help twinking a melee character

[kingofdafunk]

First post and I immediately reveal my deepest desires to be a powergamer. Not really actually....however the campaign that I'm about to be in is going to do two things I'm not used to. First.....the campaign is evil. Second there are two players. So after brainstorming weve decided to allow one of the alternate rules that allows for a character to simultaneously level in two character classes. My plan is to build some kind of hulking barbarianish character. My first thought was to go ogre with one of the half golem templates. Level up fighter and barbarian then eventually frenzied berserker. However the golems are a bit hard to heal....in fact im not sure that they are healable at all by any normal means....and frenzied berserkers hurt themselves each round.

Anyway long story short.....I'm lost in a sea of possibilities. Not only am I supposed to level in two classes simultaneously....I'm supposed to twink the heck out of this character. So I'm looking for help...were starting at level 10 and can do basically any humanoid race that exists. We use just about any d&d book you can imagine. So you can see....theres a lot of possibilities. Anyway...I'm not nessecarily looking for complete builds or anything. Just ideas and advice. Thanks.

 

[blaine_evans]

four words for you.

half clay ocean giant

blaine.

 

[Krafen]

Ah, gestalt. And you are supposed to break it? Hehe.

The Frenzied Berzerker takes 2 points of nonlethal damage each round during frenzy. You should, therefore, find a way to be immune to nonlethal damage. I can't seem to remember which book the half-construct is in, but constructs are normally immune to nonlethal damage. Unfortunately, constructs also don't normally have Con scores which means your frenzy won't last all that long.

Half-dragon is a nice template.

When playing a gestalt character, look for synergies between your classes. Fighter and Barbarian overlap quite a bit. If you want to play a Frenzied Berzerker, go with Barbarian and another, different, class. Cleric is always a good choice, as is Druid. Frenzy while wildshaped would be interesting. Some of the possible forms have high Con scores.

If you do end up with a construct, keep in mind fast healing does work on them. The vigor spells from Complete Divine will help you a lot.

The spell favor of ilmater from Player's Guide to Faerun gives immunity to nonlethal damage, among other things.

Another option would be to go the Warforged Artificer/Barbarian (or Fighter) and take the Warforged Juggernaut prestige class. I believe you could take Frenzied Berzerker after that, too, if you wished.

Favored Soul can be nice in a gestalt build as it gives all good saves, specialization, and flight (eventually).

The book Races of Stone has two races you should look at.

The first thing many people think of when fighting a Frenzied Berzerker is calm emotions. Make sure to have a good Will save or immunity to mind-affecting effects.

 

[Anax]

Hrm. In a gestalt-option setup, you’ll probably find that using more distinct classes will get you more benefit. Barbarian+Fighter gives you the toughness of a Barbarian (and the rage), plus the huge feat selection of the Fighter. But you still end up with only one strong saving throw (Fortitude), and you’ve only upgraded your hit die from a d10 fighter to a d12 barbarian, and not boosted your BAB at all.

The most extreme combinations (melee plus caster) have the biggest impact, but detract from the experience of playing a melee type character. That said--if your campaign allows psionics, a barbarian/wilder could be a very fun combination to play (although you need to put work on your Cha ability then.) A barbarian/psychic warrior also has a lot of potential along those lines.

Sticking closer to melee (and to the PHB classes), a barbarian/rogue isn’t an awful choice. That gives a lot of versatility in skills, and the idea of full barbarian raging bonuses and the ability to sneak attack at the same time is pretty nifty.

And, of course, barbarian/druid is a nifty choice for self buffing, and the ability to turn into a great raging bear. Mmm. Bear fat.


Uhhh. Anyway...

If you do stick with barbarian/fighter, be very careful of your reflex and will saves. With only two characters in the party, you can’t really afford to neglect these. You may, in fact, want to apply your non-bonus feats to pumping those whenever you can. I highly recommend working in Improved Grapple somewhere, for anti-caster abilities. If you’re not opposed to an intelligent barbarian/fighter, going spiked chain and whirlwind attack may be a bit cliche, but it’s also hard to say no to.

Race-wise... I’m not familiar with the half-golem stuff, but I’d have to wonder how the DR that a golem typically gets would stack with the DR that a part-golem would get. I’m personally a fan of powerful combinations of core stuff, rather than crazy races.


Mmm. And in the realm of stuff you’re less likely to be using yet: a neutral evil ogre barbarian/incarnate would be really really bloody scary.


Whee.

 

[Enamel_32]

If you really want to break things, take levels in fighter and psychis warrior. Too many feats, in my opinion.

Also, you might want to check out the ninja and scout classes from the complete adventurer book, to go with a more combat-oriented class. As for races, the Azer, and the half-celestial/fiend are interesting choices.


Ooh, if you're playing a large or larger character the war hulk might prestige class be fun.