Tiny - But Fierce! Gnome pure barbarian build

[FuzzyDuck81]

Overall concept:
A 2wf pure gnome barbarian, combining the crit multiplier boosts from frenzied berserker with the critical threat & damage boosts with light weapons from the racial line.

My own one is a TR and had a bunch of tomes etc. but the general build concept should work for a first-lifer or a TR, and vanilla or deep gnome easily enough. For some reason I can't get the character generator to run, so certain things like starting stats might not be perfect.

Race: Deep Gnome (LR'ed out the initial wiz level)
Starting stats: (36 point build with +6 tomes across the board)
STR - 14 - increases go here, or in dex if necessary to make up for lack of tomes
DEX - 14
CON - 15
INT - 16 (i like having skill points! this can easily be reduced & reallocated)
WIS - 11
CHA - 8

Feats, in no particular order:
Power Attack
Cleave
dodge
mobility (just couldnt think of anything better at 30 & extra dodge & dodge cap was useful)
2wf
i2wf
g2wf
perfect 2wf
improved critial: piercing
Overwhelming criticals
blinding speed
epic damage reduction
dire charge
elusive target
scion of the the shadowfell

Enhancements:
Racial 17 AP - 1st core, illusory escape, underdark experience x3, permanant blur, hardy nature x2, nimble reaction x3, full gnomish weapon training line.
Frenzied berserker 42 AP - all cores including capstone, extra rage x3, cracking attack x3, blood tribute x3, blood trail x3, supreme cleave x3, crazy strike x3, exhausting blow x3, constitution x1, focussed wrath x2, lash out x3, accelerated metabolism x1, tantrum x1
Occult Slayer - 1st 4 cores, extend rage x3, ear smash x3, parrying bond x3, knockout x3, guarding bond x3, arcane encumbrance x2

Assorted notes:
First off, I know, arborea would be the most effective scion feat - but it breaks celestia which i'm rather fond of, so am instead currently running shadowfell for the vampirism effect, which combines nicely with a new cannith crafted vampiric weapon or even 2 in particularly high-incoming-damage content
EDIT: Cannith crafted vampirism has the internal timer, so instead I used stat damage for the extra effect, usually wisdom since its a handy aid for any crowd-control specced casters.

Weapon-wise I typically use shortswords since I already had a load from previous ninja & swashbuckler lives, though light picks are tasty for particularly big crit numbers too.

Decided to stay with medium armour for the higher dodge - at 28 i started using the legendary hardened hide, which with the mobility & racial bonuses gives me 21% - not too shabby, though heavy armour using the shadow dragon plate would be a pretty effective option too. Personally, I prefer not getting hit Am also looking into some medium ToEE armour & weapon set for the yummy set bonus.

Destiny-wise I'm currently working on the arcane sphere (boo!) but have pretty much all the rest unlocked & at cap my twists are lay waste, momentum swing, ephemeral evolution & fast healing. Adjustments will naturally be made when running in other destinies, which will be the usual suspects - divine crusader, legendary dreadnaught, primal avatar & fury of the wild.

Overall, it's a fun little build that dishes out decent damage, has good durability & some handy mobility & additional defences.

[mezzorco]

In a D&D 3.5 campaign I played, a fellow player was a gnome barbarian Bear Warrior, usually wearing a tailored formal suit, top hat and walking stick.
A funny, sort of Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Bear character.

[unbongwah]

Is there some reason you skipped Great Cleave and Stunning Blow? They seem like the obvious alternatives to Dodge+Mobility.

[corny]

since I don't have any tomes should i take weapon finesse with short shorts? That way i can max dex ?

[FuzzyDuck81]

Is there some reason you skipped Great Cleave and Stunning Blow? They seem like the obvious alternatives to Dodge+Mobility.

I liked the idea of being super dodgy & mobile and already have enough cleave-type attacks to be going on with - I don't even bother with regular cleave, just took it to open up the two attacks in dreadnaught.

since I don't have any tomes should i take weapon finesse with short shorts? That way i can max dex ?

It'd only boost your attack, so damage will still come from strength & while raging you'll get sufficient strength boosts that it'd probably end up being higher than dex anyway, so i'd say no.

As an alternative, you could go with single weapon fighting which requires putting points in balance as you level, but is otherwise stat-independent so it could save you some hassle there & let you take perfect singe weapon fighting for the 19-20 vorpal range at high epics.

[corny]

ok I made the swf build very fun thx

[theseriousone23]

A friend just tried similarly. THF Gnome Barbarian. No-one expects the little guy to come running in w/ his huge beat-stick and smash those orcs faces in.