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Thread: Feats to aggro

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    Pixie in the Playground
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    Default Feats to aggro

    i am currently part of a 3.5 game, i have the making's of a good tank high Ac and so on, however i need something to help direct attacks. im trying to find a feat which will allow me to gain the aggro of my foes.

    Please help

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    Default Re: Feats to aggro

    D&D is not an MMO. The best way to "get aggro" is to be dangerous. There are ways to get people to attack you (Goad, Test of Mettle) but they suck. You can also be a Crusader or pick up their stances/strikes with Martial Study/Martial Stance and debuff enemies unless they attack you, which works better.
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    Bugbear in the Playground
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    Default Re: Feats to aggro

    There's the Goad feat. If your Charisma isn't good, then start taking Crusader levels. They have a plethora of abilities and stances that encourage enemies to attack you (starting with the Iron Guard's Glare stance you can get right away).

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    Bugbear in the Playground
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    Default Re: Feats to aggro

    D&D is not good for the archetype of the guy who is really tough and draws the attention of enemies. Most opponents can just go around you. The Combat Reflexes and Stand Still feats and a reach weapon can stop enemies from getting past you in a 10 foot square. You won't get anything better then that without taking levels in the Crusader class (which really is your best bet for this type of thing, but even then is nowhere near MMO style aggro abilities).

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    NecromancerGuy

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    Default Re: Feats to aggro

    The best way to "take hits for people" is to take hits for people(rather than trying to fool your opponent's targeting AI). However D&D did not print any worthwhile bodyguard/defender feats/options. So you are left with 4 options:
    1) Homebrew to extend D&D wherever it is lacking (even something as simple as "When an ally would be hit, lose an AoO to be hit instead" would be a good addition)
    2) Become the primary target(and thus the one your party needs to take hits for)
    3) Hold the Line against the melee threats while your charge uses Total Cover/Concealment to hide from ranged threats
    4) Buff your charge so they can take the hits
    Last edited by OldTrees1; 2015-10-05 at 04:01 PM.

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    Pixie in the Playground
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    Default Re: Feats to aggro

    Quote Originally Posted by Flickerdart View Post
    D&D is not an MMO. The best way to "get aggro" is to be dangerous. There are ways to get people to attack you (Goad, Test of Mettle) but they suck. You can also be a Crusader or pick up their stances/strikes with Martial Study/Martial Stance and debuff enemies unless they attack you, which works better.
    ye my DM belive that the dangerous onces should be left, and the foe's will attack the rangers who dont have much to take a hit

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    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Default Re: Feats to aggro

    As stated above: Crusader with iron guard glare is a good way to start.
    It works on all opponents you threaten, so get a spiked chain, or a reach weapon and gauntlets. Having a way to become large also helps your thread-range.

    In addition: the 'Allied defense' feat can improve AC of those around you. Which might, or might not work to get opponents to attack you instead.

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    SwashbucklerGuy

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    Default Re: Feats to aggro

    There's that one series of feats in Drow of the Underdark...
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    Titan in the Playground
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    Default Re: Feats to aggro

    1. Get the Dragonborn of Bahamut template (+0 LA) in Races of the Dragon, with the breath weapon aspect.
    2. Take the feat Entangling Exhalation from that same book.
    3. Use your entangling breath weapon as often as possible, debuffing your opponents, damaging them, and hindering their ability to move past your character.

    Congratulations, you're now a 'tank' in that opponents have a reason to deal with your character, and are less capable of skipping him to go after softer party members.

    Don't add Dragonborn of Bahamut to any race that gains racial abilities you would want to keep, other than ability score adjustments and movement modes, because you'll lose everything else*. Something like Water Orc is decent because you keep the ability score adjustments and swim speed, but lose the other race of water traits as well as the orc traits such as light sensitivity. You could add it to a Warforged instead, which gets to retain the Living Construct subtype and *everything that goes with it, as well as the natural slam attack that adds x1.5 Str to damage when you're not using any other weapons, and you can still take Adamantine Body.

    A good class build for this would include Crusader from Tome of Battle, with the Thicket of Blades stance and the Stand-Still feat. Something like Crusader 5/ Binder 1/ Hellreaver 5/ Crusader 9 for the final build is fairly ideal, you can use Hellreaver abilities every round such as healing someone for 20 hp, and each time you take Con damage for using them you'll heal it up thanks to binding Naberius. This is pretty much the only time you would want to keep an odd-numbered ability score on Con, since you take 2 Con damage from Heroic Sacrifice, one of which fast heals immediately, leaving you with an even-numbered Con score until the following round and keeping the same ability score modifier at all times for significantly less paperwork.

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    Troll in the Playground
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    Default Re: Feats to aggro

    A build focused on tripping or knockback can gain enemies attention by frustrating them and cause them to focus you.

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    Default Re: Feats to aggro

    Quote Originally Posted by killingfish View Post
    ye my DM belive that the dangerous onces should be left, and the foe's will attack the rangers who dont have much to take a hit
    It could also be that you're focusing too much on "tanking" and not enough on dealing damage or getting in their way for the enemies to view you as dangerous.
    Diplomacy/Intimidate rolls could be good to anger enemies, sort of like goading them, "Hey... your mother was large boned and your father is terrible at farming".

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    Default Re: Feats to aggro

    Quote Originally Posted by killingfish View Post
    ye my DM belive that the dangerous onces should be left, and the foe's will attack the rangers who dont have much to take a hit
    ........the rangers are the dangerous ones? I'm done.

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    Default Re: Feats to aggro

    Quote Originally Posted by killingfish View Post
    ye my DM belive that the dangerous onces should be left, and the foe's will attack the rangers who dont have much to take a hit
    As the others have said, there's no Aggro system with careful coding to measure threat generation that keeps the monster on you.
    There are a few abilities that function as taunts, but most of them require a high charisma to be passable, and if you're going with tons of defense, I doubt you'll have that.
    As they said, your best bets are either to do a Crowd Control tank (That is: Trip/Bullrush/Entangle or a few other options) to keep the enemy from getting where they want to go at any speed or go Crusader and pick up the stances that debuff your enemy if they don't try to strike you.

    If none of those are options for your build, then... uh. Just try to stand between your allies and the big scary monsters as best you can, but if the most threatening thing you can do is tickle the dragon's toesies with a one handed weapon, it -will- be going for the guy that can cause it to spontaneously implode, because that guy is both a huge threat and very easy to turn into a fine mist covering approximately 100 feet square.
    And the monsters will usually do this because most things in the game are smart enough to recognize the difference between a wall of metal that is capable of barely anything threatening and the pre-tenderized hamburger that can deal real damage.

    Most, that is, because unintelligent undead, unintelligent constructs, and unintelligent oozes will always attack the first thing they can unless they're being controlled.
    Last edited by TheifofZ; 2015-10-12 at 10:50 PM.
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    DruidGuy

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    Default Re: Feats to aggro

    If you're looking for Homebrew I do have a prestige class that I made that may have what you're looking for.

    Going by official stuff, there's the Knight's Test of Mettle which forces a Will Save from one enemy. If they fail, they must attack you in preference to all other possible targets.
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    NecromancerGuy

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    Default Re: Feats to aggro

    Knight 4 / Crusader 1 / Devoted Defender 2 has some respectable options for aggro.
    Test of Mettle(Knight, PHB II) as an AoE Will Save vs Taunt
    Iron Guard's Glare(Crusader, ToB) as an "AC buff" to allies resulting in you looking easier to hit
    Harm's Way(Devoted Defender, Sword and Fist) allows you to take as many hits for a single ally (free actions) as you wish
    Defensive Strike(Devoted Defender, Sword and Fist) allows you an AoO on anyone that attacked that single ally, thus encouraging them to attack anyone else

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    Dwarf in the Playground
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    Default Re: Feats to aggro

    There is a Flaw to aggro : it's called delicious and it's commoner only.

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    RedWizardGuy

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    Default Re: Feats to aggro

    If you don't want to go the Martial Adept route, try Combat Reflexes + Backstab if your DM allows dragon magazie content, that is. This will allow you to score an attack of opportunity on any enemy within your threatened squares that didn't attack you last turn at the start of your next one. Wolf Totem barbarian + Improved Trip + Knockdown would enforce the point that if your enemies don't want to spend their time kissing the dirt, they better attack you. Then you could add Karmic Strike, and you're forcing them into a lose-lose situation. At least in melee.
    Last edited by Gulian; 2015-10-13 at 06:25 AM.

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    Default Re: Feats to aggro

    Not a feat, but a Prestige Class feature: Divine Prankster 5 (from Races of Stone) gives you the "Enrage Enemies" Comedic Performance. The targeted creature must make a Will save or attack the Prankster. The DC is set by a Perform (comedy) check, and skill checks are easy to boost; so this can be a pretty reliable aggro mechanic against creatures subject to it. (It's Enchantment(charm) Mind-Affecting). Do note that it's a spellcasting class, generally intended for Cleric/Bard multiclasses (though other combinations are possible to meet the prereqs).
    Last edited by Telonius; 2015-10-13 at 08:40 AM.

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