Heartfire Fanner doubts advice

[saitoalan22]

Heartfire Fanner

Most heartfire fanners are bards, although any character suitably skilled in some method of inspiring performance can make a competent member of this class.

To qualify to become a Heartfire Fanner, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:

Skills: Diplomacy 10 ranks, Perform 10 ranks.
Feats: Negotiator, Skill Focus (Perform).
Spellcasting: Ability to cast 1st-level spells.
Special: Must be an active member of the Brotherhood of the Burning Heart and have achieved some degree of personal Inspiration from the dogma of the guild (DM's discretion)

Doubts.

Spoiler

Show

Spells: When a new heartfire fanner level is gained, the character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if he had also gained a level in whatever spellcasting class he belonged to before he added the prestige class level. He does not however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (bonus feats, for example). If a character had more thane one arcane spellcasting class in which he could cast spells before he became a heartfire fanner, he must decide to which class he adds each level of heartfire fanner for the purpose of determining spells per day.

Bardic Music: At 1st level, the heartfire fanner gains the bardic music ability as a 5th-level bard if he did not already have it from a previous class. All the bardic music effects (countersong, fascinate, inspire competence, inspire courage, inspire greatness, inspire heroics, song of freedom, suggestion and mass suggestion) become available to him immediately, subject to their usual Performance skill and level requirements (see Bard). A heartfire fanner's class levels stack with any bard levels for all bardic music calculations, including the number of uses of bardic music available per day. The heartfire fanner with bard levels does not gain the normal bardic music abilities as he advances in heartfire fanner levels.

Inspired Fight (Su): At 1st level, a heartfire fanner with 11 ranks in Perform can ignite a martial passion even beyond the ken of normal bardic inspiration by stirring the hearts of warriors already heady with battle.

This ability confers bonus feats upon an allied subject within 30 feet of the heartfire fanner. The target is free to choose which feats he receives from the feats the heartfire fanner possesses or the fighter class bonus feat list. The target must meet all prerequisites to receive the feats, although he can use one bonus feat as a prerequisite for another.

The heartfire fanner bestows a number of bonus feats equal to the number indicated in Heartfire Fanner advancement table.

For every three character levels the heartfire fanner has, he can bestow bonus feats to one additional creature. Each inspired creature may select her own feats. The heartfire fanner must perform his bardic music for round and the targets must hear him before they gain the bonus feats. The feats remain for as long as the heartfire fanner sings and for 5 rounds thereafter. This is a mind-affecting ability. Unlike other bardic songs, the heartfire fanner cannot use this ability on himself; he can only inspire others with it. Inspired fight is considered bardic music, so using this ability takes up one use of the heartfire fanner's bardic music ability for the day.

1.- In Dragon magazine, forward any spellcasting class, but in the text one part says the same, but later it says arcane class, I can take it as divine spellcasting.

2.- It says I gain the skills of a level 5 bard, this includes 5 / day of bardic music, inspire courage +1, countersong, fascinate and inspect competence. Is this correct?

3.- Inspired Fight, all other effects of bardic music:

In the text, explain that for every 3 character levels you select an extra ally to give him the effects of this ability. Referring to this, the different bardic music effects are obtained at their different levels: 6th suggestion, 8th inspire courage +2, 9th inspire greatness ... etc ... of character level, as long as you meet the requirements of skill performance?

That is to say: Cleric 7 / Heartfire Fanner 3 / Radiant Servant of Flame (Palor) 2, it would be a character of level 12, with 15 skill ranks in any skill of performance and therefore would have:
5 / day bardic music
Countersong, Fascinate, Suggerencia, Inspire Competence, Song of freedom
Inspire Courage +2, Inspire Greatness, Inspired Fight (2 feats), Magic Flare (1 level)

Is this correct? any suggestions? help please!!

[Saintheart]

1. Likely the reference to arcane spellcasting is a misprint. The prerequisites for the class specify 1st level spellcasting and make no distinction about whether it has to be arcane or divine (possibly because they wanted singing paladins to be able to qualify for it) and so continue to apply. If you wanted to read it by RAW, it arguably means that a divine spellcaster with more than one divine spellcasting class gets to level up in both classes, but expect a flying DMG to your head if you try and push that.

2. Yep - so long as you have the skill ranks that are prerequisites for any of forms of bardic music. That means you likely couldn't get Mass Suggestion since that takes 21 ranks in Perform and you're limited to level +3 as your skill rank cap, i.e. you're still waiting until level 18 even if Perform is a class skill for you. Similar analysis goes for things like Song of Freedom.

3. First, the reference to character levels affects only Inspired Fight, not all forms of bardic music.

Second, the build isn't legal on what I can see. A cleric is only going to qualify for Heartfire Fanner at level 7 if they have some way of making Perform a class skill. Perform is a cross-class skill for clerics, so under normal conditions the maximum rank you could have in that skill would be 5 ranks at level 7.

Assuming that you've taken some feat that puts Perform on your class list, though, then that build presumably would have 15 ranks in Perform and accordingly would be able to use all bardic music up to and including Song of Freedom. You couldn't get Inspire Heroics or Mass Suggestion yet because they require 18 ranks in Perform, which you haven't got at level 12 even if Perform is a class skill for you. Skill Focus feats don't raise the number of skill ranks you have, they only raise the total modifier. You would be considered a 5th level bard and accordingly your number of bardic music uses would be calculated on that assumption, i.e. 5/day.

[saitoalan22]

yes!!!

thanks!

Aereni Focus
Aereni Focus counts as Skill Focus for the purpose of meeting any requirement or prerequisite. Heartfire Fanner prerequisite!!!

Dragontouched Feat and

Draconic Heritage Feat (Battle Dragon)

You gain the dragonblood subtype. Choose one kind of dragon from the list in the table below. This is your draconic heritage, which cannot later be changed unless you undergo the Rite of Draconic Affinity (see page 59 of Races of the Dragon). Half-dragons must choose the same dragon kind as their dragon parent. When you declare your draconic heritage, you gain a bonus on saving throws against magic sleep and paralysis effects, as well as on saves against spells and abilities with a descriptor that matches the corresponding energy type. This bonus equals the number of draconic feats you have. In addition, you gain the corresponding skill as a sorcerer class skill.


Dragon Kind Descriptor or Subschool Class Skill
Battle Sonic Perform

or another Dragon Kind

Hello Dragonfire Inspiration (Sonic)

[Hiro Quester]

3.- Inspired Fight, all other effects of bardic music:

In the text, explain that for every 3 character levels you select an extra ally to give him the effects of this ability. Referring to this, the different bardic music effects are obtained at their different levels: 6th suggestion, 8th inspire courage +2, 9th inspire greatness ... etc ... of character level, as long as you meet the requirements of skill performance?

That is to say: Cleric 7 / Heartfire Fanner 3 / Radiant Servant of Flame (Palor) 2, it would be a character of level 12, with 15 skill ranks in any skill of performance and therefore would have:
5 / day bardic music
Countersong, Fascinate, Suggerencia, Inspire Competence, Song of freedom
Inspire Courage +2, Inspire Greatness, Inspired Fight (2 feats), Magic Flare (1 level)

Is this correct? any suggestions? help please!!

It's a fun class. I played one (advancing Sublime Chord casting). Your party will often call for the bardic music that grants 2 fighter bonus feats--recipient's choice-- (esp because one can be the prerequisite for the other). It's so useful that I got a wand of Heroics for myself, because I wanted the flexibility of adding a fighter feat as situations demanded.

Minor correction: You'd have 7 uses of bardic music per day (HFF starts with 5, and it seems to progress uses per day).

Edit:

A heartfire fanner's class levels stack with any bard levels for all bardic music calculations, including the number of uses of bardic music available per day. .

This seems to suggest that taking more levels of HFF also adds to your uses per day.

It's actually better on a non-bard base, since those with bard levels don't get the higher-level bardic musics if they have perform ranks. So a Bard/Sublime Chord/HFF does not get Song of Freedom, etc.

And there are plenty of ways to get Perform as a class skill (Apprentice entertainer, for instance).

[Doctor Despair]

It's actually better on a non-bard base, since those with bard levels don't get the higher-level bardic musics if they have perform ranks. So a Bard/Sublime Chord/HFF does not get Song of Freedom, etc.

Important note here: bards do not gain the bardic music as they level because they already have the abilities, subject to your perform skill ranks and levels in bard. There's some discussion on this here, but you would still gain use of the abilities if you took further levels in bard (or had a higher effective bard level through use of a Bloodline or something similar).

Edit:
Actually, if you look at the Bardic Music abilities listed in Bard, it never actually says there's a requirement that you have bard levels; you gain the abilities upon taking your first level in HFF, and their use is subject to your perform ranks and level requirements (see Bard). Bard only references your level, not your bard level, so you should be able to use the abilities you gained once your character level reaches the appropriate number mentioned in each music