Voice of Gruumsh (42/365)
This is the Orc's Orc.
The Voice of Gruumsh, perhaps more properly the Prophet of Gruumsh, is an orc (Half Orc actually) who has some major blessings from the One Eyed God.
I got the idea when I noticed there were two PrCs related to Gruumsh (Eye and Blessed of Gruumshed) in two different books and that both of them were actually really quite cool and quite powerful though I'd never seen either used. When used in conjuction they actually work really, really well and the synergy is even more pronounced because both of them, the PrCs I mean, have almost identical requirements.
For this character I personally went with Half Orc because I like Half Orcs more than Orcs.
For classes, I didn't use any funky sub levels or alternate features though I did use flaws (in this case Shaky and something else).
Level
1 Barbarian Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Double Axe), Weapon Focus (Double Axe), Two Weapon Fighting
2 Fighter Power Attack
3 Barbarian Cleave
4 Half Orc Paragon
5 Half Orc Paragon
6 Half Orc Paragon Chaos Rager
7 Eye of Gruumsh
8 Eye of Gruumsh
9 Blessed of Gruumsh Improved Two Weapon Fighting
10 Eye of Gruumsh
11 Eye of Gruumsh
12 Blessed of Gruumsh Reckless Rage
13 Eye of Gruumsh
14 Eye of Gruumsh
15 Blessed of Gruumsh Channeled Rage
16 Eye of Gruumsh
17 Eye of Gruumsh
18 Blessed of Gruumsh Greater Two Weapon Fighting
19 Eye of Gruumsh
20 Eye of Gruumsh
This character is all about two things: Raging and Two Weapon Fighting specifically with the Orc Double Axe. To aid in the latter I've got all three of the Two Weapon Fighting feats and for the former I've got Chaos Rager and Reckless Rage. For those of you who don't recall those feats (I've mentioned them before, I believe) Chaos Rager is like Practiced Spellcaster for Rage; it lets me treat my effective Barbarian level as +4 for all purposes of rage, including improvements to rage. Reckless Rage is pretty cool, I take an extra -2 to AC for an extra +2 to Str/Con.
But the synergy goes further!
Half Orc Paragon gives me +1 Rage/day which is pretty cool and then I have all ten levels for Eye of Gruumsh. See, Eye of Gruumsh gives me rage, as a barbarian of my class level (so a 10th level Eye rages as a 10th level Barbarian) and it stacks with my Barbarian levels for raging. Between my Barbarian levels and the Chaos Rager feat I'm sitting at an effective Barbarian level of 16th for rage which means I've got Rage 6/day with Greater Rage (+6 Str/Con).
But wait! There's more.
Eye of Gruumsh 2 -- Swing Blindly. I get an additional +4 to Strength in rage (which means I'm at +10 Str/+6 Con in rage) and my AC penalty goes to -4. That's horribly awesome ain't it?
Now there's some other cool class abilities I get; between the levels I have in Eye and Blessed of Gruumsh he'll have a +3 Natural Armor Bonus, a +2 insight bonus to AC, a +2 Luck Bonus to AC and a +2 Insight Bonus to saves plus I basically get Diehard for free except cooler. I also get 10 foot range Blindsight and the ability to blind someone with spittle a few times per day.
The rest of the build actually relies on feats.
At first level I get Exotic Weapon Proficiency and Weapon Focus for the Orc Double Axe. Both feats are required for both PrCs and then I also pick up Two Weapon Fighting which is the foundation for the guy's fighting style.
At second level I get Power Attack which is required for Blessed of Gruumsh and it's a cool feat too. Give the guy some Armbands of Might and he's sitting pretty with an even fatter damage bonus.
Third level and I grab Cleave which is the last pre-req feat for both PrCs plus it'll be helpful at low levels. Could be a good idea to reshuffle things at early levels to get Power Attack and Cleave earlier so I can get the most mileage out of them but that's pretty much academic as far as the overall build is concerned.
I don't see another feat until 6th level when two things happen. One is that I get a feat (Chaos Rager) and the second is I finish out Half Orc Paragon and get a 2 point permanent increase to my Strength Score. Yay for Paragon Classes.
9th level I get Improved Two Weapon Fighting because I want to emphasize his double weapon fighting style and to make his full attacks just that much more brutal.
12 level and I get Reckless Rage which I mentioned above. Now, when I rage and trip this feat on I'll get +12 Str/+8 Con all for a 6 point hit to my AC. Hmm.... I tihnk I'll be okay.
15th level, to just add insult to injury? Channeled Rage. I can spend a use of rage for the day to get a +10 bonus (my base Str bonus from Rage) on my next will save. Kinda cool huh? It's also an immediate action which makes it even cooler.
And at 18th level I get Greater Two Weapon Fighting just to finish things out.
Now, a couple of possibilities exist here that I didn't quite explore. One is to replace standard fighter with the Kensai Base Class (an alternate form of fighter). This'll give me a few cool skills and cost me a feat... kinda. It'll give me a free proficiency in the Double Axe so I more or less trade feats but with a twist. Thanks to it being my chosen Kensai weapon I'd have an extra +1 to attack and damage with it. *Shrugs* Not epic but still kind of neat to think about. Another is, of course, to drop the fast movement for Pounce or to use one of the other various Barbarian totems. There's quite a few that are pretty cool but I didn't think that'd be necessary.
I will say one more thing: Given a few more levels (or gestalt) this guy would be TERRIFYING.
Vote!
Knob, Hidden Talent Fighter, Multiterrain Shocktrooper, Balthas Kasra, Kurth, Alarian Thrakos, Tarman Vorse, Spellsmiter, Highlander Build, Original Gideon, Dragonmage, Melee-ist Fighter, Paladin of Revelry, "Standard Fighter", Master of Chains, Mounted Archer, Arisias, Whirlwind, Vykes, Anarok Tor, Cerberus Ranger, Kobold Pick Fighter, Magekiller, Ebin, William Corshek, Grappler, Stormlord Cleric, Storm Mage, Lucky Adventurer, Toguro Character, Slashing Killer, Meta-Mage, Hunter of Man, Force Mage, Bardic Dervish, Halberdier, Assassin Homage, Dragoon, Draco-Blade, Missile Mage, Aiel Homage, Graeme, Ulric Vantir, Archer Mage, Vartyr Kellisk, Nature Mage, Trapper, Blessed Hunter
Also! Now introducing Gestalt Builds for anything I've already posted:
Seige Engineer, Ubertrooper, Leon Thrakos, Ravenclaw Bard, Tri-Weapon Fighter, Warblade/Lurk Concept Char, Alikin, Bloodclaw Master, Wordspeaker, Dread Pirate Roberts, Disarmer, Joshua Numenor, Direfrost Mage, Incarnate Dragon, Fortress Sorcerer, Voice of the Forgotten, Voice of Gruumsh, Kalix of Black Iron, Urzai Irondancer, Shadow Hunter, Elias the Stormwalker, Njal the Warbringer, Randal Bernard, Marsarlis #113, Eddie the Pierce Sniper, Graul the Ice Fisted, Tero Dach, Armored Tank, Earthbender Sorcerer, Mindreader, Dusk Commando, Eldritch Fistfighter, Lucian Thrakos, Merek Stonebreaker, Flash, Captain America, Arhmis Diei, Liam Ironarm, Runecaster Dwarf, Horizon, Desmond Arlin, Undead Psy-Warrior
The Voice of Gruumsh, perhaps more properly the Prophet of Gruumsh, is an orc (Half Orc actually) who has some major blessings from the One Eyed God.
I got the idea when I noticed there were two PrCs related to Gruumsh (Eye and Blessed of Gruumshed) in two different books and that both of them were actually really quite cool and quite powerful though I'd never seen either used. When used in conjuction they actually work really, really well and the synergy is even more pronounced because both of them, the PrCs I mean, have almost identical requirements.
For this character I personally went with Half Orc because I like Half Orcs more than Orcs.
For classes, I didn't use any funky sub levels or alternate features though I did use flaws (in this case Shaky and something else).
Level
1 Barbarian Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Double Axe), Weapon Focus (Double Axe), Two Weapon Fighting
2 Fighter Power Attack
3 Barbarian Cleave
4 Half Orc Paragon
5 Half Orc Paragon
6 Half Orc Paragon Chaos Rager
7 Eye of Gruumsh
8 Eye of Gruumsh
9 Blessed of Gruumsh Improved Two Weapon Fighting
10 Eye of Gruumsh
11 Eye of Gruumsh
12 Blessed of Gruumsh Reckless Rage
13 Eye of Gruumsh
14 Eye of Gruumsh
15 Blessed of Gruumsh Channeled Rage
16 Eye of Gruumsh
17 Eye of Gruumsh
18 Blessed of Gruumsh Greater Two Weapon Fighting
19 Eye of Gruumsh
20 Eye of Gruumsh
This character is all about two things: Raging and Two Weapon Fighting specifically with the Orc Double Axe. To aid in the latter I've got all three of the Two Weapon Fighting feats and for the former I've got Chaos Rager and Reckless Rage. For those of you who don't recall those feats (I've mentioned them before, I believe) Chaos Rager is like Practiced Spellcaster for Rage; it lets me treat my effective Barbarian level as +4 for all purposes of rage, including improvements to rage. Reckless Rage is pretty cool, I take an extra -2 to AC for an extra +2 to Str/Con.
But the synergy goes further!
Half Orc Paragon gives me +1 Rage/day which is pretty cool and then I have all ten levels for Eye of Gruumsh. See, Eye of Gruumsh gives me rage, as a barbarian of my class level (so a 10th level Eye rages as a 10th level Barbarian) and it stacks with my Barbarian levels for raging. Between my Barbarian levels and the Chaos Rager feat I'm sitting at an effective Barbarian level of 16th for rage which means I've got Rage 6/day with Greater Rage (+6 Str/Con).
But wait! There's more.
Eye of Gruumsh 2 -- Swing Blindly. I get an additional +4 to Strength in rage (which means I'm at +10 Str/+6 Con in rage) and my AC penalty goes to -4. That's horribly awesome ain't it?
Now there's some other cool class abilities I get; between the levels I have in Eye and Blessed of Gruumsh he'll have a +3 Natural Armor Bonus, a +2 insight bonus to AC, a +2 Luck Bonus to AC and a +2 Insight Bonus to saves plus I basically get Diehard for free except cooler. I also get 10 foot range Blindsight and the ability to blind someone with spittle a few times per day.
The rest of the build actually relies on feats.
At first level I get Exotic Weapon Proficiency and Weapon Focus for the Orc Double Axe. Both feats are required for both PrCs and then I also pick up Two Weapon Fighting which is the foundation for the guy's fighting style.
At second level I get Power Attack which is required for Blessed of Gruumsh and it's a cool feat too. Give the guy some Armbands of Might and he's sitting pretty with an even fatter damage bonus.
Third level and I grab Cleave which is the last pre-req feat for both PrCs plus it'll be helpful at low levels. Could be a good idea to reshuffle things at early levels to get Power Attack and Cleave earlier so I can get the most mileage out of them but that's pretty much academic as far as the overall build is concerned.
I don't see another feat until 6th level when two things happen. One is that I get a feat (Chaos Rager) and the second is I finish out Half Orc Paragon and get a 2 point permanent increase to my Strength Score. Yay for Paragon Classes.
9th level I get Improved Two Weapon Fighting because I want to emphasize his double weapon fighting style and to make his full attacks just that much more brutal.
12 level and I get Reckless Rage which I mentioned above. Now, when I rage and trip this feat on I'll get +12 Str/+8 Con all for a 6 point hit to my AC. Hmm.... I tihnk I'll be okay.
15th level, to just add insult to injury? Channeled Rage. I can spend a use of rage for the day to get a +10 bonus (my base Str bonus from Rage) on my next will save. Kinda cool huh? It's also an immediate action which makes it even cooler.
And at 18th level I get Greater Two Weapon Fighting just to finish things out.
Now, a couple of possibilities exist here that I didn't quite explore. One is to replace standard fighter with the Kensai Base Class (an alternate form of fighter). This'll give me a few cool skills and cost me a feat... kinda. It'll give me a free proficiency in the Double Axe so I more or less trade feats but with a twist. Thanks to it being my chosen Kensai weapon I'd have an extra +1 to attack and damage with it. *Shrugs* Not epic but still kind of neat to think about. Another is, of course, to drop the fast movement for Pounce or to use one of the other various Barbarian totems. There's quite a few that are pretty cool but I didn't think that'd be necessary.
I will say one more thing: Given a few more levels (or gestalt) this guy would be TERRIFYING.
Vote!
Knob, Hidden Talent Fighter, Multiterrain Shocktrooper, Balthas Kasra, Kurth, Alarian Thrakos, Tarman Vorse, Spellsmiter, Highlander Build, Original Gideon, Dragonmage, Melee-ist Fighter, Paladin of Revelry, "Standard Fighter", Master of Chains, Mounted Archer, Arisias, Whirlwind, Vykes, Anarok Tor, Cerberus Ranger, Kobold Pick Fighter, Magekiller, Ebin, William Corshek, Grappler, Stormlord Cleric, Storm Mage, Lucky Adventurer, Toguro Character, Slashing Killer, Meta-Mage, Hunter of Man, Force Mage, Bardic Dervish, Halberdier, Assassin Homage, Dragoon, Draco-Blade, Missile Mage, Aiel Homage, Graeme, Ulric Vantir, Archer Mage, Vartyr Kellisk, Nature Mage, Trapper, Blessed Hunter
Also! Now introducing Gestalt Builds for anything I've already posted:
Seige Engineer, Ubertrooper, Leon Thrakos, Ravenclaw Bard, Tri-Weapon Fighter, Warblade/Lurk Concept Char, Alikin, Bloodclaw Master, Wordspeaker, Dread Pirate Roberts, Disarmer, Joshua Numenor, Direfrost Mage, Incarnate Dragon, Fortress Sorcerer, Voice of the Forgotten, Voice of Gruumsh, Kalix of Black Iron, Urzai Irondancer, Shadow Hunter, Elias the Stormwalker, Njal the Warbringer, Randal Bernard, Marsarlis #113, Eddie the Pierce Sniper, Graul the Ice Fisted, Tero Dach, Armored Tank, Earthbender Sorcerer, Mindreader, Dusk Commando, Eldritch Fistfighter, Lucian Thrakos, Merek Stonebreaker, Flash, Captain America, Arhmis Diei, Liam Ironarm, Runecaster Dwarf, Horizon, Desmond Arlin, Undead Psy-Warrior