Hey, all.
I need some help with an idea for a new character. I'm in a two person homebrew campaign that will start us in Sandpoint and take us up to the Lands of the Linnorm Kings. According to our GM most of our time will be spent up north and we won't be in Varasia for very long. The other character in the group is a LG Ranger (yeah I know CE and LG working together is a bad idea) whose focus is on TWF.
I was thinking on sticking with the antipaladin until I could pick up Shadowdancer and then run the character through that entire class. Also, I'm thinking about using a scimitar and picking up Dervish dance which will allow me to use Dex to damage and hit.
I'm really willing to bend any which way with this. I just thought the idea was neat and was seeing what I could do with it. It doesn't have to be an optimized build, just a usable one.
Starting level: 5
Stats (rolled for them): 18,18,14,14,13,13
One final note, I'm willing to use any race too.
DEX based antipaladin screams Dhampir to me. Bonus to DEX and CHA, as well as negative energy affinity are very useful racial options.
STR 13
DEX 20
CON 12
INT 14
WIS 13
CHA 20
is probably how I'd do the stat arrangement. Though, you may find yourself wanting more CON, should your DM not allow you to swift action heal.
Another good option is a Beastbrood Tiefling who dips into Blood of Fiends for access to negative energy healing, though it is a little cheesy.
Good feats to look into are channel smite, power attack, furious focus, and cornugon smash.
Fetchling fits the theme better and with +2 Dex, -2 Wis, +2 Cha has better hit points; 14 Str, 20 Dex, 14 Con, 13 Int, 11 Wis, 20 Cha. The Gloom Shimmer alternate racial trait is worth a look, especially if planning to go into shadowdancer.
The knight of the sepulcher archetype gains Touch of the Crypt at 5th level, which gives most of the benefit of negative energy affinity, plus some other nice benefits.
Goblin. You get a +8 to Stealth from being small and their racial bonus. Add in 1 rank with class skill bonus. Goblins get +4 Dex.
1st level we're looking at a +14.
Hobgoblin is good too if you really don't want that Charisma penalty. +9 base is pretty solid too.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Knight of the sepulcher is a hideous, hideous, trap. Avoid it. Just blow a feat on Necromantic Affinity from the inner sea world guide.
Hey, all.
I need some help with an idea for a new character. I'm in a two person homebrew campaign that will start us in Sandpoint and take us up to the Lands of the Linnorm Kings. According to our GM most of our time will be spent up north and we won't be in Varasia for very long. The other character in the group is a LG Ranger (yeah I know CE and LG working together is a bad idea) whose focus is on TWF.
I was thinking on sticking with the antipaladin until I could pick up Shadowdancer and then run the character through that entire class. Also, I'm thinking about using a scimitar and picking up Dervish dance which will allow me to use Dex to damage and hit.
I'm really willing to bend any which way with this. I just thought the idea was neat and was seeing what I could do with it. It doesn't have to be an optimized build, just a usable one.
Starting level: 5
Stats (rolled for them): 18,18,14,14,13,13
One final note, I'm willing to use any race too.
First, let me start by saying that this is a bad mix. Either your Lawful Good character will not be able to be played as a Lawful Good character, your Chaotic Evil character will not be able to be played as a Chaotic Evil character, or the two characters will have such strife between them that little will get done (and they may eventually turn on one another). My best advice to you would be to not mix these two characters.
Having said that, perhaps this build would suit you.
Vishkanya Antipaladin 5
CE Medium humanoid (vishkanya)
Init +7; Senses low-light vision; Perception +3
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 18, touch 15, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +5 Dex)
hp 49 (5d10+10)
Fort +11, Ref +11, Will +10; +5 bonus vs. poison
Immune disease; Resist poison resistance
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee masterwork rapier +12 (1d6+2/18-20/×2)
Special Attacks Channel Energy 3d6, smite good
Spell-Like Abilities
. . At will—detect good
Antipaladin Spells Prepared (CL 2nd; concentration +7):
1st (3/day)—summon monster i, disguise self, litany of weakness
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 14, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 21
Base Atk +5; CMB +7; CMD 22
Feats Power Attack, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (rapier)
Traits indomitable faith, reactionary
Skills Bluff +9, Diplomacy +6, Disguise +9, Escape Artist +7, Handle Animal +9, Intimidate +13, Knowledge (religion) +5, Perception +3, Ride +9, Sense Motive +4, Spellcraft +7, Stealth +14; Racial Modifiers +2 Escape Artist, +2 Perception, +2 Stealth
Languages Common, Elven, Vishkanya
SQ aura of cowardice, aura of evil, channel negative energy, cruelties (sickened [dc 17]), fiendish boons (weapon [1/day]), poison use, touch of corruption, toxic, unholy resilience
Other Gear Masterwork Studded leather armor, Masterwork Rapier, 100 GP
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Antipaladin Channel Negative Energy 3d6 (3/day) (DC 17) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
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.
Cruelty (Sickened) (5 rds) (DC 17) (Su) When you use your Touch of Corruption ability, you may also make your target sickened for 1r/Antipaladin level
You may only apply a single Cruelty ability to each use of Touch of Corruption, chosen when used.
Detect Good (At will) (Sp) You can use Detect Good at will (as the spell).
Fiendish Boon (Weapon +1) (5 minutes) (1/day) (Sp) You can enhance your weapon for 1 minute per level one or more times per day.
Immunity to Disease You are immune to diseases.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Poison Resistance +5 Gain listed bonus to saves vs poison.
Poison Use (Ex) You do not risk poisoning yourself accidentally while poisoning a weapon.
Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Smite Good (2/day) (Su) +5 to hit, +5 to damage, +5 deflection bonus to AC when used.
Touch of Corruption (2d6) (7/day) (Su) You can inflict 2d6 damage, 7/day
Toxic (2/day) (DC 14) (Ex) Can apply poisonous blood/saliva to a weapon as a swift action.
Unholy Resilience (Su) You gain your Charisma Bonus as a bonus to all saving throws.
Alternatively, this one might be closer to what you're looking for.
Fetchling Antipaladin 5
CE Medium outsider (native)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +1
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 19, touch 16, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +5 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 49 (5d10+10)
Fort +11, Ref +11, Will +10
Defensive Abilities shadow blending; Immune disease; Resist cold 5, electricity 5
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee masterwork kukri +11 (1d4+2/18-20/×2)
Special Attacks Channel Energy 3d6, smite good
Spell-Like Abilities
. . At will—detect good
. . 1/day—disguise self
Antipaladin Spells Prepared (CL 2nd; concentration +7):
1st (3/day)—summon monster i, disguise self, litany of weakness
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 14, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 21
Base Atk +5; CMB +7; CMD 23
Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Weapon Finesse
Traits indomitable faith, reactionary
Skills Bluff +9, Diplomacy +6, Disguise +9, Handle Animal +9, Intimidate +12, Perception +1, Perform (dance) +7, Sense Motive +4, Spellcraft +7, Stealth +15; Racial Modifiers +2 Stealth
Languages Common, Draconic
SQ aura of cowardice, aura of evil, channel negative energy, cruelties (sickened [dc 17]), fiendish boons (weapon [1/day]), touch of corruption, unholy resilience
Other Gear Masterwork Studded leather armor, Masterwork Kukri, 100 GP
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Antipaladin Channel Negative Energy 3d6 (3/day) (DC 17) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
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.
Combat Reflexes (6 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Cruelty (Sickened) (5 rds) (DC 17) (Su) When you use your Touch of Corruption ability, you may also make your target sickened for 1r/Antipaladin level
You may only apply a single Cruelty ability to each use of Touch of Corruption, chosen when used.
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).
Energy Resistance, Cold (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Cold attacks.
Energy Resistance, Electricity (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Electricity attacks.
Fiendish Boon (Weapon +1) (5 minutes) (1/day) (Sp) You can enhance your weapon for 1 minute per level one or more times per day.
Immunity to Disease You are immune to diseases.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Shadow Blending (Su) Miss chance in dim light increases to 50%. This does not grant total concealment.
Smite Good (2/day) (Su) +5 to hit, +5 to damage, +5 deflection bonus to AC when used.
Touch of Corruption (2d6) (7/day) (Su) You can inflict 2d6 damage, 7/day
Unholy Resilience (Su) You gain your Charisma Bonus as a bonus to all saving throws.
Knight of the sepulcher is a hideous, hideous, trap. Avoid it. Just blow a feat on Necromantic Affinity from the inner sea world guide.
So much this.
Knight of the sepulcher is a hideous, hideous, trap. Avoid it. Just blow a feat on Necromantic Affinity from the inner sea world guide.
I'm interested in hearing your assessment of why you feel that the Knight of the Sepulcher archetype is a trap.
It's less what the archetype gives that is bad and more what you lose.
This, you give up ALL of your cruelties, as well as a couple of auras that are some very important class defining abilities and you gain negative energy healing (which can come from other sources as previously stated) and the only thing you really gain that makes it worth looking at is immunity to crits, but it comes so late that it almost isn't worth looking at even.
I get that losing your cruelties and your fiendish boon is painful - that much is obvious. However, the immunity to crits and sneak attacks is worth consideration, even if it's "delayed gratification". The auras... I'm on the fence about them. I'm looking for something more in-depth as far as an analysis.
I get that losing your cruelties and your fiendish boon is painful - that much is obvious. However, the immunity to crits and sneak attacks is worth consideration, even if it's "delayed gratification". The auras... I'm on the fence about them. I'm looking for something more in-depth as far as an analysis.
Okay:
Touch of the crypt: This ability replaces fiendish boon, which is a huge loss. You get +2 on saves against death effects which really don't matter because your saves are already gargantuan because you're playing a paladin. You also gain negative energy healing, which can be obtained with a feat. 25% failure on crits is a nice touch for free.Compare to fiendish Boon, and essentially I see it as giving up that ability for something I can get with a feat or racial choice. Light Fort is only so good, and it is fairly cheap.
Fortitude of the Crypt: You give up Aura of Despair, one of the best abilities you have, and gain immunity to those poisons that you already get 2+CHA on saving throws against on Fort saves, which is a good save for you already.
Darkvision 60 ft can be obtained by so many other means, mostly spells, and it doesn't benefit you at all if you already had it.
Cloak of the Crypt: This ability is the only one that's fairly decent. You give up a smite, which is fine with me because antipaladin smites are super situational as most things you fight aren't good, even in an evil campaign. Moderate Fort for free and immunity to energy drain is pretty cool though, like I said this is the one that makes you actually consider this archetype.
Will of the Crypt: Another bonus on your already enormous saves, giving up the aura that let's your allies team up on the BBGG. Admittedly neither of these abilities are that groundbreaking to the class as a whole, you are trading one situationally useful thing for another, so the argument is less about the abilities and more about the situations that they could be used in.
Weapons of Sin: A blatant downgrade, awful ability.
Crypt Lord: This one is so iffy, you give up crualty all the way back at 3rd level, and get NOTHING in its place until now, at 15th. Some games don't even make it this far. Cruelties have so much synergy with the other class abilities like Plague Bringer. Immunities are cool, and 75% fort happens here.
Soul of the Crypt: You gain an additional DR type, but no longer debuff your enemies against compulsions near by. Bludgeoning is common use by DMs and monsters so it's not like it's even that useful of a DR, especially given that at that level most enemies will have a +3 weapon anyway.
Undying Champion: This ability is flat out awesome, if you didn't already in 20 levels of playing this class come up with some way to become undead or gain the benefits herein.
Essentially I look at the things that I gain that are attractive from this archetype and I don't see anything really important that I couldn't pick up with either a feat, or by spending a little. At most high level games I've played, Fortification is one of those things you always invest in, so whether I get it from a class ability or I buy it, it doesn't really change my view on the game so that part of the archetype I find less appealing than others might.
Re: Knight of the sepulcher
For a single class antipaladin, knight of the sepulcher is weaker than an antipaladin without the archetype. If switching to shadowdancer after 5th level (which is easily possible), as the OP stated was under consideration, there's not much difference. As a feat starved class, not having to burn a feat lets you focus more on combat feats, in addition to effectively getting light fortification, in any armor or none, for "free" at 5th level.
I understand where you're coming from here. I don't agree with you on all of it, so I'll try to list pluses and minuses for ease of reference.
Touch of the Crypt: +2 saves vs. death effects, mind-affecting effects and poison; negative energy healing, 25% failure on crits & sneak attack. The loss of the fiendish boon hurts, though, but at the level that you acquire Touch of the Crypt, it's not quite such a hard pill to swallow.
I give this -5 points (1 for the moderate save bonuses since you don't need them, 1 for the negative energy healing [you could get it via a feat or by being a dhampir] and 1 for the light fortification), but -8 for the loss of the fiendish boon (which is really only a -1 at 5th level, but it's a hard hit by 20th, and it stacks with other weapon bonuses).
Fortitude of the Crypt: Here's one aspect where I disagree with you. The -2 to all saves is a modest penalty to your foes, but it only works to a range of 10'. That's a fairly substantial limiter. But, on the up-side, you gain Darkvision up to 60' (which isn't a big deal if you already possess Darkvision) and immunity to poisons.
I give this 0 points again (1 for immunity to poisons, 1 for 60' Darkvision, but -2 for losing the aura of despair).
Cloak of the Crypt: Gaining immunity to energy drain and harmful negative energy effects and moderate fortification in exchange for the Smite Good, which as you mentioned, doesn't help you near as much as Smite Evil helps paladins.
I give this 5 points (3 for the immunity to energy drain, 2 for the immunity to harmful negative energy effects, 2 for the upgrade to moderate fortification, but -2 for the loss of Smite Good.)
Will of the Crypt: Your bonuses to saves versus mind-affecting effects and death effects increase to +4 in exchange for granting your allies within 10' to Smite Good. As Smite Good wasn't a particularly grand, as mentioned earlier, this isn't that bad of an exchange.
I give this 0 points (1 for the additional +2 to saves versus mind-affecting effects, 1 for the additional +2 to saves versus death effects, -2 for the loss of giving your Smite Good ability to others within 10').
Weapons of Sin: Making your weapons evil-aligned for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. It's not all that great except against paladins, which antipaladins are mostly designed to counter anyway. This is worse than the Aura of Sin which does that, plus grants the same ability to attacks against enemies within 10'.
I give this -2 points (for the loss of the ability do the same for all attacks within 10').
Crypt Lord: You gain heavy fortification, plus you gain immunity to death effects, paralysis, sleep effects and stunning (the italicised ones are hefty benefits; no hold spells or power word stun against you). You don't sleep and you're immune to fatigue, plus spells that exhaust you only fatigue you. Yes, the loss of the cruelties is fairly significant, but most of them won't have a significant impact on a CR 14 foe.
I give this 5 points (2 for the upgrade to heavy fortification, 2 for immunity to death effects, 3 for immunity to paralysis, 3 for immunity to sleep effects [no coup de grace], 3 for immunity to stunning, 0 for the no sleep, 1 for the immunity to fatigue, 1 for the exhaustion reduction on spells; -10 for the loss of 5 cruelties at this level)
Soul of the Crypt: Okay, so as you mentioned, you get DR 5/good & bludgeoning, but you lose the -4 to saves versus compulsion effects within 10'. 10' isn't a huge distance for your aura, and antipaladins don't have too many compulsion effects (there's a grand total of 15 spells for you; 1 level 4, 1 level 3, 6 level 2 and 7 level 1; the only really good ones are Bleed/Die for your Master and Hold Person, but the former two only work if you took the fiendish servant boon anyway). It's more useful for your allies than it is for you.
I give this 1 point (3 for the DR 5/good, 3 for the DR5/bludgeoning, -3 for the Aura of Depravity's DR 5/good, -2 for the loss of the -4 to saves versus compulsion effects).
Undying Champion: You get an increase to DR 10 versus good and bludgeoning and you gain all of the undead traits (that you don't already possess anyway; use your Charisma in place of your Constitution score, immunity to all mind-affecting effects, immune to bleed damage, immune to disease, you're not subject to nonlethal damage, immune to ability drain, immune to physical Ability score damage, immune to effects that require Fortitude saves, and you no longer breathe or eat either). On the downside, you give up Unholy Champion which nets you DR 10/good, your Smite Good banishes good outsiders and your channel is maximised (for 60 damage per touch).
I give this 19 points (3 for the increase to DR 5/good, 3 for the increase to DR 5/bludgeoning, 5 for the use of Charisma in place of Consititution, 17 for all the immunities [2 for mind-affecting effects, 2 for bleed damage, 2 for disease, 2 for nonlethal damage, 3 for ability drain, 3 for Ability score damage, 3 for Fortitude saves], 1 for not being subject to nonlethal damage, 0 for the no eating, 1 for the no breathing); but -3 for the loss of DR 5/good from Unholy Champion, -4 for the banishment to good outsiders, -4 for the maximised channel.
All in all, the Knight of the Sepulcher archetype seems to net a positive 23 points. It's not quite the trap that you're led to believe. Yes, some of the abilities that you lose are quite hard to swallow, but nothing is so critical that it can't be overcome by what you gain. That Undying Champion is what really tips the scales in your favour. Before you hit 20th level, you're still up by 4 points in total, so it's not something that you should dismiss completely. It requires careful consideration of what you're getting and losing at various levels.
I understand where you're coming from here. I don't agree with you on all of it, so I'll try to list pluses and minuses for ease of reference.
Touch of the Crypt: +2 saves vs. death effects, mind-affecting effects and poison; negative energy healing, 25% failure on crits & sneak attack. The loss of the fiendish boon hurts, though, but at the level that you acquire Touch of the Crypt, it's not quite such a hard pill to swallow.
I give this -5 points (1 for the moderate save bonuses since you don't need them, 1 for the negative energy healing [you could get it via a feat or by being a dhampir] and 1 for the light fortification), but -8 for the loss of the fiendish boon (which is really only a -1 at 5th level, but it's a hard hit by 20th, and it stacks with other weapon bonuses).
Fortitude of the Crypt: Here's one aspect where I disagree with you. The -2 to all saves is a modest penalty to your foes, but it only works to a range of 10'. That's a fairly substantial limiter. But, on the up-side, you gain Darkvision up to 60' (which isn't a big deal if you already possess Darkvision) and immunity to poisons.
I give this 0 points again (1 for immunity to poisons, 1 for 60' Darkvision, but -2 for losing the aura of despair).
Cloak of the Crypt: Gaining immunity to energy drain and harmful negative energy effects and moderate fortification in exchange for the Smite Good, which as you mentioned, doesn't help you near as much as Smite Evil helps paladins.
I give this 5 points (3 for the immunity to energy drain, 2 for the immunity to harmful negative energy effects, 2 for the upgrade to moderate fortification, but -2 for the loss of Smite Good.)
Will of the Crypt: Your bonuses to saves versus mind-affecting effects and death effects increase to +4 in exchange for granting your allies within 10' to Smite Good. As Smite Good wasn't a particularly grand, as mentioned earlier, this isn't that bad of an exchange.
I give this 0 points (1 for the additional +2 to saves versus...
Again for me it's less about what I'm gaining and more about what I could have anyway without having to give things up.
I think the Aura of Despair thing is not really sinking in, since those -2's stack with -2's coming from Intimidate/Demoralize, and apply to your touch of corruptions which is most likely going to be delivered using a melee attack, meaning that your auras will be in full effect. An optimized build will be able to deliver a melee attack, roll an intimidate check, and spread a disease from Plague Bringer, all in one move, could even happen with a single standard action with the right equipment. All of those stacking debuffs effectively give you +4 to +6 on your Cruelty DCs which is very significant.
Taking a second look at the archetype, Knight of the Sepulcher completely gives up the antipaladin's special attacks that aren't smite in exchange for some damn solid defenses. Giving up aura of Despair matters less, because he doesn't really have anything that he wants to use that Aura on. Only real problem is without those tricks the antipaladin won't have much he can do damage wise beyond what an NPC warrior class could do. I honestly feel this archetype is better left for NPCs to be used as enemies who have the OP'ed-ness of optimized antipaladins watered down for players to go up against, because nerfing offensive prowess in favor of defensive prowess is something (at least in my experience with the game) that the DM should be doing to make fights last longer, be more interesting, and require more ingenuity and versatility of the players.
Stop.
Again, .
What I am saying is the difference between knight of the sepulcher 5/shadowdancer 10 and antipaladin 5/shadowdancer 10 is not very large. Get it?
The only difference between the two is at 5th level.
Knight of the sepulcher 5: "+2 bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting effects, death effects, and poison. He is harmed by positive energy effects and healed by negative energy effects as though he were undead, although negative energy effects that don't heal undead (such as enervation) affect him normally. The knight of the sepulcher has a 25% chance of ignoring critical hits and the bonus damage from sneak attacks as though he were wearing armor of light fortification."
Antipaladin 5: Choose between giving one weapon a +1 enhancement for 5 min/day (or, if a weapon is already magical, flaming, keen, vicious) and being able to call a single dretch or a fiendish animal from the summon monster III list (which is set when the ability is chosen and can't be changed or improved without advancing in antipaladin levels) once per day.
The difference between the two for this character is constant defensive bonuses for the knight of the sepulcher vs. temporary offensive assistance that has to be activated for the antipaladin. Considering that shadowdancer gains a "shadow companion" that improves has he does ("his shadow has a number of hit points equal to half the shadowdancer's total. The shadow uses the shadowdancer's base attack bonus and base save bonuses"), the servant version of Fiendish Boon isn't needed (and is horribly underpowered after a few levels without the ability to improve it). So, is adding a temporary +1 (or one of three "+1 equivalent" weapon abilities) more useful than even higher saves, saving a feat, and ignoring 25% of criticals and Sneak Attacks?
I think the Aura of Despair thing is not really sinking in, since those -2's stack with -2's coming from Intimidate/Demoralize, and apply to your touch of corruptions which is most likely going to be delivered using a melee attack, meaning that your auras will be in full effect. An optimized build will be able to deliver a melee attack, roll an intimidate check, and spread a disease from Plague Bringer, all in one move, could even happen with a single standard action with the right equipment. All of those stacking debuffs effectively give you +4 to +6 on your Cruelty DCs which is very significant.
Oh no, it "sunk in". I evaluated the ability with the full knowledge of how it stacks, thanks.
Stop.
Again, .
What I am saying is the difference between knight of the sepulcher 5/shadowdancer 10 and antipaladin 5/shadowdancer 10 is not very large. Get it?
The only difference between the two is at 5th level.
Knight of the sepulcher 5: "+2 bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting effects, death effects, and poison. He is harmed by positive energy effects and healed by negative energy effects as though he were undead, although negative energy effects that don't heal undead (such as enervation) affect him normally. The knight of the sepulcher has a 25% chance of ignoring critical hits and the bonus damage from sneak attacks as though he were wearing armor of light fortification."
Antipaladin 5: Choose between giving one weapon a +1 enhancement for 5 min/day (or, if a weapon is already magical, flaming, keen, vicious) and being able to call a single dretch or a fiendish animal from the summon monster III list (which is set when the ability is chosen and can't be changed or improved without advancing in antipaladin levels) once per day.
The difference between the two for this character is constant defensive bonuses for the knight of the sepulcher vs. temporary offensive assistance that has to be activated for the antipaladin. Considering that shadowdancer gains a "shadow companion" that improves has he does ("his shadow has a number of hit points equal to half the shadowdancer's total. The shadow uses the shadowdancer's base attack bonus and base save bonuses"), the servant version of Fiendish Boon isn't needed (and is horribly underpowered after a few levels without the ability to improve it). So, is adding a temporary +1 (or one of three "+1 equivalent" weapon abilities) more useful than even higher saves, saving a feat, and ignoring 25% of criticals and Sneak Attacks?
Okay... Stopped. Now,
And we're back to a smaller, unbolded font size again. :)
The difference between the two characters is not significant. I'm not sure where you got the notion that someone was arguing that with you. In fact, if you notice, my ridiculously long post was posted 8 minutes after yours, and I don't know about you, but I don't think I could have typed that out in 8 minutes. Therefore, I know that I wasn't arguing with you; I wasn't even responding to you. So, I think I "got it". I'd even guess that master_marshmallow "got it", as it doesn't look like he was responding to you, either, since he quoted me.
So, that was a bit of an unnecessary and rude response from you. However, ignoring that as we move forward, I recognize that the higher saves, saving a feat and light fortification are better than a +1 (or one of three "+1 equivalent" weapon abilities). I believe that master_marshmallow recognizes the benefit of persistent defenses after his second look. I don't mean to speak on his behalf, but it is my impression that master_marshmallow has acknowledged that losing the fiendish boon is just a "hard pill to swallow", but not specifically unsound. Master_marshmallow, please forgive my speaking on your behalf.
Thank you for your response, though. I just hope that we can continue with civil discussion as we proceed.
Best wishes!