FEATS!!!!

Ummm, we need to chose some feats. I don't think anyone has any idea what feat they are going to choose at first level and OJ and John both get 2 feats since they are human. Dan's choice will largely depend on what combat expertise he is planning on taking at level 2. Angela and Bethany's choice will largely depend on whether or not they are going to do primarily ranged damage or primarily melee damage. Even those of us who have a clear direction of where we are heading probably don't know what feats we are taking. So let's start discussing!

Dan has been thinking long and hard about the combat expertise he is going to chose and then the feats he's going to take along with it. Last I talked to him, he was planning on going with 2 weapon finding as his ranger expertise and then pursuing the feats for better bowmanship on his own time so as to be a pimp with both. If he does that, he should probably be the most versatile fighter we have though he might do slightly less damage since he is essentially specializing in more than one thing. Still, that is a fair trade off.

OJ seems like he would enjoy beating the crap out of things. Based on his newly improved backstory, Weapon Focus (greatsword) might be the best 1st level feat for his character with Power Attack taken as his bonus feat. From there, the Cleave and Greater cleave feats would make lots of sense though maybe Improved Bullrush, Improved Overrun, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes or Dodge would be preferable to him. Oh, and I would suggest wearing medium armor rather than light. Who cares about armor check bonuses, I say, but you can't go wrong either way.

John, I don't know what to tell you. The book suggests Weapon Focus (longsword) and Improved Initiative as your bonus feat. You don't get your mount until level 5 so you will have to choose 3 feats before you even get to ride a horse. It seems then like you might rather delay things like Mounted Combat, Ride-By Attack, Spirited Charge and Trample but maybe if you can get a regular horse before you get your special Paladin mount it would be worth it. The weapon focus in longsword makes sense as you would be able to use a shield at the same time and Improved Initiative is good for everyone (in fact, I might be taking that at level 1). Improved Shield Bash might be something to look forward to at level 3 and then from there, maybe you could start taking all the mounted combat feats. What do you think?

Julia, I also don't know what I would do if I were you. The book recommends Scribe Scroll which doesn't sound very sexy to me but I could see creating a bunch of crazy magical scrolls actually being pretty cool if you wanted to give it a try. Natural Spell will be totally awesome for you once you can go into wild shape but that won't be until level 5. You are still planning on going caster heavy, right? Maybe Combat Casting, Spell Penetration or Spell Focus? Endurance is ok but not great but it is a prereq for Diehard which is pretty cool and might go really well with your skill set. Improved initiative or one of the defensive feats are always ok options as well.

Bethany, since you will be fighting, casting and even singing in the midst of combat, it might make more sense for you to use a bow as your primary way of dealing physical damage so that you can cast and sing at a moments notice without putting yourself in any danger. All those bow feats would be nice for you, starting with Point Blank Shot with Precise and Rapid Shots probably coming next with later levels perhaps devoted to Far Shot, Many Shot, Shot on the Run and Improved Precise Shot. Weapon Finesse might be worth it eventually in case you need to do any any melee combat or maybe even Quick Draw so you can put away a weapon and get out a musical instrument or vice versa quickly. Again, Dodge or Improved Initiative might also be cool.

Angela, given your crazy high dex and the likely abundance of ranged fighters amongst us, it might be a good idea to go melee and trust to your dodge bonus from dex to keep you safe. You'll do plenty of damage from sneak attack so it might be better for you to focus on defensive feats so you can live to fight another day as well. Dodge and Combat Expertise would be great initial options for you with Mobility and Spring Attack as eventual options as well as maybe Improved Trip or Improved Disarm as something cool do do up close. Either way, if you are going to melee, getting Weapon Finesse as soon as you get your second feat would probably be a great idea especially if you can buy a rapier. You can't get Improved Critical until your base attack bonus is +8 but that would still be pretty cool when you get it. If you want to go the bow and arrow route, there are lots of good feats for that too mentioned in the Bethany paragraph. Oh, and improved initiative is great for you since you are so frail and it will be important for you to position yourself behind OJ and John at the beginning of combat.

As for me, I have no idea what I am going to chose. Maybe Combat Casting, Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, or (surprise, surprise) Improved Initiative. Improved Counterspell will be worth it eventually also. I don't' think I'll take any metamagic feats with my normal feat selection. I'll probably save those just for my bonus feats.

Anyway, this has gone long enough. I definitely could use some advise on what to chose for my first feat as well as the general direction for my character. What do you all think of the suggestions I made. Even if I sounded like I was telling you to do one thing rather than another, always feel free to do whatever the crap you want. My opinion is always still just an opinion. But what does everyone think?