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I am building a gnomish cavalier as a backup character for a game I'm playing in.
I decided to play a gnome for several reasons:
1. Gnomes are awesome and I've never played one before.
2. As a small character, riding a medium sized mount means I can charge while in dungeons and in buildings. This means I can keep the use of my cavalier functions without losing them in the many dungeons we'll probably end up in.
3. The party is in real need of a dedicated combat person, and combining the animal companion and full HD Cavalier should really pick up if I chose the right weapons/features.
So I have a few problems when trying to design my character.
One, I saw that you can get a mount with an archetype. I wanted to take a pony that is war trained and with the charger archetype, but I know nothing about building them and how they're supposed to be statted. Can someone help me build that?
The character needs to be level 3 with 20 point buy stats, with at most masterwork gear.
Build suggestions would be great. I was looking at the Ronin order, but if there's a better suggestion I'd hear it.
What? I don't understand...
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When you stat up a mount, you would do so as if you were statting up a druid's animal companion. Since you'll be a third level cavalier, your effective druid level would be three. Here's a brief sample pony that I tossed together:
Pony
N medium animal
Init +1; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +1
DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14 (+1 Dex, +4 Natural)
hp 17 (3d8+3)
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +1
Defensive Abilities evasion
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee 2 Hooves +3 (1d3+1)
STATISTICS
Str 13, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 2, Wis 11, Cha 4
Base Atk +2; CMB +3; CMD 14
Feats Light Armor Profiency
Skills
SQ tricks (attack, come, defend, down, guard, heel)
That is an effective druid level three pony. However, it still needs skill points, feats, bonus tricks, and maybe some armor. It begins with light armor profiency and a smattering of tricks, but picking everything else is up to you. The charger archetype just modifies the feats and class skills your pony will have available. Although you're going 20 point-buy, that won't affect your pony in any way.
Also, handling a mount in battle is a tricky thing. You should check out this blog post for some information on that.
If you're looking for good tricks for a cavalier, direct yourself to this thread.
Hope that's a good start for you!
What? I don't understand...Gnomes are from First World. Natives of First World have no souls.
So, Gnomes have no souls.
Ah. But gnomes can be resurrected. If not, I need a lot more racial features for them to be balanced in my eyes.
Oh yay! I'll have a soul!
I'm thinking Gnome Cavalier with both beast rider and gendarme, order of the sword. Then I have some more options for things to ride, and I don't have to take tactics feats, right? I would have liked a giant spider or gecko or something. That would make doing dungeons actually advantageous, being able to get into different positions than a normal player could.
No, no, blackbloodtroll was right in the beginning. No gnome has a soul.
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I have a halfling cavalier build you can probably convert to gnome:
Archetype: Emissary
I like a lot of the swaps it makes such as In or Out of the Saddle, Battlefield Agility, and Mounted Acrobatics (very nice). But you do lose the Banner and Teamwork stuff.
Order: Order of the Sword
A good all around order imo and very suited towards focusing on mounted combat.
Str 17-2 (13pts)
Dex 14 (5pts)
Con 12+2 (2pts)
Int 12 (2pts)
Wis 10 (0pts)
Cha 8+2 (-2pts)
Note: I count on halfling luck and the +2 from Order of the Sword to help the Will save. As a Gnome you may want to bump the wisdom up 2 and drop the int by 2.
Cav = Cavalier, Em = Emissary, OotS = Order of the Sword
1) Power Attack
1 Em) Mounted Combat
3) Weapon Focus Lance
5) Ride By Attack
5 Em) Mobility
6 Cav) Spirited Charge
7) Lunge (or something else, this is optional)
8 OotS) Skill Focus Ride
9) Undecided
9 Em) Trick Riding
After that there are a number of directions to go but I think that is plenty so far. :)
OotS: +2 bonus to any save (Will) at level 2
OotS: +1 attack bonus which increases by +1 every 4 levels against your challenge target while you are mounted.
Emissary: Can move normal speed in medium armor at level 1.
Emissary: At level 9 when you gain Trick Riding you can use Trick Riding while wearing medium armor.
For animal, I prefer going Wolf until level 4 and then Boar. Boar has the highest strength bonus of the medium animals listed as available to a small cavalier and you can add the boar's strength to your damage in a charge starting level 8 (Order of the Sword).
1HD) Power Attack
1st level bonus) Light Armor Proficiency
3HD) Improved Overrun
5HD) Charge Through
5th level bonus) Mobility
7HD) Greater Overrun
That feat progression will allow your boar to overrun two targets per round. You can even overrun an ally this way thus allowing you to charge through a single ally.
For a cheesier build: At 4HD give your boar a point of intelligence instead. Then have the boar take Improved Unarmed Strike at 5HD and Dragon Style at 7HD. For the 3HD feat you can give him Toughness or Medium Armor Prof.
Note: this bit of cheese may result in a painful wound from your GM throwing a hard object at you. Use at your own risk.
Even without the cheese bit at the end, by 9th level you will be doing an average of 100pts per hit against the target of your challenge in a charge.
- Gauss
Oh yay! I'll have a soul!
Unless you're a ginger, of course... ;-)
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Oh yay! I'll have a soul!Unless you're a ginger, of course... ;-)
This guy just can't catch a break.
This guy just can't catch a break.Oh yay! I'll have a soul!Unless you're a ginger, of course... ;-)
... Nope. Just no breaks.
i hope you use the gnomish hook hammer
if you are playing a gnome then you are constitutionally required to use a ridiculous weapon, and have a ridiculous name.
I was going to name him Lord Barnabus Glitterguts, and his stalwart companion Sir Snuffles the Boar (Medium War Trained Boar AC with the charger archetype)
I want to use a lance and probably have my boar's barding with armor spikes. So he has additional hurt for when he overruns targets (Armor spikes do damage when you overrun with a mount? Can that work?)And a gnomish Hook Hammer for when I'm not charging.
I was going to name him Lord Barnabus Glitterguts, and his stalwart companion Sir Snuffles the Boar (Medium War Trained Boar AC with the charger archetype)
I want to use a lance and probably have my boar's barding with armor spikes. So he has additional hurt for when he overruns targets (Armor spikes do damage when you overrun with a mount? Can that work?)And a gnomish Hook Hammer for when I'm not charging.
This is sufficiently silly. Fair gnoming sir.
In all seriousness, I'd definitely say that the spirited charge build is a good choice, and I'd wholly recommend getting ride-by attack as soon as humanly (gnomily?) possible. It shores up the nastiest weakness of the cavalier, which is needing to back up to charge again.
Also, if you're going full munchkin, I'd suggest a flying mount instead of a boar to get the full benefits of diving.
EDIT: also, I'm sorely disappointed that a ripsaw glaive provides no charge benefits, because the only way that Lord Barnabus could be more awesome is if he was charging his foes with a chainsaw.
rungok, when you are done with your build could you post it? Im curious what you came up with. :)
- Gauss
I kind of like the name Thunderbutt Ironpants, who I imagine as a halfling who rides a boar named Truffles. Anyhow, if you have the boar take armor proficiency feats it should be easy to get his AC over 30.
You can gain access to a lot of the special feats archetyped mounts get by simply increasing your mount's Int to 3 when it gains 4 hit dice. Before giving up Share Spells you might (or might not) want to consider some of the potential fun you could have with it, especially if you multiclass a little bit and use Boon Companion or another feat to keep your mount at full strength.
True Strike + Combat Maneuver = Success (well, most of the time)
Shield = +4 to already high AC
I don't know if that sort of stuff would be of interest. I just figured that I'd mention some less typical options.
Lord Barnabus Glitterguts
Gnome Gendarme Cavalier
Level 4
Stat Buy
STR 8 +13 (17-2) 15, 16 with lvl4 inc.
DEX 10
CON 12 +2 (12+2) 14
INT 10
WIS 10
CHA 12 +2 (12+2) 14
Racial Traits:
Small Size Traits:
+1 size to AC, attack rolls
-1 CMB and CMD
+4 Stealth Checks
Slow Speed 20 ft.
Speaks Common, Gnome, and Slyvan
Defensive Training: +4 AC vs. Giant type
Illusion Resistance: +2 save vs. Illusion
Keen Senses: +2 Perception
Academician: +2 knowledge skill
Class Features:
Challenge 2/Day
Mount (Boar)
Order of the Sword
Order Ability (By My Honor)
Cavalier's Charge
Expert Trainer
Feats:
Free- Power Attack
1st Bonus-Mounted Combat
3rd- Ride By Attack
Animal Companion:
Sir Shnuffles (Lvl 4 Boar Charger AT)
Medium Animal
STR 18
DEX 11
CON 17
INT 03
WIS 13
CHA 04
Speed 40 ft
BAB +3
4 HD
F+4, R+4, W+1
4 Skills
2 Feats
+2 Natural Armor
+1 STR/DEX
Lvl 4 increase (+1 INT)Now 03
Features:
Link, Mounted Challenge, Barding Training
Feats: Sure-Footed, Valiant Steed, Toughness
Bonus Tricks: 2
+Combat Trained:
(Attack, Come, Defend, Down, Guard, Heel)
+Watch
+Hunt
I don't see your Boar's Light Armor proficiency listed.
I count your ability score buy as 17pts out of 20.
Otherwise, nice.
Could you show the feat progression until level 8 or 9? Im curious to see where you are headed.
- Gauss
Whoops! Forgot the other 3 points! I'll put those into dex, a +1 modifier is better than no modifier! :D
And I made sure to add my boar's light armor proficiency.
I'll get on the lvls 5-9 later tonight. :)
Now the only thing missing is the robot chicken mount . . .
That would be funny as all hell Writer. :)
- Gauss