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View Full Version : Arcane Tactician (3.5 battle sorc/marshall feat)



Stycotl
2008-09-11, 11:39 PM
Arcane Tactician
You have put your powerful magic to good use, combined with your mastery of battlefield tactics.
Prerequisites: Cast 2nd level Sorcerer or Wizard spells, possess one Minor Marshall aura
Benefits: Your Marshall levels stack with Battle Sorcerer levels for the purpose of determining major and minor auras known, your Command Presence, and Familiar progression.

Magnor Criol
2008-09-12, 12:13 AM
That seems quite powerful. For the small cost of one feat, you're essentially getting a gestalt setup going...all the things progressed from the Marshal class are, well, almost all of the things the Marshal class has to offer. Take this feat and only sorc or wiz levels from then on and you're basically getting free levels in Marshal.

Especially the progression of the number of auras known. That's the whole shtick of the class; that's like the Marshal's spellcasting progression, essentially, and seems too powerful to let a feat do it. If you could take a feat that let you get "+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class," regardless of what class you took, there'd be a lot less incentive to worry about the spellcasting class.

I'd stick with just advancing Command Presence and familiar, I think. Maybe throw in another small thing, like perhaps levels taken now count towards levels needed to increase the bonus from your major aura or something.

playswithfire
2008-09-12, 07:50 AM
Advancing just Command Presence and the familiar would put it more in line with the other gestaltish feats (the Ascetics and Devoteds). Maybe just advance those two but allow them to sacrifice a spell slot as a free action when activating an aura and they can then activate one they would be able to know if the sorcerer and marshal levels stacked, but the aura ends after a number of rounds equal to the level of the spell slot sacrificed.

That may get unnecessarily wordy though

Stycotl
2008-09-12, 03:53 PM
i would agree with you if i used the normal marshall from the miniatures handbok (or whichever one it came from; too lazy to look it up).

i use the sublime marshall by tempest stormwind.
http://forums.gleemax.com/wotc_archive/index.php/t-752414

now, balanced against that one, do you still think it is too powerful? in tempest's marshall, auras are still key to the class, but they're one of only a number of key abilities, kinda like the sneak attacks of a rogue. important, but not its only schtick.

EDIT: for those of you using the normal marshall, i'd suggest something along the lines of gestalting it anyway, because it's a horribly underpowered class. if you actually want to use it as is, then yes, you'd have to nerf this feat some, and as was mentioned earlier, familiar progression, and command presence bonus would probably be the way to go.