes very well, is there one that would grant TWF like a Ranger?

Read more: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?353985-The-4-Armed-Barbarian#ixzz2xZX6z5IR

Vivisectionist has nice abilities, if you are willing to give up bombs.

However, for both Vivisectionist and Vestigial Arm, you get a character which many common folks would shun, possibly with extreme prejudice:

Vivisection (from Latin vivus, meaning "alive", and sectio, meaning "cutting") is defined as surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure.

Some games might make Vivisectionist Evil from the outset.

Some games might have common folks treat a character with an extra arm (or two) as an aberration. (One wonders how Eberron's Gatekeepers would react ...)

Thx!

TomB

 

[Daniel Runge]

Hmm, my bad on the Extra Discovery Feat.

I'd suggest using your own build, as a half-elf, remove TWF, consider perhaps weapon focus instead of power attack at lvl 1 - that way you should still be able to hit things when you DW with 2 2-handed at level 3.

Also dwarf could work well, especailly this route. A Dwarven longhammer is an incredibly strong weapon, didn't think of that at all - still has reach as well.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Or, instead of all-reach, you could go for I reach and one regular 2 handed weapon. Or 1 reach, one medium and one small. Or one reach, one medium, and one spiked shield, or a bunch of spears/javelins and some melee weapons...

Oooooohhh...what about 2 bows?

But, while all of this is entertaining, remember that effective reach builds are somewhat feat-intensive: you'd want combat reflexes, stand still, hold the line, deft opportunist, etc.

The extra 2 arms aren't permitted to make extra attacks, so the additional weapons are out, however shields and bows would be great options. I'll toy with this as a bow build as well. I'm open to shaping this build however it may be effective, so following a feat chain wouldn't be bad.

A level 1 Alchemist formula I intend to use repeatedly is Enlarge Person, being Large with Reach weapons is Definitely something I can get behind.

Vivisectionist has nice abilities, if you are willing to give up bombs.

However, for both Vivisectionist and Vestigial Arm, you get a character which many common folks would shun, possibly with extreme prejudice:

Some games might make Vivisectionist Evil from the outset.

Some games might have common folks treat a character with an extra arm (or two) as an aberration. (One wonders how Eberron's Gatekeepers would react ...)

Thx!

TomB

My buddy DMing this game is having the campaign take place far into the future of his homebrew campaign world. The gods have left, the mortal races have gotten generally more bitter, and the world has shifted more toward the Evil alignment. Cities have shrunk, dangerous wilderness has grown. An "aberration" humanoid wouldn't stick out as badly as in a normal (If such a word can apply to D&D) campaign, nor would someone practicing a grizzly art.

Plus, I've got Disguise Self​ if I ever need to appear civilized for 20 minutes.

 

[tomBitonti]

Yeah; that you don't get extra attacks is a problem:

The arm does not give the alchemist any extra attacks or actions per round, though the arm can wield a weapon and make attacks as part of the alchemist’s attack routine (using two-weapon fighting).

But what about:

Benefit: Whenever the alchemist imbibes a mutagen, he gains two claw attacks and a bite attack. These are primary attacks and are made using the alchemist’s full base attack bonus. The claw attacks deal 1d6 points of damage (1d4 if the alchemist is Small) and the bite attack deals 1d8 points of damage (1d6 if the alchemist is Small). While the mutagen is in effect, the alchemist gains a +2 competence bonus on Intimidate skill checks.

Also, nothing says you can't wield a shield in the extra hand and duel wield in the other two. Too bad you can't wield two shields (Shield bonuses don't stack).

What about going 2H weapon + 1H weapon + Shield? Does that work? Or, going 2H + 2H?

Thx!

TomB

Edit: What is the proper way to place the link location for a quote?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

With the right gear*, this guy could be a nasty martial artillerist. With a shield for protection, he still has 3 hands for tossing projectiles & grenades, throwing javelins/spears, or for firing and reloading bows/x-bows.









* is there a Pathfinder version of the efficient quiver?

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

As it stands so far, this is becoming a Dwarven Barbarian2/Alchemist2/Viking (Fighter Archtype), using the Viking because it allows choice between Rage Powers or Combat feats from the Fighter. Dual Wielding Dwarven Longhammers. Vital Strike/Improved Vital Strike/Greater Vital Strike/Devastating Strike feat chain, with Power attack/Furious Finish for max damage when needed. Brew Potion as many Enlarge Persons as possible, and cover a 40' square as a Large creature with reach weapons, so Combat Reflexes to punish anyone for coming close.

Thanks for your input guys, this will start off dealing serious damage at level 3 and only increase from there!