Handy feats for 1 HD followers?

[Jowgen]

You, by virtue of Leadership, have a metric load of 1st level followers; and by the grace of the universe, you can choose their feats, assign flaws and destribute a non-elite array of stats. How would you make the most of this?

My first thought was Knight of Tyr's Merciul sword, to basically develop a long-range Evil-detection sensor array.

[Inevitability]

Magical Training + Precocious Apprentice can net you any 2nd-level spell on any list (including things like Animate Dead, Wings of Cover, and Alter Self), as well as any three wizard/sorcerer cantrips.

[LTwerewolf]

Skill focus perform juggling

[Jowgen]

Magical Training + Precocious Apprentice can net you any 2nd-level spell on any list (including things like Animate Dead, Wings of Cover, and Alter Self), as well as any three wizard/sorcerer cantrips.

It's interesting, tough the pre-requs seem pretty hard to meet with a non-elite array.

[Bullet06320]

Skill focus perform juggling

Skill focus Basket weaving

[Ortesk]

This is a stretch, mind you, but I am partial to level 1 kobold warriors with weapon finesses, swarm fighting, and dragon wrought. Mob swarm fighting can be a huge boon to boost low level warriors

[Inevitability]

It's interesting, tough the pre-requs seem pretty hard to meet with a non-elite array.

Can you control the NPC's age? If so, make them old/venerable and you should be able to hit the prerequisites.

[Darrin]

Make sure one of your followers is a Dragonfire Adept so you can get free identify at will via the Magic Insight invocation. Some Dragon Shamans with the Vigor aura might be nice.

Hidden Talent for psionic minor creation can produce a bunch of vegetation-based shenanigans, mostly poisons. Black lotus extract, canath fruit, mushroom powder, icewild lichen paste, etc.

There are some [Ceremony] feats in Dragon Magic with some minor buffs, but they all require spending additional resources to get an effect. There's also Fell Conspiracy in Elder Evils... free message spells to all your allies for 24 hours. Huh... didn't notice that before, but you don't even need to be evil for that one, you just need a masterwork dagger.

Everybody's favorite traumatic brain injury, Precocious Apprentice, could have some interesting possibilities: fire shuriken, ghoul glyph, quick potion, summon elysian thrush, unseen crafter, luminous armor. The text doesn't say it has to be an arcane spell, either, so: acorn of far travel, guidance of the avatar, whispering flame.

[WhamBamSam]

This is a stretch, mind you, but I am partial to level 1 kobold warriors with weapon finesses, swarm fighting, and dragon wrought. Mob swarm fighting can be a huge boon to boost low level warriors

I'd say drop Dragonwrought in this case (as you don't seem to be doing much with mental scores or the dragon type) and go for Mortalbane. Then give them something like Ice Dagger, Kauper's Quickblast, or Magic Missile as a Draconic Rite of Passage SLA to serve as a vector for it.

[Dromuthra]

I'd say drop Dragonwrought in this case (as you don't seem to be doing much with mental scores or the dragon type) and go for Mortalbane. Then give them something like Ice Dagger, Kauper's Quickblast, or Magic Missile as a Draconic Rite of Passage SLA to serve as a vector for it.

On that note, Warlocks with Mortalbane would be fairly vicious at those low levels.

Also, obligatory 1st level kobold paladin with skill focus: Knowledge Religion.

[Ruethgar]

I think I would go with Maximized Empowered Awakened Monkey with a 1 HD advancement.
10 Str, 14 Dex, 10 Con, 13 Wis, 7 Cha, 27 Int
Feats: Weapon Finesse^B, Improved Unarmed Strike, Circle Kick, Two Weapon Fighting, Superior Unarmed Strike

Because Monkey Monks are fun.

Alternatively, if you wanted shear power, go with a Warrior monkey instead.
4 Str, 18 Dex, 10 Con, 13 Wis, 7 Cha, 27 Int
Readhead(Persistent Sanctum Searing Twin Electric Energy Admixture Born of the Three Thunders Blistering Produce Flame with two Acidic Side Effects and Invigorating Ocular Ray Extension Persist Ray Burst Widen Cure Minor Wounds with two Healing Side Effects), Two Weapon Fighting, Point Blank Shot, and Wild Cohort

That Produce Flame is 1d6+2 searing fire+1d6 thunderous lightning+2d4 Acid with a minor debuff. The healing, ruled less favorably, is a 1/day 60ft radius 2d4+1 healing per round of concentration up to 24hr that removes minor debuffs(Daze, Fatigue, Exhaustion, Sickened and Stuned I think it was).

With any such Awakened Animal, you could also snag Lucid Dreaming as cross class and murder people in their sleep, or create transdimensional spell traps in their dreams to maim and murder that way... or you know, use it to create w/e you want. Of course they could also focus on Incantations and being able to hit the skill DCs. The second one presented would not hurt much from being an Expert instead of a Warrior and thus able to get things like Handle Animal to 7 ranks as well as the Incantation skills you wanted to 7 ranks, or Injitsu Focus if you wanted that. A slightly less broken use of Lucid Dreaming could be to make a Library in the dream and Autohypnosis memorize it for +8 to all knowledge checks if you are given a few minutes to recollect.

Of course making them all the same would be boring, though easier to manage. If you wanted something special, you should try and find the Commoner Handbook on these forms. If goes through a great many options allowing for a healer, great archers, super tanks, 2mi radius communication between anyone in the village and various other things letting a thorp of level one commoners potentially kill up to a Juvenile dragon without too many casualties.

[Jowgen]

Addition of my own: crafting feats. As long as I can get them a CL of 1 (racial SLA at least), they can take brew potion, Extraordinary Artisan and Magical Artisan. Provided they stack properly, they can basically make anything at half the normal cost, which is handy.

[FocusWolf413]

I think I would go with Maximized Empowered Awakened Monkey with a 1 HD advancement.
10 Str, 14 Dex, 10 Con, 13 Wis, 7 Cha, 27 Int
Feats: Weapon Finesse^B, Improved Unarmed Strike, Circle Kick, Two Weapon Fighting, Superior Unarmed Strike

No sane DM is ever going to give this to you. Too cheesy.

[Inevitability]

No sane DM is ever going to give this to you. Too cheesy.

That isn't the problem. The problem is assuming a 'LA: —' creature is a viable follower.

[Mystral]

Your level 1 guys aren't going to be much help in a fight, so best to have them support you in other ways. Give them various skill focus feats and let them create items, gather information or whatever.

[Jowgen]

Give them various skill focus feats and let them create items, gather information or whatever.

I like the idea of using them for item creation (covered my approach earlier), info gathering and other utilites, but plain skill focus -or relying on skill for that matter- doesn't strike me as effective. Know of any feats that might add this sort of non-combat utility?

[Theobod]

Your level 1 guys aren't going to be much help in a fight, so best to have them support you in other ways. Give them various skill focus feats and let them create items, gather information or whatever.

I would like to second this. Assuming max ranks, 1 ability mod, masterwork tools and skill focus, on take ten that is masterwork gear, solo. If you have a lot of folks making them work in pairs to save on tool costs nets the same result. Thats any masterwork gear you need at 1/3rd cost, use that to outfit and pay for a millitia of real threats, lvl 3-4 mercs if you feel like having some guards as you adventure. To avoid stagnation on the supply/demand side have some use Proffession: Merchant and roam the lands in caravans hawking your gear across the lands.

TLDR: Use them to make money offscreen to minimise the table time you take up and use the income they generate to help you guys do the big damn hero thing with greater safety due to periodic gear upgrades.

[frost890]

I agree with the skill focus idea. Skill focus knowledge local to create an information web. Skill focus Arcana for when you run in to strange magic. Skill focus craft for base items and potions. I think that was the whole purpose of giving you to 100 followers. It lets you run your temple/shops/labs without taking up game time. Just send a letter with what you need them to create. They allow for plot hooks and party assistants.

[JustIgnoreMe]

1 HD Followers, eh? Like, say, 1st level Commoners? Time to link to one of my favourite threads!

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...moner-Handbook

[Azoth]

Skill Focus (Handle Animal), Skill focus (Diplomacy), & Nymph's Kiss.

Gotta love me some monster ranchers. By having several work in small teams, they can easily run hatcheries for monsters significantly more deadly than they are and train them to be valuable mounts/attack beasts.

[Jowgen]

Could there be potential in the circle magic feat from Ghostwalk? I'd have to make the followers count as divine casters and somehow give them the ability to expend level 3-4 spells into the circle, but that could give me a main follower of CL 20.

Problem is, I don't see how a CL of 20 can be all that useful on a 1 HD follower...

[Ruethgar]

It is possible to get level one followers to be divine casters regardless of class, however cheesy to be able to get them with 3rd level spells. Half-Human Elf Choas Shuffled for God Touched, Divine Channeler, Minor Divine Spellcaster, Magical Training, Precocious Apprentice, Heighten Spell, Sanctum Spell, that gives them the ability to cast a 3rd level spell, but if you are Chaos Shuffling, I think there would be better uses for that many feats.

[Jowgen]

It is possible to get level one followers to be divine casters regardless of class, however cheesy to be able to get them with 3rd level spells. Half-Human Elf Choas Shuffled for God Touched, Divine Channeler, Minor Divine Spellcaster, Magical Training, Precocious Apprentice, Heighten Spell, Sanctum Spell, that gives them the ability to cast a 3rd level spell, but if you are Chaos Shuffling, I think there would be better uses for that many feats.

I see the overkill, but even if; what is the point of getting them a real high CL? What could they possibly use it for?

[daremetoidareyo]

Broken one's sacrifice. Make the bad guy go through your shieldlings, one at a time. Put all your shieldlings in the same square with swarm fighting. You're gonna need to make them all strongheart halflings. But if you got like 500 followers, you can put them all in 10 swarmfighting squares of fifty halflings apiece. When someone attacks you, one of them broken one's sacrifices for you. They also all get pluses to attack equivalent to their dex bonus.