Martial Marshal Feats (help!)

[jjpickar]

I'm building a Marshal and I'm not sure what feats to give it. It is an Aasimar Marshal level 7. His abilities are with 34 point and buy: Str. 14, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, and Cha. 21. I picked Art of War, Master of Tactics, Motivate Dexterity, and Over the Top as his minor Auras. Motivate Attack and Motivate Urgency are his major auras. I need feats but I don't know what kind I should get, I also am open to suggestions on the build itself (I want it to have levels of Marshal but I don't mind multi-class suggestions).

[JackMage666]

Well, I'm actually building a Lvl 8 Aasimar Marshal right now, so I may be helpful. Weird, huh?

Draconic Aura is useful, and gives you a third aura to project (however, this is less effective since you are not Dragonblooded, although that can be remedied by the Dragontouched feat.)

Leadership is a good 6th level feat, if you DM allows it. It gives you another ally on the field, and is rather fitting for the whole Marshal "I'm a leader" thing. Make it a fighter or other Martial based class, and you have a bodyguard. Make it a Wizard, and you have an advisor. Make it a bard, and you have a personal songwriter for you epic deeds. Either way, it depends on your DM (mine has this feat, and also gains a number of followers, enabling him to also own his own town, but many DMs arn't that lenient)

If you're going Martial based (like the topic title), Power Attack, Weapon Focus, ect., could be helpful. The Combat Expertise tree might be more helpful, though, considering the auras you choose will give you major benefits your disarms/trip attempts.

And Monkey Grip, of course, because it's cool. (this is a joke, don't take it seriously)

[jjpickar]

Both of us making the same kind of character? Well I guess the Aasimar's Charisma boost is appealing for a Marshal build. I was kind toying around with the whole leadership thing maybe if it was only the cohort instead of a huge contingent of extras. One thing I'm not clear on is whether or not the Marshal's aura applies to him as well as his allies.

[JackMage666]

Yes, his Aura applies to himself as well. Just don't attract Followers with Leadership, I'm pretty sure that's an option (and your DM shouldn't have a problem)

Yeah, I know, funny thing we're making about the same character.

[Umarth]

His aura applies to him though not his Grant Move action or Adrenaline Boost abilities.

There is a feat in one of the books Double Aura or Double Dragon Aura or something like that which let's you project a second major aura.

You might also want to look at using a homebrewed version of the Marshal as they tend to be a bit on the under powered side.

We've got a fun discussion about them going on the Homebrew board.

[JackMage666]

There is Double Draconic Aura feat in Dragon Magic (which is where the Dragon Aura is, sorry I didn't say earlier). However, I've not seen any other Aura feats in other books - Also, the Double Major Aura feats (like the Double Draconic Aura feat) would probably be avaiable at Character Level 12th. You might want to talk to you DM about homebrewing a Double Minor Aura feat.

I was actually able to talk mine into a Double Minor Aura Feat (requiremnt - 2 minor auras, Character Level 6th), as well as the Marshal gaining Leadership as a bonus feat at 6th level.

[Person_Man]

1) What books are available?

2) How far will this PC go? Is it for a one shot ECL 8 adventure, is it going to 20, or something else?

3) LA races are a bad idea. If you want to be an Aasimar, I suggest you be a Lesser Aasimar from the Forgotten Realms, or use the slightly less powerful online version (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040213a), which still starts with a +2 Cha.

4) Marshal 4/Psychic Warrior 2/Pyrokineticist 1 for a good Trip Monkey.

5) Marshal/Dragon Shaman is great at mid levels, but suck at high levels, since the Aura's bonuses progress very slowly.

6) Over the Top is excellent when combined with a lance and the Mounted Combat tree. *3 your Cha to damage. If you want to go Paladin 5/Marshal X, you can use Divine Power and charge and add *6 your Cha (or more) to your charge damage. If you're going to do that, I suggest being a small race, so that you can ride your medium mount everywhere.

7) Leadership is your friend. Check to see if your DM will let you use it.

[jjpickar]

I have access to, (sound of deep breath):All Core, Unearthed Arcana, both DMG and PHB II, The Complete Adventurer, Arcane, Divine, and Warrior, Races of Stone, Destiny, and of the Wild, Libris Mortis, Heroes of Battle and Horror, Sandstorm, Storm Wrack, and Frost Burn, The Planar Handbook, Lords of Madness, and The Spell compendium.

The Paladin Build Intrigues me, would you care to expatiate on it?

[the_tick_rules]

would any of the feats that increase duration of stuff apply to martials, i've fought martial but i am unfamilar with their stats.

[Person_Man]

I have access to, (sound of deep breath):All Core, Unearthed Arcana, both DMG and PHB II, The Complete Adventurer, Arcane, Divine, and Warrior, Races of Stone, Destiny, and of the Wild, Libris Mortis, Heroes of Battle and Horror, Sandstorm, Storm Wrack, and Frost Burn, The Planar Handbook, Lords of Madness, and The Spell compendium.

The Paladin Build Intrigues me, would you care to expatiate on it?

Strongheart Halfling Paladin 5/Marshal (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20030906b) 4

Strongheart (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/frgr/20030905b) are from Forgotten Realms. You're a Halfling with a bonus feat, and give up the bonus on Saves, a good trade, in my book.

Feats: Mounted Combat, Ride By Attack, Spirited Charge, Divine Might, Leadership.

Auras: Motivate Urgency, Over the Top, and Motivate Charisma.

Use Leadership to get a medium cohort mount. Preferably something with Pounce.

Combo's:

Sit on your medium mount, use a lance, and charge for *3 damage. Kill whatever you hit. Fall back. Repeat. Work with other party members to perfect this tactic: Everyone use a reach weapon. Half the party charges, half the party stays back. Then half the party charges again while the other half withdraws. Repeat. It will maximize your Aura's usefulness for everyone, make combat more interesting, and rotate your wounded so that they can be healed. It breaks down as a useful tactic at high levels (when you want to full attack every turn) but at low-medium levels it works quite effectively.

Use Over the Top to and your lance with Spirited Charge to add Cha*3 damage to every charge.

Pick a mount with Pounce, and add your Cha bonus to all of its attacks.

Use Divine Might and burn a Turn Undead use (you should have a ton of them) to gain your Cha bonus to all damage for that turn, which again will be multiplied by *3 if you charge.

Use Smite Evil to boost your To-Hit and charge damage even further, again, multiplied by *3 on a charge.

Use the 1st level Paladin Spell Rhino's Rush from the Spell Compedium once per day to increase your charge damage by *2 as a Swift action for one round (which in crazy D&D math, will increase all your multipliers to *4)

Use Motivate Cha to make your social Skills insanely useful. Whenever possible, try to stop conflict before it happens with Diplomacy, but when your foes refuse to listen to reason, show them no mercy. This will make your game much more roleplaying heavy, and it will make your DM feel better about when you dealing such strong damage on your charge attacks.

Use Motivate Cha to boost your friendly Cleric's Turn Undead checks to insane levels. Undead will almost never be a problem again.

As charge damage combo's go, this one is pretty weak. But its fun.

[jjpickar]

This is pretty cool since the party level is 8 it should be pretty close to this build. Tanks everyone for the help. By the way does anyone have any equipment suggestions or specific medium mounts that are any good?