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Iuliano05
2008-11-01, 10:01 PM
I am playing a game where my character is the key guy for the heavy rollplaying needed to be done, but he kinda sucks in combat. He is currently noble2, bard 1. was wondering if master of masks from complete scoundral would be a good edition to enchance the rollplaying but make him viable in combat. Granted this is not a min/max group we have a character that plays strait fighter. which is sad but whatever.

rayne_dragon
2008-11-01, 10:44 PM
I've played a Master of Masks, and I found the combat masks to be quite helpful. I'm not sure it'll give you enough of an edge, but if you can manage your masks well enough it'll be a good improvement while keeping in the same sort of theme as your other classes.

Jimp
2008-11-02, 08:47 AM
If you're not in a combat focused group or game then don't worry too much about it. That said, Master of Masks does give you some nifty tricks both in and out of combat so I'd say go for it :smallsmile:.

BobVosh
2008-11-02, 09:37 AM
Straight fighter saddens you more than a guy who took npc levels?

That said I would say go factotum. Unless you have a reason this guy become a mask fetish guy.

shadow_archmagi
2008-11-02, 09:38 AM
Straight fighter saddens you more than a guy who took npc levels?

That said I would say go factotum. Unless you have a reason this guy become a mask fetish guy.

No reason he can't take some of each!

Iuliano05
2008-11-02, 12:38 PM
noble is not a npc level, its from the dragonlace campign. If you dont have that book you can look at the star wars one, its also in there. what your thinking of is the NPC level of aristocrat

SilentNight
2008-11-02, 08:35 PM
Or you could do this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5186215#post5186215).

Darrin
2008-11-03, 09:06 AM
I am playing a game where my character is the key guy for the heavy rollplaying needed to be done, but he kinda sucks in combat. He is currently noble2, bard 1. was wondering if master of masks from complete scoundral would be a good edition to enchance the rollplaying but make him viable in combat. Granted this is not a min/max group we have a character that plays strait fighter. which is sad but whatever.

Master of Masks is a rather poor choice for a combat-oriented character. First, no full BAB so even at 4th level you'll barely have BAB +1 (not familiar with the noble... is that from the Dragonlance campaign?). The only out-and-out combat-oriented mask would be gladiator, but being able to use a variety of exotic weapons is unlikely to be all that effective if you have a lousy BAB and no other combat-related abilities.

If you're looking to build a gish (a fighter/spellcaster multiclass combination), you might want to consider Noble 3/Bard 4, go into Abjurant Champion (Bards can use the Alarm spell as an abjuration) and then Eldritch Knight.

If you have access to Tome of Battle, then I'd recommend either some Warblade or Crusader levels + Song of the White Raven (optimizing Inspire Courage with Dragonfire Inspiration), or Warblade followed by Jade Phoenix Mage.

Person_Man
2008-11-03, 11:36 AM
Here's my handbook (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88633). The short and long of it is that the class is only viable for a 1 level dip. Beyond that, Master of Masks (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20070105a&page=3) is made of suck. 5/10 BAB, mediocre spells, and some special abilities that are all limited. If you can convince your DM to give it full Bard spell progression or something similar, then it might be worth it. But even then it'd be a stretch.

Also, Bards should never multi-class, as it just ruins their spell and Inspire Courage progressions. But I'm not familiar with the Noble class. Can you describe it?

Telonius
2008-11-03, 11:49 AM
Gladiator is a decently useful mask for a Bard, for Bastard Sword and Longbow proficiency alone. A two-level dip won't put you all that far behind in terms of spell progression, and the +1 bonus from Gladiator will make up for the lost point of BAB. (Rogues gain more from a one-level dip since they don't have to deal with the loss of a caster level).

However, I would not advise taking more than two levels. Couple of reasons for that. Number one, loss of additional caster levels. Bards are spellcasters. Losing caster levels is bad. Don't do it. Reason number two: loss of skill points. You are a Bard, and Bards are skillmonkeys. Master of Masks has a pathetic class skill list, and only 4 skill points per level. You've also probably sunk more ranks in either bluff or disguise than you ordinarily would have, just to get into the PrC. Don't let the drain continue.