Is the barbarian too front loaded?

[KB9JMQ]

It might be a bit heavy on the front side but I don't worry about it.
I don't have problems with dipping in it for a level either. None of my players have done that so its a non issue.

My group plays characters they want to play rather than cherry picking to be optimized statistics.

 

[The_Gneech]

I still don't get the multiclass hate. :\ I have yet to see any compelling reason why "BBN 1 / CLR 3 / ROG 2" should be sneered at while "BBN 6" should be cheered. If the player wants a character who rages (a little), casts spells (a little), and can pick (some) locks, why is that a bad thing?

It can't be a problem with "power-gaming," no matter what people say -- single-classed characters are almost always more effective than any multiclass combination in D&D's super-specialized environment. The only explanation I can see is that multiclassing is for some arbitrary reason considered to be WrongBadFun.

LET people dip into BBN if they want! Who cares? Free multiclassing for everybody! Build the character you want to play!

-The Gneech

 

[werk]

I actually do that as well. Mithral armor's counted as one category lighter for movement and purposes of determining if special abilities can be used while wearing it, but it doesn't change the armor proficiency required.

Likewise.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

It rewards PCs for staying in the class and inhibits dipping into the class. Also, it is hardly useless. Good HP and good Con is its own reward.

No, it really does suck. You cant trigger it before the battle, unless you're already walking in at low HP. Anytime its in effect, you'd have to be a fool to stand still to take a full attack (and receive a full attack in return). Its a truly useless ability. Playtest it sometime.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Yeah, I sometimes forget than I might as well be playing a totally different game than other people.

That's not a judgment of playstyle - but just neither I, or anyone in my group, thinks in terms of thing like comparative "power levels" of casters and non-casters.

Maybe your group's fighters dont realize that they're a cleric without spells, or dont care. Good for them. The game shouldnt be designed like that. Why not have a guy that can cast quickened power word kill at will at level 1? Its not like things need to be balanced to have fun, right?

 

[Quartz]

IMHO the mechanic of Rage - a boost to CON - is game-breakingly powerful. It scales with the character's levels, not the class levels. Consider a 19th level rogue or fighter taking a level of Barbarian. That bonus to HP when raging is huge.

It's easy to fix, though: you split Rage into its component parts:

The Barbarian gains the benefit of the Iron Will feat.
The Barbarian gains 2 HP per Barbarian level.
The Barbarian is affected as if by a Bull's Strength spell.

This is a significantly weaker Rage, of course.

You can then spread these out across the first few levels as desired.

 

[Korak]

I don't think the one level dip is too powerful unless it is combined with extra rage. So, my favorite house rule regarding this issue is to change the pre-reqs on Extra Rage so that a character must have 2 daily uses of rage before he/she is eligible to take the feat.

 

[Brimshack]

To me it's a good 2 level dip. Uncanny Dodge aint bad, especially with armor penalties.

 

[el-remmen]

Maybe your group's fighters dont realize that they're a cleric without spells, or dont care. Good for them. The game shouldnt be designed like that. Why not have a guy that can cast quickened power word kill at will at level 1? Its not like things need to be balanced to have fun, right?

Going from one extreme to another does not prove your point.

 

[werk]

Maybe your group's fighters dont realize that they're a cleric without spells, or dont care. Good for them. The game shouldnt be designed like that. Why not have a guy that can cast quickened power word kill at will at level 1? Its not like things need to be balanced to have fun, right?

Yeah, EL- Totally different game sometimes...