you're going to carry barding just to be prepared for bear-shaping?  that's a nice extra bit of weight.  how many rounds will it take for someone else to put it on?

and i think the party's mounts may need training to deal with the occasional sudden appearance of a bear in their midst. . . .

Quote from: Thanatos02Bearbarian.

Barbearian.

Quote from: beeberyou're going to carry barding just to be prepared for bear-shaping?  that's a nice extra bit of weight.  how many rounds will it take for someone else to put it on?

Less time than your squire needs to put on your full plate. If you can do the latter, you can have a barded bear barbarian (Dear Dave Barry, I have this great band name for you...).
Obviously it depends on the mechanics of the bearification. Bear Warrior-style rage-shaping won't work with that, even minutes/level will pose big problems. But if you're on par with a druid, you've got 1 hour/lvl. More than enough for most adventuring situations. Yes, a surprise can rub you the wrong way, but that's really not different from un-buffed spellcasters and warriors in their travel armor...

This is actually a rather common druid tactic, even more so for the Dire Ape druids.

Is it particularly mood-enhancing? Nope. Would players (or even characters) wishing to be effective do it? Certainly.

Quote from: beeberand i think the party's mounts may need training to deal with the occasional sudden appearance of a bear in their midst. . . .

As opposed to a frothing barbarian, cleaving left and right...

I like the puns in this thread.

 Not much else to say.  I don't play D&D enough or know it  well enough to comment.


 It seems like the original problem got solved.


- Ed C.

Quote from: KoltarI like the puns in this thread.

 Not much else to say.  I don't play D&D enough or know it  well enough to comment.


 It seems like the original problem got solved.


- Ed C.

Bearly.

Quote from: LeSquideBearly.

If you count the OP's problem player deciding he could bear to play another class. I heard he might go with a monk so he can beat things with his bear hands.

Quote from: Thanatos02If you count the OP's problem player deciding he could bear to play another class. I heard he might go with a monk so he can beat things with his bear hands.

So he admitted to being unbearable then?

Quote from: Cerulean LionSo he admitted to being unbearable then?

How embearassing that must have been.

I'm out of bear puns.    :emot-sigh:

But anyhow, yeah. I mean, Bear Warriors are cool, but there was a reason it was a PrC.

Quote from: Thanatos02I'm out of bear puns.    :emot-sigh:

But anyhow, yeah. I mean, Bear Warriors are cool, but there was a reason it was a PrC.

I don't think there's any mechanical reason for it to be PrC only. As I pointed out above, if a character is OK with starting out as a Black Bear, it's pretty easily balanced.

Any such rule is so easily exploited, it just isn't funny.

Having said that, go Bad News Bears!

It's also easy to write in simple, sensible restrictions that will prevent things from going all pear shaped. Given what a Barbarian can already do when cranked for damage, the d4s and d6s from a black bears natural weapons (even with strength adjusted to 19) isn't going to be that noticable.

Multiple attacks from the very start? Attributes that don't add, but replace (-> gnome barbarian, put everything into Con). I'd like to see those restrictions. I'm not saying that you won't be able to match it pretty soon with a normally optimized barbarian, but at level 1, Ursula Hairybottoms will be a tad bit too good.

Quote from: SosthenesMultiple attacks from the very start? Attributes that don't add, but replace (-> gnome barbarian, put everything into Con). I'd like to see those restrictions. I'm not saying that you won't be able to match it pretty soon with a normally optimized barbarian, but at level 1, Ursula Hairybottoms will be a tad bit too good.

If Ursula Hairybottoms is a gnome or halfling, then her bear form is one size category smaller, with damage adjusted accordingly. Problem solved.

I didn't take gnome for size bonuses, but for the con boost. Which (medium-sized) dwarves have too. I've seen this done for druids, but at least they had to weather a few levels first and by then the rest of the group can hold up.
Also one has to keep in mind that a barbarian would be much more likely to switch classes. For a one-level dip, bear-shape is nice. If I have to take a few levels before I get to full brown bear size, I'll probably wait as long and then tack on a few fighter levels for feats, then it's War Shaper time.

The only shaping implementation that I've seen that works from level is is the Druid variant in PHB 2, and that works because it just _adds_ to attributes and offers rather limited forms without many special abilities. Otherwise, Eberronian shifters and the Bear Warrior PrC are probably the rule equivalents one has to keep in mind when designing such abilities.