Okay, here goes.
I have been asked to play a Paladin for the Carrion Crown Adventure Path. ( CCAP? ) Though, I have loved Paladins since AD&D, I haven't played one since 2ed. My group will consist of the following:
1/2 orc INQUISITOR (pharasma worshiper/melee build)
Human FIGHTER ( shield specialist )
Human RANGER ( urban/ archer )
changling WITCH ( will probably be getting oodles of xtr HEXES)
Searching the boards, I tried to find something different ( we are all trying something out of our comfort zones :P ) Two things I immeadiately found. In the CCAP threads, a person discussed making a Dhampir Paladin. The idea was lots of fun, and my DM would go all goooey if I did this. Also, I see where KaeYoss had lots of fun with a Paladin/duelist build. (no clue on how numbers were crunched :P ) And the idea of an intelligent and dextrous Pally just made me very happy.
So, how would you builders of excellent builds, do the above combination? Or is it a pipe dream? Or is there some other fun and unique build that you could share for inspiration or pure gloating :P
The Game rules. Twenty point build. Any Paizo Pathfinder product for traits and feats. I can get two feats, one..and only one, MUST be selected from the Carrion Crown Adventure Path Players Guide. Any Paizo product currently in print for classes and PRC's. MAGUS is NOT allowed. I have thirty days from 3/3/2011 to get er dun. So any and all help appreciated :P
Greg
EDIT: If possible, show from 1-16, or at least major points up to 16 :P
Additional EDIT: Gods of choice, Iomedae, Sarenrae, Shelyn..I don't think Torag would be a good choice for this particular setting and Abadar, well I never personally liked this one. Erastil, though a favorite, plays prominently in a Kingmaker campaign I am in, so ready for a change :p
What level range?
What level range?
Let's go to 16 if that is okay. and I will edit the above post as well. Thanks for pointing it out, Kierato.
Greg
(20 point buy)
Elf Paladin/6 (Warrior of Holy Light), Duelist/10
Str 10, Dex 25, Con 10, Int 20, Wis 10, Cha 20
HP: 124; AC: 31; Touch: 23; Flat Footed: 18 Speed: 40 ft.
Fort +13; Ref +19 (+21 with grace); Will +13 (immune to fear, +2 vs enchantments,); Initiative +11
Rapier(+3 Ghost Touch, Speed): +26/+26/+21/+16/+11; 1d6+3; 15-20/X2
Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Weapon Finesse, Toughness, Improved Crit (Rapier), Critical Focus, spend remaining feats on the various critical feats
Special Features: Lay on Hands 9/day (3d6 healing), Smite Evil 1/day, Divine Bond 1/day, assorted other abilities...
REMEMBER: You are probably not a damage dealer, you focus on status effects. You will score an average of 1 crit per round, and can bestow several debilitating effects through them. The duelists -4 to AC or -4 to all saves affects any creature that is susceptible to crits. Lay on hands isn't much healing at htis level, but it is a swift action on yourself and it will stop bleed and stabilize.
EDIT
Items bought so far are:
+3 ghost touch speed rapier
Belt of Dex +6
Headband of Int and Cha +4
Bracers of Armor +8
Boots of striding and springing
97,180 GP left over.
Nice build. I like the idea of an elven duelist/paladin. Though completely abandoning the paladin/divine powers is a bit weird RP wise. Maybe he's an unconscious paladin? That takes some RP though...
Maybe you should consider using the 3lvl Chevalier PrC instead of a true paladin.
If you stay true paladin you should go for Divine Bond with the weapon of course. (Adding keen, merciful, flaming defending are all possible for him. Unfortunately no holy (+2), disruption (+2) or speed (+3) until paladin level 8 or 11).
I can get two feats, one..and only one, MUST be selected from the Carrion Crown Adventure Path Players Guide.
You mean traits right?
How about: Forlorn, Seeker of Brightness or Warrior of Old (all of them elven traits)?
Deity wise a rare paladin of Shelyn sounds fitting for an elf. It also makes abandoning the divine path for Duelist a bit more plausible.
Equipment wise i'd get some light armour or even mithral medium armour.
As for campaign traits, Chance Savior is looking good.
Another idea: how about using Heirloom Weapon to gain proficiency in an the exotic elven curve blade.
Or how about Sacred Avenger (may need to read that one up in Elves of Golarion for clarification...)
Other useful traits: Fencer, Slayer's Oath(from the free Wayfinder #1) or Ghost Sight (dto.).
Also you might want to check out the Undead Scourge archetype for the paladin. Undead hunter elven paladin duelist ftw.
The article "Tools of the Trade: Hunters of the Dead" from Wayfinder #1 should come in handy in any case...
Why add duelist to Paladin though? I'm not sure I understand the need to do this? They seem to be very poorly matched classes, as Paladin focuses on Cha and usually Str whereas Duelist is Dex and Int. I guess you can do Dex and Cha as your primary stats, but then your damage suffers considerably as well as your hitpoints from poor Con, and your AC from lower Int and less armor.
Would not a dex based Paladin be better? Even a Two weapon fighting or shield bashing paladin? The smites will work well with two weapon fighting, and also the weapon bond can be used on either the primary or secondary weapon.
It just seems to me that going into duelist would mean giving up everything the paladin is good at, and at the same time not having the proper base to be a good duelist. I'd think even a Paladin/Rogue would match the 'concept' of your build better than actually going into duelist, and would be more effective.
And for the elven paladin going into duelist, it means using all of your feats to get into the PRC at the earliest level. No power attack, cleave, extra lay on hands, or any other cool feats.
I'm all for odd combinations of classes, but at the least they should be effective at what they set out to do. And I don't think the Paladin/duelist will ever be effective, and if he ever is, it won't happen until much later in his career. If he even survives to get there.
Yea, it's kind of weird. And you have to play the transtion from pally to duelist in game in the AP.
But i still like the idea of an elven dex-based intelligent paladin.
|
You know, sometimes the strange builds work. Most of the time they're more fun too. Okay, damage isn't going to skyrocket, but you can at least keep up when Smiting.
Recently played a halfling paladin in a one-shot. Pretty much took down a demon by himself. Fun, and effective, he was Weapon Finessing an Elven Curved Blade and Power Attacking.
Well, two things. I do not have to be optimized for maximum damage in the campaign I will be in. DM will adjust AP accordingly. ( my characters are usually the most optimized and you can see that I don't :P )
The other thing is, all of us are playing characters that are against the grain for us. I have always played very martial clerics or rangers and haven't played a paladin since 2ed. I wanted something different.
As I said in original post, I searched boards, and saw KaeYoss had played a dex/paladin with high int and cha and claimed to have lots of fun with it. Sounded good to me. Seems too many paladins I have seen seem like brawny beauties with no coordination, brains or common sense.
For RP, I don't see it as a giving up on paladin to get some duelist levels. I just see it as learning some new fighting techniques to play up the characters strength in the "good" fight.
I appreciate seeing some of the links to other ideas. I will give those some thought as well.
Greg