All,
If I wanted to make a Neutral Good or Chaotic Good character who was basically a holy warrior or Paladin equivalent (in terms of role) ... what would be the best approach?
My first thought would be to make an even split in levels for a multi-class Fighter/Oracle (of Battle). However, I was wondering if there were another way?
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!
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There are a lot of approaches that could be tailored for exactly the kind of character, god, philosophy, theme, etc. you want. Do you have any other details or is this pretty generalized at the moment?
Oracle/Fighter or Oracle/Barbarian(w/ CHA-based rage powers) could do well. There are also a number of deity-specific prestige classes out there, though some have not been updated from 3.5 rules.
They won't be out until February, but Champions of Purity and Chronicles of the Righteous may have plenty of material to help you later down the line as well.
Yes, this is more of a generic question. Our next campaign (which we may not start until Christmas time frame) is going to be a Skull and Shackles campaign. And right now, people are just thinking about characters. One character sort of wants to play a divine holy warrior with spellcasting (not simply religious) but of a Chaotic Good bent. And so we were just kicking around how to make a good-aligned holy warrior that might fit in for a good-aligned Skull & Shackles party.
Straight Cleric, straight Oracle (Ancestor is generally better than Battle, though), or straight Inquisitor are all pretty damn good at being the holy warrior sort. I don't see any benefit to multi-classing to Fighter. Spells > not spells in Pathfinder.
Alternatively, if you're the GM, just let them be a CG Paladin.
I am not the GM. As for going straight Cleric, well I think the player wants to take levels of Fighter for the feats and the flavor. While open to suggestions, I think going straight Oracle or straight Cleric is something he doesnt want to do.
I am not the GM. As for going straight Cleric, well I think the player wants to take levels of Fighter for the feats and the flavor. While open to suggestions, I think going straight Oracle or straight Cleric is something he doesnt want to do.
Then he will unquestionably be less good at what he's trying to do. If he's ok with that, so be it, but there is no benefit to multi-classing away from spells--spells are more powerful than anything else you can do in 3rd edition/Pathfinder.
I always wanted to play a CG Inquisitor of Gorum with the Rage domain. Oracles also work really well for this, because some battle oracles would do well, but Inquisitors have something closer to Smiting with their judgments and that could be pretty thematic.
mplindustries,
I think more than min-maxing, what he is trying to do is not be a full spellcaster. I think he wants to keep his spellcasting levels to half or 1/3 for flavor. Also, we will already have another full Cleric.
Oterisk,
He thought about the Inquisitor, but some of the fluff and skills didnt quite sit with him. For one thing, he doesnt even want to use ranged weapons, which seems a mainstay of the inquisitor, if you go by the weapons they use. But I will mention it again.
Thanks to all!
An Inquisitor of the approapriate god would be your best bet. tailor spells and class abilities to suit you, the Bane Weapon ability makes up for a lot of fighting power.
==Aelryinth
Inquisitors don't have to use ranged weapons. They are automatically proficient with their God's weapon and is thematically good for them to use that. Caden Cailean and Besmara use a Rapier, Desna a StarKnife. You can pick any of those for some good times on the seas. There's lots of possibilities and you can adjust your fighting style accordingly.
If you are worshiping a deity of nature a Ranger would work well. Find a water deity and go for a spirit ranger.
Rangers have about the same spell casting ability as a Paladin but more focused on nature instead of Evil. Basically think of a Ranger as a druidic paladin.
Add another vote for Inquisitor. You don't even have to dip in other class. With the right domain they can fulfill a lot of a Paladin's role. The Corversion inquisition even makes them awesome at social encounters.
They don't need to use ranged weapons either. Two-handed builds are quite effective, and a lot less feat-starved.
You can even spare a feat for Heavy Armor proficiency if you like.
Cleric 3 / Fighter 2 / Holy Vindicator X
Toss in the Angelic Blood feat via aasimar or the racial heritage aasimar feat, and now you bleed on undead and demons and they burn to death =D
Thanks. I will pass along the suggestions!
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Inquisitors can easily fill the Paladin role. That's what I'm doing with my current character and that's my vote if he doesn't want heavy casting. Holy Vindicator is also worth looking into, though.
For weapon proficiency, the player has options.
1) Pick a deity who gives you a good favoured weapon (in addition to rapier and starknife there's Scimitar and Glaive for Sarenrae or Shelyn)
2) Play an elf for weapon familiarity with longswords, or dwarf if you prefer a battleaxe (dwarves make good melee Inquisitors with the Con and Wis bonuses, and check out the saltbeard alternate racial trait!)
3) Pick up a Weapon Proficiency feat, or dip fighter, and use whatever weapon you want.
If he's not set on a race, I'd go dwarf with Saltbeard. Extremely good choice for the nautical Inquisitor.
He can pick a domain/inquisition that is melee-focused. Rage Subdomain is a good one, or if he wants the Paladin's immunity to fear, he can take the Valour Inquisition. His feats can also go into melee, with a similar build to a TWF or Sword & Board Paladin. Many of his spells improve his combat options, and the solid offensive spell Brow Gasher only applies to slashing melee weapons (like a battleaxe!).
ours dipped 3 levels of fighter for armor mastery (in combination with the sash) as an inquisitor of Asmodeus. It was pretty awesome.
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All,
If I wanted to make a Neutral Good or Chaotic Good character who was basically a holy warrior or Paladin equivalent (in terms of role) ... what would be the best approach?
Check out the pdf version of Wayfinder 5, for my example Cavalier/Inquisitor of Pharasma.
Divine spells, ally-boosting teamwork feat, alignment and lie detection, a challenge ability, customisable bane weapon and an empathic horse.
To an NPC who hasn't seen his stat-block, that guy is a paladin.
How about Barbarian/Oracle working towards Rage Prophet?
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How has no one suggested Cavalier yet? They're definitely the best Paladin approximation out there. Go Cav/Cleric if you want to have some spellcasting.
They're a good alternative to a mounted paladin, especially multiclassed in cleric or inquisitor for divine magic (or just taking order of the star for flavour). But the mount could be restrictive. I haven't played Skull and Shackles myself, but I'd be a little leery of bringing a horse around in a seafaring campaign. Maybe a less mounted-charge heavy archetype like the Standard Bearer?
I recommend also taking a look at the Chevalier Prestige Class.
Some heroes don’t believe in fancy rules or high creeds or big flowery speeches, they just want to kill evil things, spend time with friends, and swap great tales over a good meal and tasty drinks. Not as stuffy or restrictive as a full-fledged knighthood, in their hearts chevaliers are just good people who want to celebrate the good things in life and fight evil wherever it dares to tread.
Chevaliers welcome all like-minded folk regardless of religion, though most of them worship Cayden Cailean. Most are fighters, rogues, or barbarians, but sorcerers, clerics, and bards are not unheard of. Chevaliers often wear golden pins noting their patron liege or deity or the token of a lover or other for whom they fight. Membership is easily obtained by swearing an oath in the presence of another chevalier and invoking the name of who they fight for or the figure that embodies their desire to do good in the world. An adventurer-turned-innkeeper in a frontier town, a band of travelers looking for bandits, and a would-be dragonslayer might all be chevaliers. They mix lofty intentions, unusual combat techniques, and stubborn determination into a strangely effective combination.
This sounds kinda like what you might be looking for.
It gives you Aura of Courage and Smite Evil like a Paladin, as well as Poison immunity, the ability to negate the -2 AC penalty on a charge, some bonus damage on the first round of combat, and a resistance to enchantment effects.
I will pass the additional responses along.
He does seem sorta open to going pure Oracle, but doesnt seem to like Inquisitor. He actually seems really interested in the Oracle of Waves powers, but can one even make a good melee/healer/holy type character going with an Oracle of Waves? Or do you have to go Battle, Ancestors, or Metal, etc?
But its possible he may drop the holy warrior idea entirely and do Oracle of Waves (unless you can still fill that role with the right feats and spells).
Whatever else he does, its looking like the other players will be Cleric (Feather/Wind), Barbarian, Rogue, Wizard, with him being a 5th. And again, it will be a Skull and Shackles campaign where all the players are CG or NG (so far). Or thats how its looking. Since its a couple months out, these things can change.
Thanks for all the replies!