Brilliant Gameologists Forum

The Thinktank => Min/Max It! => : Endarire January 29, 2010, 01:05:31 AM

: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Endarire January 29, 2010, 01:05:31 AM
Leadership lets me get another weaker character for a feat, and some followers that stay in the background most the time.

What do YOU enjoy most about the Leadership feat?
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: snakeman830 January 29, 2010, 01:07:15 AM
I prefer using Thrallherd and sacrificing my believers in rituals to gain a lot of bonuses.  I don't really care, because more will come tomorrow with their same fanatical devotion.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Negative Zero January 29, 2010, 01:31:16 AM
Well, it's almost inarguably the second-best feat in D&D (the first would be Draconic Leadership, or whatever feat it is that lets you get a Dragonwrought Kobold two levels higher than you), so..

I like it because it allows my Druid to slow down combat even more by having another character to play.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: j0lt January 29, 2010, 01:40:12 AM
As a DM I like it for a quick and easy way to flesh out what sorts of minions and helpers a BBEG has.  I don't think I'd allow a player to take it unless the game focused on large-scale battles.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: The_Mad_Linguist January 29, 2010, 03:11:40 AM
Well, it's almost inarguably the second-best feat in D&D (the first would be Draconic Leadership, or whatever feat it is that lets you get a Dragonwrought Kobold two levels higher than you), so..

I like it because it allows my Druid to slow down combat even more by having another character to play.
With the possible exception of landlord, but if you have your cohort take landlord, problem solved.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: NiteCyper January 29, 2010, 03:20:29 AM
I like it because I hear it opens up potential for DND to become more of a miltary RTS, the opposite of what Blackmoor meant to differentiate itself from.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: veekie January 29, 2010, 04:30:40 AM
At Epic, theres always the option of using them all to power Epic Spellcasting, I guess.

And then the DM twaps you with a book.

And makes a bigger ritual than you have.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Prime32 January 29, 2010, 03:27:25 PM
I like using it to give myself a really fancy sword (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3364.msg104399#msg104399).
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: The_Mad_Linguist January 29, 2010, 04:06:51 PM
I like using it to give myself a really fancy sword (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3364.msg104399#msg104399).
And by sword, you of course mean sandwich.




Anyway, three step process to beat anything that fails saves on a 1:
Step 1: make all your followers warforged
Step 2: Start up an intercontinental set of religious schools
Step 3: Make your followers teachers at these schools
Step 4: shuffle your personnel between schools each year
Step 5: Give them all knowledge affiliation

You now can turn off anyone's abilities, provided that your followers can make the knowledge check about what they are.  I'd suggest a library and some aid anothers.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: skydragonknight January 29, 2010, 04:20:46 PM
I like using it to give myself a really fancy sword (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3364.msg104399#msg104399).
And by sword, you of course mean sandwich.

...what happens when a Dvati True Mindswitches with someone?
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Unbeliever January 29, 2010, 07:29:52 PM
So that none of us has to play a cleric (or other support character) if we don't want to ...

Seriously, that's what we use leadership (and planar binding, etc.) for. 
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Bastian January 29, 2010, 07:42:21 PM
Using my followers as ambrosia batteries so I don't have to spend xp to craft.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: veekie January 29, 2010, 10:10:38 PM
Using my followers as ambrosia batteries so I don't have to spend xp to craft.
So...care to share your setup?
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Negative Zero January 29, 2010, 11:28:53 PM
Last I heard, the 'generic' setup is an item of continuous Wrack, the nipple rings that turn pain into pleasure from BoVD, and some item that sustains them so they don't have to eat/drink.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: veekie January 29, 2010, 11:37:44 PM
Yeah, but variations are always cool.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: jojolagger January 30, 2010, 12:09:28 AM
To give me roof-jumpers for the orbital drop cannon.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: wotmaniac January 30, 2010, 12:33:47 AM
I always thought that this (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/20019689/I_know_its_a_long_shot,_but_...?post_id=344288617#344288617) was pretty cool.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Bastian January 31, 2010, 11:46:03 AM
Using my followers as ambrosia batteries so I don't have to spend xp to craft.
So...care to share your setup?
Check out the link in my sig for my version of it. It's down a little under Regenerationing XP.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: ProfessorCirno February 07, 2010, 09:45:21 PM
You people think way too...mechanically.

Why do you take Leadership?

Maids.

Hundreds of them.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Zaxter February 07, 2010, 10:10:26 PM
I like the notion of my animal companion taking Leadership. Suddenly, my horse is more popular than I am.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: The_Mad_Linguist February 07, 2010, 10:11:47 PM
I like the notion of my animal companion taking Leadership. Suddenly, my horse is more popular than I am.
Dudley do-right!
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Anklebite February 07, 2010, 11:50:38 PM
I have always wanted to make a circus ringleader halfling, with tons of followers. the low levels ones are marshals and warlocks, and the cohort is a bard. a cleric is stuffed into part of the leadership chain somewhere.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Tonymitsu February 08, 2010, 01:24:09 AM
As a player, I've never used it.
As a DM, my favorite use is typically banning it from play.

IMO, it's the most broken feat in D&D.
Never at any point should anyone have a need to play two characters at the same time.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Anklebite February 08, 2010, 03:17:28 AM
As a player, I've never used it.
As a DM, my favorite use is typically banning it from play.

IMO, it's the most broken feat in D&D.
Never at any point should anyone have a need to play two characters at the same time.

I agree it is broken as hell, so I like to encourage my players to use it.  makes it more interesting. alot of character concepts don't work very well with the "I head out alone" idea.  it also makes it easier for players to have interesting mounts.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Akalsaris February 08, 2010, 04:18:43 AM
I don't exactly encourage my players to take it in most games, but I've allowed it before.  One of my PCs right now is in the Red Dragonarmy (Dragonlance setting) and has Draconic Leadership for a juvenile red dragon, which makes him unbelievably happy.  Since the dragon's saved the party from a TPK twice in 2 sessions already, the players have all agreed that it's a good thing he swapped out weapon focus (bastard sword) for it =P

Before that he had a 10-headed hydra, which while not exactly unbalanced, took way too goddamn long to resolve 10 attacks at a crummy attack bonus each round.

I've also strongly encouraged my PCs to take leadership in a game where they are all various Cormyrean nobility (Birthright in Faerun game).  The last 2 sessions I ran were actually "cohort+followers" sessions where the normal PCs stayed at home while their cohorts adventured, weirdly enough.

So yeah - as a DM, I like Leadership as a way to shore up a small party and help with roleplaying.  As a PC, it would be either for a decent mount at higher levels as a martial character, or to shore up a typical gap in the party (crafting, healing, trap-finding, etc).
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Hijax February 08, 2010, 10:09:13 AM
Circle magic w/ heighten and spell engine

all your spells are suddenly 9th level, and you suddenly win even more than wizards traditionally do.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Aliment February 08, 2010, 02:53:55 PM
Sacrificing them to the might of my Epic Thrallherd Spells, most likely of the Telepathy school.

Or as someone said, forget using it for mechanical power, get lots of little animals to follow you around and be Snow White!
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Agita February 08, 2010, 02:55:28 PM
You people think way too...mechanically.

Why do you take Leadership?

Maids.

Hundreds of them.
This.

Alternatively,
[spoiler](http://www.interbutt.org/plog-content/images/sfwmaybe/general-coolfunny/qar5n6mx7vgpiv4l42ut7snyw9.jpg)[/spoiler]
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: archangel.arcanis February 08, 2010, 06:31:16 PM
be a thrallherd have both of my thralls as crusader/warblade focused on white raven and each of them take leadership. then yell charge  :D

In actuality we almost never use it in game because a) in our games most players already play 2 characters, b) none of us want to keep up with the extra paperwork for tracking the followers and their crap, c) we tend to not like moving in a massive caravan in our games so the 200 people hanging around causes a problem.

One of the best ways we have ever used leadership was that another player had to play your cohort. This works because it is fun to do occasionally.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: jojolagger April 03, 2010, 03:04:07 PM
You people think way too...mechanically.

Why do you take Leadership?

Maids.

Hundreds of them.
This.

Alternatively,
[spoiler](http://www.interbutt.org/plog-content/images/sfwmaybe/general-coolfunny/qar5n6mx7vgpiv4l42ut7snyw9.jpg)[/spoiler]
I now have found something that must be added to the drop cannon.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Hijax April 03, 2010, 03:26:46 PM
be a thrallherd have both of my thralls as crusader/warblade focused on white raven and each of them take leadership. then yell charge  :D

In actuality we almost never use it in game because a) in our games most players already play 2 characters, b) none of us want to keep up with the extra paperwork for tracking the followers and their crap, c) we tend to not like moving in a massive caravan in our games so the 200 people hanging around causes a problem.

One of the best ways we have ever used leadership was that another player had to play your cohort. This works because it is fun to do occasionally.

you forgot to make your thrall's cohorts be thrallherds. and repeat.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Anklebite April 03, 2010, 03:30:56 PM
followers make great specialists.

get a forger, a disguiser, ect. 

very damn handy. we all know how easy it is to do a single thing REALLY well when that's all you have to do. also, marshals. lots and lots of marshals. they only need be marshal1, so use whatever leftover levels to increase their charisma. get one for each stat, at the least.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Hijax April 03, 2010, 03:48:15 PM
followers make great specialists.

get a forger, a disguiser, ect. 

very damn handy. we all know how easy it is to do a single thing REALLY well when that's all you have to do. also, marshals. lots and lots of marshals. they only need be marshal1, so use whatever leftover levels to increase their charisma. get one for each stat, at the least.

you forgot basketweaver under your specialist list.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Anklebite April 03, 2010, 03:59:49 PM
followers make great specialists.

get a forger, a disguiser, ect. 

very damn handy. we all know how easy it is to do a single thing REALLY well when that's all you have to do. also, marshals. lots and lots of marshals. they only need be marshal1, so use whatever leftover levels to increase their charisma. get one for each stat, at the least.

you forgot basketweaver under your specialist list.

I said "ect", right? I assumed you would have multiple craft specialists, basketweaving being one of the more obvious ones.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Ramaloke April 03, 2010, 06:44:22 PM
Ive used Leadership to get my character a wife, great RP, she always nags, he always gives her what she wants, but she's saved the day a few times.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Littha April 04, 2010, 01:10:07 AM
followers make great specialists.

get a forger, a disguiser, ect. 

very damn handy. we all know how easy it is to do a single thing REALLY well when that's all you have to do. also, marshals. lots and lots of marshals. they only need be marshal1, so use whatever leftover levels to increase their charisma. get one for each stat, at the least.

you forgot basketweaver under your specialist list.

I said "ect", right? I assumed you would have multiple craft specialists, basketweaving being one of the more obvious ones.


What is it with basketweaving? People keep talking about it but the only thing i have ever seen it used for is boguns
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Havok4 April 04, 2010, 01:23:31 AM
followers make great specialists.

get a forger, a disguiser, ect. 

very damn handy. we all know how easy it is to do a single thing REALLY well when that's all you have to do. also, marshals. lots and lots of marshals. they only need be marshal1, so use whatever leftover levels to increase their charisma. get one for each stat, at the least.

you forgot basketweaver under your specialist list.

I said "ect", right? I assumed you would have multiple craft specialists, basketweaving being one of the more obvious ones.


What is it with basketweaving? People keep talking about it but the only thing i have ever seen it used for is boguns
It is an old CharOp Joke, which states that Basket weaving is the best and most powerful skill in the game and can solve all problems with proper optimization.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: LunaticsLament April 04, 2010, 02:55:47 AM
Find a nice island and recruit hundreds of aquatic dwarves to mine the area around it for you while you lay back with a tequila sunrise on the beach.
: Re: What are your favorite uses of the Leadership feat?
: Pyro_Azer April 04, 2010, 09:39:50 PM
There was a thread on the old 339 boards that was a challenge to kill gods with 60 levels and leadership was used with the table in dieties and demigods to make your character gain divine ranks by having an obsenely high leadership score.