Newbie needs guidance for Dragon Shaman

[MicManGuy]

I've just recently started playing 3.5 and am looking to make a Lvl 6 dragon obsessed character. I've got a pretty sweet set up for race: A Dragonborn that was once a Draconic Raptoran (+1 LA). I've looked through the Dragon Shaman Handbook (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214007), but I still need some help - particularly with my feat choice.

I know I want to use breath heavily, but I need figure out what to do during the recharge. I'd like to use Imperious Command, but I don't know any good ways to demoralize that will work with Dragon Shaman. I can fly, so that gives me room to abuse dive attacks.

Also, I have a lower attack bonus than Barbarian or Warrior, so am I right in thinking that power attack is not a good option...? My DM has banned a few things (see below), and I'm allowed to take 2 flaws. This brings my total feats to 5.

Core Elements:

Dragon Shaman
Level 6
Tank / Party Face / Offhealer
22 CON
Fly 40ft.
Spider Climb


Things I need advice on:

Feats
Weapons

1-hander? 2-hander? shield? reach?

Multiclassing / Prestige Classes

Things I want to use:

Breath
Demoralize
Dive attacks

Things my DM Banned:

Skill Tricks
Regional Feats

Possibilities:

Fun

Dragon Tail

Weapons
Breath

Maximize Breath
Clinging Breath
Entangling Exhalation

Demoralize

Imperius Command
Fearsome armor
Frightful Presence?
Intimidating Strike?

Dive attacks

Flyby Attack + Reach Weapon
Diving Charge
Power Dive?
Flyby Breath?

[gurgleflep]

I've not gotten to play a Dragon Shaman yet but this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214007) may be of some help to you. It's a handbook for the class and could come in handy.

[MicManGuy]

I've not gotten to play a Dragon Shaman yet but this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214007) may be of some help to you. It's a handbook for the class and could come in handy.
I knew I forgot to put something. Yes, I've already looked through that guide. Many of my current "possibilities" came from that. However, many of that guide's suggestions were banned by my DM. The guide also says nothing about multiclass / prestige classes.

[Aegis013]

Can you share what options have been banned by your DM in order to give us a better feel for the optimization level your table functions?

It'd be nice if we could help you make something effective but not have people at your table balk at your character sheet.

Random other suggestions:
Dragonborn of Bahamut from Races of the Dragon can net you a second breath weapon on a separate cooldown timer. This can be a huge boon if you want your big thing to be using breath weapons frequently. It also qualifies for metabreath feats, but I'm going to guess that your DM wouldn't like you using metabreath feats.

The class from Dragon Magic, Dragonfire Adept (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060912a&page=2) (which many people on these forums believe is a more powerful option than Dragon Shaman with a similar theme) can net you a breath weapon which is entirely spam-able, ie you can use it every round. It also gives you spam-able invocations, which can be quite nice.

[Vaz]

The Dragon Shaman is not multiclass friendly.its main reason for sticking with it are based on class levels.

Having said that, you may get some mileage out of taking Totemist after 5th level using Dragon Magic to use Draconic Soulmelds.

[MicManGuy]

Can you share what options have been banned by your DM ...?

Random other suggestions:
Dragonborn of Bahamut ...

The class from Dragon Magic, Dragonfire Adept (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060912a&page=2) ...
I listed what my DM banned. He banned all Skill Tricks and Regional Feats.
I said I was a Dragonborn of Bahamut (changed from a Draconic Raptoran).
I'm set on Lvl 6 Dragon Priest. So after that, Dragonfire Adept looks good. Even if it's just a 1 lvl dip, I can get some neat stuff. I'll look into it more later.


...you may get some mileage out of taking Totemist after 5th level using Dragon Magic to use Draconic Soulmelds.
Interesting. I'll look into that as well.

Right now, I'm level 6, so I'm mostly deciding on what to do with my feats. multiclassing is going to be weeks or month from now.

[Fouredged Sword]

Power attack is a really good idea. I know you have 3/4th bab, but that is at most -5 over what a fighter would be doing, and so you just use 1/4th less of it. A dive attack with a piercing weapon deals double damage, so you double your return. With a two handed weapon (longspear) you get 2 X the penalty you take from attack to damage. With a dive attack, you double that to 4 X penalty, and you stack on the bonuses for charging.

What you want to do is grab Entangling Exhalation. On the first round you fly up and use your breath weapon over the shoulders of your allies. This will entangle most foes for a few rounds and act as awesome battlefield control. Then you use your position up in the air to charge a foe who is entangled with your spear for massive damage.

[MicManGuy]

Power attack is a really good idea. I know you have 3/4th bab, but that is at most -5 over what a fighter would be doing, and so you just use 1/4th less of it. A dive attack with a piercing weapon deals double damage, so you double your return...
Yeah, I guess. I just don't like taking a hit to my attack bonus. I've got +9 natively. With circumstantial bonuses I can bump that up to +14 to +17. But I feel like I won't get those opportunities often. I'm not out to deal damage as much as to be a tank.



What you want to do is grab Entangling Exhalation...
Yeah. It's awesome. All the Breath Feats I listed are guaranteed to be in my build.

I've got room for 2 more feats and I really want one of them to be Dragon Tail, just for the fun of it. I'm thinking Diving Charge for +2d6. I'd like to use Imperius Command, but I have no way to get free demoralize actions.

[Runeclaw]

I'm not out to deal damage as much as to be a tank.

As a general rule, tanking doesn't work in tabletop. Most non-mindless foes will not continue attacking a target they are not able to hurt - they will go after easier foes. Unless you have some way to make enemies attack you rather than your more squish-able companions, the best defense is a good offense.

[MicManGuy]

As a general rule, tanking doesn't work in tabletop. Most non-mindless foes will not continue attacking a target they are not able to hurt - they will go after easier foes. Unless you have some way to make enemies attack you rather than your more squish-able companions, the best defense is a good offense.
Well my auras give buffs. I'd like a way to debuff or crowd control enemies. Imperius Command looks great for that, but I don't know how to get decent value out of it. My DM doesn't allow skill tricks like Never Outnumbered.

[tyckspoon]

Well my auras give buffs. I'd like a way to debuff or crowd control enemies. Imperius Command looks great for that, but I don't know how to get adecent value out of it. My DM doesn't allow skill tricks like Never Outnumbered.

The Drow of the Underdark version of the Fearsome armor property is helpful for this; it lets you Intimidate as a Move action (as well as giving a useful bonus to your Intimidate check!) which lets you Entangling Breath and Intimidate at somebody in the same round. It's also quite cheap and easy to apply, as it's a 5k flat gold cost. Possibly too expensive to get right now, but if you want to use Demoralize you definitely want this and you want it soon.

[MicManGuy]

The more I think about it, the more I think that Spider Climb (Draconic Adaptation) isn't worth it. I think I would have to have both hands free to land on walls between flights with that. Right? Would another Draconic Adaptation be better? Or could I make Spider Climb work?

[Mr Adventurer]

Best Dragon Shaman advice is "don't play a dragon shaman".

[MicManGuy]

Best Dragon Shaman advice is "don't play a dragon shaman".
You're useless. Dragon shaman is pretty neat. I'm sure he falls off later on, but we won't be playing that far anyways.

[nedz]

Best Dragon Shaman advice is "don't play a dragon shaman".

This is true. Dragon Shamans are a very limited support type character. They just don't have many options and so become very predictable.

Are you aware that you can pick up the Aura's as feats ?
You could bolt these onto some other class as build your character concept in other ways.

What is it you are looking for, in terms of role ?

[MicManGuy]

Are you aware that you can pick up the Aura's as feats ?
You could bolt these onto some other class as build your character concept in other ways.

What is it you are looking for, in terms of role ?
Oh yeah. I vaguely remember seeing that. But it's not like I can get them with Fighter bonus feats. Mostly, I'm doing this for the breath, but i like the healing and dragon theme, too.

Seriously, do people even GLANCE at the OP? My role is right there.

I like the Dragon Shaman. It's like a better Paladin. It would help me a lot more if people would suggest alternatives instead of just flatly rejecting the class. That helps no one.

[nedz]

Seriously, do people even GLANCE at the OP? My role is right there.
It's a lot of words which helps conceal this; and you only really state what you like about the Dragon Shaman.


I like the Dragon Shaman. It's like a better Paladin.
Dragon Shamanis not a better Paladin, though it might be better than any Paladin you have seen.


It would help me a lot more if people would suggest alternatives instead of just flatly rejecting the class. That helps no one.

I was trying to elicit more information to that end.

So far I have

Flying Combat
Fear Build
Breath Weapon
Draconic flavour

[Big Fau]

You're useless. Dragon shaman is pretty neat. I'm sure he falls off later on, but we won't be playing that far anyways.

It falls off at level 1. You'd be better off with the Dragonfire Adept.

[Thurbane]

It's probably in the handbook, but an ACF lets you swap out one of your auras in exchange for a Least DFA invocation. Magic Insight and See the Unseen are pretty nice, and to be honest, you can afford to lose one of your 7 auras (some just aren't that useful - Toughness loses it's relevance in the game once most enemies have the ability to bypass DR/magic, and Resistence is easily replaceable by low level long duration spells).

[Lonely Tylenol]

Since you're set on the Dragon Shaman (and, frankly, I think it's kind of cool anyway), make the best of what you've got: your Dragonborn aspect should probably be Heart, since the senses are underwhelming, and the Raptoran's wings already provide the same effect (making the Wings aspect redundant). This will give you two breaths on your 1d4 round cooldown. Entangling Exhalation and Quicken Breath are both quality grabs as feats go--Entangling Exhalation because it gets you a useful crowd-control option without a cost, and Quicken Breath because it gives you an offensive option for your swift attack (which you are otherwise lacking).

The Fearsome armor property from Drow of the Underdark gives you, I believe, a +5 bonus to Intimidate, and lets you demoralize as a move action, which is key. Between your standard action attack, move action demoralize, and swift action breath, you will have *some* form of offensive capability for each action type (except for immediate), which will prove to be useful for when you need to be adaptable in combat situations.

A Dragon Spirit Cincture is the most cost-effective way to increase your breath damage (taking up only an item slot and relatively little gold). A dragonfang weapon and/or a least crystal of energy assault would be the cheapest ways I can think of to add energy damage for that +1 to the save DC of your breath weapons. The weapon need only be magic; it doesn't require that the magic be what adds the same type of damage as your breath weapon. That said, it might be useful to get a dragonfang weapon of X element, with a least crystal of Y element, since the Heart aspect lets you choose different energy types on the fly.

If at all possible, take the Draconic Invocation ACF from Dragon Magic, which lets you swap out the aura gained at level 5 for a least invocation from the Dragonfire Adept list. This is strictly superior to the Dragonfire Adept dip for a Dragon Shaman, since Dragon Shaman is not a multiclass-friendly base class (and neither, for that matter, is the Dragonfire Adept particularly dip-friendly). You won't need all of your auras known (even when you include the extra ones in Dragon Magic), and some of the invocations can prove to be very useful (in particular, Beguiling Influence for social builds and intimidators; Draconic Knowledge for creature knowledge and synergy with Knowledge Devotion, although both work better with the Collector of Stories skill trick, which is not allowed; Magic Insight, because all the scariest things out there are magical; and See the Unseen, for a quality-of-life boost to your senses, if you didn't already have good senses).

EDIT: I forgot to mention that you will also want a means of swift-action movement in a pinch. A Chronocharm of the Horizon Walker is very cheap and gives you some swift-action movement for those few times when you need to make your swift action count for something and your breaths are both on cooldown, or for when you need to keep your move action (for an intimidation) or full-round action (for a full attack), but still need to move to set everything up, or for when you just need the extra mobility. Other options (both superior and more expensive) can be found as well.

[Fax Celestis]

If you're looking to do a fear-based build thing as Lonely Tylenol discussed somewhat above, you should also consider the Intimidating Strike feat from PHB-II. It's basically Power Attack, but instead of extra damage, you get a free Intimidate with a bonus equal to the penalty you take.

[Raezeman]

If you really want to play something breath heavy, i would (like so many others already did) suggest the dragonfire adept from dragon magic. I'm currently playing a human dragon fire adept named Zim. And if you need some help with the feats, i would say if you take 'entangling exhalation' and 'ability focus (breath weapon)', you can't really do anything wrong after that.

I really like playing him, since in combat he can do nice damage, doesn't care about high AC opponents (thou i consider myself lucky we haven't come across many foes with evasion) and helps the group with entangling. Also from a role playing perspective, using my fire breath for silly things, demanding people call me 'the dragon' and going a little crazy when seeing large amounts of treasure is really fun.

Zim also has the frightful presence feat to add more to the dragon feeling (which my DM let's me activate on a breath attack) and the willing deformity face feat, which i must say he didn't acquire willingly AT ALL.

[MicManGuy]

Seriously people. Look at the OP. Just, please... don't waste your time by writing answers that I already have. I'm trying to help you. Use Ctrl + F. It works wonders.

Party Rolls: Tank, Party Face, Crowd Control(?), Healer
Need Advice on: Weapon Choice, Demoralizing, Improving AC

Current Main Concern: Is there any way to use Imperius Command on multiple targets besides the Never Outnumbered Trick?

I already know about: Race, Breath Weapons, Dragonfire Adept & Invocations, Imperius Command, Fearsome armor, Frightful Presence, Intimidating Strike

[nedz]

Seriously people. Look at the OP. Just, please... don't waste your time by writing answers that I already have. I'm trying to help you. Use Ctrl + F. It works wonders.

Party Rolls: Tank, Party Face, Crowd Control(?), Healer
Need Advice on: Weapon Choice, Demoralizing, Improving AC

Current Main Concern: Is there any way to use Imperius Command on multiple targets besides the Never Outnumbered Trick?

I already know about: Race, Breath Weapons, Dragonfire Adept & Invocations, Imperius Command, Fearsome armor, Frightful Presence, Intimidating Strike

Sorry, was just trying to move you out of your box.

I don't think there's a way of using Imperious Command on multiple targets any other way. There is a well known fear handbook here (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3809) which may help.

[MicManGuy]

I don't think there's a way of using Imperious Command on multiple targets any other way. There is a well known fear handbook here (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3809) which may help.
Yeah I've already checked that one. It's not all inclusive, tho. He doesn't even mention Intimidating Strike. All of his stuff is based off of Never Outnumbered or Intimidating Rage, which I can't use. I'm considering just getting Frightful Presence, but it's weak and I have so many feats that I want already.

[Fax Celestis]

You could ask your DM if Frightful Presence counts as demoralize.

[MicManGuy]

You could ask your DM if Frightful Presence counts as demoralize.Even so, it only works on creatures with less hit dice than me. Not very useful.

[nedz]

Yeah I've already checked that one. It's not all inclusive, tho. He doesn't even mention Intimidating Strike. All of his stuff is based off of Never Outnumbered or Intimidating Rage, which I can't use. I'm considering just getting Frightful Presence, but it's weak and I have so many feats that I want already.

Well Intimidating Strike is a bit meh, since it's a standard action so no full attacks; also you can't use it on a charge, for the same reason.

[Lonely Tylenol]

Seriously people. Look at the OP. Just, please... don't waste your time by writing answers that I already have. I'm trying to help you. Use Ctrl + F. It works wonders.

Party Rolls: Tank, Party Face, Crowd Control(?), Healer
Need Advice on: Weapon Choice, Demoralizing, Improving AC

Current Main Concern: Is there any way to use Imperius Command on multiple targets besides the Never Outnumbered Trick?

I already know about: Race, Breath Weapons, Dragonfire Adept & Invocations, Imperius Command, Fearsome armor, Frightful Presence, Intimidating Strike

I'm not sure if this is directed at me, but:

1) I'm typing on a phone. Ctrl+F isn't a thing for me.
2) I checked, to be sure, and the only thing listed in my post that also exists in yours is the Fearsome armor property (and, well, Entangling Exhalation, which was made in passing). That means that the Heart aspect of Dragonborn, the Quicken Breath metamagic feat, the Draconic Invocation ACF, and all my equipment suggestions are unique in relation to your OP.
3) This applies even if this wasn't directed at me: the things that are oft-repeated (Fearsome armor to complement Imperious Command, Entangling Exhalation, etc) are probably done so for a reason. Consensus opinions should be appreciated for what they are, even if they seem redundant, because they're telling you these things because they really are useful bits of advice (although "don't play a Dragon Shaman; play a Dragonfire Adept instead" isn't exactly constructive).

That said, to answer your current pressing matters: there aren't really any ways to mass-demoralize outside of Never Outnumbered, but you can do the next best thing: get more actions with which you can demoralize. For example, if you had a Belt of Battle, you could gain a move action in place of your swift action. This would essentially give you three possible actions with which you could intimidate in a given turn: your standard action (the usual demoralize action), your move action (via Fearsome armor), and, three times per day, your swift action (via Belt of Battle). It's inelegant, but it still lets you trade your turn (via all three actions) for three of your opponents' turns (which is a huge positive in action economy). Chaining fear effects on top of the 1 round of the shaken condition that follows is also possible, since all stacking fear effects last for the duration of the longest-lasting fear effect (so shaken for 1 round + shaken for 1 minute = frightened for 1 minute").

As far as Improving AC, you have medium armor proficiency, so mithral full plate is a definite option, although mithral chain shirt + masterwork chahar-aina + masterwork dastana (both from Oriental Adventires) offers almost as much armor as a base value, with none of the speed reduction or armor check penalty, and about an eighth of the cost. Beyond that, it's all a matter of what's available; for example, does your group allow for custom magic items (which use the item creation rules)? If so, an always-on item of shield is a useful grab, as it gives you a meaningful shield bonus without the use of hands, for much cheaper than an animated shield.

You won't be the primary damage-dealer, even with Power Attack, so my recommendation is to either use a two-handed reach weapon (longspear is your only option here with simple weapon proficiency) or sword-and-board and just focus on self-defense. Personally, I prefer the longspear approach myself, because as tanking goes, the best thing you can really do is increase your threat range and punish anything that tries to move past you (and your modified reach while wielding a longspear and being Large is 20ft). As far as magic weapon properties, I would recommend something that gives you a meaningful benefit outside of "do more damage", since that isn't your focus; you can decide what. I would, however, make sure your weapon of choice is a dragonfang weapon of (1st choice of breath weapon energy type, typically Dragon Shaman type), with a least crystal of energy assault (2nd choice of breath weapon energy type, typically preferred Dragonborn energy type) loaded in, as this is a cheap and effective way to make sure your save DC is always boosted by Dragon Spirit Cincture.

[nedz]

Consensus opinions should be appreciated for what they are, even if they seem redundant, because they're telling you these things because they really are useful bits of advice (although "don't play a Dragon Shaman; play a Dragonfire Adept instead" isn't exactly constructive)

I disagree, advice like this can be very constructive. It is trying to get people thinking out of the box of creating a character of class X, rather than creating a character to fit a concept. There are 300+ base classes and about as many PrCs available which means that there are a vast number of ways of creating similar character concepts — some are better than others.

[Kane0]

Obligatory question:
Is homebrew (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15159964) allowed?

And to address some of your original questions
Try not to be the main tank, a secondary tank is a better choice if you can. You have good HP but not as good armor or BAB, so a supporting melee might work better (when you have to melee). Thus a reach, two handed weapon would likely be your best bet. Make it a piercing weapon to get yourself a bonus on dive attacks.

I also remember Flyby attack being a must for any flying character, so check that out.

Try not to multiclass. Most cool Dragon Shaman stuff it dependant on your level. There are some ACFs floating around that allow you to get some cool things too, like Dragonfire Adept invocations.

Other than that, see if any metabreath feats take your fancy.

[Lonely Tylenol]

I disagree, advice like this can be very constructive. It is trying to get people thinking out of the box of creating a character of class X, rather than creating a character to fit a concept. There are 300+ base classes and about as many PrCs available which means that there are a vast number of ways of creating similar character concepts — some are better than others.

The irony is that I think this approach is itself very limiting. It basically boils down to, in my opinion, "there are 300+ base classes (after variants, I assume), but you can thin out the field by cutting out the bad ones." The Tomb of Battle portion of your signature says it best: three new classes were created so that these seven can basically die off. The chaff has been separated out.

On top of that, "you want to be a Dragon Shaman? Play a Dragonfire Adept" seems like a bit of a non-sequitur. It's basically Monkday all over again. And while sometimes, "be a Warblade" is absolutely the best answer to "help me make X Melee concept good/viable/full of win and ice cream", it is seldom the answer to "help me make a good Fighter", because sometimes, someone just wants to play a Fighter, and that's also okay. I've built Incantatars and Warmages, Dragonfire Adepts and Dragon Shamans, Swordsages and Monks in equal measure, and I don't fault anyone for taking either approach or for eschewing the other; the most helpful thing I can do is simply to provide options to make the most out of what the player wants.

[MicManGuy]

... do the next best thing: get more actions with which you can demoralize. For example, if you had a Belt of Battle, you could gain a move action in place of your swift action. This would essentially give you three possible actions with which you could intimidate in a given turn...

... mithral chain shirt + masterwork chahar-aina + masterwork dastana (both from Oriental Adventires) offers almost as much armor as a base value, with none of the speed reduction or armor check penalty, and about an eighth of the cost...

... Personally, I prefer the longspear approach myself, because as tanking goes, the best thing you can really do is increase your threat range and punish anything that tries to move past you (and your modified reach while wielding a longspear and being Large is 20ft)...

... I would, however, make sure your weapon of choice is a dragonfang weapon of (1st choice of breath weapon energy type, typically Dragon Shaman type), with a least crystal of energy assault (2nd choice of breath weapon energy type, typically preferred Dragonborn energy type) loaded in, as this is a cheap and effective way to make sure your save DC is always boosted by Dragon Spirit Cincture.
This helped me out A LOT. I think I will do all of these things. Thanks so much!

One question, though: why do you think my character is Large? He's medium, right?

EDIT: I just realized that Dragon Spirit Cincture and Belt of Battle are both waist items. Sad day. Well, I only have 10k gold to spend, anyways

[Lonely Tylenol]

This helped me out A LOT. I think I will do all of these things. Thanks so much!

One question, though: why do you think my character is Large? He's medium, right?

EDIT: I just realized that Dragon Spirit Cincture and Belt of Battle are both waist items. Sad day. Well, I only have 10g to spend, anyways

You can get Dragon Spirit Cincture and Belt of Battle combined by adding 1.5x the cost of the cheaper item to the more expensive item, as per Magic Item Compendium, I want to say, page 232? Away from books. Make sure your DM agrees. If so, you can start with one item and add the benefits of the second later. (EDIT: and if not, go with the Belt of Battle, since extra actions and initiative bonuses are worth more than the extra energy damage and breath weapon DC. Or... Buy both belts, wear the Belt of Battle until you expend all three charges, and switch it out for the rest of the day... But this seems inefficient.)

I reason that if your melee focus is on reach, then you'll be Large as long and as often as the party caster(s) believe you should be Large, via Enlarge Person or some analogue, should you be willing, but this needn't be the case.

[nedz]

The irony is that I think this approach is itself very limiting. It basically boils down to, in my opinion, "there are 300+ base classes (after variants, I assume), but you can thin out the field by cutting out the bad ones." The Tomb of Battle portion of your signature says it best: three new classes were created so that these seven can basically die off. The chaff has been separated out.

It is not in any way limiting, quite the opposite. You should check out the Zinc Saucier threads sometimes. Incidentally I never said "Play a DFA", I was simply trying to explore what the OP actually wanted from their character.

Ed:
So lets look at how the Dragon Shaman matches up to the OP's list of Party Rolls:

Tank — Nope. Tanking doesn't really exist in 3.5 but he's only going to be second rate at combat because it's not Full BAB and he doesn't have the feats to spare.

Party Face — Nope. Doesn't have the skills or the spells or the class features

Crowd Control — A little, but only fear stuff which can be shutdown

Healer — A little, but will the party be happy with only having half HP ?

How is telling someone that their choice of class is cool when it doesn't do what they think it does helpful ?

[13_CBS]

How is telling someone that their choice of class is cool when it doesn't do what they think it does helpful ?

Perhaps in the context of his gaming table, the Dragon Shaman is good enough.

[nedz]

Perhaps in the context of his gaming table, the Dragon Shaman is good enough.

Possibly, possibly not. Neither of us know this.

[MicManGuy]

...As far as Improving AC, you have medium armor proficiency, so mithral full plate is a definite option, although mithral chain shirt + masterwork chahar-aina + masterwork dastana (both from Oriental Adventires) offers almost as much armor as a base value...an always-on item of shield is a useful grab...
Well, My DM banned the Chahar-aina and Dastana because it basically costs nothing (400g) and gives a free +2 AC. He also said an item of shield should cost 16000g, instead of the default rules for item creation. :(

I only have 10k gold to spend on EVERYTHING so, my options are very limited. I want to get decent magic armor with no movement reduction. I'm thinking of just having a party member always cast block on me with a wand. *sigh*

Anyone have any other ideas?