Suggestion: Bear Warrior PrC improvements

[DaloLorn]

[... Reposting after I mistook the original post for a duplicate of itself and deleted it. ]

Different. The snippet you provided has more in common with Shifter Wildshape than Bear Form, except that Shifter Wildshape uses a mathematical formula instead of an if-elseif chain to compute the final ability scores fed into SetBaseAbilityScore.

Either way, the technical precedent exists, so the only question is whether there is a reason to apply that tech to Bear Warrior (i.e. whether the current behavior of Bear Form is unsatisfactory). Answering that, I fear, is going to be even harder than convincing Dae that the tech is safe (enough) for use here.

[wurdpass]

Regarding the first point in the original post, that Combat Expertise does not work, is this because the Dire Bear form is being assigned 20 Dodge AC?

If so, turning that Dodge AC into some form of uncapped stacking AC would be a change that would instantly make the Bear form relevant.

If the Bear form actually had a base AC of 30, as listed on the wiki, in the same way that normal characters have a base AC of 10 and then stack bonuses on top of this, then it would have instant relevance as a strong defensive rage.

As it is, it is overshadowed almost entirely by Epic Standard Rage + Ice Troll Berserker. The bonus damage, regeneration, natural AC and ability enhancements are within rounding error of normal rage which has the benefit of using weapons and other things available in base form.

Giving the bear a base AC as listed on the wiki (as opposed to just 20 dodge AC) would make it able to reach higher AC numbers than a standard rage build that does not invest in high AC.

This would give a 20 Barbarian / 10 Bear Warrior something special compared to other barbarian builds: easy access to a defensive form of rage for tanking.

I want to caveat that I actually really like all the other suggestions including making Bear Warrior a 20 level PRC. I’m just stating that a very simple way to give it a power boost that is actually in line with what is written on the BGT wiki would be converting its Dodge AC to something stackable.