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I still have time to be advised and influenced before my next campaign, Wrath of the Righteous begins this weekend.
GM already approved a Crusader from the Book of Nine Swords, a product from 3.5 D&D. He told other players he was going to leave behind 3.5 stuff, but he felt I did a good job not getting crazy playing a Sword Sage from the same book in out last campaign, so he gave me a thumbs up for the Crusader. Maybe because he already told me I could play one before deciding to otherwise leave 3.5 behind. I suspect other 3.5 material will be unlikely.
We all begin at "5th" level with 2 negative levels we cannot get rid of before playing. Standard wealth by level for 5th level. We have a 20 point buy. I am still flexible on the exact stats and will likely decide their final numbers, only after determining if I decide to primarily fight With a two handed weapon or one handed weapon. I am highly opposed to to a high dexterity build though. I plan on a 12 dex in full plate or 13 for dodge.
I was thinking about what feats to take and felt some of them, while staples from my past, are a little boring, most just adding a +1 to die rolls. I also don't recall the name of one I recently heard about that interests me. It was printed in one of the soft cover books within the last few years, it allows use of a buckler with 2 handed weapons. So I am asking for advice on what feats to take. Below are the feats I already had in mind, I am still flexible on them.
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Weapon focus(advice for weapons to pick also welcome), shield focus, dodge, toughness, “buckler with two handed weapon,” godless healing if adapting the class from religious to regional, combat reflexes if I concentrate on a reach weapon
From Bo9S: vital recovery(worried it might not work with high AC and Crusader maneuver recharge mechanic), extra granted maneuver, sudden recovery
Any more feats you can recommend? I am not glued to a one handed or two handed weapon yet. I will refuse to do two weapon fighting and highly doubtful of bothering with dexterity based fighting/AC.
I just thought that maybe amateur swashbuckler with reposte might be interesting, and maybe the only way I could justify some points in charisma that I otherwise thought about dumping, even at the cost of a class feature and reduction in benefit of another class feature.
Now I am wondering about checking the current crane wing feat, I doubt I would want to give up the AC boost of a magic shield but I am at least open to considering it.
I am also interested in maybe making one or more adaptations. Please share your feedback on such:
Changing from a religious theme to a regional them, as suggested within Bo9S itself
Swapping out the class feature of charisma bonus to will saves for instead fighters bravery(DM said he was making fear effects more powerful in his campaign and even paladins are not immune). Or something, anything else, I am really tempted to dump charisma so anything not relying on Charisma would be a better option. Maybe once a day, I can reroll a will save?
Boosting their will power saves to a good category, same as how Paladins went from poor to good will save progression from 3.0/5 to PF.
Should I use the smite as written in the Bo9S or as written in PF?
Thank you to anyone willing to offer feedback!
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You could look into the Path of War materials, which is the PF version of Bo9S. Also, this should probably be in Third-party or Conversions at this point.
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Thank you pulseoptional. I feel foolish for having failed to go check Path of War's feats. I actually own the PDF, but without any expectation of being able to play it with any of my recent GMs, I never felt much of a need to review the material. I shiuld still get around to it, I do GM myself, so I could use that book for NPCs.
I forgot to mention earlier that I plan to focus on Devoted spirit maneuvers. I am tempted to take some white raven because this will likely be the only crusader I ever play. The chance of playing a warblade in the future become slimmer and slimmer as the years role on, so this might be the last time I ever get a chance ti play with White Raven maneuvers. I prefer stone dragon but I already had fun with it with a prior character.
Amateur Swashbuckler no longer allows Opportune Parry and Riposte. Dodging Panache can still be very good, especially on a character using a Swordmaster's Flair: Blue Scarf to have bonus reach with a rapier or whatever.
Aside from all the bad press it got from multiple re-designs, the Crane Chain is still huge defense. Crane Chain plus Stylish Riposte is exceptionally feat-intensive, but the end product is a huge boost to AC and a ton of counterattacks. Since 1-2 hand grip change is a free action and specifically called-out as doable twice per turn, you can two-hand for most attacks and then Crane defend and counterattack with a one-hand grip.
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Thanks BadBird!
Never heard about Dodging Panache and Swordmaster's Flair: Blue Scarf before. Will look them up. Thanks for the update on Amateur Swashbuckler no longer allows Opportune Parry and Riposte.
Sounds like a bastard sword and similar single/double handed weapons mught be better forthe crane wing option if I go that route. Is there concensus that swithing grips on other peoples turns is allowed? Even as I free action, I would raise an eyebrow and be unsure of that when I judge. I know talking on anithers turn is allowed.
You can only switch grip on your turn, so you go one-handed before ending your turn and back to two hands when the next turn starts.
Stylish Riposte is a Weapon Trick, by the way, so it's listed under that rather than its own feat.