Inspired by a conversation on the NWN General Discussion Forum
Although a rather weak character at level 40 I found him quite playable 1-40 PvM

A Disgrace to the Family

Catch this week’s episode of Faerun’s favourite soap, Cormyrian Knights, ‘A Disgrace to the Family’.

Recap: Miles has been summoned home by Sir Giles who hopes to convince his wayward son to return to Cormyr and take up the family sword.
Miles is reluctant, knowing that his father is angry with him and does not know that he is obeying the instructions of the master of his order, and will not understand that Miles too does his duty to Cormyr and for the cause of justice and order as best he can.
Meanwhile Vilmira waits pensively at camp. Although she knows her love for Sir Miles is unrequited and hopeless, still the renegade Drow would be heartbroken if Miles decided to leave the troupe and return home.

This Episode: Sir Giles glared at his only son,
‘Miles, although I was disappointed when you chose to become a monk I did not oppose you. It is a honourable occupation although not the one I would have chosen for you.
When you chose to join a fighting order I was proud. The ways of your order may not be those I am used to but I can respect them.
Now however you have chosen to abandon your order and join a vagabond troupe of travelling players. My son sometimes before you have disappointed me but now you shame me. I beg you, reconsider this hasty decision. If you will not or cannot return to your order then come home. There is still a place for you here’.
Miles hesitated before speaking,
‘Father, you may find this hard to accept but this vagabond troupe is now my home and not one I can or will give up’.
Sir Giles lost his temper,
‘If that is your final word then leave this house and never darken it’s doors again. You are a disgrace to the family and no son of mine!’
Miles left without saying a word.
Sir Giles followed his son to the door but as Miles rode away he did not look back nor would Sir Giles call out to him. As Miles disappeared from view the old knights shoulders sagged and he slowly walked back into the manor, no longer a home.
As Miles returned to his troupes camp he brooded on his fathers words. He would likely die, executed on some false accusation, in an enemy camp and his father and peers would doubtless believe the story, never knowing why he had died, his name forever dishonoured. Still that was the duty he had been given and carry it out he would.
When Miles returned to the encampment Vilmira knew his private business had not gone well. Despite his training she could always read his mood. She decided to speak of their next mission instead,
‘Sir, we have received permission to perform in Zhentil Keep. They await our arrival’.
Miles was terse,
‘Very well, Vilmira, we will commence the journey at dawn tomorrow. Issue the necessary orders’.
As his lieutenant began barking out orders Miles looked around the motley crew of rogues and villains he commanded. There wasn’t one he could really trust or call a friend except Vilmira, but best not to think about that, it could never be. Why, Hugo would’ve been hung if he hadn’t volunteered for military service, and Miles was not sure how far he could trust the wily rogue.

Next Episode: Will Miles and Vilmira ever realise their love is mutual?
If so will Miles break his vow of chastity?
Does Hugo plan to betray the troupe or is there a spark of Cormyrian patriotism in that wily rogues black heart?
Is the mission to Zhentil Keep the cunning masterstroke Miles believes it to be or is he leading the troupe into a deadly trap?
And what of Sir Giles, devastated by his only sons apparent abandonment of family tradition and honour?
Will he succumb to the blandishments of the beautiful but frequently widowed Lady Zenobia?
Find out all this and more in the next episode of Cormyrian Knights.

A Disgrace to the Family (Monk 6/Paladin 15/ Shadow dancer 19)

Race: Human
Alignment: Lawful Good

Abilities
STR 10
DEX 18/32
CON 10
INT 10
WIS 14
CHA 10
All ability increases go to DEX

Levelling & Feats
1-2: Monk (1-2) – Dodge (1), Mobility (1)
3-6: Paladin (1-4) – Weapon Finesse (3), Weapon Focus: Kama
7: Monk (3)
8-11: Shadow dancer (1-4) – TWF (9)
12-13: Monk (4-5) – IC: Kama (12)
14-16: Paladin (5-7) – Ambidexterity (15)
17: Monk (6)
18-21: Paladin (8-11) – ITWF (18), GRT DEX I (21)
22: Shadow dancer (5)
23-25: Paladin (12-14) –GRT DEX II (24)
16-39: Shadow dancer (6-19) – GRT DEX III (27), GRT DEX IV (30), Epic Dodge (33), SC I (33)*, SC II (36), SC III (36)*, SC IV (39), SC V (39)*
40: Paladin (15)
* Shadow dancer Epic Bonus Feat

STATS
AC (Robes): 32
HP (Maxed): 350
AB (Kama): +39/+36/+33/+30/+27/+24*
Damage (kama): 1-6 (Crit 19-20/x2)
Fort: +23
Refl: +33
Will: +21
BAB: +27
· I’m not going through the whole DW/Flurry/Haste thing as you all know it off by heart, suffice it to say a possible 10 attacks/round at a mediocre AB

Skills
Discipline 43
Hide 42
Move Silently 42
Tumble 40
56 to spend as desired.

Pros
Interesting RP opportunities
Paladin Buffs
SC 5 and Epic Dodge


Cons
Mediocre AB and Damage for a Melee Fighter
Poor Hit Points for Anybody
Only Good Save is Refl although Still Mind and Slippery Mind help out with the Will save
Has trouble doing damage

Magic Item Wishlist
Obviously a pair of deadly kamas and a Haste item
Other than that Attribute increasing items especially +4 WIS so that he can get 4th level Paladin spells at 25th rather than 40th level


edit: more corn anybody

.... .... .... ....
griphook ..Edited "AC" Typo
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Teaching men a lesson in combat etiquette.

Edited By griphook on 09/04/05 23:03

Queen, I am likin the class combinations. Pal/sd!! Very nicely done. OH, and love the story. I should get you to write ones for my builds jk

Peace AC at level 40 would be 10+8 from Tumble +11 from DEX +1 from Monk level bonus +2 from Monk WIS bonus = 32, not 30

A 15th level Paladin with 14 WIS could get the following spells -
1st level (3): Bless, Divine Favour, Deafening Clang
2nd level (2): Bull's Strength, Aura of Glory
3rd level (1): Prayer
4th level (1): Holy Sword

Assuming I've calculated it correctly once per day for a short period thats +13AB, +10-11 damage, +3 to all saving throws, and -1 to AB, damage and saves of enemies

Not bad but is it enough?
Version 2.0 of this build is in the works
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Teaching men a lesson in combat etiquette.
Quote: Posted 09/04/05 20:49:55 (GMT) -- avado

Queen, I am likin the class combinations. Pal/sd!! Very nicely done. OH, and love the story. I should get you to write ones for my builds jk

Peace

ta
I'm still not all that happy with the build
lots of defence but very little offence
ATM I finding the story-telling easier than the building
_________________
Teaching men a lesson in combat etiquette.
Quote: Posted 09/04/05 21:13:38 (GMT) -- Amazon Queen

ATM I finding the story-telling easier than the building

hmm... we should build together then! I find the buildin easier than the stories (as anyone can tell by lookin at my builds).

Peace A Disgrace to the Family version 2.0 (Monk 6/Cleric 12/SD 22)

A rebuild of my original version that seeks to give the build a little more offensive power using cleric buffing spells, especially Divine Power. Thanks go to Cinnabar for explaining to others and me the usefulness of this spell, especially for a build of BAB 15 or less. Although built in a levelling up module I haven’t played it yet but it looks as if it should be considerably more effective than the original build.

Race: Human
Alignment: Any Lawful (Lawful Good or Neutral fits the character concept I had in mind best)
Domains: Strength and Trickery

Abilities
STR 10
DEX 18/30
CON 10
INT 12
WIS 14/16
CHA 08

The first 8 ability increases go to DEX, the last 2 to WIS.

Levelling & Feats
1-2: Monk (1-2) – Dodge (1), Mobility (1)
3-6: Cleric (1-4) – Weapon Finesse (3), Weapon Focus: Kama (6)
7: Monk (3)
8-11: Cleric (5-8) – TWF (9)
12-19: Shadowdancer (1-8) – Ambidexterity (12), IC: Kama (15), ITWF (18)
20: Monk (4)
21-27: Shadowdancer (9-15) – GRT DEX I (21), GRT DEX II (24), Epic Dodge (25)*, GRT DEX III (27)
28: Monk (5)
29-31: Cleric (9-11) – GRT DEX IV (30)
32-38: Shadowdancer (16-22) – SC I (32)*, SC II (33), SC III (35)*, SC IV (36), SC V (38)*
39: Cleric (12) – EWF: Kama
40: Monk (6)
* Shadowdancer Epic Bonus Feat

Skill Points = 278
Concentration 43
Disable Traps 1
Discipline 43
Hide 43
Move Silently 43
Open Locks 1
Pick Pockets 1
Spellcraft 39
Tumble 40
This leaves 14 points to distribute as desired.

Spells
Cantrips (6): Resistance, Virtue
1st level (7): Bless, Divine Favour, Protection From Alignment, Shield of Faith
2nd level (6): Bull’s Strength, Endurance, Owl’s Wisdom
3rd level (6): Darkfire, Divine Power, Magic Vestment, Negative Energy Protection, Prayer
4th level (4): Death Ward, Divine Power, Greater Magic Weapon
5th level (4): Improved Invisibility, Spell Resistance, Stoneskin, True Seeing
6th level (3)

I’ve just listed what seem to me to be the most useful clerical buffs but I don’t often play clerics so I may have missed some. The remaining slots can be filled with extra uses of short duration buffs (especially Divine Power), yet more buffs for allies or in case they get dispelled, and other useful spells e.g. healing spells, summons etc.

STATS
AC (Robes): 32
HP (Maxed): 320
AB (Kama): +38/+35/+32/+29/+26
Damage (Kama): 1-6 (Crit 19-20/x2)
Fort: 22
Refl: 32
Will: 25
BAB: 25

Pros and Cons
Retains the considerable defensive abilities of the original build and can enhance them and his offensive abilities considerably with buffing spells. Loses 1 AB and 1 attack compared to the original but with Divine Power will actually be a better fighter than the original.

Problems
Although both Domain powers are useful they don’t last long. Also the build doesn’t get access to 5th level spells until 36th level. Since the build gets SC IV at 36th level this means Improved Invisibility isn’t all that useful. There may be a better choice than Trickery for the 2nd domain. From an RP point of view Knowledge would fit.
It seems a great pity to only get KD and IKD at 40th level.
There are some feats the build doesn’t have that I would’ve liked especially Blind-fight, Extend Spell and Empower Spell. The only way I can see to get them is by dropping the dual-weapon feats. The build could still get 8 attacks a round with Divine Power, Flurry and Haste so it might be worth doing.

Partial Solutions – versions 2.1 and 2.2
Version 2.1 – Levels are changed to Monk 7/ Cleric 14/ SD 19 meaning EWF: Kama will be lost. 2 points are taken off either STR or INT and 1 added to WIS.
Advantages are KD, IKD and 5th level spells can be gained much earlier and eventually the build will have 7th level spells.
Disadvantages are the loss of AB and if STR is lost the build will have an even harder time at low levels but if INT is lost it will be starved for skill points. Also WIS ends on 17 and 15th level cleric is much better for many buffing spells than 14th.

Version 2.2 – Levels are changed to Monk 6/Cleric 15/SD 19. Again EWF: Kama is lost. 2 points are lost from both STR and INT and 2 added to WIS.
Advantages are +1 AC, +1 Will Saving Throw, earlier access to 5th and 6th level spells, eventual access to 8th level spells and ending with a nice tidy 18 WIS.
Disadvantages are back to not getting KD and IKD until 40th level, loss of AB, a hard time until Weapon Finesse and Divine Power are gained, and a shortage of skill points.
_________________
Teaching men a lesson in combat etiquette.

Edited By Amazon Queen on 09/05/05 15:36

I like the paladin combo better myself. Maybe your cleric version should take a few more monk levels to gain back some paladin immunities.
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Click Here I worried that the Paladin version suffered from having too many attributes that were important to him and was spread a bit thin. I also worried that for someone with quite a few fighter-type levels he wasn't a particularly good fighter although admittedly the Paladin spells helped out there,
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Teaching men a lesson in combat etiquette. I just like it for more of an original class combo. Cleric monks are all over, but you don't see to many paly monks. Also in the forgotten realms lore, I belive one of the monk sects were able to multiclass with paladin freely. I'd have to go double check though.
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Click Here I think Ilmatar qualifies for Paladin/Monks
Mind you the other Cleric/Monk/SD builds go for Empty Body or Improved Invisibility rather than SC5. It may be there are good reasons for prefering those routes though
If you look at medeval Europe many priests came from a monastic background, the religious fighting orders imposed a monastic lifestyle on their members and included priests amongst their members, so from a European POV any combination of monk, paladin or cleric would be possible, except I suppose D&D monks don't bear much resemblance to their Western feudal counterparts
Just defeated my own argument again
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Teaching men a lesson in combat etiquette.