DFA feats

[SliceandDiceKid]

I've read the handbooks, but still can't figure an effective selection. I'm taking entangling exhalation and ability focus breath weapon

Lvl 4 whisper gnome
Str 14
Dex 10
Con 24 with item
Int 12
Wis 10
Cha 8

I want to tank for the party with ectoplasmic armor and a tower shield

[kestrel404]

1. You're aware that ectoplasmic armor only applies to a very specific kind of attack you're not going to run into very much, right? Incorporeal touch attacks apply pretty much against incorporeal undead and that's it. You'd be a lot better off with Mage Armor, or actual physical armor - a Masterwork Mithril Breastplate gives +5 armor (with up to +5 from dex) at a mere 15% spell failure chance, which can be mostly negated with a Twilight enchantment (down to 5%). Since they have have no Armor Check penalty, there is no penalty to wearing them while not proficient (see armor proficiency rules).

2. Why are you using a tower shield? It takes 2 feats for you to become proficient with one (unless you're dipping fighter), and the Shield spell is much better. Getting a custom magic item with a permanent/at-will 'Shield' effect is surprisingly cheap (level 1 @ CL1 x 2000 = 2000 GP), probably as a bracer.

3. If you're going to tank as a DFA, invest in Dex, not strength. You're not going to be wacking things with a pointy stick very often, and even as party tank a crossbow is going to be better for you than a sword in most cases.

4. Since you're a whisper gnome, Extra silence is very nice. Unfortunately, you're tanking charisma. If you could get you Cha to 10 at least, that would be worth it. Cha is also your invocation's main stat - not that you'll be dependent on it much, but it's worth considering.

The alternative is that you basically ignore your ability to use weapons completely in favor of your breath weapons. Since you're already tanking Cha and Dex, you could be a Dragonborn Whisper Gnome.

Dragonborn gives you a 2nd breath weapon (Heart option) that does d8 damage instead of d6 but levels a bit more slowly, and +2 con. In this version, you basically ignore your ability to hit people with things other than your breath weapon completely. You wear Platemail armor and carry your Tower Shield. And no, you don't bother with proficiency in either - it'll give you an overall -18 or so to hit anything...when making an attack roll.

Fortunately for you, in this case, you aren't rolling attacks. Ever.

Was that your original intent? Because with the 2nd breath weapon, you can start taking Metabreath feats from the different Dragon books and not worry about the extra cooldown times - just switch between them. Add Rapid Breathing or whatever into the mix to lower the cooldown times, pick up a 3rd breathweapon eventually (there are a couple other means out there, all in books with Dragon in the name) and be the fire breathing super-tank who makes everyone ELSE roll dice.

[Fax Celestis]

You could just load up on draconic feats. The variable $DF below is the number of draconic feats you have.

1st: Draconic Heritage (+$DF to resist sleep, paralysis, and selected energy type, as well as associated class skill)
3rd: Draconic Toughness (2*$DF HP)
Flaw: Draconic Resistance (3*$DF resistance to element of heritage)
Flaw: Draconic Vigor (Heal HP = spell's level whenever you cast an arcane spell: DFA SLAs and your breath weapon count)

This means +8 HP, 12 resist to one energy, +4 saves vs sleep/paralysis/same energy, +4 to selected skill, and practically infinite healing for yourself.

Good heritage choices are Amethyst (force and Diplomacy), Battle (sonic and Perform), Copper (acid and Hide), Silver (cold and Disguise), and White (cold and Hide).

At 6th level, you can pick up another feat (say... Draconic Knowledge (+1*DF untyped to all knowledge skills, all knowledge skills are always class skills)), which bumps your bonuses up to:

+10 HP, 15 resist to one energy, +5 on saves vs sleep/paralysis/same energy, +5 to selected skill, +5 to all knowedges, practically infinite healing.

And see if you can get a wand of magic of the dragonheart, a personal-range hours/level self-buff that increases your effective number of draconic feats by 2 and gives you a bonus equal to 1/2 caster level to the selected skill. A minimum-caster-level (3) wand of this would last three hours per application and costs 4500gp, and would increase your bonuses to:

+14 HP, 21 resist to one energy (at this point, practically immunity), +7 on saves vs sleep/paralysis/same energy, +7 to selected skill (+1 more from magic of the dragonheart), +7 all knowledges, practically infinite healing.

Since CON should be your primary stat anyway (since it powers your breath save DCs and you want to tank), your HP should look like 4d8 + 16 (Con mod) + 8 (Draconic Toughness) + 1 (Dragonblooded), or 43 HP on average. At 6th, assuming you got the wand, you'd instead have 6d8 + 30 (Con mod, assuming you get a +2 item) + 14 (Draconic Toughness) + 1 (Dragonblooded), or 70 HP on average.

I'd wager you'd probably have more HP than practically anyone else in the party.

[ComaVision]

+1 Twilight Mithral Chain, or just ignore the Twilight part and deal with the meager ASF failure %
Darkwood 'Heavy' Shield

Get Power Surge feat from Dragon magazine so your breath is eligible for Metabreath feats and load up on those. Get a wand and put ranks in UMD so you have something to do when you can't breath.

[Chronos]

Power Surge would be a great feat for a DFA even if it didn't open up metabreath feats. All three of the options it gives you are useful, and you can switch them out round to round for whichever one you need.

[Glimbur]

Why worry about arcane spell failure? It doesn't apply to breath weapons. Just take 24 hour buff invocations, and wear full plate with a tower shield. Sure, your attacks of opportunity will need a natural 20 to hit, but you'll have tolerable AC at a modest cost.

[Zaq]

You could just load up on draconic feats. The variable $DF below is the number of draconic feats you have.

1st: Draconic Heritage (+$DF to resist sleep, paralysis, and selected energy type, as well as associated class skill)
3rd: Draconic Toughness (2*$DF HP)
Flaw: Draconic Resistance (3*$DF resistance to element of heritage)
Flaw: Draconic Vigor (Heal HP = spell's level whenever you cast an arcane spell: DFA SLAs and your breath weapon count)

This means +8 HP, 12 resist to one energy, +4 saves vs sleep/paralysis/same energy, +4 to selected skill, and practically infinite healing for yourself.

Hang on a sec. What justification do you have for saying that your SLAs and your breath weapon count as spells for the purpose of Draconic Vigor? Dragontouched lets you count as a sorcerer, but I don't see anything that lets you count your other abilities as being sorcerer spells. What am I missing? I don't see anything in Draconic Vigor that lets you count anything other than spells as spells.

[Fax Celestis]

Hang on a sec. What justification do you have for saying that your SLAs and your breath weapon count as spells for the purpose of Draconic Vigor? Dragontouched lets you count as a sorcerer, but I don't see anything that lets you count your other abilities as being sorcerer spells. What am I missing? I don't see anything in Draconic Vigor that lets you count anything other than spells as spells.


Spell-Like Abilities (Sp)
Usually, a spell-like ability works just like the spell of that name. A few spell-like abilities are unique; these are explained in the text where they are described.

A spell-like ability has no verbal, somatic, or material component, nor does it require a focus or have an XP cost. The user activates it mentally. Armor never affects a spell-like ability’s use, even if the ability resembles an arcane spell with a somatic component.

A spell-like ability takes the same amount of time to complete as the spell that it mimics (usually 1 standard action) unless otherwise stated. Spell-like abilities cannot be used to counterspell, nor can they be counterspelled. In all other ways, a spell-like ability functions just like a spell:

Using a spell-like ability while threatened provokes attacks of opportunity. It is possible to make a Concentration check to use a spell-like ability defensively and avoid provoking an attack of opportunity. A spell-like ability can be disrupted just as a spell can be. Spell-like abilities are subject to spell resistance and to being dispelled by dispel magic. They do not function in areas where magic is suppressed or negated.

A spell-like ability usually has a limit on how often it can be used. A spell-like ability that can be used at will has no use limit.

For creatures with spell-like abilities, a designated caster level defines how difficult it is to dispel their spell-like effects and to define any level-dependent variables (such as range and duration) the abilities might have. The creature’s caster level never affects which spell-like abilities the creature has; sometimes the given caster level is lower than the level a spellcasting character would need to cast the spell of the same name. If no caster level is specified, the caster level is equal to the creature’s Hit Dice. The saving throw (if any) against a spell-like ability is:

10 + the level of the spell the ability resembles or duplicates + the creature’s Cha modifier.

Some spell-like abilities duplicate spells that work differently when cast by characters of different classes. A monster’s spell-like abilities are presumed to be the sorcerer/wizard versions. If the spell in question is not a sorcerer/wizard spell, then default to cleric, druid, bard, paladin, and ranger, in that order.

Some creatures are actually sorcerers of a sort. They cast arcane spells as sorcerers do, using components when required. In fact, an individual creature could have some spell-like abilities and also cast other spells as a sorcerer.
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#spellLikeAbilities

ACTUALLY:

Invocations: A dragonfire adept has a repertoire of attacks, defenses, and other abilities known as draconic invocations, which allow her to focus the draconic energy that suffuses her soul. A dragonfire adept can use any invocation she knows at will.

A dragonfire adept's invocations are spell-like abilities; using an invocation is therefore a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity. To avoid provoking such attacks, a dragonfire adept can use an invocation defensively by making a successful Concentration check. An invocation can be disrupted, just as a spell can be ruined during casting. If a dragonfire adept is hit by an attack while invoking, she is entitled to a Concentration check to successfully use the invocation, just as a spellcaster would be. Her invocations are subject to spell resistance unless an invocation's description specifically states otherwise. A dragonfire adept's caster level with her invocations is equal to her class level. She can dismiss any invocation as a standard action, just as a wizard can dismiss a spell.

If an invocation allows a saving throw, its DC is 10 + the equivalent spell level + the dragonfire adept's Cha modifier. Since spell-like abilities are not spells, a dragonfire adept cannot benefit from the Spell Focus feat or from draconic feats that let her convert or spend an arcane spell slot to produce some other effect. She can, however, benefit from the Ability Focus feat (MM 303), as well as from feats that emulate metamagic effects for spell-like abilities.

The four grades of draconic invocations, in order of their relative power, are least, lesser, greater, and dark. A 1st-level dragonfire adept begins with knowledge of one least invocation, gaining access to more invocations and higher grades as she attains levels. At any level when a dragonfire adept learns a new invocation, she can also replace an invocation she already knows with another invocation of the same or lower grade. See Draconic Invocations, below, for a list of available invocations.

Unlike other spell-like abilities, draconic invocations are subject to arcane spell failure chance as described under Weapon and Armor Proficiency, above.

Finally, just like warlocks (see Complete Arcane), dragonfire adepts can qualify for some prestige classes usually intended for spellcasters. For details, see the Dragonfire Adepts and Prestige Classes sidebar on page 24.

So apparently I went to rebut you and turns out I'm wrong. Which is stupid, because they function identically to arcane spells, including provoking AoOs and being subject to ASF.

Doesn't really matter, then, just replace that feat with Draconic Power (+1 CL) or something.

[Zaq]

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#spellLikeAbilities

ACTUALLY:


So apparently I went to rebut you and turns out I'm wrong. Which is stupid, because they function identically to arcane spells, including provoking AoOs and being subject to ASF.

Doesn't really matter, then, just replace that feat with Draconic Power (+1 CL) or something.

Happens to the best of us. I got tripped up a week or two ago trying to make a tibbit Warlock, because the tibbit description says in one place that they can't use verbal components in cat form and says in another place that they can't use verbal OR somatic. (I only saw the first one.) No matter how well we think we know this game, there's always some little detail waiting to trip us up, right?

I don't know how stupid it is to disallow you from using an unlimited resource to trigger an ability that's based on expending a limited resource, but them's the rules, at least until a GM steps in and changes things. (On the one hand, feats are precious, and you should be able to get a good return on your investment. On the other hand, the feats in question really weren't intended to be used at-will. The RAW is undeniable, though whether it's actually OP or not is a toss-up.)

[Chronos]

Note if you go the heavy armor route: If you're not proficient in armor, one of the things the armor check penalty applies to is initiative. So if you're wearing full plate and you don't know how, plan on going dead last a lot.

[SliceandDiceKid]

The first reply about the psionic skin is wrong. It provides a +8 armor bonus. Yes, I'm ignoring the penalties because they aren't devastating. At some point I might move to full plate, but not right now. And investing in str and dex is a waste, I'm going to shape change anyway. Con and mental stats are important. I am dropping strength to raise int and wis though. Good input there.

[Necroticplague]

Try taking the Power Surge feat for your breath weapon. It lets you make your breath weapon a little stronger in exchange for giving it a one-round recharge time. Since it now has a recharge time, You can apply metabreath feats to it.


Or alternatively, you can go the opposite route: Pick up the Flyby Breath feat (and its prerequisite Flyby Attack). This lets you breath as a free action while flying as long as you do nothing but move. A DFA breath weapon doesn't have a recharge rate, so by doing it as a free action, you can just repeatedly roast everything until they're.