I was wondering if there's a good prestige class for a combat-focused cleric of Kord. The Hierophant and Thaumaturgist in the DMG don't really fit. The Holy Liberator from CD has potential, but would need to be adapted. The Divine Crusader, Sacred Fist, and Warpriest, also from CD, are possible, but limiting.
The Warpriest is probably the "best" choice of the bunch (and it's only decent), apart from an adapted Holy Liberator. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
What sort of thing are you looking for, exactly? Ie. full spell progression and good BAB, lots of special abilities, etc.
A good combat-cleric (armor and greatsword) PrC, either 5 or 10 level progression. The BoED, CAd, and CD have some (Fist of Raziel being the most powerful), but they don't work for a cleric of a CG diety (alignment restrictions, animal companion/wildshape requirements, separate spellcasting progression). As stated, the Warpriest is OK, but you have to give up a lot of spellcasting and some of the special abilities are of limited use in a typical adventuring party or one-on-one combat.
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I'm assuming you have the War domain, which will grant automatic proficiency (and weapon focus) with the deity's favored weapon. Given that, I recommend not taking a PrC. It sounds like everything you want (decent BAB, full spellcasting, etc) is in the cleric class as it stands.
Warpriest does fit your flavor, but if you don't want to be behind on your casting, you can get the same flavor out of a straight cleric.
I'm assuming you have the War domain,
From PHB, pg. 107:
Kord, the god of strength, is chaotic good. He is known as the Brawler. Kord is the patron of athletes, especially wrestlers. His worshipers include good fighters, barbarians, and rogues. The domains he is associated with are Chaos, Good, Luck, and Strength. Kord's favored weapon is the greatsword.A cleric's PrC should be something that expands, focuses, or heightens his connection with his diety (or one aspect of his diety) above that of a "straight" cleric. If I wanted a combat-cleric of Kord that focused on unarmed fighting, then Sacred Fist is the way to go (and I've done that build in the past). For a CG combat-cleric of Kord with armor and greatsword, there aren't good choices with strong spellcasting (giving up one to three levels if any), decent BAB (at least +3/4 levels), and interesting added abilities (that fit with Kord's ethos).
Compare that to clerics of lawful and good dieties: Church Inquisitor, Fist of Raziel, Hospitaler, Radiant Servant, Sacred Exorcist (could work, but doesn't really match the flavor), and Shadowbane Stalker. Heck, Corellon's clerics get Seekers of the Misty Isle while clerics of nature dieties and Druids get Daggerspell Shaper, Fochlucan Lyrist, Lion of Talisid, Nature's Warrior, Stormlord, and Swanmay as options.
Did the Mighty Contender of Kord (dragon #284) get an update in Dragon Compendium. That would be your best bet.
Did the Mighty Contender of Kord (dragon #284) get an update in Dragon Compendium. That would be your best bet.
Not according to the table of contents at http://paizo.com/dragon/messageboards/compendium/tableOfContents. Besides, I think you meant #283 (in Champions of Virtue).
The Warpriest is probably the "best" choice of the bunch (and it's only decent), apart from an adapted Holy Liberator.
Here is the adaptation of the Holy Liberator that I came up with. I tried to keep it mostly balanced, giving a slight gain in power to compensate for the restrictive requirements and the loss of spellcasting progression (and turning ability).
Liberator of Kord
Liberators of Kord are a martial arm of the church dedicated to freedom and the overthrow of tyranny. Clerics are natural liberators and almost all liberators have cleric levels, with some rangers and divine bards (UA) also taking up the cause of freedom.
Requirements: Chaotic Good, BAB +5, Diplomacy 5, Knowledge (Religion) 5, Sense Motive 5, cast Freedom of Movement as a divine spell, worship Kord
HD: d10
Skills: Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Heal, Knowledge (Religion), Knowledge (the Planes), Profession, Sense Motive, and Spellcraft. 2 + Int mod skill points per level.
Weapons and Armor: Liberators gain no proficiency with weapons or armor.
Lvl BAB Fort Ref Will Special
1st +1 +2 +0 +2 Aura of Good, Detect Evil at will, Smite Evil 1x/day
2nd +2 +3 +0 +3 Aura of Resolve, +1 level divine spellcasting
3rd +3 +3 +1 +3 Break Enchantment 1x/week
4th +4 +4 +1 +4 Bonus Feat, +1 level divine spellcasting
5th +5 +4 +1 +4 Freedom of Movement 1x/day, Smite Evil 2x/day
The bonus feat must be chosen from the following list: Cleave, Clever Wrestling, Close-Quarters Fighting, Earth's Embrace, Great Cleave, Improved Critical*, Improved Grapple, Improved Sunder, Improved Unarmed Strike, Power Attack, Power Critical*, and Weapon Focus*. *-These feats can only be chosen for greatsword or unarmed combat.
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I love the Mighty Contender of Kord from Dragon #283. Nothing beats a character who can raise his strength into the 50's!
My only real problem with it was the lack of climb, jump, and swim as class skills. With that in mind, I revised the Mighty Contender to 3.5. I replaced diplomacy, intuit direction, scry, and sense motive with climb, jump, and swim. Since I dislike dead levels and I thought the Mighty Contender was slightly underpowered, I added a +1 Strength Increase at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 instead of levels 5 and 9. I also added Extra Domain: Competition at level 5 and moved the Surge of Strength ability from level 10 to 9. Everything else stayed the same.
The base fortitude requirement of +6 was a bit strange. If a cleric wanted to use the prestige class by level 7, he had to take a level in fighter (or barbarian) to boost his fortitude save, further diminishing his spellcasting. Otherwise, the prestige class only became available at level 9, something rarely seen in 3.5 prestige classes. So I lowered the required base save to +5, but added 2 ranks in climb, jump, and swim as requirements. This way the cleric/fighter still has a slight advantage in that no skill points are wasted into cross-class skills. But the cleric can still make the requirements as early as the cleric/fighter.
Overall it's a really fun prestige class. It can easily replace a fighter for 1d4+1 rounds several times per day at the cost of 5 spell levels. He's also quite handy as a battering ram.
Mighty Contender of Kord (revised by Hagen)
Requirements:
[br/]
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Patron Deity: Kord
Base Fortitude Save: +5
Skills: Climb 2 ranks, Jump 2 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 9 ranks, Swim 2 ranks
Feats: Endurance, Power Attack
Spellcasting: Ability to cast divine spells
Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level):
Climb, Concentration, Craft, Heal, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (religion), Profession, Spellcraft, & Swim.
Weapon & Armour Proficiencies:
Mighty contenders are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all armour, and shields.
Hit Die: d10
L _ AB_F _R_W_Special/Spells
1) +0 +2 +0 +2 Mighty Endurance, Feat of Strength
2) +1 +3 +0 +3 Strength Increase +1,+1 divine level
3) +2 +3 +1 +3 Surge of Strength
4) +3 +4 +1 +4 Strength Increase +1,+1 divine level
5) +3 +4 +1 +4 Extra Domain: Competition
6) +4 +5 +2 +5 Strength Increase +1,+1 divine level
7) +5 +5 +2 +5 Feat of Power
8) +6 +6 +2 +6 Strength Increase +1,+1 divine level
9) +6 +6 +3 +6 Surge of Power
10)+7 +7 +3 +7 Strength Increase +1,+1 divine level
Mighty Endurance (Ex): A mighty contender has a special form of damage reduction that allows him to ignore 5 points of non-lethal damage every time he is dealt non-lethal damage. This ability applies to all effects that deal non-lethal damage.
Feat of Strength (Su): When a mighty contender performs a feat of strength (the granted power of the Strength domain), he adds his mighty contender level to his cleric levels to determine his Strength enhancement for 1 round. He can now perform a feat of strength a number of times per day equal to his unmodified Strength modifier, but always at least once.
Surge of Strength (Su): When a mighty contender of at least 3rd level performs a feat of strength, the enhancement bonus lasts for 1d4+1 rounds.
Feat of Power (Su): Once per day, when performing a surge of strength, a mighty contender of 7th level or higher can add once and a half times his combined cleric and mighty contender levels to his Strength score for the first round of the surge. For the remaining 1d4 rounds, he adds only his level to his Strength score.
Surge of Power (Su): Once per day, when performing a surge of strength, a 9th level mighty contender can add one and a half times his level to his Strength score for the duration of the surge (1d4+1 rounds).
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From PHB, pg. 107:
Kord, the god of strength, is chaotic good. He is known as the Brawler. Kord is the patron of athletes, especially wrestlers. His worshipers include good fighters, barbarians, and rogues. The domains he is associated with are Chaos, Good, Luck, and Strength. Kord's favored weapon is the greatsword.
Check out the Living Greyhawk Deities pdf for additional information on Kord, such as a prohibition against the wearing of dragonhide armour and additional domains (Courage, Competition, & Nobility). It's a free download at the Living Greyhawk site.