Bard, er Not a Bard, sort of.....

[Altus Lucrim]

Been Working on a concept for a few days now. Let me preface this by saying one simple true statement: I LOATHE Bards. That said I like the concept of a character who makes those around him better through inspiring tactics. The character I am currently working on is essentially attempting to be a FULLY MARTIAL party Buffer. Without Further Ado my dilemma:
I thought I would start of as a Strategist Cavalier, Order of the Dragon, Dex based with probably agile rapier in his main hand, I was debating TWF, and doing the old paladin trick of Smite(Challenge) to supplement damage, After level 5 however is where my path gets funky. I can stay as a Strategist Cavalier, or Multiclass into Steel Falcon for two levels and pickup the ONE bard ability that I Love, Inspire Courage. Then if I do that route I meet all prerequisites for Battle Herald, And level 7+ could be Battle Herald. The Strategist does a LOT of cool things in and of itself however and I could just play strait Strategist. Which do you think would work out better in the long run?

[SunsetPsychosis]

Sort of off the wall here, but might I suggest looking into the Tactician class?

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/tactician

It has a lot of interesting abilities involving directing allies and gaining bonuses against designated targets or using special tactics. He even gets the ability to share a teamwork feat he knows with a designated ally as a FREE action once per ROUND, allowing you to set up some coordinated tactics.

The psionics angle takes some getting used to, but the class as a whole is an extremely potent warlord sort of character.

[blackbloodtroll]

You loathe the classic Bard look/feel, or the class itself?

[Altus Lucrim]

I don't mind a bard at the table, love it actually, but I cannot stand to play them with their wonky spell list, and I never seem to get the balance on them right. I respect that people like to play them, I've never enjoyed it.

[Altus Lucrim]

And GM uses PFS to determine his rules, so Psionics is out.

[ArmouredMonk13]

Bards are very useful to a party, sometimes as the party buffer, other times as the druid's pet dinosaur's snack. It depends on the scenario.

[ShadowcatX]

By fully martial do you mean a character capable of giving someone a great sword to the face while wearing armor or do you mean someone capable of only giving someone a great sword to the face while wearing armor?

The reason I ask, is, if you don't mind spell casting, evangelist cleric would work well, it can have a martial bent, gets inspire courage and tons of sweet buff spells, and none of the bard's spell list.

[lemeres]

I do suppose that the battle herald does look like a fantastic option. Granting everyone DR 4 by level 15 as an immediate action is not something to laugh at. But you might be happier overall with the strategist since your challenge ability would be stunted otherwise, which seems essential to a strategist. Plus, you can get more teamwork feats, which provides options.

[blackbloodtroll]

Altus Lucrim wrote:

And GM uses PFS to determine his rules, so Psionics is out.

So, no craft feats, but designated replacements?

Free one time rebuild before third level?

All other various PFS houserules?

[ShadowcatX]

blackbloodtroll wrote:

Altus Lucrim wrote:

And GM uses PFS to determine his rules, so Psionics is out.

So, no craft feats, but designated replacements?

Free one time rebuild before third level?

All other various PFS houserules?

Does any of this have to do with the actual topic of the thread or are you just going to rant about people picking and choosing which PFS rules to use as house rules?

[blackbloodtroll]

ShadowcatX wrote:

blackbloodtroll wrote:

Altus Lucrim wrote:

And GM uses PFS to determine his rules, so Psionics is out.

So, no craft feats, but designated replacements?

Free one time rebuild before third level?

All other various PFS houserules?

Does any of this have to do with the actual topic of the thread or are you just going to rant about people picking and choosing which PFS rules to use as house rules?

Sorry about offending you in my attempt to gather more info, to provide the best advice to the OP.

Are you just looking to troll me, and the OP?

[Altus Lucrim]

@Shadowcatx-By fully Martial I meant Without Magical effects. No Magic.
@Lemeres- Those options look great for some other character. I want this character to be all about helping out his party.

[Altus Lucrim]

@BBT, No craft feats because he feels they'd be OP in Skulls and Shackles. No rebuild, but I'm late to the party starting at level 4 anyway. Most various PFS houserules, not specific bannings, but he has banned Summoner Class and Paladins. Paladin Pirate?

[blackbloodtroll]

Freebooter/Trapper Ranger.

[Altus Lucrim]

That's one of the other players, seriously though I'm pretty set on having a Strategist Cavalier, Order of the Dragon, at least until Level 5. This gives me a lot of options for party buffing including my challenge giving +2 to ally's attacks against my target, and my Tactician ability giving them whatever teamwork feat I want, I'm considering Precise Strike. The big issue is whether or not the benefits of advancement of Challenge, Tactician and other Cavalier Strategist Abilities outweigh the benefits of gaining Inspire Courage (Through a Two Level Dip into Steel Falcon) and the levels of Battle Herald, Which helps with a lot of other strategic things.

[Trogdar]

Qinngong Sensei is an option as well. Wisdom becomes their primary stat and you can use your spell like powers to buff everybody. I know having bark skin on demand for the whole party is pretty awesome.

They also come with inspire courage right out the gate. I would recommend picking up crushing blow and ability focus for stunning fist as well, gives the whole party the benefit of inspire courage and knocks down gobs of Armor class, which I think makes for a tremendous support class.

[Altus Lucrim]

THANK YOU! Awesome that Can eliminate the need for Steel Falcon in the Battle Herald Option, Leaving me with something like Sensei 2 Strategist 3 into battle Herald! Way More battle Herald earlier!

[TGMaxMaxer]

You should ask your GM to allow Sohei and Sensei archetypes to stack. It would stack your mount levels with cavalier(which in a ship campaign probably won't matter often) but might as well have it if possible.

They both replace fast movement though. I don't count the bonus feat changes, since who cares what they change to from sohei when sensei gives them up anyways.

Worth a shot, since you're going for a sub-par version of the abilities anyways.

[Altus Lucrim]

Sub Par? SUB PAR?!!! RAWR!!!! Just because I'm a Bonus giving support Character I'm SUB PAR!!!! NAY! This Character shall be AWESOME at giving bonuses to his allies! And sub-par in the damage department.... However With the option of Sensei and Strategist, I am considering a Dwarf for this racially because of the Bonuses to Con and Wisdom, I could easily pop for an 18 in both, because I dont really need Dexterity any more, and I do not need Strength, or Intelligence really

[Katz]

Altus Lucrim wrote:

Sub Par? SUB PAR?!!! RAWR!!!! Just because I'm a Bonus giving support Character I'm SUB PAR!!!! NAY! This Character shall be AWESOME at giving bonuses to his allies! And sub-par in the damage department.... However With the option of Sensei and Strategist, I am considering a Dwarf for this racially because of the Bonuses to Con and Wisdom, I could easily pop for an 18 in both, because I dont really need Dexterity any more, and I do not need Strength, or Intelligence really

I think by 'sub-par' he meant you were going to have a slightly lesser version of the bard's support abilities.

[TGMaxMaxer]

Actually, I meant that with only 2 levels in Sensei he'll have 2+wis rounds of inspire/day.

Battle herald lets you use inspire for command, not the other way around.

[Zhayne]

And this is why Pathfinder needs the Warlord. :)