Thursday, May 19, 2011

Another ranger concept

I've been mentally juggling the concepts of natural attack and unarmed strike characters for a couple of days, and I'd like to see how one or two builds look on paper.

Name: Three Primary Natural Attack Moon
Class: Ranger 4 (Shapeshifter)/ Barbarian 2
Race: Half-Orc with Toothy alternative trait

Str:  18 (15 [7] +1 level + 2 racial)
Dex:  16 [10]
Con:  14 [5]
Int:  10 [0]
Wis: 14 [5]
Cha: 8 [-2]


L1: Power Attack
R2: Improved Natural Weapon (claws)
L3: Weapon Focus (claw)
L5:  Aspect of the Beast (as a backup for when we're out of rage rounds)
E7:  Dodge

How this build works:  Raging with the lesser beast totem rage trait gives him two claws as primary attacks, and a bite as a third primary, which all occur at the highest BAB without dipping into TWF feat chains.  The +4 strength from Shifter's Blessing and +4 from raging should provide ample hit and damage bonuses, while high dex helps mitigate the AC loss from raging.  I've also squeezed in a decent wisdom score for rangery skill bonuses (and spell DC for Hunter's Howl, his one spell).  I had to take Aspect of the Beast for backup claws, since we only get eight rage rounds with this build.  I also took dodge for general defensive help, plus it opens various dex-based feat chains down the line.

Bonus class features: Uncanny dodge, endurance, hunter's bond (party bonus), track, wild empathy, fast movement (negated by Shifter's Blessing)
Rage trait: Lesser Beast Totem
Combat Style: Natural Weapon
Favored Enemy: Evil Outsiders or Humans, haven't decided which fits thematically
Equipment: Breastplate +1, Amulet of Mighty Fists +1 (could swap to +1d6 something), +1 deflection item

To hit:
+4 str
+2 str enhancement (shifter's blessing)
+2 str morale (rage)
+6 BAB
+1 weapon focus
+1 enhancement
-2 power attack
= +14

Damage:
+4 str
+2 str enhancement (shifter's blessing)

+2 str morale (rage)
+1 enhancement
+4 power attack
= +13

Normal attack block:
+14 [1d8+13]
+14 [1d8+13]
+13 [1d4+12]

Versus favored enemy (via Hunter's Howl or otherwise):
+16 [1d8+15]
+16 [1d8+15]
+15 [1d4+14]

AC:
10 base
6 armor
1 armor enhancement
3 dex
1 deflection
1 dodge
-2 rage
= 20 AC

Not bad.  Going full ranger instead brings some things to the table (but removes others).  He'd lose the rage bonus (-2 hit and damage, +2 AC) and a weapon size category, 10 speed, and uncanny dodge, but he'd get an extra feat, a second favored enemy and an enhanced first one, the opportunity for a more robust animal companion, and one more 1st level spell slot.  Given that he's not exactly hurting for damage output, it could be a worthwhile tradeoff.

This operates under the assumption that an Amulet of Mighty Fists, with a +1 enhancement, transmits that bonus to natural attacks to qualify as magical for DR purposes.  If not a feat (6th level ranger bonus?) could be expended for Eldritch Claws.

I'm thinking full ranger might be the way to go, now that I'm writing through this.  The loss of rage can be replaced by the improved favored enemy bonus in many cases, plus then I don't have to fucking deal with tracking rage rounds, fatigue penalties, or stepping on Ryan's barbarian toes.  New attack block looks something like:

Normal:
+12 [1d6+11]
+12 [1d6+11]
+11 [1d4+10]

Main favored enemy:
+16 [1d6+15]
+16 [1d6+15]

+15 [1d6+14]

Secondary favored/Hunter's Howl (assuming I'm reading it correctly that it caps at +2 and doesn't scale with normal main favored enemy bonuses):
+14 [1d6+13]

+14 [1d6+13]

+13 [1d6+12]

Plus then the party bond could transmit a +2/+2 (or +1 depending on target) stacking bonus against favored enemies for everyone else for two rounds, easily maintained with move actions.  AC bumped up to 22.  Plus all the ranger flavor stuff.

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