THE BATTLEFIELD CONTROLLER
I was going over the build with the player, and we realized Goliath offers nothing (aside from the racial substitution Barbarian level, which is really only to get large size, right?) that the Half-Minotaur template doesn't, and Half-Minotaur has many more (admittedly far too many) goodies for the same level adjustment. The DM will tone the ability modifiers down some, since Half-Minotaur currently has better ability adjustments than a full Minotaur; I believe he'll eliminate the additional size increase modifiers. The gore attack will also be handy for attacking anyone who is inside his extended reach. Because Half-Minotaur is a template, the player can also pick another medium-size race with nice bonuses to whatever scores would be best - Water Orc for more Str/Con? Or something to boost CHA/WIS? Feel free to recommend a base race.
The DM apparently has agreed to allow a simultaneous Knight/Barbarian gestalt level, stipulating that the character cannot rage as long as he is lawful and may never advance in Barbarian levels after 1st (irrelevant). Thus, the build he's contemplating is looking like Knight 4/Crusader 16//Lion Spirit Totem Barbarian 1/Dungeon Crasher Fighter 6/Ardent 2/War Mind 10/Ardent +2. Thoughts and opinions? Sounds quite cool, some sort of huge sized (thanks to expansion) Psionic Knight/Crusader with a massive extend reach polearm (ooh err) teleporting all over the show via dimension hop, charging things when he's not acting as an AoO tank/battlefield controller.
THE ARTIFICER - GONE, REPLACED BY BARDBLADE WAR CHANTER
One of us with the Leadership feat is going to have a Warforged Artificer cohort, so the guy who was playing the Artificer has decided to change his character completely, since the cohort can handle crafting duties.
He's changed his race to Dragonwrought Jungle Kobold and will be venerable, giving him ability adjustments of -4 Str, +2 Dex, +1 Int, +3 Wis and +3 Cha. With Dragontouched he'll also have access to Draconic Heritage, and Battle Dragon has been allowed (admittedly it fits the flavor of the build), so Dragonfire Inspiration will be adding sonic to damage. The build he told me is the following (what are your thoughts?), level by level:
Bard 1//Warblade 1
Bard 2//Warblade 2
Bard 3//Warblade 3
Bard 4//Warblade 4
War Chanter 1//Marshal 1
War Chanter 2//Marshal 2
War Chanter 3//Marshal 3
War Chanter 4//Marshal 4
War Chanter 5//Marshal 5
War Chanter 6//Marshal 6
War Chanter 7//Marshal 7
War Chanter 8//Marshal 8
War Chanter 9//Marshal 9
War Chanter 10//Swordsage 1
Warblade +1 (is this possible? it's on the opposite side from the original levels)//Swordsage 2
Then Virtuoso, Bard and/or Sublime Chord levels on the Bard side and 2 Paladin of Freedom levels and Warblade levels to finish off the other side.
In essence, he'll be based around Dragonfire Inspiration and CHA to everything - attacks (Snowflake War Dance), saves (Paladin), various skills/checks (Marshal), AC (Swordsage with Ascetic Mage) etc. He'd have Full BAB, 4d12+10d8+1d12+2d10+3d12+CON HD, 4 or 6 skill + Int skill points at all levels, a decent Initiator level and access to a decent selection of White Raven maneuvers plus all the CHA to everything goodies, the CHA auras of the Marshal etc, plus plenty of Bardic Music uses (War Chanter advances Bardic Music uses) to grant everyone ?d6 sonic damage. In addition, he gets (via War Chanter) the ability to use two Bardic songs simultaneously, which he'd be using on Dragonfire Inspiration and Inspire Legion (War Chanter capstone), which grants all allies within 60 feet who heard the song the highest BAB among them, which will always be Full BAB by virtue of him having full BAB. He loses out on a decent spellcasting progression but that's what our primary wizard/buffer party member is for. I think if it is legal as a build, it's pretty amazing for what it adds to the party (no wonder it's based on a build called Mr. Awesome). So what are everyone's thoughts, opinions (and corrections, if need be)?
THE PARTY WIZARD/BUFFER - UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Our party Wizard/War Weaver is looking at changing to Factotum 10/Chameleon 10? or something similar on the other side, using the Academic Priest feat to make the character SAD. This would grant extra actions, better passives (HD, BAB etc), Int to a bunch of stuff, various abilities and most importantly a whole bunch more arcane spells per day (up to 6th level) and still grant up to 6th level divine casting. Arcane spells are generally better buffs for putting into the War Weaver tapestry (and she'd have a heap more of them), and she could still probably Sanctum Spell heal into the tapestry, while retaining all the other divine spells she can fit into the tapestry. Of course, she'd have to ditch the PrC levels on the other side (excluding War Weaver, which is fine) and go straight Wizard. Worth it? Seems like it to me, but what are everyone's thoughts?