I’m just returning to NWN after a long hiatus, so I may no longer be up on the rules, etc. I apologize in advance. I built this as part concept, as part support character, and as trying to maximize the synergies between the various special abilities and CHA. Not really satisfied as to how this turned out just yet, so I would welcome any guidance or ideas you might have. I had seen some P/CoT builds mixed with Harper (cdauleepp had done a nice one), but really could not find any with Bard, probably due to the alignment change. If I missed someone’s work, I apologize.
Concept is really a Paladin or holy warrior, who through her travels and wanderings, becomes disgruntled with the Lawful-side of good. Judgement after all should be a mixture of law and freedom, not just law. As a wanderer, she naturally turns to being a Bard, singing and charming her way through the universe. However, her Paladin origins don’t just disappear, but further develop and grow as she continues to adventure (hence, CoT). In reality, this mixture gives a lot of benefits that can be applied to multiple situations whether solo or in a group (see abilities below). The character can heal, buff, debuff, put out some significant damage, turn undead, etc. My guess is that a Cleric is a better buffer at the end of the day, hence probably why I couldn’t find any P/B/CoT, but wanted to try anyway.
Judge Singer Human Paladin 6/Bard 16/Champion of Torm 18
STR 14 DEX 10 CON 10 INT 14 WIS 12 CHA 16 (30)
D = Discipline T = Taunt Tb = Tumble P = Perform Sc = Spellcraft UMD C = Concentration Sv = Save
1 Paladin, D4, T4, Sv12, Power Attack, Weapon Focus: Scimitar *** went scimitar for higher crit range as opposed to multiple 2 Paladin, D1, T1, Sv 15 3 Paladin, D1, T1, Sv 18, Divine Might 4 Paladin, D1, T1, Sv 21, CHA 17 5 Paladin, D1, T1, Sv 24 6 Paladin, D1, T1, Sv 27, Divine Shield // Alignment to Neutral Good 7 Bard, D1, T1, P10, Sc10, UMD10, Tb2 8 Bard, D1, T1, P1, Sc1, UMD1, Tb2, CHA 18 9 Bard, D1, T1, P1, Sc1, UMD1, Tb2, Extra Music 10 Bard, D1, T1, P1, Sc1, UMD1, Tb2 11 CoT, D1, Sv 4 12 Bard, D1, T2, P2, Sc2, UMD2, Tb1, Curse Song, CHA 19 13 CoT, D1, Sv 4, Improved Critical: Scimitar 14 CoT, D1, Sv 8 15 Bard, D1, T3, P3, Sc3, UMD3, Tb2, Lingering Song 16 Bard, D1, T1, P1, Sc1, UMD1, Tb2, CHA 20 17 Bard, D1, T1, P1, Sc1, UMD1, Tb2 18 Bard, D1, T1, P1, Sc1, UMD1, Tb2, Extra Smiting 19 Bard, D1, T1, P1, Sc1, UMD1, Tb2 20 Bard, D1, T1, P1, Sc1, UMD1, Tb2, CHA 21 21 Bard, D1, T1, P1, Sc1, UMD1, Tb2, Great Charisma I (22) 22 CoT, D1, Sv 4, Epic Weapon Focus: Scimitar 23 CoT, D1, Sv 8 24 Bard, D1, T3, P1, Sc3, UMD3, Tb3, Sv1, Great Charisma II (24), CHA 23 *** I stop Perform ranks as lvl 16 maxs out at 25. 25 Bard, D1, T1, Sc1, UMD1, Tb1, Sv3 26 CoT, D1, Sv 7, Armor Skin 27 CoT, D1, Sv 11, Great Charisma III (25) 28 CoT, D1, Sv 15, Great Smiting I, CHA 26 29 CoT, D1, Sv 19 30 CoT, D1, Sv 23, Great Smiting II & III 31 CoT, D1, Sv 27 32 CoT, D1, Sv 31, CHA 27 33 CoT, D1, Sv 35, Great Smiting IV 34 CoT, D1, Sv 39, Great Smiting V 35 CoT, D1, Sv 43 36 CoT, D1, Sv 47, Great Smiting VI, CHA 28 37 CoT, D1, Sv 51 38 CoT, D1, Sv 55, Great Smiting VII 39 Bard, D1, T14, Sc14, UMD14, Tb14, C7, Great Charisma IV (29) 40 Bard, D1, T1, Sc1, UMD1, C3, CHA 30
AB w/ mundane Scimitar +32/+27/+22/+17, 15-20/x2 range (12-20 w/ Keen Edge) Fully buffed (+52/+47/+42/+37) – buffs are +20 on own, +20 w/ True Strike via UMD w/ Curse Song + Taunt +63/+58/+53/+48
AC naked 20 Mundane Plate & Tower Shield 31 Fully Buffed 40 (naked) or 51 (mundane plate) – I’m assuming that Divine Shield counts toward max 20 buff, otherwise could hit AC of 55-57 w/ mundane plate depending on Eagle’s Splendour benefit.
Saves Fort 40 (Wrath + Song + ES, 51) Rfx 41 (above + Cat’s Grace, 53) Will 41 (above + Owl’s Wisdom, 53)
Abilities: 1. Smite at 8x damage, 3x a day: fully buffed, w/ critical (40% chance), should achieve minimum of 452 points of damage per hit. 2. Divine Might or Shield, up to 16x a day between them (from turning ability, 13x + basic 3x not sure you can add the 3x on top or not). 3. Turn Undead, 13x a day. 4. Bard or Curse Song, 20x a day w/ add’l length. 5. Buff teammate and still powerfully buff self through Paladin/CoT abilities. 6. Can buff self w/o spells close to max & still wear armor. Are Wrath, Shield, and Might disspellable? 7. Casts 5th level Bard spells, 1st level Paladin spells. 8. Decent healing ability. 9. Debuff enemies via spells, songs and taunts, thereby increase ability to hit, etc., further. 10. Good saves. Should not be eliminated out of fights via spells, etc.
Minuses: 1. In melee with low HP. 2. Low initial AB & damage (though similar to other Smite builds). 40% chance to critical helps. 3. Spell buffs/debuffs can be dispelled easily due to low caster level. 4. Generally weak without buffs. Spells and smites will run out quickly on day-to-day basis. Many buffs are short lived due to lack of extend spell and lasting inspiration. Buffing can be a turn-off for some folks.
Options: - Could go higher bard for lasting inspiration and free up feats from Smiting. 6P/23B/11CoT or 3P/23B/14CoT if you were willing to skip Divine Might or Shield. - Do additional alignment shifts and go P4: ie. P3 right away, switch alignment to Bard for two levels, then switch back to P at lvl 6 for Divine Shield. This was a little too much optimizing for me vs. the character idea, though it is feasible. If you move the 2 added levels to CoT, your Divine Wrath and saves increase. If moved to Bard, you gain access to 6th level spells, but Dirge is the only good one for this character (Mass Haste, I guess). Without metamagic feats, it just doesn’t seem that helpful.