The little Kobold that could: Kobold paladin help

[noble peasant]

Class: Tempered Champion Paladin with oath of vengeance/ 1lvl dip of Unbreakable fighter

Patron: Vildeis- areas of concern are devotion, sacrifice and scars favored weapon is a dagger

Kind of aiming for a stereotypical anime protagonist feel of success through unparalleled effort and resolve as opposed to naturally gifted, setting an example for those born frail, especially his people, that they can stand proudly amongst the rest and that warm hearts will be met with warm welcomes. Hopefully inspiring others to follow in his footsteps.

Stats including racials:
STR: 10
DEX: 16
CON: 12
INT: 12
WIS: 7 in fitting style he's a bit dense ;)
CHA: 15 all stat boosts are going here
Traits: river rat, Gold Scaled

1st level: Unbreakable Fighter for diehard and as the first level feat grab Kobold Confidence which allows me to use CHA as opposed to CON to calculate how far negative in hp I can go before dying. This feat makes me so happy, fits super well and just might make it work.

After that it's Paladin's the rest of the way grabbing weapon finesse, and getting as many lay on hands uses as I can to stay alive and fighting with a shield and dagger, question is how best to go about this?

[Rory]

Yowsers... that's a challenging plan...

Your first few (many) levels are going to be terrible in combat, but decent outside of combat.

1st:
+2 to hit (dagger 1d3+1)
+2 to hit (great sword 1d10+0)

(this remains about the same 'til 5th to 7th level going straight paladin)

That's... harsh... you don't have a balanced base to build on. Instead, consider delaying a couple of those colorful options to get a nice base to build on.

S: 10 D: 16 C: 12 I: 12 W: 7 Ch: 15 (20 pt kobold)
Opt: S: 8 D: 18 C: 12 I: 10 W: 7 Ch: 15 (20 pt kobold)

Traits:
- River Rat
- Fate's Favored

Feats:
- "Weapon Finesse" (swashbuckler 1)
- Two Weapon Fighting (1st)
- Piranha Strike (3rd)
- Endurance (unbreakable fighter 1)
- Die Hard (unbreakable fighter 1)
- Accomplished Sneak Attacker (5th)

Levels:
Swashbuckler 1
Paladin 1
Paladin 2
Unbreakable Fighter 1
Ninja 1
Paladin 3 -> 17

1st:
+5 to hit (dagger 1d3+1)
+3/+3 to hit (dagger 1d3+1)

3rd:
+6 to hit (dagger 1d3+3)
+4/+4 to hit (dagger 1d3+3)
--> +2/+2 from Wand of Divine Favor

5th:
+6 to hit (dagger 1d3+5)
+4/+4 to hit (dagger 1d3+5)
--> +2/+2 from Wand of Divine Favor
--> +2d6 Sneak Attack Potential

NOTE: This is without equipment potential.

You'll want to get +1 Agile Daggers as soon as you can, which will be a while... ~6th to 7th level.

This gets you an okay combat build to go with your okay out of combat build.

[Rory]

Kobold the Unbreakable Paladin

S: 14 D: 12 C: 10 I: 10 W: 7 Ch: 14 (20 pt kobold)

Traits:
- Gold Scaled
- Fate's Favored

Feats:
- Toughness (1st)
- Greater Mercy (3rd)
- Endurance (unbreakable fighter 1)
- Die Hard (unbreakable fighter 1)
- Power Attack (unbreakable fighter 2)
- Kobold Confidence (5th)

Levels:
Paladin 1
Paladin 2
Unbreakable Fighter 1
Unbreakable Fighter 2
Paladin 3 -> 18

1st:
+4 to hit (great sword 1d10+3)
--> +2/+2 from Wand of Divine Favor

3rd:
+6 to hit (great sword 1d10+3)
--> +2/+2 from Wand of Divine Favor

5th:
+6 to hit (great sword 1d10+9)
--> +2/+2 from Wand of Divine Favor

Equipment going forward is much easier at least.

[noble peasant]

I'm not sure how I feel about two weapon fighting, the party is very combat oriented as usual on top of having six party members, so I'm not super worried about not having great damage output at first, the main expressed concern is me being a hassle to keep alive. I admit Kobold confidence can definitely wait, especially since when charisma gets pumped a bit more is when it will make more of a difference.

Maybe rather thanTempered Champion I should grab Warrior of the holy light for more lay on hands and provide a party buffing aoe?

Also I'm not sure what fate's favored does for me, which ability provides a luck bonus?

EDIT: also being able to run about slapping a lay on hands on party members in trouble, like negative hp struggling, may be something good to bring as no one likes playing divine casters at this table including me. So having plenty of lay on hands would probably be something nice to bring to the table.

[Rory]

noble peasant wrote:

I'm not super worried about not having great damage output at first,

There is a great divide between great damage output and any-damage-at-all. Having near zero combat contribution will be a drag on the party and no fun for you.

Besides, if you can contribute some damage, isn't that a good thing?

noble peasant wrote:

the main expressed concern is me being a hassle to keep alive

This shouldn't be an issue. If you can slay your own threatening foe, this issue decreases dramatically.

The second build is the one that is better at surviving quicker, based on the larger hitpoint pool.

At 1st level, you'll have 14 hitpoints... which is reasonable. Your AC will be terrible, so you'll want to get heavy armor ASAP.

At 2nd level, you'll have ~21 hitpoints. You'll be able to swift action heal yourself for 1d6 hitpoints.

By 3rd, you'll be able to swift action heal yourself for 2d6 and have a hitpoint pool before death of ~38 hitpoints.

(the 1st build is decent though with the swashbuckler parry ability at 1st level, you'd also have a much better AC, I think it is far neater and much more of a kobold style of build)

noble peasant wrote:

Also I'm not sure what fate's favored does for me, which ability provides a luck bonus?

Divine Favor

You can use scrolls and wands of Divine Favor as soon as level 1 as a paladin.

[noble peasant]

Ok so I think y'all are right take the fighter dip later, I'm thinking third level, I'm really wanting to use a shield though. Also I'm really planning on not having spell casting so divine favor won't be much of an option. So how about this.

Stats with racials:
STR: 12 all but the first stat plus will go here
DEX: 14
CON: 12
INT: 10
WIS: 7
CHA: 15 first stat boost here

Traits: not sure, love gold scaled tho maybe armor expert? Mithril breast plate is likely going to be the goal, not great strength low skill points and hefty armor check penalties could spell a very lackluster doom, also I appreciate the lack of movement speed penalty.

Coming in at lvl 2 so starting straight paladin to have lay on hands is definitely nice.

Starting ac will be 21: kikko +5 shield +2 small +1 natural armor +1 dex +2

Attack: long sword, +5 to hit 1d6 +1 damage

Now none of this is taking feats into account

Now as I said I'm pretty set on giving up the spell casting, so what about some thoughts on Tempered Champion vs Warrior of the Holy Light? On the one hand Warrior of the holy light gives more lay on hands which is always nice, as well as a party buffing aoe and coupled with oath of vengeance that means more smites. However Tempered Champion could make me more beastly with the longs word outside of smites granted I find a proper deity who has that as its favored weapon, as well as divine fighting technique which If I'm not mistaken could grant me an party buffing ability. Divine fighting technique can be taken in place of a mercy but I'm not sure if that's a good trade, not real familiar with paladin stuff.
EDIT: definitely favoring Warrior of the Holy Light here

Swashbuckler gives some nice things that run off charisma but I'm not sure weapon finesse is going to be much of a boon given these changes on top of the minor downgrade to having to use a buckler. Also snagging diehard with a single level dip sounds nice as it comes coupled with its feat tax.

[Rory]

You'll need to use a buckler or light shield to be able to use Lay On Hands while wielding a weapon. Since you don't plan to TWF, a buckler is better so you can two hand the attack if ever needed. Plus, a buckler works with Slashing Grace.

Losing spells to give the party +1 morale stuff as a standard action at level 4 isn't really worth it unless it scales. Didn't look like it did. I'd stay away from Warrior of the Holy Light.

Tempered Champion looks much better in potential. You'd be better off going the dagger route though. That would enable you to get Piranha Strike (at far earlier levels) instead of Power Attack (at level 9).

So... a shield... is a must.... how about this...

Kobold Mouser the Tiny Terror Paladin of Fun

S: 8 D: 18 C: 12 I: 10 W: 7 Ch: 15 (20 pt kobold)

Traits:
- Gold Scaled
- Armor Expert

Feats:
- Weapon Focus: Long Sword (1st)
- "Weapon Finesse" (swashbuckler 1)
- Slashing Grace (3rd)
- Weapon Specialization: Long Sword (tempered champion 4)
- Piranha Strike OR Greater Mercy (5th)

Levels:
Tempered Champion Paladin 1
Tempered Champion Paladin 2
Mouser Swashbuckler 1
Tempered Champion Paladin 3 -> 19

1st:
+6 to hit (light crossbow 1d6)
+6 to hit (rapier 1d4-1)

3rd:
+9 to hit (long sword 1d6+4)

5th:
+11 to hit (long sword 1d6+6)

Level 2 will be harsh, but level 3 and up will be pretty nice.

Would you be open to a scimitar instead of a long sword? That crits more often and does the same damage as a long sword starting at Tempered Champion 5. Works nicely with Swashbuckler panache.

If you wanted to "buff" the party, go Mouser Swashbuckler. Jump into the foe's square and give the party auto-flanking and making the foe -4 to hit anyone else but you.

You'll be a tiny terror!

(with the AC from this build and swift action healing, I skipped Unbreakable Fighter as you wouldn't need it to survive)

Swashbuckler also fills this role "a stereotypical anime protagonist feel of success through unparalleled effort and resolve" far better than Unbreakable Fighter.

[noble peasant]

Hmmm, mouser does look reallly good here and considering I'd have to use a buckler to use lay on hands that seems like an even better fit.