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Ignoring roleplaying and party cohesion issues, how good would an anti-paladin who focuses on channeling be in a group of good adventurers?
Let's take a look at him at level 7, with wealth slightly less than level average.
Male Half-Orc Antipaladin (Knight of the Sepulcher) 7
CE Medium Humanoid (orc)
Init +1; Senses Darkvision; Perception -1
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Defense
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AC 26, touch 11, flat-footed 25 (+10 armor, +3 shield, +1 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 60 (7d10+14)
Fort +12, Ref +8, Will +9; +2 vs. mind-affecting, death, and poison
Immune disease
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Offense
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Speed 20 ft.
Melee Heavy Shield Bash +7/+2 (1d4/x2) and
Longsword +7/+2 (1d8/19-20/x2)
Special Attacks Smite Good (3/day)
Spell-Like Abilities Detect Good (At will)
Antipaladin (Knight of the Sepulcher) Spells Prepared (CL 4, 7 melee touch, 8 ranged touch):
2 (1/day) Litany of Defense
1 (3/day) Command (DC 16), Murderous Command (DC 16), Litany of Weakness
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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 8, Cha 21
Base Atk +7; CMB +7; CMD 18
Feats Extra Channel, Extra Channel, Improved Channel, Selective Channeling
Traits Armor Expert, Sacred Conduit
Skills Acrobatics -4 (-8 jump), Bluff +9, Climb -5, Disguise +9, Escape Artist -4, Fly -4, Handle Animal +9, Intimidate +17, Ride +0, Sense Motive +3, Spellcraft +3, Stealth +0, Swim -5
Languages Common, Orc
SQ Aura of Cowardice, Aura of Evil, Channel Negative Energy, Orc Ferocity (1/day), Touch of Corruption (8/day), Touch of the Crypt, Unholy Resilience
Combat Gear +1 Full plate, +1 Heavy wooden shield, Longsword; Other Gear Amulet of natural armor +2, Phylactery of negative channeling
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Special Abilities
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Armor Expert -1 Armor check penalty.
Aura of Cowardice (Su) Enemies within 10 ft. are not Immune to fear and take -4 to saves vs. fear effects.
Aura of Evil (Ex) The antipaladin has an Aura of Evil with power equal to her class level.
Channel Negative Energy (Su) You can channel negative energy to heal the undead and injure the living.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Detect Good (At will) (Sp) You can use Detect Good at will (as the spell).
Immunity to Disease You are immune to diseases.
Orc Ferocity (1/day) 1/day, when brought below 0 HP but not killed, you can fight on for 1 more round as if disabled. The next round, unless brought to at least 0 HP, you immediately fall unconscious and begin dying.
Selective Channeling Exclude targets from the area of your Channel Energy.
Smite Good (3/day) (Su) +5 to hit, +7 to damage, +5 deflection bonus to AC when used.
Touch of Corruption (8/day) (Su) You can harm by touch.
Touch of the Crypt (Ex) +2 vs mind-affect/death/poison, positive harms & neg heals, light fortification.
Unholy Resilience (Su) You gain your Charisma Bonus as a bonus to all saving throws.
Channeler focuses on getting a really high AC and making the most of his channeling.
To achieve the first, he's wearing +1 full plate, has a +1 shield, and gets a dex bonus of +1. At level 7, he also has an amulet of natural armor +2 (in the future he can get the ironhide and improved natural armor feats). This gives him an AC of 26/11/25, allowing him to wade, even run into the middle of combat and act as a tank.
To make the most of his channeling, he's got 21 AC, selective channeling, improved channeling, and the trait sacred conduit. He also has the Phylactery of Negative Channeling (1100 gp), which adds 2d6 to his channel damage. This means that with the Phylactery, he can channel 8 times per day, dealing 6d6 damage (average 21), with a saving throw of 21 for half. 8 channels should last him more than two fights, after which he has a few spells to use. If he gets totally depleted, he can still wade into combat and try to absorb attacks.
Compare 8 channels for 6d6 damage and a half DC of 21 to what a wizard at this level can do with 1 fourth level spell, 2 third level spells, and three second level spells. Also compare what happens to the Antipaladin when he runs out, and what happens to the wizard when he runs out.
Feats for the future include ironhide, improved natural armor, and shield focus for AC bonuses if necessary. Command undead (probably at next level), and extra channels to improve channeling capacity.
So ... viable? Powerful? Thoughts? Would a cleric with a similar build be better (he would likely have a lower AC, but more channeling capacity).
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Just for kicks, I made an evil cleric who focuses on channeling negative energy.
Male Half-Orc Cleric (Undead Lord) 7
CE Medium Humanoid (orc)
Init +1; Senses Darkvision; Perception +7
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Defense
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AC 27, touch 11, flat-footed 26 (+10 armor, +3 shield, +1 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 45 (7d8+7)
Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +8
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Offense
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Speed 20 ft.
Melee Heavy Shield Bash +2 (1d4+1/x2) and
Morningstar +6 (1d8+1/x2)
Cleric (Undead Lord) Spells Prepared (CL 7, 6 melee touch, 6 ranged touch):
4 (1/day) Summon Monster IV, Enervation
3 (3/day) Animate Dead, Cure Serious Wounds (DC 16), Summon Monster III, Blindness/Deafness (DC 16)
2 (4/day) Ghoul Touch (DC 15), Summon Monster II, Cure Moderate Wounds (DC 15), Aid, Bear's Endurance (DC 15)
1 (5/day) Protection from Good (DC 14), Obscuring Mist, Summon Monster I, Cause Fear (DC 14), Detect Good, Detect Evil
0 (at will) Cure Minor Wounds (DC 13), Cure Minor Wounds (DC 13), Cure Minor Wounds (DC 13), Spark (DC 13)
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Statistics
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Str 12, Dex 12, Con 13, Int 7, Wis 16, Cha 18
Base Atk +5; CMB +6; CMD 17
Feats Armor Proficiency (Heavy), Command Undead (DC 19), Improved Channel, Ironhide, Selective Channeling
Skills Acrobatics -5 (-9 jump), Appraise +2, Climb -5, Diplomacy +8, Escape Artist -5, Fly -5, Heal +7, Intimidate +6, Knowledge (planes) +2, Knowledge (religion) +2, Linguistics +2, Perception +7, Ride -5, Sense Motive +7, Spellcraft +4, Stealth -5, Swim -5
Languages Common, Goblin, Orc
SQ Aura, Cleric (Undead Lord) Domain: Undead, Cleric Channel Negative Energy 6d6 (7/day) (DC 19), Corpse Companion, Death's Kiss (3 rounds) (6/day), Orc Ferocity (1/day), Spontaneous Casting
Combat Gear +1 Full plate, +1 Heavy wooden shield, Morningstar; Other Gear Amulet of natural armor +2, Phylactery of negative channeling
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Special Abilities
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Aura (Ex) The Cleric has an aura corresponding to his deity's alignment.
Cleric (Undead Lord) Domain: Undead Associated Domain: Death
Cleric Channel Negative Energy 6d6 (7/day) (DC 19) (Su) A good cleric can channel positive energy to heal the living and injure the undead; an evil cleric can channel negative energy to injure the living and heal the undead.
Command Undead (DC 19) Channel energy can take control of undead.
Corpse Companion (Su) Gain a single skeleton/zombie as companion that doesn't count against limit.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Death's Kiss (3 rounds) (6/day) (Su) Melee touch attack makes target count as undead for positive/negative energy healing/harming
Ironhide Your skin is thicker and more resilient than that of most of your people.
Prerequisites: Con 13; dwarf, half-orc, or orc.
Benefit: You gain a +1 natural armor bonus due to your unusually tough hide.
Orc Ferocity (1/day) 1/day, when brought below 0 HP but not killed, you can fight on for 1 more round as if disabled. The next round, unless brought to at least 0 HP, you immediately fall unconscious and begin dying.
Selective Channeling Exclude targets from the area of your Channel Energy.
Spontaneous Casting The Cleric can convert stored spells into Cure or Inflict spells.
Moral of the story, he's two feats ahead of the paladin, because he doesn't have to waste his feats on extra channeling. If he spends one of his feats of heavy armor proficiency, then he can achieve the exact same AC, and if he uses his last feat on ironhide, then he actually beats the paladin's AC.
The Cleric can actually run into combat when he runs out of channeling and cast from there, intentionally provoking opportunity attacks to save his buddies some grief and deflecting most attacks. So the Cleric is probably more viable, due to all his spells.
However, is either of these a viable choice compared to a blaster wizard or sorcerer at the same level?
