ocato
2008-11-12, 01:20 PM
I've been reading some books and doing a little light research on Marshals and Dragon Shamans and I'm a bit put off. It seems to me that both classes lack a fair bit of potency on their own and-- worse yet, don't seem to multiclass well because of the severe lack of items or feats that boost the power of their auras. It seems to me that the only real use for one of these classes is in gestalt, and even there you're looking at Marshal as the superior choice (due to its ability to learn any draconic/dragon shaman aura in place of a major aura as out-lined in Dragon Magic).
Now, the best ways to amp auras up seem to be a few items. The Rearguard Cape (MiC) grants +2 to a major aura for 10 rounds so long as you're outnumbered. Seems a bit dodgy. Another item gives +1 for 5 rounds (I think it's part of the same set as Badge of Valor).
So, where are the feats? Apparently WotC has more or less abandoned these classes, as they don't really get the extended attention that others have. I mean, sure, there are a few small additions in dragon magic, but overall, there aren't a lot of options that I found.
So where are the feats? Would I have to homebrew some things? It wouldn't be hard, 2 or 3 feats tops and this is a pretty devastating combination. Something like "Song of the Soldier" that would allow you to stack Bard and Marshal levels for the purpose of inspire courage and the bonus to major auras. Maybe throw something in along the lines of "Any effect that improves a Bard's Inspire Courage Song also affects any Major Aura (or auras) activated" with some clean-up text so that, say, Inspirational Boost or badge of valor improve the aura but only as long as the bard's Inspire Courage is active. Whereas Song of the Heart would grant a flat +1 and a Vest of Legends would improve your effective level by 5 for determining both Inspire Courage and your Major Auras. Then take the Double Draconic Auras feat, cross out draconic, and bam, new feat. You can have 2 major auras active, requires L12. Of course, you'd probably want a feat that gives you X more auras since otherwise either your spells would suck or you auras known would be awful.
But before I do that, what are the best ways to buff Auras? The less complicated, the better.
Now, the best ways to amp auras up seem to be a few items. The Rearguard Cape (MiC) grants +2 to a major aura for 10 rounds so long as you're outnumbered. Seems a bit dodgy. Another item gives +1 for 5 rounds (I think it's part of the same set as Badge of Valor).
So, where are the feats? Apparently WotC has more or less abandoned these classes, as they don't really get the extended attention that others have. I mean, sure, there are a few small additions in dragon magic, but overall, there aren't a lot of options that I found.
So where are the feats? Would I have to homebrew some things? It wouldn't be hard, 2 or 3 feats tops and this is a pretty devastating combination. Something like "Song of the Soldier" that would allow you to stack Bard and Marshal levels for the purpose of inspire courage and the bonus to major auras. Maybe throw something in along the lines of "Any effect that improves a Bard's Inspire Courage Song also affects any Major Aura (or auras) activated" with some clean-up text so that, say, Inspirational Boost or badge of valor improve the aura but only as long as the bard's Inspire Courage is active. Whereas Song of the Heart would grant a flat +1 and a Vest of Legends would improve your effective level by 5 for determining both Inspire Courage and your Major Auras. Then take the Double Draconic Auras feat, cross out draconic, and bam, new feat. You can have 2 major auras active, requires L12. Of course, you'd probably want a feat that gives you X more auras since otherwise either your spells would suck or you auras known would be awful.
But before I do that, what are the best ways to buff Auras? The less complicated, the better.