Aura stacking question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Aura stacking question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
pyro_cat
11-06-06, 01:21 PM So I'm looking into a character that grabs auras from three different classes (Dragon Shaman, Dragon Lord, and Marshal), and I am a little unsure about the rules regarding how many Draconic Auras you can have active at once. Text says in a few places that you can only have "one draconic aura active at once", but what if you gain the ability twice from different classes?

Dragon Shaman grants the ability to project Draconic Auras, and so does the Dragon Lord. If I take levels in both classes, do they operate seperately and allow me to project two at once?

If so, and I take the feat Double Draconic Aura, does it apply seperately to each class that allows me to project a Draconic Aura; in this case effectively granting me the ability to project four at once?
JosephKell
11-06-06, 01:54 PM It really depends. Not having seen the Dragon Lord I don't have any idea how it works.

If the Dragon Lord's aura seems to be the same as the Dragon Shaman, then I would say they can't be up at once. Such as if it says something about improved your Dragon Shaman draconic auras. If instead they seem to be different and just use the same name, then they can be up at once.

For Double Draconic Aura, I would rule that it allowed one more to be up at a time. So if Dragon Shaman and Dragon Lord do indeed stack, then you could have 3 up. But if they don't you could have 2.

The Marshal's auras are different than the Dragon Shamans (Marshal's Major Aura to attack is among the best for a straight Marshal).
pyro_cat
11-06-06, 05:16 PM You see...

Draconic Auras were introduced, as you know, in the PHBII as a class feature of the Dragon Shaman. However, with the release of Dragon Magic, we now have two sources of Draconic Auras, as they were expanded upon in Dragon Magic. Both are called the same thing - in fact, both ARE the same thing, as the Dragon Shaman can select his Auras known from the list in Dragon Magic as well as the list in the PHBII.

Furthermore, there is a prestige class in Dragon Magic called the Dragon Lord; a militarily minded character that also projects Draconic Auras. Normally, I wouldn't see this as a problem; have one Draconic Aura up from Dragon Shaman and one up from Dragon Lord.

In the writeup on Draconic Auras, however, it states that you can only have one Draconic Aura at once. Obviously they had to say this, or else you would have straight-classed Dragon Shamans arguing they can have seven Auras at once. Unfortunatley, they don't mention issues of source. That is to say; they make no mention of aquiring the Draconic Auras from different classes.

It seems fairly silly to say that a Dragon Shaman/Dragon Lord would only be able to put up one Aura at once; it would severely weaken the combination of classes, to the point where this combination would be more useless than a straight up Dragon Shaman.

One thing it does mention is that bonuses from multiple Draconic Auras overlap, rather than stack, which suggests that more than one active at once is possible. However, they might be mentioning this in refferences to two different characters with Draconic Auras active.

The specific wording of Double Draconic Aura is as follows:

Requirements: Character Level 12th, ability to project two different draconic auras.

Benefit: You can project two draconic auras simultaneously. You must activate or dismiss your draconic auras seperately.
JosephKell
11-06-06, 10:48 PM When somethings says you can only have one Draconic Aura up at once, it means you can only have one Draconic Aura at once.

Dragon Shaman/Dragon Lords apparently can only have one Draconic Aura up at once.

This is a rules question and not a Character Optimization question. Or perhaps it is a DM's interpretation question. In both cases, it doesn't belong here.

Have a nice day.
pyro_cat
11-06-06, 11:36 PM Alright, thanks.

I feel like I should say that there's really no need to be so terse. Not only are these boards frequented by those who understand the rules very well, but they're frequented by them, well... frequently. This is a good place to come for help.

Furthermore, I think that the possibility of having 6+ Auras at once is a viable start for an optimized character. This wasn't a pointless rules-debate, as I made clear in the first post, but rather an attempt to hammer out some concepts surrounding a very real build.

Sorry if the original post came off as unrelated or lazy, or if this post comes off as rude; I'm just suggesting something.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
pyro_cat 11-06-06, 01:21 PM	So I'm looking into a character that grabs auras from three different classes (Dragon Shaman, Dragon Lord, and Marshal), and I am a little unsure about the rules regarding how many Draconic Auras you can have active at once. Text says in a few places that you can only have "one draconic aura active at once", but what if you gain the ability twice from different classes? Dragon Shaman grants the ability to project Draconic Auras, and so does the Dragon Lord. If I take levels in both classes, do they operate seperately and allow me to project two at once? If so, and I take the feat Double Draconic Aura, does it apply seperately to each class that allows me to project a Draconic Aura; in this case effectively granting me the ability to project four at once?
JosephKell 11-06-06, 01:54 PM	It really depends. Not having seen the Dragon Lord I don't have any idea how it works. If the Dragon Lord's aura seems to be the same as the Dragon Shaman, then I would say they can't be up at once. Such as if it says something about improved your Dragon Shaman draconic auras. If instead they seem to be different and just use the same name, then they can be up at once. For Double Draconic Aura, I would rule that it allowed one more to be up at a time. So if Dragon Shaman and Dragon Lord do indeed stack, then you could have 3 up. But if they don't you could have 2. The Marshal's auras are different than the Dragon Shamans (Marshal's Major Aura to attack is among the best for a straight Marshal).
pyro_cat 11-06-06, 05:16 PM	You see... Draconic Auras were introduced, as you know, in the PHBII as a class feature of the Dragon Shaman. However, with the release of Dragon Magic, we now have two sources of Draconic Auras, as they were expanded upon in Dragon Magic. Both are called the same thing - in fact, both ARE the same thing, as the Dragon Shaman can select his Auras known from the list in Dragon Magic as well as the list in the PHBII. Furthermore, there is a prestige class in Dragon Magic called the Dragon Lord; a militarily minded character that also projects Draconic Auras. Normally, I wouldn't see this as a problem; have one Draconic Aura up from Dragon Shaman and one up from Dragon Lord. In the writeup on Draconic Auras, however, it states that you can only have one Draconic Aura at once. Obviously they had to say this, or else you would have straight-classed Dragon Shamans arguing they can have seven Auras at once. Unfortunatley, they don't mention issues of source. That is to say; they make no mention of aquiring the Draconic Auras from different classes. It seems fairly silly to say that a Dragon Shaman/Dragon Lord would only be able to put up one Aura at once; it would severely weaken the combination of classes, to the point where this combination would be more useless than a straight up Dragon Shaman. One thing it does mention is that bonuses from multiple Draconic Auras overlap, rather than stack, which suggests that more than one active at once is possible. However, they might be mentioning this in refferences to two different characters with Draconic Auras active. The specific wording of Double Draconic Aura is as follows: Requirements: Character Level 12th, ability to project two different draconic auras. Benefit: You can project two draconic auras simultaneously. You must activate or dismiss your draconic auras seperately.
JosephKell 11-06-06, 10:48 PM	When somethings says you can only have one Draconic Aura up at once, it means you can only have one Draconic Aura at once. Dragon Shaman/Dragon Lords apparently can only have one Draconic Aura up at once. This is a rules question and not a Character Optimization question. Or perhaps it is a DM's interpretation question. In both cases, it doesn't belong here. Have a nice day.
pyro_cat 11-06-06, 11:36 PM	Alright, thanks. I feel like I should say that there's really no need to be so terse. Not only are these boards frequented by those who understand the rules very well, but they're frequented by them, well... frequently. This is a good place to come for help. Furthermore, I think that the possibility of having 6+ Auras at once is a viable start for an optimized character. This wasn't a pointless rules-debate, as I made clear in the first post, but rather an attempt to hammer out some concepts surrounding a very real build. Sorry if the original post came off as unrelated or lazy, or if this post comes off as rude; I'm just suggesting something.