Haunting Melody Optimization

[Aemoh87]

I have seen all sorts of intimidate optimization to make foes cower in fear. Anyone know how to do this with the feat Haunting Melody (ECS).

Preferably using things that would be easily available to a bard. Please post with sources too!

[Bang!]

The easiest way is just to follow it up with the Scare or Fear spells.

The 6th level Gnome Bard substitution from Races of Stone does essentially the same thing as Haunting Melody, stacks with Haunting Melody and escalates on its own if you can get a target to listen for 3 rounds. It would make a good follow-up, especially if you have a way of keeping enemies trapped for its escalation.

Dreadful Wrath from Player's Guide to Faerun makes enemies save against a level of fear whenever you do pretty much anything. Frightful Wrath from Draconomicon does the same thing, but is limited by your HD.

Fearsome Armor from Drow of the Underdark allows a move action intimidate, which could combine well with levels in Dread Pirate (the Good-aligned Inspire Courage version) from Complete Adventurer or the Never Outnumbered Skill trick from Complete Scoundrel to tag a level of fear onto multiple enemies without messing up your action economy too badly.

I know you've probably already seen it, but here (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3809.0)'s a link to the Fear Handbook, which has a bunch of things you could use. (There are things omitted like CW's Pandemonic Silver and Fearsome Armor, but it has a lot of materials you could use.)

[Aemoh87]

Yeah I am looking at that. I am trying to combine inspire courage and fear escalation.

One really handy trick I found was dread pirate and heartfire fanner. I give all my sailors the Daunting Presence feat from Libris Mortis since it is a fighter feat :)

I am not completely sold on using intimidate though :( since it is easily done. But I think I might have too.