Help creating Lizardfolk Barbarian1/Druid8

[Eye Tyrant]

So I'm running my party through the Lizard Marsh soon and the obligatory Black Dragon that lairs in the heart of the swamp has a Lizardfolk minion Barbarian1/Druid8, leader of the local tribe. Took the level in Barbarian for the Rage 1/day and the +10' to speed. With the 8 levels in Druid he can Wildshape into a Large critter (probably a gator) 3/day. Animal Companion yet to be decided.

Some questions:

The +10' speed carries over to the Wildshape form, right?

Animal Companion? Any ideas on this?

Should I try for a combat oriented Druid? He's gonna have a huge advantage due to terrain.

Any ideas for the tribal followers (who by the way, have enslaved a group of Wild-Elf nomads)?

 

[Nail]

The +10' speed carries over to the Wildshape form, right?

Yep. =>

Fast Movement (Ex): A barbarian’s land speed is faster than the norm for his race by +10 feet.

 

[Nail]

Animal Companion? Any ideas on this?

Of course! The obvious choice is:

CROCODILE, GIANT
Huge Animal
Hit Dice: 7d8+28 (59 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), swim 30 ft.
Armor Class: 16 (–2 size, +1 Dex, +7 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+21
Attack: Bite +11 melee (2d8+12) or tail slap +11 melee (1d12+12)
Full Attack: Bite +11 melee (2d8+12) or tail slap +11 melee (1d12+12)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved grab
Special Qualities: Hold breath, low-light vision
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +3
Abilities: Str 27, Dex 12, Con 19, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 2
Skills: Hide +1*, Listen +5, Spot +5, Swim +16
Feats: Alertness, Endurance, Skill Focus (Hide)
Environment: Warm marshes

Does that give you any ideas?

 

[Sejs]

Nail covered it.

Fights in watery environments against indigenous opponents go badly for PCs.

Give 'em both barrels.

^_^

 

[Gregor]

Here is another fun one, wrap this scaly little sucker around one of your PC fighters and have him grappled and out of the combat!

Constrictor Snake, Giant
Hit Dice: 11d8+14 (63 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft., swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 15 (–2 size, +3 Dex, +4 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+23
Attack: Bite +13 melee (1d8+10)
Full Attack: Bite +13 melee (1d8+10)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Constrict 1d8+10, improved grab
Special Qualities: Scent
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +10, Will +4
Abilities: Str 25, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 2
Skills: Balance +11, Climb +17, Hide +10, Listen +9, Spot +9, Swim +16
Feats: Alertness, Endurance, Skill Focus (Hide), Toughness
Environment: Warm forests
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 5
Advancement: 12–16 HD (Huge); 17–33 HD (Gargantuan)
Level Adjustment: —

 

[Kalendraf]

1) Druid wildshaped into croc-form.
2) Companion is also a big croc.
3) Have them hanging out in the swamp with...get this...other crocs.
4) Next, Give the Druid the feat called Natural spell letting him cast spells while wildshaped.

When party encounters them, they see a huge bunch of crocs, and they start getting hit by spells (Flame Strike, Call Lightning, etc). Who do they target? Lots of decoy crocs out there. The druid can probably get off several rounds of spells before they figure out which one he is.

 

[Tilla the Hun (work)]

Cliche! Perfectly acceptable, but a lizard man barb/druid w/ giant gator as side kick is rather cliche Quite fun for all involved, but still... Let's get creative?

With Barb1/Druid8, I count 9 levels for a lizardman to play with.

Barb1/Druid8 is fine (I'll let others get creative there)
Take extra rage, Natural spell, Augment Summoning for feats (alt1)
Take destructive rage, Natural Spell, Augment Summoning (alt2)

alt1 - preferred wild form = Komodo Dragon (large), companion = lg Komodo Dragon or Giant Gator

1st rnd = shift to large Komodo
2nd rnd = Summon NA for lots of medium or several large swamp themed creatures
3rd rnd = Animal Growth
4th rnd = Adrenaline Surge
5th rnd = Snake Swiftness (Legion)

At this point, someone in the party has to deal with more than 9 attacks from flanking, large or huge, specialized monsters (constrictor snakes, gators grab/swallow, komodo dragons festering wounds, etc.) If it's a fair fight to begin with at all, this 'horde' will quickly kill off one character in 5-6 rounds.

Given your base of 40' + no movement penalties, use longstrider and similar to boost your attack speeds and use flight enabled creatures to swoop/dive, hit, and disappear into the woods. You'll gain flank bonuses from your critters whenever you attack, and all of them have +4 str/con (augment summoning), and +4 str/con (adrenaline surge), plus animal growth, plus free attacks on your round. For fun, add in your Druidic Bulls Strength + Cat's Grace + Might of the Oak (MoW & CD) + Speed of the Wind (MoW)

Did you know a summoned animal/animal companion can be enlarged and have +16 to Str by round 4???? I don't care what the party is fighting, that becomes a slight threat...

Can you say ow? Oh wait, let me pull your head out from inside the komodo's stomach first

Just some variations. Get creative - it's more fun

Barb1/Bard1/Druid 7
Barb1/Monk2/Druid6
Barb2/Druid7
Barb1/Fighter2/Druid6
Barb1/Sorc1/Druid6 (ow, True Strike infusions!!! - MoW 'Create Infusion' for druids)
Barb1/Cleric1/Druid6 - Cleric Domains, oh my. Imp Init, or Evasion, or ....

 

[Eye Tyrant]

Cliche! Perfectly acceptable, but a lizard man barb/druid w/ giant gator as side kick is rather cliche Quite fun for all involved, but still... Let's get creative?

With Barb1/Druid8, I count 9 levels for a lizardman to play with.

Barb1/Druid8 is fine (I'll let others get creative there)
Take extra rage, Natural spell, Augment Summoning for feats (alt1)
Take destructive rage, Natural Spell, Augment Summoning (alt2)

alt1 - preferred wild form = Komodo Dragon (large), companion = lg Komodo Dragon or Giant Gator

1st rnd = shift to large Komodo
2nd rnd = Summon NA for lots of medium or several large swamp themed creatures
3rd rnd = Animal Growth
4th rnd = Adrenaline Surge
5th rnd = Snake Swiftness (Legion)

At this point, someone in the party has to deal with more than 9 attacks from flanking, large or huge, specialized monsters (constrictor snakes, gators grab/swallow, komodo dragons festering wounds, etc.) If it's a fair fight to begin with at all, this 'horde' will quickly kill off one character in 5-6 rounds.

Given your base of 40' + no movement penalties, use longstrider and similar to boost your attack speeds and use flight enabled creatures to swoop/dive, hit, and disappear into the woods. You'll gain flank bonuses from your critters whenever you attack, and all of them have +4 str/con (augment summoning), and +4 str/con (adrenaline surge), plus animal growth, plus free attacks on your round. For fun, add in your Druidic Bulls Strength + Cat's Grace + Might of the Oak (MoW & CD) + Speed of the Wind (MoW)

Did you know a summoned animal/animal companion can be enlarged and have +16 to Str by round 4???? I don't care what the party is fighting, that becomes a slight threat...

Can you say ow? Oh wait, let me pull your head out from inside the komodo's stomach first

Just some variations. Get creative - it's more fun

Barb1/Bard1/Druid 7
Barb1/Monk2/Druid6
Barb2/Druid7
Barb1/Fighter2/Druid6
Barb1/Sorc1/Druid6 (ow, True Strike infusions!!! - MoW 'Create Infusion' for druids)
Barb1/Cleric1/Druid6 - Cleric Domains, oh my. Imp Init, or Evasion, or ....

Great ideas! My campaign is fairly "vanilla" so pardon the lack of creativity, plus given my location, we like gators around here

I will definitely use the Summon NA for all the swamp nasties.

I like the idea of him already being in Wildshape and hanging out in the water with the other gators casting spells.

Is the komodo in the MM or something? Don't remember ever seeing it, but I can whip something up...

What bonuses can I look forward to w/ creatures attacking from beneath the water? Any creative terrain advantages?

Lastly, my "swamp gas" will cause hallucinations, any idea on working that angle?

 

[Eye Tyrant]

Of course! The obvious choice is:
Does that give you any ideas?

Being a Druid newbie, I was looking more for what I can do with the companion, as opposed to what it should be

What can I do, that hasn't been noted yet, to buff this beastie up? Again, I've never run a Druid, ever. In 18 years of RPing, not one Druid

 

[Kalendraf]

Being a Druid newbie, I was looking more for what I can do with the companion, as opposed to what it should be

What can I do, that hasn't been noted yet, to buff this beastie up? Again, I've never run a Druid, ever. In 18 years of RPing, not one Druid

Improved Grab of croc + Watery environment = drowned victim.

I think this is actually a real tactic that gators and crocs use, so it's not that far-fetched. With that big croc someone listed, who has a +21 grapple check, it's quite difficult, possibly even impossible to escape from its jaw once it hits. You may want to read up on the rules for drowning/holding your breath. It takes several rounds so you'd need some method of holding off other characters to do this. Summoned NA's can help there. Characters will need to work together to rescue anyone who gets pulled down.

Another use of the companion can be simple scouting. In this case, the giant croc isn't so great, though in a swamp it might be able to stay hidden in the water behind plants, etc. Depending on the mode of transport the party is using, terrain might be able to be designed to allow the croc to reach and report to its master long before the party arrives. As a result, the druid gets several rounds to prepare buff spells and so forth.