Auras are probably the biggest reason to take the class, so that's no surprise. Champion's Shield also provides some incentive, even if it isn't as strong. What's wrong with Smite? It's a boost to damage and hit, nothing fancy. Foe-bane isn't mean to be huge, more as a little bonus than a huge benefit.
How do you figure that being Neutral is a requirement?
LG|LN|LE
NG|N|NE
CG|CN|CE
A non-neutral exarch can share his aura with 5 total alignments on this chart. A neutral exarch can share their alignment with 5 total alignments on this chart. You're just as likely to affect allies. I will admit that it does require a bit more coordination with party members during character creation, but a typical party isn't likely to have radically different alignments, at least in my experience.
They follow the normal rules for the essentia capacity on pg19. So Greater Aura raises the cap to 6.
I restated the non-stacking aspect since they did so with the Marshal aura description. Just wanted to keep in line with how other classes are written, even if that does lead to redundancy.
And as for what neutral exarch's use, I put that in the Aura description.All bonuses granted by a marshal's auras are circumstance bonuses that do not stack with each other.
Your observation on the inability to invest all the essentia is something I missed. Hmm, I'll have to ponder that. I might tweak the essentia acquisition as you level.Aura: As a exarch, you have a particularly powerful aura corresponding to your alignment (see the detect evil spell for details). The type of bonuses and penalties that an exarch grant are dependent upon their alignment. A Lawful Good or Chaotic Good exarch effects are Sacred, while a Lawful Evil or Chaotic Evil exarch's are Profane. A neutral exarch decides to use sacred or profane at level 1.
Thanks for the feedback.