small barbarians

[illwizard]

Hello there,

I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea of the viability of a small, either halfling or gnome barbarian? I was thinking the whirling build and unfortunately don't have my books on me, but would I fall behind other strikers do you think in damage due to weapon size I suppose more than anything? Statistically it might be hard to get an 18 in strength which is what I'd like, but we'll see. I'm assuming 4th edition eberron still has barbarian halflings, is there any support in those books?

Also, does anyone want my 3.5 ebberon books?

 

[Mort_Q]

Also, does anyone want my 3.5 ebberon books?

I kept mine for the flluff. YMMV.

 

[On Puget Sound]

i built my talenta halfling as a beastmaster ranger with pet dinosaur, not a barbarian. see ryk tavishny in my signature.

if you really want a small barbarian, play one! don't let a +2 to str tell you what you can play. halflings get dex for the whirling build and cha for the thaneborn build, you can run with str, dex and cha 16 and pick powers from both builds and do just fine.

 

[DracoSuave]

Agreed.

Your [W] will be a bit lower, which means instead OMG MASSIVE DAMAGE you do OMG MASSIVE DAMAGE - 2.

You -still- do the burst-critical-charge-rawr stuff that makes a barbarian the force of rawr that they are. And whirling barbies aren't really as reliant on huge [W] anyways.

 

[Jhaelen]

I kept mine for the flluff. YMMV.

Both me and one of my players recently bought all of the 3.5 Eberron books. I wouldn't want to miss them, if I was playing 4e in Eberron.

I'm especially excited about 'City of Stormreach', which I almost finished reading. The book offers everything I had expected from the Sharn book (which I didn't particularly like). And there's even a 4e update available for it!

 

[Blackbrrd]

I don't see a problem with Halfling Barbarians. I would go for a whirling barbarian which uses dex for extra damage when raging on certain powers.

I would probably go for a 17str/18dex after racials at level 1.

 

[Nifft]

I don't see a problem with Halfling Barbarians. I would go for a whirling barbarian which uses dex for extra damage when raging on certain powers.

Halflings are good at Charisma, too, so Thaneborn might be fun.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Turtlejay]

Scimitar is the best weapon for a small character (IMO, of course). It is not versatile, so you can use it in one hand, and it is 1d8, which is about as good as you are gonna get. My dual wielding Assassin uses a Scimitar and Short Sword (for now. . .).

Small characters are often surprisingly good in melee roles. I played in a one shot with a Halfling Fighter, and she was pretty spectacular. Take a look at the racial feats available, and build your character to take advantage of those.

Jay

 

[Turtlejay]

Feats I like for this concept:
Raging Bloodcut - Replace 1[w] of a rage power with ongoing 5 damage. Smaller damage die mean this is a better deal for you than for the other barbarian (unless you drop the whirling build).
Swift Slayer - For halflings with a Dex bonus (which you should for sure take advantage of) this works well. Their racial(s) work well for a very mobile barbarian, too.

Or if you chose a different barbarian build (Thaneborn works with the Halfling's Cha mod), you can use a Waraxe and gte your d12 damage, same as other barbarians:
Scrappy - Unnamed, scaling bonus to damage? Yes please!
Small Warrior's Defense - MC Figher to pick this up, and have an +2 bonus to AC and Reflex.

I'd personally go with a Thaneborn Halfling Barbarian with a Waraxe, Scrappy, Fighter MC, Small Warrior's Defense, Weapon Focus, etc.

You can also go Halfling and take the Talenta Weapon Training feat. You get proficiency in a better scimitar (high crit, +3 prof) and a reach weapon. On top of that, the +2 to damage rolls.

A lot of viable builds out there.

Jay

Edit - 17,15,13 stats would be my choice, start with a 17 Str, 17 Dex and 15 Cha. Good offense, Good AC, pump Str and Cha/Dex depending on how much you like the secondary effects vs higher AC and Reflex.