'The Hulk'

[James the Newbie]

I imagine he would have his werebear and bite of the werebear on in most combat situation's, so the con from that should cover him ontop of whatever he gets (I think it is 14-16ish

If its two to three times strength bonus, then I will see what he wants, he may enjoy that idea.

 

[Loonook]

I do love me some Knockback, and it's made even juicier by the fact that you're totally underselling the Dungeoncrasher fighter for this build. You only need 6 levels for the full benefit, not 8, and the bonus damage when shoving people into walls isn't just 4d6...it's 4d6 plus twice your Str bonus. Or three times your Str bonus if you go to 6th level for the upgrade to 8d6. That's pretty brutal, considering that with Knockback you're getting this in addition to the damage you're dishing out with a melee attack.

Knock-Down might actually be a bit tricky to meet the prereqs for, though. You need Improved Trip, which means you need Combat Expertise, which means you need at least 13 Int, and you have a -2 Int penalty.

Gods it has been too long since I looked at it . Really I do not recall if there is a two-handed weapon that allows you to naturally trip, but the option of knocking opponents prone and forcing them out of full-attack actions for 2 feats is snazzy if you wish to maintain control without the Knockback. I mean personally, as my own reading, you could choose to Trip that Giant making him rise from Prone every round, OR knock him into next week as a free action dealing an immense amount of damage if he hits a target.

The Knock-Down option is good for preventing the full-round hustle away in my own opinion, but it was really presented to provide an option rather than a guaranteed 'way to do it'. Either way, with just Knockback you're Sauron-ing all of the mooks and pretty much any bad guy you face into next week who can be Rushed, and with 5 levels of Hulk available over my own reading...

Well, I also forgot that Hulk doesn't give BAB. Boo to me But this build gives 3 iterative attacks, allowing you to clear pretty much any creature in your range away from you with Mighty Swings, hurling them through the air with a slide-whistle accompaniment .

Slainte,

-Loonook.

 

[TKDB]

I imagine he would have his werebear and bite of the werebear on in most combat situation's, so the con from that should cover him ontop of whatever he gets (I think it is 14-16ish

If its two to three times strength bonus, then I will see what he wants, he may enjoy that idea.

Ah yes, I forgot about the Con boost from being a werebear. That alone would easily cover the prereqs for those feats.

Still, I'm not sure that those feats are really good for this concept. The bonuses are pretty situational, come at a nontrivial cost after the fight, and you're eating 3 feat slots (you need Toughness or Improved Toughness as a prereq for both Pain Mastery and Involuntary Rage) -- more if you go for something like the "trouser snake" trick to get Pain Mastery on more reliably -- leaving you with very little wiggle room for other useful/interesting stuff, such as Knockback, Extra Rage, etc.

 

[xigbar]

Actually, if you have LA buy off...Do you have access to Dragon Dungeon Magazine? Play any race you want, (Goliath is nice) and take the Half-Minotaur Template. That's the same STR boost from Werebear, off the top of my head, and Half-Minotaur is +1 LA. If you take Goliath, you'll be large size (because of half-minotaur) and able to wield Huge weapons. Then take Spirit Lion Barbarian for 5 levels, or the Orc Paragon route (if you take Water Orc, then the 10 levels of Warhulk. Get someone in your party to cast Bite of the Werebear (and maybe Giant Size, if possible) on you. Alternatively, if you have Savage Species, take Water Orc as a race, and nab the Insectile template. It'll give you 4 extra arms. The same book has rules for weapons wielded in more than two hands, where an extra hand is an extra x.5 STR modifier to damage. With 6 arms, that'd be 3.5x your STR mod. If someone can cast Girallon's Blessing, even better. Before factoring in Pain Mastery/Involuntary Rage, you should (very easily) have a STR score at or near 90. To save time, if it's 90, your damage with an 8-Handed Large Spiked Chain (what I would use, personally) is 2d6+180.

 

[TKDB]

Actually, if you have LA buy off...Do you have access to Dragon Dungeon Magazine? Play any race you want, (Goliath is nice) and take the Half-Minotaur Template. That's the same STR boost from Werebear, off the top of my head, and Half-Minotaur is +1 LA.

The advantage of werebear, though, is that you only qualify for the war hulk PrC while in hybrid or animal mode, meaning that you lose the No Time to Think class feature (along with the rest of the war hulk abilities) while in half-orc form. So you get the benefits when you need them, but can still keep access to your Int, Wis, and Cha-based skills when necessary. The LA might be a little rough, but with werebear you can have your cake and eat it too.

 

[xigbar]

The advantage of werebear, though, is that you only qualify for the war hulk PrC while in hybrid or animal mode, meaning that you lose the No Time to Think class feature (along with the rest of the war hulk abilities) while in half-orc form. So you get the benefits when you need them, but can still keep access to your Int, Wis, and Cha-based skills when necessary. The LA might be a little rough, but with werebear you can have your cake and eat it too.

....as mentioned in an earlier post, I believe you also lose the Strength boost.

 

[James the Newbie]

Core classes only unfortunatly

THey have their heart set on some form of lycanthrop form as well as far as I can tell

 

[TKDB]

....as mentioned in an earlier post, I believe you also lose the Strength boost.

True, but only when in half-orc form. So you have a real "hulk out" kind of mechanic going on -- when you shift to hybrid or animal form, you get huge bonuses to Str, but sort of lose your self-control in a sense.

Or so goes the logic we've been working under thus far, anyway. Personally, I'm skeptical about whether one can actually take a PrC (or feat, for that matter) if you only meet the prereqs under certain circumstances, but it's a cool enough concept that I'm willing to entertain the possibility, and ultimately what really matters is whether the DM will allow it.

 

[TKDB]

....as mentioned in an earlier post, I believe you also lose the Strength boost.

True, but only when in half-orc form. So you have a real "hulk out" kind of mechanic going on -- when you shift to hybrid or animal form, you get huge bonuses to Str, but sort of lose your self-control in a sense.

Or so goes the logic we've been working under thus far, anyway. Personally, I'm skeptical about whether one can actually take a PrC (or feat, for that matter) if you only meet the prereqs under certain circumstances, but it's a cool enough concept that I'm willing to entertain the possibility, and ultimately what really matters is whether the DM will allow it.

 

[James the Newbie]

Our DM is pretty liberal with classes, so long as your up front about what your trying to do.