Minotaur as a playable character?

[Shrapp Hamnier]

I know it's doable, I've found many places online and in the various books about making Minotaurs playable characters in edition 3.5. However, they have slight discrepancies between each other, just enough to make it confusing.

I can now do most of the level 3 Minotaur Barbarian (lowest level it can be), but I'm still unsure what weapons (non-magical) and feats would work best for a Minotaur and its charging ability (and where they are found in the rules)? We want to move away from the stereotypical ax-wielding Minotaur. We were thinking of giving it Exotic Weapon Proficiency and have it duel wield Fullblades (from the "arms and equipment guide"), but despite how awesome that would be, I'm not convinced that is the best fit.

A recommended set of feats has been Mobility, Improved Bull Rush and Improved Overrun to help in charging. Using Improved Unarmed Combat and charging in without a weapon has been recommended, but my friend who will be actually using the character really wants a cool looking weapon. I can make any weapon look cool for him, but I'm trying to find something that would be practical for the character (he is large, so he has plenty of options). Would duel wielding be of any benefit, or is that more for aesthetic appeal?

Thank you.

(I edit this as I get new info)

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Which edition?

 

[cimbrog]

From your mention of feats, this question not being in the 5e forum and 4e having a core book minotaur race, I'm guessing you mean 3rd edition. The official d20 SRD version of the minotaur can be found in the SRD itself. However it has a +2 level adjustment, so you can't play it in a first level party. The only other canon version of the minotaur would be the Dragonlance one that is a medium sized creature and has no level adjustment. I don't think you can find it online anywhere, but I think the stats went something like this:

• +4 Strength, –2 Dexterity, –2 Intelligence, –2 Charisma.
• Medium: As Medium creatures, minotaurs have no special bonuses or penalties.
• A minotaur’s base land speed is 30 feet.
• +2 natural armor bonus.
• Gore: A minotaur may use his horns as natural weapons to make a gore attack, dealing 1d6 points of damage plus the minotaur’s Strength modifier. If the minotaur charges, his gore attack deals 2d6 points of damage, plus 1 ½ times his Strength modifier. A minotaur can attack with a weapon at his normal attack bonus and make a gore attack as a secondary attack (–5 penalty on the attack roll and half Strength bonus on the damage roll).
• +2 racial bonus on Intimidate, Swim, and Use Rope checks.
• Minotaurs may take the scent special quality as a feat. (See the Monster Manual.)
• Favored Class: Fighter.

I'd focus on the charging aspect of the minotaur. Feats like Mobility, Improved Bull Rush and Improved Overrun. If an axe sounds boring, maybe take Improved Unarmed Combat (or dip into Monk) and just charge into the fray, flip out, and begin tossing fools around. Mind you, I'm no charop specialist so this just sounds fun and probably is the least effective thing you can do.

 

[Shrapp Hamnier]

Yes, sorry, it is for edition 3.5. (just edited that into the first post)

Thank you for the info. We probably want the larger one, thank you for the link (I keep forgetting about that site and how useful it is). And while we considered having a little bit of monk thrown in with the barbarian, our DM is really particular about milti-classing and will not allow dipping. If we gain a level in a new class, we are not allowed to gain any more levels in our previous class(es). And charging in and flipping out does sound appealing. But I thought there were some weapons that could be a huge benefit for people who charge or rage? I know of a few magic weapons, but our DM is a bit particular about those as well. (I've added the new specifications to the first post)

 

[cimbrog]

I'm not really aware of any weapons that aid in a charge, only ones that are useful to set against a charge. For magic items, there is the Rhino Hide and the Knockback weapon power from Magic of Faerun but that's all I can think of.

 

[D'karr]

If the DM is a stickler for multi-classing rules then barbarian and monk don't mix because of alignment restrictions.

 

[Shrapp Hamnier]

Fair enough. We weren't planning on multi-classing the Minotaur anyways. Though a Minotaur-monk would be amusing, but not relevant for this.

The question still remains, what would be a good combination of weapons and feats for a Minotaur Barbarian (especially when it comes to charging and raging)? I've never done anything with barbarians before, so the whole realm of charging and raging is foreign to me. The fact that this is the first time I've played in about 5 years doesn't help either.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Cool looking weapons for a PC with +4 Str?

My first choices would be things like falchion, maul, greatsword, war mace, greatspear, great axe, heavy flail...big. 2 handed stuff, IOW.

If you go more exotic for the "kewl" factor, boost his Dex a bit and make him a multi-weapon fighter.

Katars, bladed gauntlets, sickles, or something from an entirely unexpected source could be fun. See also tetsubo, kusarigama, spiked shields, etc.

Or you could play off the charge & gore aspect and make him a grappler...with spiked armor.

 

[Shadowchild]

I'm not really aware of any weapons that aid in a charge, only ones that are useful to set against a charge. For magic items, there is the Rhino Hide and the Knockback weapon power from Magic of Faerun but that's all I can think of.

What about the lance

 

[Shadowchild]

I'm not really aware of any weapons that aid in a charge, only ones that are useful to set against a charge. For magic items, there is the Rhino Hide and the Knockback weapon power from Magic of Faerun but that's all I can think of.

What about the lance