Combat Form looked right for this concept, but like the Ironskin Chant it only works if you have feats to spare.
If you have better things to do with your feats, take whatever fits the style and gets better results.
I don't know if there is a default Bardbarian, I perfered to use a Swashbuckling Bard:
Swashbuckler 1/Fighter 2/Bard 4/Lyric Thaumathurg 4/Abjurant Champion 5/ could finish with Dervish(replace Cutlass with Scimitar to enhance Critrange)
I needed the feats, my music went into Snowflake Wardance TWF with Cutlass, Combat Expertise and Deadly Defense.
- AC 30(+5 Dex, +4 Chainshirt, +9 Shield, +2 Combat Expertise to get the damage bonus from Deadly Defense), not considering magic items!
- 2d6+Str from Main Weapon with +4 from CHA negating TWF & Combat Expertise penalties
- circumstantial useful spells: Alter Self(hello troglodyte for nat. armor & stench, or Avariel for wings), Bladeweave, Critical Strike, Grace(later: Sirine's or Nixie's), Haste, War Cry
One Build I made for a fellow player used a lot of Forgotten Realms Material:
Bard 7/ Barbarian(Lion Totem) 1/ Rage Mage 8/either Spelldancer or Raumathari Battlemage 4
I said Spelldancer for free metamagic(persist spells via dancing), the player wanted a "Katana" aka Bastard Sword and took the other PrC...
Damage came from Leap Attack & Arcane Strike
AC was bad, took a lot more healing than he was able to provide himself
Bards are really more about buffing/debuffing than about dealing or soaking direct damage.
Duskblades are better for that, but they lack in the utility department.
Hexblade is really underpowered, even compared to Bard & Duskblade without taking into account PrC.
Most "Fighter using a little Magic"-characters I play myself are build around other schticks:
- Alter Self/Polymorph into some combat form(sometimes combined with Skirmish/Sneak)
- Battlefield control(with somesthing like a Breath Weapon + Entangling Breath)
- Hit & Run(using Wings or teleport + pounce, combined with Skirmish/Sneak)
- Ranged attacks(Arcane Archer, or Eldritch Blast combined with Skirmish/Sneak)
For all I know to make the ideas in the opening post work, you need to combine DR and/or fast healing with a reasonably high AC and some way to defend against "save or die"(save or suck, whatever you like to call it).
Where I do have my problems is getting damage in excess of normal weapon damage, especially without neglecting the above.
Maybe a Glaivelock(Warlock, using the Eldritch Glaive Invocation from Dragon Magic) could work?
The
Warlock Information Compilation has more informations on that one, I toyed around with it but never actually used the class in play.
For Psychic Warrior:
The Bonus Feats are the big selling point here, otherwise I'd prefer Ardent(more power points, some nice abilities and the later you take it the better) or Wilder(more power points, also Wild Surge can provide a useful little buff for both manifesting and combat).
I got a lot of use out of Expanded Knowledge.
Astral Constructs are useful to have anyways, but you can also get one menu A choice for yourself(with either Skin of the Construct(feat) or Astral Vambraces(Soulmeld, from a Web Enhancement).
Metamorphosis + Metamorphic Transfer is even better.
Incarnum is also a nobrainer, I once used the dualadvancing PrC with Ardent & Incarnate(Ranged Attack focused).
Totemist does have the better melds for a melee build, might even be worth a dip(level 2 recommended) instead of blowing a feat for 1 meld only.
Swordsage 2(see Ardent, take preferably after at least 6 other classlevels) will also be superior to taking martial study/stance, if only to add your casting stat to AC in light armor(between Mithral Breatplate/Chainshirt+Dastana + WIS and Mithral Fullplate, you only need 16+ to come up equal).
If you can get Lords of Madness included, Sanctified Mind might be a good PrC to include.
