| Hey guys. Just joined the community. On saturday i will have my first experience with playing a barbarian (forgotten realms earth gensai1/barbarian2). My projected path for him is to, by character level 6, be a bar3/fit2/gensai1 with the feats Power attack, weaponfocus: Great axe, Combat expertise, improved trip, Knockdown (from sword and fist). Won't lose any BAB, either.
Ok, now, having never played a barbarian, nor seen one played, nor DMed an npc barbarian in combat, i had no idea how they worked. I think i figured it out, though, through the trick mentioned above. As it stands, my 17 str give me +3 to hit and damage and such. Weapon focus gives a +1, and my BAB is 3. Here's how it breaks down...
On a normal attack: +7 tohit for 1d12+5 (strength and a half rounded up due to 2handedness).
Power attacking: +4 tohit for 1d12+11 (power attack gives double on two handers).
Raging and power attacking: +6 tohit for 1d12+14
this is at level 3. None of this includes flanking bonuses or anything like that. I can drop most beasts in a good hit. Now the real trick comes to fruition at level 6. Knockdown.
At 4 i'll up my strength to 18, so my attacks will be +11/+6tohit for 1d12+6. Raging and power attacking can make it so that on a successful hit, even if i roll 1 damage, i'll still do above 10. This activates knockdown. i get a free trip attempt, followed by a free attack. Now, tally this up. Raging with improved trip, i'd be at +12 to on the strength check to trip. Now add a +4 to hit due to them being prone and remove a number of theit ac modifiers because they're prone, let's say -4. I'm at, when raging and power attacking a guy i just tripped, +15/+10 tohit this particular prone opponent for 1d12+22.
Ouch.
WARNING: I had surgery today, and as i write this, i am high on codine. I also haven't played D&D in about a year. Someone correct me if i am wrong on this stuff. I think i messed up the rounding (do you round str bonuses to 2handers up or down?). Still, even if the numbers are a little fuzzy, i think i found something effective. - Mood:high
 - Music:The Hand That Feeds - NIN
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xchimirax - (no subject) [+1]
As far as combat goes. Remember to use your rages effectively. Don't rage against things like A goblin. Unless he survives lots of your hits, due to having lots of hit points (from levels or whatever).
As far as roleplaying him, delve into how an earth genasi views things, and think about the Barbarian's class outlook. Though they are less subtle compared to rogues/bards or even some fighters, they aren't idiots. The most direct path to victory is putting the bloke to your sword. or axe, or chain, or pokey-thingy. But yeah, think about somethings regarding them. Though I am unsure really if you wanted roleplay pointers rather than roll-play pointers
But yeah, i wanted insight on the numbers. I'm not mathmetician, hah
You are correct in your figures. Trip checks are an opposed roll, so the additional attack is only if they fail to resist the trip. At level 6 you could conceivably be fighting things with 70+ hp, so you'll need that damage. Also remember that anything with more than two legs or size categories larger than you will get a bonus to resist the trip attempt.
Theoretically, i'm averaging 69hp a hit if all my attacks land at level6. This is straight numbers without taking into account masterwork or magic weapons.
I also wanted to point out that you can vary your power attack. Thus, if your normal attack is +7 for 1d12+4 with a BAB of 3, you can Power Attack at anywhere from +4 and 1d12+10 to +6 and 1d12+6. Raging, of course, mixes things up a bit.
Other than that, it looks good. I'd recalculate the numbers when you're off the drugs, though, just in case :)
The other side of this is if the party is fighting 10+ creatures, you can at most kill what 2 a round? That's 8+ more beating on you.
Also, i don't forsee hitting being a major problem. If i can reach it, it'll porbably get smashed. I don't always have to power attack ;)
Your AC is going to suffer for this, and while a large amount of HP goes a long way (and the DR that you'll get later will help a bit as well), it doesn't substitute for a good AC. Not getting hit at all is always better than getting hit and hoping that your HP remains high.
I've played the Bbn types before, and let me tell you, you'll often find yourself in trouble if you don't have the proper support.
My reccomendation, after you pick up a magical weapon, get yourself a Ring of Force Shield, ASAP. I'm not sure how some other DM's do it, but the way I and my DM's have always played it is that it's a free shield bonus to your AC.
Just some advice from somebody that got chopped up by a group of 9 goblin assassins when they surrounded me and took potshots. They weren't flanking me, thanks to my already having been up to Improved Uncanny Dodge, but the fact that their were 9 of them and my AC was just low enough that they could all hit me at least twice a round...my oodles of HP didn't last long.