David Goodman's page

My Brawler is also a little bit jealous of the Warpriest's damage progression and the Swashbuckler's workaround for Combat Expertise, and challenged by the steep prereqs of the Combat Expertise and Improved Manuever feat chains.

I think, if you are playing a brawler, you just have to give up some of the flexibility Martial Manuevers promises you - it's a trap. You can go down the Expertise, Imp Trip, etc. path or the WIS, Stunning Fist path, but if you try to buy both INT and WIS 13 to be able to do both, you have to nerf STR/DEX/CON - stats you need to survive. So that in buying the full flexibility, you just aren't competitive.

What I still feel is missing are Bluff/Perform elements. The guy who is a streetfighter/boxer/brute should probably have some sort of facility with feints and performance combat. The STR, DEX, CON, and INT/WIS needs preclude this guy from having much of a charisma. Which means, despite the concept, you probably can't be all that good at intimidating people, feinting in combat, or wowing a crowd in a gladiatorial arena. When by rights, that should probably be your forte.

I guess you can always invest feats down those lines, but once you do that, you may be back to really struggling to hang in as a fighter. Which in turn, makes it hard to build a rep in the arena.

I can hope there will be an archetype for that.

On the positive side, I do agree with the inclusion of Knowledge (history) - the better fighters tend to have incredible knowledge of the history of their trade. Mike Tyson is a prime example.

A Klar is a shield, and thus you will not get your class AC bonus while wielding one.

Can't tell if it's been noted already, but I still think the Brawler should get Bluff and Perform as a class skill. Unless that's coming in a Pugilistic Gladiator archetype...

The big thing to me, in terms of the "plays well with others" element of Raging song... is the classes a skald fits with thematically are probably Barbarian, Bloodrager, Druid, Fighter, Hunter, Ranger and Shaman. Of those, the Bloodrager, Druid, Hunter, Ranger and Shaman are often going to want to refuse the Skald's primary class feature because it hinders them in major ways. And leaves them fatigued if the party moves around. (And a party with these mobile characters is probably going to.)

I mean, how good is granting pounce if you get fatigued halfway through your charge? How much fun is it if half your party is constantly refusing your signature buff. Our mixed-class party has got one huffy Skald...

3. I agree. Basically, I think some small number of the more appropriate Mysteries (Bones, Heavens, Nature) should include 'revelations' with a limited analog to the Channel Energy mechanic. Perhaps 1/day +1 per five levels with d6 dice per 3/levels. Enough to be useful, not enough to overpower the Cleric or be a Must Take.

4. I think the Armor revelations need major re-work. If they stay as armor bonuses, the durations need to be 1 hour/level as per Mage Armor in order to make them on par with just wearing a Breastplate. If you retained the duration, it should be a Swift/Immediate Activation.

Given that the Oracle is a Divine-inspired character, my personal preference would be to scale down the pluses, but make these be Sacred/Profane bonuses.