Min/Max Boards

This is not actually a rule.  A lot of DMs think it is, for some reason... and it's certainly allowed for them to houserule it, but it is not stated anywhere.

I could have sworn that I had read it somewhere myself. Isn't it in the DMG around where they give you your first few prestige classes?

Anyway, a kobold barbarian is a hilarious thing.  That strength penalty and small small size will be killer, though... how do you actually want to go about fighting?

You know, that's going to be a lot harder than I thought. I thought kobolds only had a -2 to Strength.

How does your DM feel about homebrew?  I can probably guess, but I figured I'd ask anyway.

He generally assumes that it's people wanting to make brokesauce content. He asked me if I was asking him about a homebrew PrC or the one in Complete Warrior, so he might be willing to take a homebrew Rage Mage.

Hello all, Zovc here.

My friend invited me to play in a campaign he will be running soon. I've become smitten with the idea of playing a Kobold Rage Mage.

I know, this sounds disastrously bad. But the idea has some merit to it: my friends have a poor understanding of 3.5's 'theory' and optimization. The character concept is very colorful, and very prone to being killed mercilessly (in character) in the event of anything going wrong in terms of balance or power level.

Right now, this is the basic character concept: Kobold has Napoleon complex, feels as though he should be treated with respect and reknown because he is descended from a dragon. Kobold tries to prove to humans and elves and dwarves that he is capable and strong and better, but they no listen. Kobold get upset, things get exploded.

So, provided the character is too powerful by some bizarre turn of events, Kobold will just be especially abrasive towards townsfolk and rather than trying to prove himself by being helpful, he will try to prove himself by attacking villages. XD

The basic concept I was thinking of was Battle Sorceror and Barbarian going into Rage Mage. This probably can be refined quite a bit, but I need to provide the preface that my DM dislikes using 'too many' books to build characters.

tl;dr, Here are the things I would like to ask for assistance with: (AFB on weekdays.)

1. How much can you optimize a kobold who takes all 10 levels of Rage Mage and tries to utilize the class' features and flavor.
2. How can you make the above character playable at levels leading up to Rage Mage?
3. What classes would you use in place of Barbarian and Sorcerer, if you wanted to?
4. What adjustments to Rage Mage would you make in order to make it a more balanced ('around tier 3') class?
5. What adjustments to Barbarian and/or Battle Sorcerer would you make in order to make them more playable prior to accessing Rage Mage?

The fewer books used, the better, but any WotC printed 3.5 book is likely a fine source. This character will likely be played from level 1 up, his fluff is somewhat undefined (world/campaign dependent), but starting as either class is probably acceptable.

Thanks in advance, and I hope helping me explore this is enjoyable!