Voice of the Eternal Blades

[TheDevourLord]

Alright, for a game I'm in, it was my original intention to run an elf warblade/eternal blade for the flavor, and I really like the white raven and diamond mind disciplines. But I'd like to have combat be more of a secondary focus for this character, as I am a huge fan of debuffing, having moderate skill at many things, and making encounters difficult for the enemies (even when they hold the advantage).
When I talked to my group about my idea ( hoping to get some advice on a direction to run with this), they recommended I look at Bard for about 6 levels then dip warblade for 2 levels and prestige into blackguard until I meet the eternal blade prereqs and alternate those 2 until 20 (maxing at blackguard 5 at the latest so I get the most out of eternal blade)
I don't mind that set up, but I have a few issues:

1) Thats really late game, and while the character would come in at lv8-10, that will take a while to pull off

2) Blackguard is neat, but I really only like dark blessing and aura of despair, and honestly it seems a waste to spend 5 levels in a class for those two features which wouldn't make so big an impact at that point in the game I feel.

3) I know the hexblade (which was also suggested, I forgot to mention it before) has some (I guess) valid debuffs, but it is way too slow, and would only really open up one level for me (Hex 4 dark companion variant opposed to blackguard 5) and its main feature is class lv based so enemies in the game would laugh off my, what, 2? curse attempts/day when I went into combat.

I don't mind being unmistakably evil, I just want to have some decent buffs/debuffs, maybe some cohorts available sooner than the blackguard idea and the elf eternal blade flavor

So I guess the question is, what debuffs better than blackguard that is also compatible with eternal blade, and Bard? I think. I like the Bard idea, even though I've never played one before. (same for warblade/eternal blade, but they seem less intensive)

also, any advice on an elf subrace?

Thank you for any help offered, I appreciate it greatly!

[Sam K]

Frost elf. No con penalty.

Crusader is probably more about making the enemies life difficult (as opposed to making it short, where the warblade shines).

[Troacctid]

Bard is cool--and combines excellently with Warblade or Crusader thanks to the Song of the White Raven feat--but you should stop at 4 levels. You don't want to lose BAB. I would also go Divine Bard (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#bardVariantDivineBard) so that you can cast in armor.

[ILM]

A single level of Bard means you'll never get the Eternal Blade capstone though. Are you ok with that?

As for debuffs, you have a bunch of other options. Sneak attack from Blackguard (augmented by items and/or feats) would let you qualify for Terrifying Strike, Sickening Strike or Aleval School, which all stack and debuff the target's saves (all in DotU). Or Staggering Strike (CAdv), for that matter, which doesn't target saves but is remarkably powerful in its own right.

Bards are also very competent at debuffing enemies that aren't immune to mind-affecting effects. The Inspire Awe ACF (Dragon Magic) makes enemies shaken (-2 to saves); the Drums of War spell (HoB, level 4) is another no-save (but mind-affecting) -2 to all saves. And of course, Doomspeak (CoR) is a long-range bardic music effect that inflicts a whopping -10 to all saves for 1 round, and isn't mind-affecting (!). Unfortunately it gives the target a saving throw, which is kind of self-defeating. In the same vein, you could also cast Harmonic Chorus (SC, level 2) on your casters to grant their spells +2 CL and +2 DC.

You're probably going to want something that maintains concentration for you (for example, Sonorous Hum (SC)), and something that maintains bardic music for you (and/or lets you do other stuff while bardic music'ing like Melodic Casting (CM)) to optimize your action economy.


Snow Elves are generally a good pick for Eternal Blades, but I'd avoid it here since the Cha penalty is goint to hurt your Bard casting. Unfortunately you're pretty MAD so I don't think there are any really good choices.

[TheDevourLord]

Thanks for all your input, I like the snow elf idea, it actually provides some really cool flavor to the world of my current game and I can run with that idea for quite a few character ideas.
I like all of what I heard, but it leads me to the conclusion that I need to separate the eternal blade idea, from the debuffing bard. It is really MAD, and I think focuses on too many things at once to be truly effective.
So I think for the bard/warblade/blackguard,I'm gonna be a human, and I liked the divine bard idea for it. And many of the feats and bardic music stuff suggested (many of which coincided with the bard handbook I found online, thanks again for the advice there) in one of my other games
And I'll probably run a very similar character idea using snow elf, and eternal blade instead of blackguard for my primary group.
Thanks again everyone! :)