Grayson, Defender of Lastwall's page

VerdantSF,

It depends entirely on the style of cavalier you want to play. I have a level 15 halfling Order of the Sword cavalier (Venture Captain Grayson and his faithful WARPIG! Ozzy), and have had an incredible time with him throughout his career. Probably the most fun PC I have had in nearly 30 years of gaming.

His starting stats were
Str: 16
Dex: 12
Con: 10
Int: 10
Wis: 8
Cha: 16

At level 12, he had reached
Str: 18
Dex: 12
Con: 10
Int: 10
Wis: 9 (hey, he got EVER so slightly more observant)
Cha: 16

He does ridiculous amounts of damage while mounted, has a decent armor class in +5 full plate, and acts as party face most of the time.

On the minus side of things, he is quite obviously a glass cannon. The low Constitution has taken him out of the fight on more than one occasion, and his low Wisdom means that most of the time he is not aware of what is going on until Ozzy starts jumping around. He is also somewhat prone to being gullible.

Even with those flaws, he has been immensely fun to play as a sort of out-of-touch halfling playboy who always thinks he is in charge.

I guess my point is, play the character build you want. Don't worry so much about whether a +1 here or a -1 there is going to impact the table as a whole. Be prepared with ways to deal with the negative bits you build in, and roleplay them to the hilt.

Venture-Captain Grayson, Defender of Lastwall, swears on his adorable Halfling butt that being a small cavalier and riding a WARPIG! is the only way to go.

Seriously, Halfling on boar with wheeling, spirited charge is a beast. You may not get a bunch of attacks like those losers with a pair of kukris, but your damage won't be as swingy, either. I pretty much know that I am going to do 110 points of adamantium, ghost touch, heartseeking lance damage to somebody on every single round of combat. Not only that, but after I do that 110 points of damage, I am going to be 40 feet away from them, so they can't hit me back.

Not only that, but Halfling cavaliers make fantastic diplomats. Heck, everybody loves Halflings, we are super charming and extremely good looking. (Diplomacy +22 may not be game-breaking at 15th level, but Grayson has gotten me through as a party face on many occasions.)

I get to wear extra shiny full plate without having to worry about silly things like being all slow and tired from walking around everywhere. I do get distracted every so often and miss out on the first few seconds of combat because I was busy polishing a bit of shmutz off the ol' breastplate, but that's okay, Ozzy the WARPIG! gets me into the thick of things in time. (With a 10 Wisdom, and no ranks in Perception, Grayson may not be the most observant Halfling in town, fortunately Ozzy the WARPIG! has blind-fight, scent, and a half-decent Perception bonus.)

That strength penalty everybody jabbers about? Pfft! I am typically the strongest person in my party. I have to be, what with having to hoist Ozzy the WARPIG! up ladders with a rope and harness every few adventures. (I have only run into three or four situations in 15 levels where I wasn't able to simply ride the pig wherever I need to be. Once you hit fifth or so, and have access to Fly, why are you walking anywhere anyhow?)

And all that noise about how a small lance doesn't do as much damage as a large lance? Stupid humans, don't they know it isn't the size of your lance, but the way you handle it? (Seriously, 3d6+105 and 3d8+105 are effectively the same exact thing in the long run).

I can tell you that Grayson has easily been one of my favorite RP characters of all time, and his combat effectiveness is usually the best at the table.

Venture Captain Grayson of Lastwall, Seeker of the Ten and Defender of Vigil, has achieved 13th level.

All halfling, all cavalier, all the time.

I guess, technically, his faithful warpig, Ozzy, has also reached 13th level.

All pig, all the time.

Grayson of Lastwall challenges these pirates to single combat on the field of battle! After facing vile cultists of Lissala in the name of protecting the good people of Varisia, I can see no reason why a shipload of honorless sea-brigands should prove difficult. Perhaps my faithful warpig and I can teach these scum how we do things in Vigil.