I've been discussing with Anuis about an odd and not yet tried combination of classes and I came up with this build.
The concept is that of a Holy warrior (a paladin) who ventures on the frontier fighting evil and being so far away from civilization loses contact with his more civilized side, becoming more savage and "wild" and giving in to a "holy rage" when facing the enemies of his God. If I had more time I'd write a nice intro story...
It's a CHA based build, with STR kept at a decent lvl and further increasable via barbarian rage and bull's str. A nice assortment of paladin buff's is available, smites (Great smite IV = x5 smite dmg = 115), divine might, divine shield, divine wrath all together with terrifying rage should turn this guy into a mean machine filled with holy fury... no surprise his enemies get scared when he gets angry!
CoT is the ideal choice in this case: no XP penalty, great sinergy with Paladin, access to great smite as bonus feats and roleplay value, since the "fallen" paladin can keep being a holy warrior of his God by taking CoT lvls.
My complaint is that I didn't get room for EP and AS. The lack of WS/EWS is also lamentable, but taking FTR lvls would have meant xp penalty, 6 less lvls counting towards smite dmg (-30 smite dmg), no divine wrath, -3 to saves, no great smites as bonus feats (which would force a lot of alignment changes to take the great smites on paladin lvls) and one less feat (+1 but 2 get spent on WS/EWS)for +6 dmg...ain't worth it.
There's just one alignment change in the build, which fits the build concept/rp wise.
Enough with my rantings, here we go:
The Wild Crusader - Paladin(19), Barbarian(15), Champion of Torm(6) Human, LG to NG PvM playable 1-40, untested PvP
LVLUP GUIDE 01: Paladin(1): Power Attack, Weapon Focus 02: Paladin(2): {Smite Evil} 03: Paladin(3): Divine Might 04: Paladin(4): CHA+1, (CHA=16) 05: Paladin(5) 06: Paladin(6): Divine Shield 07: Paladin(7) 08: Paladin(8): CHA+1, (CHA=17) 09: Paladin(9): Extra Smiting 10: Paladin(10) 11: Paladin(11) 12: Paladin(12): CHA+1, Improved Critical, (CHA=18) 13: Paladin(13) 14: Paladin(14) 15: Paladin(15): Blind Fight 16: Barbarian(1): CHA+1, (CHA=19), *Alignment Change* 17: Barbarian(2): {Uncanny Dodge I} 18: Barbarian(3): Cleave or Knockdown or Toughness 19: Barbarian(4) 20: Champion of Torm(1): CHA+1, (CHA=20) 21: Champion of Torm(2): Epic Weapon Focus, Epic Prowess 22: Champion of Torm(3) 23: Champion of Torm(4): Armor Skin 24: Barbarian(5): CHA+1, Great Charisma I, (CHA=22) 25: Barbarian(6) 26: Barbarian(7) 27: Barbarian(8): Great Charisma II, (CHA=23) 28: Barbarian(9): CHA+1, (CHA=24) 29: Barbarian(10) 30: Barbarian(11): Great Charisma III, (CHA=25) 31: Barbarian(12) 32: Barbarian(13): CHA+1, (CHA=26) 33: Barbarian(14): Epic Skill Focus: Intimidate 34: Champion of Torm(5) 35: Champion of Torm(6): Great Smite I 36: Champion of Torm(7): STR+1, Great Smite II, (STR=15) 37: Champion of Torm(8): Great Smite III 38: Champion of Torm(9) 39: Barbarian(15): Terrifying Rage 40: Champion of Torm(10): STR+1, Great Smite IV, (STR=16)
This second version gets better saves, more powerful Divine wrath, EP and AS which grant +1 AB and +2 AC at the cost of Paladin spell slots. Pick the one you like the most!
Feedback and constructive criticism is, as usual, gladly appreciated.
Cheers, Kail _________________ To hear the sound of Freedom, many gave their lives They fought for you and me Those memories will always live inside us, and now it's our time to be free
Edited By Kail Pendragon on 04/15/06 22:53
Simply great! I like it a lot, the concept and the build itself, too.
The unbuffed AB is a bit low, but enough for a low magic world when you count in Paladin buffs and Rage. The Smites will make baddies cry, and the Divine Feats are a great addition. The lack of EP/AS is lamentable, indeed, but not that big a deal. The HP, 510, is decent enough; I don't think Toughness is a good choice given the lack of pre-epic feat slots (why not drop a few Paladin for CoT?). I wouldn't pick Extra Turning, either, since the CHA is as high as 20 when you hit the epics, that's pretty nice.
Nice job, sir moderator _________________ "And one calculates time from the dies nefastus on which this fatality arose – from the first day of Christianity! – Why not rather from its last? – From today? – Revaluation of all values!"
Right, after Paladin level 15 you really don't gain anymore, take another 4 CoT levels, (Paladin 15 / CoT 10 / Barbarian 15), you gain 2 more feats (Cleave would be nice, but they can also be as epic feats, for Armor Skin and Epic Prowess), 2 more saves and +2 on Divine Wrath's power.
LOL, Uncanny Dodge with 8 DEX.
It's awesome, but what are your weapon choices? scimitar/shield, greatsword? I would imagine a wild warrior with a large weapon. Or give him the Carsomyr, heh.
Edited By Thaxll'ssyllia on 04/15/06 18:43
Well, Paladin after 15 actually gives you quite a few spellslots. Nice, Kail, and not too bad Alignment change either.
Pro's: Good to see a build that's not yet done, which is even playable and quite decent. After you reach 26 CHA, use the 2 last points in STR, your AB is low enough anyhow.
Con's: No story to hump along _________________ Dragonlance ROH is back, better than before! and I spend a little time here WoG
it seems naked without a story
Yes, probably going for 26 CHA and 16 STR is a better idea. Thanks for the suggestion Grim, luckily I can edit it myself, eh-eh.
AB is what it is, but unless one goes with Pal/sorc or bard/RDD there's not much one can do to increase it in a CHA build. Buffs, rage and divine feats should make up against the baddies.
The weapon for the build is what one prefers. For cheesyness I'd go with scimitar, although for stile I'd go with longsword (the typical choice for a paladin, besides most paladin swords are longswords). Pick what you like the most/is the better choice where you play.
I agree that extra turning is not necessary, it's just that that slot is open to be used the way one prefers. Cleave could be a nice feat to pick up too, now that I think about it.
About taking more CoT (going Paladin 15/CoT 10), it is indeed possible and it would grant EP and AS, +2 saves and stronger divine wrath at the cost of paladin spell slots. The way I see it, alhtough the paladin spell selection is rather small it is made up of very useful spells, which I find difficult to do without. And the levels from 15th to 19th sensibly increase the spell slots giving one the possibility to use all those nice buffs.
I'll write down an alternative build with pal 15/CoT 10 for the record, but personally I prefer the pal 19 version.
As I said, I wanted to write an intro story, but I didn't have the time. But it will come, as soon as I have enough free time.
Thanks all for the feedback!
Cheers, Kail _________________ To hear the sound of Freedom, many gave their lives They fought for you and me Those memories will always live inside us, and now it's our time to be free
AB is what it is, but unless one goes with Pal/sorc or bard/RDD there's not much one can do to increase it in a CHA build. Buffs, rage and divine feats should make up against the baddies.
Or Paladin/WM _________________ "And one calculates time from the dies nefastus on which this fatality arose – from the first day of Christianity! – Why not rather from its last? – From today? – Revaluation of all values!"
Indeed, Finn, or Paladin/WM. Looks feat starved though
Hmmm, to be precise, lower Paladin 19 to Paladin 15 lowers spell slots from 4/4/3/2 to 3/2/1/1, still increasable to 3/2/2/2 with 18 WIS via items, I didn't thought on spells the last time, bonuses on CoT side aren't bad at all, but if you like the spells keep the spells.
Indeed Thax, in fact it's possible to go with less paladin, it's just a preference of mine. Think of second lvl spells f.e: you've got Aid, Aura of Courage, Eagle's splendor and Bull's Str, that's 4 spells. Granted you can use potions for 3 out of 4, but this way they are less dispellable.
Anyhow, given the fact the Pal 15/CoT 10 version is not a bad one at all I'll post it later on.
Cheers, Kail _________________ To hear the sound of Freedom, many gave their lives They fought for you and me Those memories will always live inside us, and now it's our time to be free
