Kenku Super-Buffer - Build Advice

[Sonofaspectre]

I love the Kenku monster race in the Monster Manual III. So much so that for my campaign world, Thordain, I added them with a few racial variants. (In my sig is a link.)

I am about to take a break from DMing and wanted to play a Kenku super-buff master. I don't have much, but I figured I'd put it up on the board, to see what you Playgrounders think. More specifically, I do not know what feats to take. Without further adieu.

Abercrombie Finch
Kenku (Thordain variant) Dragon Shaman 4/Bard 4/Outcast Champion (Races of Destiny, approved by my DM) 5 ... then something else
STR 12 DEX 19 CON 11 INT 17 WIS 10 CHAR 17 <-- Randomly rolled

Feats: Weapon Finesse, TWF ...

I need to fill in some gaps and make this guy a super-buffer. Any and all advice would be appreciated.

[Darrin]

I need to fill in some gaps and make this guy a super-buffer. Any and all advice would be appreciated.

A lot could be said for taking some Crusader levels. Good Cha synergy, lots of maneuvers that heal your companions, give them bonuses, extra movement, or prevent opponents from making AoOs. I could see SwordSage, too... Island of Blades + Kenku's flanking bonus is nice, then add some Desert Wind maneuvers for battlefield control.

As far as spellcasting... well, you kind of missed the boat on Sublime Chord, although if you've got enough skill points you could probably go into it late and get some sorcerer spells. Otherwise, swap one of your Bard spells for an Abjuration (Alarm works if nothing else) and finish off with Abjurant Champion.

You went with draconic auras instead of dragonic invocations, so Eldritch Theurge is no help to you. Dragon Lord (from Dragon Magic) gives you full BAB, more draconic auras, and reckless devotion as a nice buff, if you want to go that route, although you're pushing into the higher levels where auras are going to be fairly ho-hum. Make sure you pick up the Double Draconic Aura feat.

Another route would be Dragonfire Inspiration along with Song of the Heart, Words of Creation, and maybe Song of the White Raven. 4 levels of Crusader + 4 levels of Bard gives you an Inspire Courage of +2, Song of the Heart increases that to +3, and the Inspirational Boost spell can get you up to +4. Words of Creation can then double that to +8. Dragonfire Inspiration would then convert that into 8d6 fire damage on all attacks by you and your allies. The Draconic Heritage feat would allow you to switch that damage to sonic or something sexier.

I don't know, it's kind of a hodge-podge build... more of a grab bag of very minor buffs than an uber-buffer.

[Person_Man]

Well, there are several game breaking super buffers out there. Nanobots comes to mind. Leadership feat abuse. Etc.

I would suggest avoiding Dragon Shaman. Its buffs scale very poorly, and multi-classing will nerf your Bard spells. Similarly, I would avoid PrC that scale poorly, like Outcast Champion. Look for PrC that stack with your spells and/or Bardic Music abilities.

The most powerful buffer I'm aware of is the War Weaver. This PrC allows you to effect everyone in your party when you cast certain types of spells. So you cast Enlarge Person, and everyone is enlarged. You cast Cure Light Wounds, and everyone is cured. Etc. My preference is to use a Wizard for low level games (so that you can get into the PrC as soon as possible) or Bard/War Weaver/Sublime Chord for high level games (so that you have maximum buff spell versatility.

Regardless, Bard is certainly a good idea. You can optimize Inspire Courage pretty easily. Words of Creation (Book of Exalted Deeds) doubles the bonus. Various magic items/spells add to it. Dragonfire Inspiration translates the bonus into 1d6 energy damage per +1 of Inspire Courage to every weapon of the party. If done correctly, it adds more damage then a Rogue's Sneak Attack, except it works on every attack and for every party member.

[Sonofaspectre]

All right, what if I took out the Dragon Shaman levels? Would Rogue/Bard work well? Any other ideas, as it seems that NOT playing Dragon Shaman is pretty important here.

[Behold_the_Void]

I second the War Weaver, it's a good class for keeping the party buffed. It can be found in Heroes of Battle.

[JackMage666]

Please, please, please say that's not going to be the character name.

[Sonofaspectre]

Ha ha, no, it is just a placeholder name for now.

So Bard x/Warweaver x

Any other feats, class combinations, prestige classes to help make this little guy make his friends unstoppable?