[Tricky]

Sigh.. I always get 3.5 fits after playing Baldur's Gate for awhile. Err *cough* yes, though my intentions are directed to Neverwinter Nights 2, I wanted to toss some general thoughts on a character I have in mind into the D&D crowd.

'Leadership' in roleplay seems primarily reflected by certain feats and magics you might get with some of the classes. These effectively simulate leadership by positively affecting the party rather than the individual. You know, 'I'm a mighty Paladin, charge under my deities' baanneeeer!!' (ok, my reenactments that officially sad).
Or the 'here, have a stronghold!' feat in Neverwinter Nights, and for that matter Baldur's Gate. Those are pretty good examples of 'cheating' your way into leadership.

But if I stop and think for a moment what a really makes a good leader.. I just don't feel that's something that should work that conveniently. If I picture a great warrior who leads his men into battle with a sharp mind, one who really knows his Sun Tzu, I don't necessarily picture a great fighter with lots of special abilities. He won't necessarily have skills that will aid him or his troops in combat, he should have 'already won the battle before landing the first blow', you know? A great strategist.

Under the 3.5 ruleset and starting out as a humble fighter, how would one best portrait such a character? For one, I wouldn't really know whether it would be intelligent or wise. Or how he could take advantage of either attribute score, without it conveniently helping him out in combat too directly (not to say that there could be some modest benefits). If he really has read the Art of War and knows how to apply it, I suppose he could have both.

I could definitely use some broader thoughts on how to create this leader character. Siberys, if you'd prefer to see this thread in NWN2, feel free to move it. I just assumed it's kind of a general D&D question.