Help on playing a barbarian

[Nibor21]

I'm playing a barbarian at the moment called Karana Elksoul, and am having some difficulties and would like some advice.

She is being annihilated in battle because of her low AC and I fear for longevity, which is a shame as she is a character that I really enjoy playing and feel is a very distinctive looking character.

While I don't want to knock how other players play their barbarians I want to try keep her a Barbarian in the true spirit of the game and not have to take the step to of taking the heavy armour feat. I feel see looks distinctive at the moment in an iron chain suit customized to give it that look of barbarian chic, and hefting a maul over her shoulder.

At the moment she generally likes to keep a cleric in her pack (Voon & Dulan you have my thanks) as it is all that keeps her from a permanent grave.

To keep her alive I always try to fight on the flank of a fighter, so the receive the hits and not her, but feel I am slightly endangering the barbarian ethos.

Any advice on feats etc to take ?( she is currently lvl 10 and has :- Armor Proficiency (light), Armor Proficiency (medium), Barbarian Fast Movement,
Barbarian Rage (3x per day), Bullheaded, Cleave, Luck of Heroes, Power Attack, Shield Proficiency, Uncanny Dodge III, Weapon Focus (maul), Weapon Proficiency (martial), Weapon Proficiency (simple))

Any general recommendations etc would be appreciated

Thanks

[Thunder Pants]

toughness for the extra HP would be a good start, as well as puting points in the Tumble skill to raise your AC a little wouldn't hurt, basically barbarians make up for their lack of armor with their extra HP, so any points of HP or AC you can pick up anywhere would be the way to go if you want to keep her alive

[Eight-Bit]

Barbarians are insane, powerful, and one of the best classes to just go AFK in a fight with. Using that maul, the great strength you'll eventually have, and your massive AC you will never have to worry about dying once you get up in the levels. If you're smart, and Miss Elksoul is able to know not to bite off more than she can chew.

Because of your Hp, and the fact that you're not wearing Full Plate or using a shield, you are going to want to look for items that give consitution bonuses and Damage Resistance to physical damage. That is the Barbarian's AC, Damage Resistance.

[_M_O_B_]

yer, hit up anything that puts up your HP, i doubt Karana has 13 int lol but otherwise expertise would be good

[Faldred]

As a Barbarian, your philosophy should be "kill them before they kill you".  You will be hit, hard and often, that's your job.  You are the "tank" that keeps the bad guys away from the casters and ranged attackers.  Soloing is not going to be your strong point unless you want to invest a lot into healing and buffing supplies.

So, what to focus on?  Defensively, people have already suggested what you need to do, though if you have a spare feat to work with, Iron Will can really help against those annoying mind-affecting saves.  I also can't stress Tumble enough -- I know it's cross-class, but avoiding AoOs as you bypass the front line to crush the caster and the bonus AC is worth it.  As you gain Barbarian levels, you'll start picking up (for free) Damage Reduction, which is essentially free HP against physical attacks.  

The other option is to become a killing machine.  Ignore defense and focus on just crushing them all before they can hit you too many times.  Frankly, this is probably closer to the true Barbarian spirit anyway.  Get your defense from special armor, helmets, cloaks, etc. and from your allies' buffs.  Take offensive feats like Improved Critical.  Great Cleave is good for crowd control.  Ditto for Whirlwind Attack, but it requires a lot of prerequisite feats and a decent DEX.  Knockdown/Improved Knockdown will do double duty, keeping them from attacking you while you get to hit them more often.  Take STR increases over CON increases to hit more often, and harder.