Tank Building: 101

[GorTeX]

For a tank, the dwarven ability to not lose speed in medium and heavy armor makes up for their general lack of speed.

Dwarf in Full Plate: moves 20
Human in Full Plate: Moves 20

(Dwarf barbarian in Mithral Full plate moves 30 as does a human barbarian)

 

[DogBackward]

A human Knight 4 with mithral full plate moves 30ft, which is one of the reasons I suggested the Knight in my first post. It also has teh Shield Block ability and the Knight's Challenge, which meshes well with those three Paladin levels I was talking about. Unfortunately, Barbarian excludes Paladin and Knight, so no moving 40ft in full plate...

Of course, I'd always invest in a pair of Boots of Striding and Springing, especially if you do go dwarf. And if you go with a tower shield (not a bad choice, if you don't mind losing some accuracy) it'll help counteract that large ACP to your jump checks.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

A human Knight 4 with mithral full plate moves 30ft, which is one of the reasons I suggested the Knight in my first post. It also has teh Shield Block ability and the Knight's Challenge, which meshes well with those three Paladin levels I was talking about. Unfortunately, Barbarian excludes Paladin and Knight, so no moving 40ft in full plate...

Actually, barbarian excludes neither paladin nor knight.

Ex-Bbn 2/Knight 4/Pal 2/Fighter 14 is a perfectly legal build and would end up with the character moving 40 in mithral fullplate with no magical assistance. Fast movement, uncanny dodge, d12 hit points, and four skill points per level are not really a bad return on a two level investment even if you lose the ability to rage when you become an ex-barbarian.

 

[DogBackward]

I actually hadn't thought of that... not a bad idea.

 

[BASHMAN]

Warforged Knight. Begin with adamantium body feat. Take Improved Damage Reduction feat. Repeat. Knight levels will eventually get rid of movement penalty.

Or, instead of knight, Go Ranger then Dread Commando. The Dread Commando levels will reduce your armor check penalties.

 

[castro3nw]

Consider Crusader from Bo9S perhaps? Pick up the feat Stone Power asap...

With Crusader's delayed damage pool being dropped onto the pile of temporary hp from Stone Power, you're decently survivable... And you can use some of the maneuvers for damage and/or healing.

Also... Crusader has a strong 'paladin-y' vibe that might fit well in your good vs. evil scheme of things.

 

[Bagpuss]

If the DM has decided only one non-core thing per level, if you are spending that on taking a none core class, that basically means no non-core feats, etc. So a lot of these suggestions seem to fall at the first hurdle.

 

[green slime]

If the DM has decided only one non-core thing per level, if you are spending that on taking a none core class, that basically means no non-core feats, etc. So a lot of these suggestions seem to fall at the first hurdle.

I wonder if there is any corelation between player's reading comprehension, their ability to misinterpret simple instructions, and frustrated DM's?

 

[mcgeedis]

If the DM has decided only one non-core thing per level, if you are spending that on taking a none core class, that basically means no non-core feats, etc. So a lot of these suggestions seem to fall at the first hurdle.

Taking a non core class counts only once. If you take it again, it doesn't stack, so to speak. So, in other words, if I took a 2nd level in Knight, I could take a non core feat during the same level up.

 

[The Souljourner]

I highly suggest a level or two of crusader. They get a stance that makes any enemy in their threatened area take -4 to hit anyone but you. I think that's the #1 best ability for a tank, because nothing else in D&D does that - force someone to worry about you instead of your low AC friends.

I think an even mix of crusader/knight/fighter (for feats) is the best tank build. Please note, when I talk about a tank, I mean someone who's meant to be defended to the gills, not someone who's going to necessarily do the most damage in the party. Let the barbarian with his 16 AC do the damage, you in your 25 AC should be trying to take all the attacks.

I wouldn't super-multiclass the character. IMO it makes the build look sloppy and munchkinny. No one can really fault you for taking 4 levels of knight for a tank build, but if you start taking barbarian levels and monk levels and rogue levels.... not only do I think you'll be hurting your main theme, but it'll look cheesy too.

-Nate