I always liked the role of the marshal class in 3.5. Not the brute force melee type, like the fighter, but more the tactical and inspirational warrior. Are there any suggestions for "upgrading" the marshal class to Pathfinder?
why does it need an upgrade? match its bab to its HD and have at it
Use the Crusader or Warblade?
The Marshall class is really just not that good a class. It's a good idea, but it wasn't done very well. Tome of Battle and the White Raven discipline do a much better job of providing battlefield control, IMHO.
As far as fixing it... I'm not sure what you'd need to do specifically. I think the auras and such could use a definite boost, at least.
Thanks for the responses everyone! I don't have the Tome of Battle (yet!), so the White Raven discipline is about tactical flavor?
I'm looking to create a character that is a battlefield leader, the fighter would seem to be that class but with only 2 skill points it seems tough to create a character with knowledge (tactics), diplomacy, and perception, sense motive skills using only the fighter class. Or would you suggest a multi-class path? I don't picture the character with rogue or bard special abilities. The Marshal seem to fit the character type perfectly, but I remember reading that it was underpowered compared to many other classes.
White Raven is all about tactics, giving your allies extra abilities, and working in a unit. It's got some self-buffs, too, but it's definitely a battlefield leader discipline.
WotC was nice enough to provide all the discipline maneuvers as downloads in card form (because using them as cards is a rather handy way of dealing with the system), so if you like, you can download the White Raven discipline cards here and peruse them.
Crusaders make good all around battlefield leaders, since they can heal allies as well as direct them, but their method of maneuver usage means they may not have the right tactical ability when they could best use it.
Warblades are very good leaders, and also can be right in the thick of things kicking butt if they need to. A White Raven and Iron Heart focused warblade would be a pretty cool leader type.
Tome of Battle really is worth it - some people argue that it's broken, but it's still mechanically weaker than being a high level sorcerer or wizard or cleric - it just gives melee classes something that they can do that's better than "I full attack it again."
Yea, but then you have people that don't wan to go Tome of Battle powerful... sticking to more of a Core Class power level. Though, I don't know how ToB stands with Pathfinder, so my argument might be moot.
Uh... really, take a look at the 3.5 classes, then the Pathfinder ones and kinda get a feel for how they did things.
I always liked the role of the marshal class in 3.5. Not the brute force melee type, like the fighter, but more the tactical and inspirational warrior. Are there any suggestions for "upgrading" the marshal class to Pathfinder?
I suggest the Genius Guide WarMaster class, which is basically a better designed PF ruleset Marshal.
PDF is about 3 bucks and available here at paizo. It may be just what you are looking for without needing to try to update, convert, or browbeat a DM into allowing Bo9S content.