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Marshal Build Help

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
pithica
Mar 26, 2009 15:08:24 I've got a friend that really wants to play a marshal, of some type, and has asked for help with his build. The DM concurred and wants me to 'pimp him out' the way I helped with everyone else in the group.

Of course, after hours of searching, I can't find anything resembling a Marshal handbook, and my own perusal of the class gives me the distinct impression of 'lack' within the class. I don't really see the point of half the auras, and I can only find a single PrC that comes close to advancing them at all.

Also unfortunately (well not for the group, but for his character), there's already a well built Bardbarian in the group with optimized IC throwing on everyone, and two other people are already playing support-type chars. So his options are limited and he's going to have to work around the various bonuses the other party boosters are handing out. Luckily, marshal auras do seem to stack with almost everything, so the few obviously good ones can do some damage.

I was thinking about a mix of Bard, Marshal, and Mythic Exemplar for him anyway, but him going the Dragonfire Inspiration route rather than the straight IC the other bard is using. The player is very new to 3.5, and has only played a couple of 3.0 games, and those were years ago (though he played the hell out of earlier editions). I'd prefer not to throw too many options at him, but at the same time, the party was all built as optimally as we could get away with, and were over grouped (we run between 5 and 9 party members, normally), so even stuff with +3 or higher CR is usually dying fast.

Starting level is 9. It's Faerun. He's human. All books are allowed, but anything Eberron specific is a general no-no (with a few exceptions, most of the non Action Points feats are allowed, and Grafts are allowed, and there's an NPC artificer on the ship). Everyone get's a free Regional feat, and stats are generally very high (my char had 2 17's, 3 14's and a 13) as we're rolling (he's already rolled, but I don't have his stat's in front of me, but they were well above average, probably the equivalent of a 35 or 38 point buy). If I have to I can get away with 2 flaws (but none of the other characters have them), as the DM said 'everything in UA is good' (but I don't want to burn that bridge if I can avoid it, especially since I'm rolling with a domain wizard and someone else is using cloistered cleric and someone else whirling frenzy barb etc). It's a pirate campaign, predominately at sea, with both ship to ship and normal dungeon crawl content, he's the captain's nephew. It's set in 1374, surrounding the shadow war plot in sembia. He already played a single session as a straight Marshal 9, for expediency in getting him playing, so I don't want to deviate too much from that, at least mechanically.

I was thinking of going:

Bard 1/Marshal 4/Mythic Exemplar 4

To start, going into:

Bard 1/Marshal 4/Mythic Exemplar 10/Lyric Thaumaturge 5

Which is 10th level Bardic casting, 11th level IC as a base, 16 Bardic music uses (at least, that's how I'm reading 'a bard of your level', someone correct me if there's errata or a faq out there I didn't see), 8th level Marshal Auras, and some other abilities.

I figure, though probably not optimal, the above with that bard vest and the right feats/spells to boost IC, plus Dragonfire Inspiration, would be a solid booster/support type of guy, and could be quite fun to play.

For feats he's not good, so Words of Creation is out, but the other bard is already using Song of the Heart, so there's no reason for him not to use it.

Anyone have any better suggestions, or should I roll with this if the DM allows it?
#2
carnivore
Mar 26, 2009 15:25:43 will try to get something to you later...

:D
#3
pithica
Mar 26, 2009 15:30:36 Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, the 'extra' dragon list is okay to use for dragontouched/dfi, and I had every intention of going with whatever sonic one was closest to his alignment (I think CN), unless he wanted a different energy type for flavor reasons. We already have a Amethyst Dragonwrought Kobold DFA in the group.

Thanks for the help.
#4
qoshea
Mar 26, 2009 18:30:48 I would suggest going for anything that triggers off his CHA, feats like Frightful Presence or Daunting Presence, though I admit that FP is better than DP.

I would suggest maxing out Diplomacy since you already have the Skill Focus.

If you run into Undead a lot, there is a feat called Undead Empathy that gives you a +4 to influence intelligent undead and allows you to influence the actions of unintelligent undead via Diplomacy. (Eberron Campaign Setting p61). It is not Eberron-specific though.
#5
cattynebulart
Mar 26, 2009 19:37:20 try to work of the Cha Synergy is my recomendation, my gish build does that but it is nowhere near optimal and later revisions dropped marshal to become a primary spellcaster.

Carnivore also has a nice build for a marshal, even if it has only 3 levels of marshal it does everything the marshal should do and more, see Trixie at http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1136167

even if you don't use that build it should give you some idea of how to build it. Personally I would look into taking a level in Divine Crusader before veering into some prestige with spell progression for a domain that reflects your desired role in the party.

Also consider picking up Thrallherd, because aura that boosts allies + lots of allies = win, though that is very campaign and party dependent.
#6
pithica
Mar 27, 2009 9:58:40 Okay, this is what I was thinking for the build...Critique away...I think I can convince my DM that MyEx's gift uses should count as bardic music uses for the purposes of qualifying for LT, we also have a houserule that lets LT stack with bard for IC bonus value, which makes the class much more attractive, and the reason I take it. Some of the feats are from dragon, which is allowed on an approved basis.

Bard 1/Marshal 4/Mythic Exemplar 10/Lyric Thaumaturge 5

Level Class Level - Class abilities; BAB F/R/W CL/AL
1 Brd 1 - Brd Know, Brd Music, IC +1; +0 0/2/2 1/0
2 Mar 1 - Minor Aura; +0 2/2/4 1/1
3 Mar 2 - Major Aura +1, Inspire Competence; +1 3/2/5 1/2
4 Mar 3 - ; +2 3/3/5 1/3
5 Mar 4 - Grant Move action 1/day; +3 4/3/6 1/4
6 MyEx 1 - Paragon's Path (Reikhardt), Save Bonus (will) +1; +3 4/3/7 1/4
7 MyEx 2 - Least Paragon's Gift (IC Advancement); +4 4/3/7 2/4
8 MyEx 3 - Archetype Advancement (Marshal), Save Bonus +2, IC +2; +5 5/4/9 2/5
9 MyEx 4 - Lesser Paragon's Gift (+4 insight Cha); +6 5/4/9 3/5
10 MyEx 5 - Archetype Advancement (Marshal), Save Bonus +3; +6 5/4/10 3/6
11 MyEx 6 - Greater Paragon's Gift (Inspire Greatness); +7 6/5/11 4/6
12 MyEx 7 - Archetype Advancement (Marshal), Save Bonus +4, IG 2 people, Vigor +2; +8 6/5/12 4/7
13 MyEx 8 - Supreme Paragon's Gift (Dominate Person); +9 6/5/12 5/7
14 MyEx 9 - Archetype Advancement (Marshal), IC +3, Vigor +3; +9 7/6/13 5/8
15 MyEx 10 - Ability Boost (Cha +2), Embody Paragon, IG 3 people; +10 7/6/13 5/8
16 LyTh 1 - Brd Music, Bonus Spell +10 7/8/15 6/8
17 LyTh 2 - Bonus Feat (Captivating Melody); +11 7/9/16 7/8
18 LyTh 3 - Spell Secret; +12 8/9/16 8/8
19 LyTh 4 - Bonus Spell; +13 8/10/17 9/8
20 LyTh 5 - Sonic Might, IC +4, Vigor +4; +13 8/10/17 10/8

Auras:
Minor (4)- Motivate Charisma, Master of Tactics, Watchful Eye, Determined Caster
Major +2 (2)- Motivate Attack, Motivate Urgency

Feats: Artist (Reg), Dragontouched (Human), Draconic Heritage-Howling (1), Skill Focus-Diplomacy (Mar 1), Dragonfire Inspiration (3), Chaos Music (6), Song of the Heart (9), Draconic Aura-Vigor(12), Melodic Casting (15), Captivating Melody (LyTh 2), Doomspeak (18)

Artist is from PGtf, it's his free regional, grants extra bardic music uses/day.

Dragontouched is from dragon magic, gives dragonblooded subtype lets him count as sorcerer for purposes of draconic heritage feats.

Draconic Heritage is from Dragon Magic and Races of the Dragon, Howling Dragon is from Draconomicon, it's the 'pandemonium' dragon, deals sonic with breath weapon.

Dragonfire Inspiration is from Dragon Magic, changes the bonus IC grants to a +d6 dice of damage to all ally weapon attacks equal to bonus. Energy type is sonic.

Chaos Music is from dragon 326, it increases my effective bardic level for bardic music by 4, including granting me access to new bardic abilities (which allows me to qualify for song of the heart as well). It's a pretty stout feat, but we already have a Battle Howler of gruumsh, so I doubt it'll get vetoed.

Song of the Heart is from EBCS, grants a +1 bonus to the IC count.

Draconic Aura is from Dragon Magic, Let's him pick a single draconic aura, either from DrM or PH2, and it's bonus is based on his character level (due to being dragonblooded). All allies in 30' radius gain fast healing (aura level) if at or below half hitpoints.

Melodic Casting and Captivating melody are both in CM, I'll have to look them up when I get to the game tonight, but I think they let you cast spells while concentrating on bardic music.

Doomspeak is from Champions of ruin, it lets you spend a Bardic Music use to force a will save on a single target or take a -10 to everything for 1 round as a necromantic (not mind effecting) effect.

So, what do you guys think. It's a booster, pure and (not so) simple, and not an individual powerhouse. Considering though, that at least 1/3rd of the combat will be ship to ship and he'll be able to boost almost everyone on the deck with him with his auras, I think it's a pretty strong combo.

I haven't done equipment but with a Badge of Valor and a Mwk Horn, he'll be adding +5d6 (6d6 if I can remember that spell name from SC that adds another) sonic damage to all weapon attacks at 9th, in addition to two auras, and possibly some spells. That seems pretty beefy to me.

At 11th he'll get to throw on IG on top of it (as another swift action), and at 12th, he can drastically reduce all of our out of combat healing by half. Thrown on top of the existing clerics Healthful rest, Fast Healing 4 isn't anything to shake a stick at at that level, even if it stops once you're up to half health. This is especially true since noone is playing an active in combat healer, and the meleers often drop to within 1 hit of death before anyone blows an action trying to heal them.

At 15, he can add a Circumstance mod to either F or W saves based on his charisma bonus to all allies within 60' (always on), and for 10 rds/day, during rough fights, he can grant them DR 2/- on top of the fast healing.

At 18, he can use Doomspeak to help the SoD casters take out especially hardy opponents, on top of everything else he can do.

Concerns, critique, advice, anything I did completely wrong?
#7
CantripN
Mar 27, 2009 10:20:03 Double Draconic Aura is good.
#8
hsien
Mar 27, 2009 10:27:44 afb/files but I had a build set for next character that similar,
at least class wise. can' rtecall levels but

Bard/ Marshal / Squire of Legend / Lyric Thaumaturge/ Mythic Exemplar/ Sublime Chord / LT / Arcane/Uncanny Trickster (?)

Sublime Chord, will provide access to 9th lvl spells.
Last time I looked at it, months ago was debating on adding the Trickster PrC's into mix. The loss of a spell level may have been an issue, can't recall.
#9
pithica
Mar 27, 2009 10:40:02
Double Draconic Aura is good.

Good Catch, I'll see if I can fit it in...

Sublime Chord, will provide access to 9th lvl spells.

I know and love 9th level spells as being the end all be all goal of most optimized builds, but I'm trying to avoid it for this particular player at the moment for two reasons. # 1, he's trying to learn the system, and having to pick a butt load of spells for him to worry about on top of everything else would, I think, be a bit overwelming, and # 2, as a player, he doesn't generally enjoy playing full on spellcasters, at least in my experience with him, he likes having spells available, certainly, but typically only plays characters with a handful of them at best. His only 3rd ed character was an Ogre Magi, and he loved it, if that gives you any indication.

I appreciate the help, though, thank you.
#10
hsien
Mar 27, 2009 12:19:48 In that case, assuming no xp issues, a few levels of Dragon Shaman.
fairly common build to help have Marshal & DS auras active.
Assuming that doesn't interfere or is duplicated by Draconic Auras, although the fast healing is a DS aura as well.

Magic Items:
MI Compendium has a MI Set thats nice for Bard/Marshals.
#11
masamunekaigen
May 19, 2009 11:52:23 Ah, there's an alternative that packs a bit of "punch" if he's willing to wait to be god.

Marshall to Dragon Devotee to Abjurant Champion to Mythic Exemplar the rest of the time.

Dragon Devotee offers (among other things) 3 ability score increases (the first being CHA, followed by CON and then STR) two bonus feats, two effective sorcerer levels (even if you had none before). From their you can qualify for the tastiest 5 level prestige in the whole dang game: Abjurant Champion, and get fighter BAB and full caster advancement and some boosts to abjuration casting.

At around 15, maybe 18 (not looking at the books right now) you know 2 third level spells and can cast em 4 times a day with around the potency of a 16th level sorcerer. This means you can cast Greater Mighty Wallop to make a Colossal blunt weapon for 16 hours or give a hefty armor bonus with a enhanced Shield spell or the multitude of other tasty things doable with 3rd level and lower spells. You know how much great support magic that opens up?

You hit Mythic Exemplar late, but when you finally complete it at level 25 or 28 (lol yeah right), you have spells like an 11th level sorcerer and around 20 caster level potency. That means 5th level spells.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 pithica Mar 26, 2009 15:08:24	I've got a friend that really wants to play a marshal, of some type, and has asked for help with his build. The DM concurred and wants me to 'pimp him out' the way I helped with everyone else in the group. Of course, after hours of searching, I can't find anything resembling a Marshal handbook, and my own perusal of the class gives me the distinct impression of 'lack' within the class. I don't really see the point of half the auras, and I can only find a single PrC that comes close to advancing them at all. Also unfortunately (well not for the group, but for his character), there's already a well built Bardbarian in the group with optimized IC throwing on everyone, and two other people are already playing support-type chars. So his options are limited and he's going to have to work around the various bonuses the other party boosters are handing out. Luckily, marshal auras do seem to stack with almost everything, so the few obviously good ones can do some damage. I was thinking about a mix of Bard, Marshal, and Mythic Exemplar for him anyway, but him going the Dragonfire Inspiration route rather than the straight IC the other bard is using. The player is very new to 3.5, and has only played a couple of 3.0 games, and those were years ago (though he played the hell out of earlier editions). I'd prefer not to throw too many options at him, but at the same time, the party was all built as optimally as we could get away with, and were over grouped (we run between 5 and 9 party members, normally), so even stuff with +3 or higher CR is usually dying fast. Starting level is 9. It's Faerun. He's human. All books are allowed, but anything Eberron specific is a general no-no (with a few exceptions, most of the non Action Points feats are allowed, and Grafts are allowed, and there's an NPC artificer on the ship). Everyone get's a free Regional feat, and stats are generally very high (my char had 2 17's, 3 14's and a 13) as we're rolling (he's already rolled, but I don't have his stat's in front of me, but they were well above average, probably the equivalent of a 35 or 38 point buy). If I have to I can get away with 2 flaws (but none of the other characters have them), as the DM said 'everything in UA is good' (but I don't want to burn that bridge if I can avoid it, especially since I'm rolling with a domain wizard and someone else is using cloistered cleric and someone else whirling frenzy barb etc). It's a pirate campaign, predominately at sea, with both ship to ship and normal dungeon crawl content, he's the captain's nephew. It's set in 1374, surrounding the shadow war plot in sembia. He already played a single session as a straight Marshal 9, for expediency in getting him playing, so I don't want to deviate too much from that, at least mechanically. I was thinking of going: Bard 1/Marshal 4/Mythic Exemplar 4 To start, going into: Bard 1/Marshal 4/Mythic Exemplar 10/Lyric Thaumaturge 5 Which is 10th level Bardic casting, 11th level IC as a base, 16 Bardic music uses (at least, that's how I'm reading 'a bard of your level', someone correct me if there's errata or a faq out there I didn't see), 8th level Marshal Auras, and some other abilities. I figure, though probably not optimal, the above with that bard vest and the right feats/spells to boost IC, plus Dragonfire Inspiration, would be a solid booster/support type of guy, and could be quite fun to play. For feats he's not good, so Words of Creation is out, but the other bard is already using Song of the Heart, so there's no reason for him not to use it. Anyone have any better suggestions, or should I roll with this if the DM allows it?
#2 carnivore Mar 26, 2009 15:25:43	will try to get something to you later... :D
#3 pithica Mar 26, 2009 15:30:36	Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, the 'extra' dragon list is okay to use for dragontouched/dfi, and I had every intention of going with whatever sonic one was closest to his alignment (I think CN), unless he wanted a different energy type for flavor reasons. We already have a Amethyst Dragonwrought Kobold DFA in the group. Thanks for the help.
#4 qoshea Mar 26, 2009 18:30:48	I would suggest going for anything that triggers off his CHA, feats like Frightful Presence or Daunting Presence, though I admit that FP is better than DP. I would suggest maxing out Diplomacy since you already have the Skill Focus. If you run into Undead a lot, there is a feat called Undead Empathy that gives you a +4 to influence intelligent undead and allows you to influence the actions of unintelligent undead via Diplomacy. (Eberron Campaign Setting p61). It is not Eberron-specific though.
#5 cattynebulart Mar 26, 2009 19:37:20	try to work of the Cha Synergy is my recomendation, my gish build does that but it is nowhere near optimal and later revisions dropped marshal to become a primary spellcaster. Carnivore also has a nice build for a marshal, even if it has only 3 levels of marshal it does everything the marshal should do and more, see Trixie at http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1136167 even if you don't use that build it should give you some idea of how to build it. Personally I would look into taking a level in Divine Crusader before veering into some prestige with spell progression for a domain that reflects your desired role in the party. Also consider picking up Thrallherd, because aura that boosts allies + lots of allies = win, though that is very campaign and party dependent.
#6 pithica Mar 27, 2009 9:58:40	Okay, this is what I was thinking for the build...Critique away...I think I can convince my DM that MyEx's gift uses should count as bardic music uses for the purposes of qualifying for LT, we also have a houserule that lets LT stack with bard for IC bonus value, which makes the class much more attractive, and the reason I take it. Some of the feats are from dragon, which is allowed on an approved basis. Bard 1/Marshal 4/Mythic Exemplar 10/Lyric Thaumaturge 5 Level Class Level - Class abilities; BAB F/R/W CL/AL 1 Brd 1 - Brd Know, Brd Music, IC +1; +0 0/2/2 1/0 2 Mar 1 - Minor Aura; +0 2/2/4 1/1 3 Mar 2 - Major Aura +1, Inspire Competence; +1 3/2/5 1/2 4 Mar 3 - ; +2 3/3/5 1/3 5 Mar 4 - Grant Move action 1/day; +3 4/3/6 1/4 6 MyEx 1 - Paragon's Path (Reikhardt), Save Bonus (will) +1; +3 4/3/7 1/4 7 MyEx 2 - Least Paragon's Gift (IC Advancement); +4 4/3/7 2/4 8 MyEx 3 - Archetype Advancement (Marshal), Save Bonus +2, IC +2; +5 5/4/9 2/5 9 MyEx 4 - Lesser Paragon's Gift (+4 insight Cha); +6 5/4/9 3/5 10 MyEx 5 - Archetype Advancement (Marshal), Save Bonus +3; +6 5/4/10 3/6 11 MyEx 6 - Greater Paragon's Gift (Inspire Greatness); +7 6/5/11 4/6 12 MyEx 7 - Archetype Advancement (Marshal), Save Bonus +4, IG 2 people, Vigor +2; +8 6/5/12 4/7 13 MyEx 8 - Supreme Paragon's Gift (Dominate Person); +9 6/5/12 5/7 14 MyEx 9 - Archetype Advancement (Marshal), IC +3, Vigor +3; +9 7/6/13 5/8 15 MyEx 10 - Ability Boost (Cha +2), Embody Paragon, IG 3 people; +10 7/6/13 5/8 16 LyTh 1 - Brd Music, Bonus Spell +10 7/8/15 6/8 17 LyTh 2 - Bonus Feat (Captivating Melody); +11 7/9/16 7/8 18 LyTh 3 - Spell Secret; +12 8/9/16 8/8 19 LyTh 4 - Bonus Spell; +13 8/10/17 9/8 20 LyTh 5 - Sonic Might, IC +4, Vigor +4; +13 8/10/17 10/8 Auras: Minor (4)- Motivate Charisma, Master of Tactics, Watchful Eye, Determined Caster Major +2 (2)- Motivate Attack, Motivate Urgency Feats: Artist (Reg), Dragontouched (Human), Draconic Heritage-Howling (1), Skill Focus-Diplomacy (Mar 1), Dragonfire Inspiration (3), Chaos Music (6), Song of the Heart (9), Draconic Aura-Vigor(12), Melodic Casting (15), Captivating Melody (LyTh 2), Doomspeak (18) Artist is from PGtf, it's his free regional, grants extra bardic music uses/day. Dragontouched is from dragon magic, gives dragonblooded subtype lets him count as sorcerer for purposes of draconic heritage feats. Draconic Heritage is from Dragon Magic and Races of the Dragon, Howling Dragon is from Draconomicon, it's the 'pandemonium' dragon, deals sonic with breath weapon. Dragonfire Inspiration is from Dragon Magic, changes the bonus IC grants to a +d6 dice of damage to all ally weapon attacks equal to bonus. Energy type is sonic. Chaos Music is from dragon 326, it increases my effective bardic level for bardic music by 4, including granting me access to new bardic abilities (which allows me to qualify for song of the heart as well). It's a pretty stout feat, but we already have a Battle Howler of gruumsh, so I doubt it'll get vetoed. Song of the Heart is from EBCS, grants a +1 bonus to the IC count. Draconic Aura is from Dragon Magic, Let's him pick a single draconic aura, either from DrM or PH2, and it's bonus is based on his character level (due to being dragonblooded). All allies in 30' radius gain fast healing (aura level) if at or below half hitpoints. Melodic Casting and Captivating melody are both in CM, I'll have to look them up when I get to the game tonight, but I think they let you cast spells while concentrating on bardic music. Doomspeak is from Champions of ruin, it lets you spend a Bardic Music use to force a will save on a single target or take a -10 to everything for 1 round as a necromantic (not mind effecting) effect. So, what do you guys think. It's a booster, pure and (not so) simple, and not an individual powerhouse. Considering though, that at least 1/3rd of the combat will be ship to ship and he'll be able to boost almost everyone on the deck with him with his auras, I think it's a pretty strong combo. I haven't done equipment but with a Badge of Valor and a Mwk Horn, he'll be adding +5d6 (6d6 if I can remember that spell name from SC that adds another) sonic damage to all weapon attacks at 9th, in addition to two auras, and possibly some spells. That seems pretty beefy to me. At 11th he'll get to throw on IG on top of it (as another swift action), and at 12th, he can drastically reduce all of our out of combat healing by half. Thrown on top of the existing clerics Healthful rest, Fast Healing 4 isn't anything to shake a stick at at that level, even if it stops once you're up to half health. This is especially true since noone is playing an active in combat healer, and the meleers often drop to within 1 hit of death before anyone blows an action trying to heal them. At 15, he can add a Circumstance mod to either F or W saves based on his charisma bonus to all allies within 60' (always on), and for 10 rds/day, during rough fights, he can grant them DR 2/- on top of the fast healing. At 18, he can use Doomspeak to help the SoD casters take out especially hardy opponents, on top of everything else he can do. Concerns, critique, advice, anything I did completely wrong?
#7 CantripN Mar 27, 2009 10:20:03	Double Draconic Aura is good.
#8 hsien Mar 27, 2009 10:27:44	afb/files but I had a build set for next character that similar, at least class wise. can' rtecall levels but Bard/ Marshal / Squire of Legend / Lyric Thaumaturge/ Mythic Exemplar/ Sublime Chord / LT / Arcane/Uncanny Trickster (?) Sublime Chord, will provide access to 9th lvl spells. Last time I looked at it, months ago was debating on adding the Trickster PrC's into mix. The loss of a spell level may have been an issue, can't recall.
#9 pithica Mar 27, 2009 10:40:02	Double Draconic Aura is good. Good Catch, I'll see if I can fit it in... Sublime Chord, will provide access to 9th lvl spells. I know and love 9th level spells as being the end all be all goal of most optimized builds, but I'm trying to avoid it for this particular player at the moment for two reasons. # 1, he's trying to learn the system, and having to pick a butt load of spells for him to worry about on top of everything else would, I think, be a bit overwelming, and # 2, as a player, he doesn't generally enjoy playing full on spellcasters, at least in my experience with him, he likes having spells available, certainly, but typically only plays characters with a handful of them at best. His only 3rd ed character was an Ogre Magi, and he loved it, if that gives you any indication. I appreciate the help, though, thank you.
#10 hsien Mar 27, 2009 12:19:48	In that case, assuming no xp issues, a few levels of Dragon Shaman. fairly common build to help have Marshal & DS auras active. Assuming that doesn't interfere or is duplicated by Draconic Auras, although the fast healing is a DS aura as well. Magic Items: MI Compendium has a MI Set thats nice for Bard/Marshals.
#11 masamunekaigen May 19, 2009 11:52:23	Ah, there's an alternative that packs a bit of "punch" if he's willing to wait to be god. Marshall to Dragon Devotee to Abjurant Champion to Mythic Exemplar the rest of the time. Dragon Devotee offers (among other things) 3 ability score increases (the first being CHA, followed by CON and then STR) two bonus feats, two effective sorcerer levels (even if you had none before). From their you can qualify for the tastiest 5 level prestige in the whole dang game: Abjurant Champion, and get fighter BAB and full caster advancement and some boosts to abjuration casting. At around 15, maybe 18 (not looking at the books right now) you know 2 third level spells and can cast em 4 times a day with around the potency of a 16th level sorcerer. This means you can cast Greater Mighty Wallop to make a Colossal blunt weapon for 16 hours or give a hefty armor bonus with a enhanced Shield spell or the multitude of other tasty things doable with 3rd level and lower spells. You know how much great support magic that opens up? You hit Mythic Exemplar late, but when you finally complete it at level 25 or 28 (lol yeah right), you have spells like an 11th level sorcerer and around 20 caster level potency. That means 5th level spells.