Hey, I had a thread about creating an effective non-mounted cavalier a week or so ago and here it.
Havel Marxson
Male Human Cavalier (Standard Bearer, Strategist) 6
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Hero Points 1
Init +3; Senses Perception +11
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Defense
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AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 64 (6d10+18)
Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +6; +3 Morale bonus vs. fear when beneath banner
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Offense
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Speed 20 ft.
Melee greataxe +9/+4 (1d12+13/×3) and
lance +9/+4 (1d8+13/×3)
Special Attacks cavalier's charge, challenge
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Statistics
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Str 20, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 11, Wis 14, Cha 17
Base Atk +6; CMB +9; CMD 24
Feats Combat Reflexes, Furious Focus, Iron Will, Paired Opportunists, Power Attack, Toughness
Skills Bluff +7, Climb +5, Diplomacy +11, Handle Animal +7, Intimidate +7, Perception +11, Profession (soldier) +10, Ride +5, Survival +11 (+14 to provide food and water for allies or to protect allies from harsh weather), Swim +5; Racial Modifiers ride mount, dragon's skills
Languages Common
SQ aid allies, banner, drill instructor, hero points, orders (order of the dragon), tactician
Other Gear breastplate, greataxe, lance, 20 pp, 6,405 gp
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TRACKED RESOURCES
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Dragon's Challenge +6 (2/day) (Ex) - 0/2
Tactician (Paired Opportunists) 6 rds (2/day) (Ex) - 0/2
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Special Abilities
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+4 Ride while riding your bonded mount. (Ex) Cancel your armor check penalty of -4 while riding your mount.
Aid Allies +3 (Ex) Aid Another grants +3
Animal Companion Link (Ex) You have a link with your Animal Companion.
Banner +3/+2 (Ex) Allies who can see your banner gain +3 save vs. fear & +2 to hit while charging.
Cavalier's Charge (Ex) Mounted charge grants +4 to hit and -0 AC rather than +2/-2.
Combat Reflexes (4 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Dragon's Challenge +6 (2/day) (Ex) +6 to damage target, -2 AC vs. others when used, allies gain +2 to hit the target of your challenge.
Dragon's Skills +3 (Ex) +3 to Survival checks for allies.
Drill Instructor (13 minutes) (Ex) Spend 10 minutes and 1 use of challenge, to grant teamwork feat to four allies for 13 minutes.
Furious Focus If you are wielding a weapon in two hands, ignore the penalty for your first attack of each turn.
Paired Opportunists +4 to hit for AoOs if you and adj ally with this feat both threaten the target.
Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Tactician (Paired Opportunists) 6 rds (2/day) (Ex) Grant the use of your Tactical feats to your allies within 30'.
Now I'm not quite sure how to progress my character from here. The two things that I need advice on is how to spend the 6,600+ gold I have and what feats to take. I plan on taking Bodyguard at level 7, but I'm not quite sure where to go from here. Any suggestions?
If you're going down the Bodyguard route, keep going and take In Harm's Way as well. This makes you a nice damage sponge for the more fragile members of your party. It might be beneficial to pick up a shield for more defense and focus on giving your party additional attack bonuses and AC with your abilities. You can pick up Dazing Assault later to become a good disruptor.
You might also want to think about multi-classing one level into another martial class so you can pick up Coordinated Charge when you get Greater Tactician. Having that feat along with your Order of the Dragon abilities allows you to influence your party member's movements outside of their turn, letting them to more important things when they get to go.
I don't know how picking up the shield would work as this character is slightly invested in two-handed weapon fighting. But the in-harms way looks to work well. I like the possible combo of the Order of the Dragon ability "Act as One" partnered up with the Coordinated Charge feat. Any other suggestions?
bump