Since dragonkin is a thirdparty race, it doesn't have any race traits. I thought about letting them use kobald traits, but decided not to.
I might do that for players, but I think I'll stick to what I've picked out for my cleric. This will actually be the first cleric I've made, so I'm trying to keep it relatively simple. I'll think about making him half-orc.
One motivation for the end of the world is someone has had such a bad life that oblivion is it's own reward.
Also, their better stats are a down payment. They get to be the hands of doom. I'm just profiling here.
I'm writing down feat choices here so I can find them easily and keep track of which character I want them for. Power Attack is a given for the Antipaladin, of course.
For Antipaladin:
Cornugon Smash: When you damage an opponent with a Power Attack, you may make an immediate Intimidate check as a free action to attempt to demoralize your opponent.
Extra Lay On Hands: You can use your lay on hands ability two additional times per day.
Hammer the Gap: When you take a full-attack action, each consecutive hit against the same opponent deals extra damage equal to the number of previous consecutive hits you have made against that opponent this turn. This damage is multiplied on a critical hit.
Intimidating Prowess: Add your Strength modifier to Intimidate skill checks in addition to your Charisma modifier.
Cleave: As a standard action, you can make a single attack at your full base attack bonus against a foe within reach. If you hit, you deal damage normally and can make an additional attack (using your full base attack bonus) against a foe that is adjacent to the first and also within reach. You can only make one additional attack per round with this feat. When you use this feat, you take a –2 penalty to your Armor Class until your next turn.
Reward of Grace: Each time you use your lay on hands ability, you gain a +1 sacred bonus on all attack rolls for 1 round.
Unsanctioned Knowledge: Pick one 1st-level spell, one 2nd-level spell, one 3rd-level spell, and one 4th-level spell from the bard, cleric, inquisitor, or oracle spell lists. Add these spells to your paladin spell list as paladin spells of the appropriate level. Once chosen, these spells cannot be changed.
Vital Strike: When you use the attack action, you can make one attack at your highest base attack bonus that deals additional damage. Roll the weapon’s damage dice for the attack twice and add the results together before adding bonuses from Strength, weapon abilities (such as flaming), precision-based damage, and other damage bonuses. These extra weapon damage dice are not multiplied on a critical hit, but are added to the total.
Devastating Strike: Whenever you use Vital Strike, Improved Vital Strike, or Greater Vital Strike, you gain a +2 bonus on each extra weapon damage dice roll those feats grant (+6 maximum). This bonus damage is multiplied on a critical hit.
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For Cleric:
Guided Hand: Needs Channel Smite. With your deity’s favored weapon (Greataxe), you can use your Wisdom modifier instead of your Strength or Dexterity modifier on attack rolls.
Command Undead: As a standard action, you can use one of your uses of channel negative energy to enslave undead within 30 feet. Undead receive a Will save to negate the effect. The DC for this Will save is equal to 10 + 1/2 your cleric level + your Charisma modifier. Undead that fail their saves fall under your control, obeying your commands to the best of their ability, as if under the effects of control undead. Intelligent undead receive a new saving throw each day to resist your command. You can control any number of undead, so long as their total Hit Dice do not exceed your cleric level. If you use channel energy in this way, it has no other effect (it does not heal or harm nearby creatures). If an undead creature is under the control of another creature, you must make an opposed Charisma check whenever your orders conflict.
Improved Channel: Add 2 to the DC of saving throws made to resist the effects of your channel energy ability.
Selective Channeling: When you channel energy, you can choose a number of targets in the area up to your Charisma modifier. These targets are not affected by your channeled energy.
Toughness: You gain +3 hit points. For every Hit Die you possess beyond 3, you gain an additional +1 hit point. If you have more than 3 Hit Dice, you gain +1 hit points whenever you gain a Hit Die (such as when you gain a level).
Combat Casting: You get a +4 bonus on concentration checks made to cast a spell or use a spell-like ability when casting on the defensive or while grappled.
Warrior Priest: You gain a +1 bonus on initiative checks and a +2 bonus on concentration checks made to cast a spell or use a spell-like ability when casting defensively or while grappled.
Persistent Spell: Whenever a creature targeted by a persistent spell or within its area succeeds on its saving throw against the spell, it must make another saving throw against the effect. If a creature fails this second saving throw, it suffers the full effects of the spell, as if it had failed its first saving throw.
Level Increase: +2
Burning Spell: The acid or fire effects of the affected spell adhere to the creature, causing more damage the next round. When a creature takes acid or fire damage from the affected spell, that creature takes damage equal to 2x the spell’s actual level at the start of its next turn. The damage is acid or fire, as determined by the spell’s descriptor. If a burning spell has both the fire and acid descriptor, the caster chooses what kind of damage is dealt by the burning spell effect.
Level Increase: +2
Echoing Spell: When you cast an echoing spell, it does not disappear entirely from memory, and you can cast it one additional time during that day. No effect that allows you to reprepare or recast a spell can affect the echoed spell.
If you prepare spells, this second casting does not require you to prepare it in another spell slot. If you spontaneously cast spells, this second casting does not expend another available spell slot.
Level Increase: +3
Intensified Spell: An intensified spell increases the maximum number of damage dice by 5 levels. You must actually have sufficient caster levels to surpass the maximum in order to benefit from this feat. No other variables of the spell are affected, and spells that inflict damage that is not modified by caster level are not affected by this feat.
Level Increase: +1
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For both:
Channel Smite: Before you make a melee attack roll, you can choose to spend one use of your channel energy ability as a swift action. If you channel negative energy and you hit a living creature, that creature takes an amount of additional damage equal to the damage dealt by your channel negative energy ability. Your target can make a Will save, as normal, to halve this additional damage. If your attack misses, the channel energy ability is still expended with no effect.
Summon Evil Monster: When casting summon monster, you also have access to the list of evil monsters on this page. When summoning a creature from this list, your debased nature allows you to cast the spell as a standard action. The summoned creature appears as normal for the spell but can’t act until next your next turn. It is not flat-footed, however, and it can make attacks of opportunity as normal. These effects don’t apply for creatures from the standard list that aren’t also on this list.
Power Attack was a definite yes, so I didn't bother putting it down. Hammer the Gap is a bad choice then, got it.
No, he's a normal human. He's level 9 so he gets 6 feats altogether without being a fighter gestalt.
I guess I don't really need Unsanctioned Knowledge. The regular spell list should work for what I need. Heck, that leaves 5 feats left on the list.
I think I'm going to go with the Weapon Training and Fury traits. Fury does the exact same thing as Bellis Axe Master, just restricted to a greataxe instead of all axes.
For both, Channel Smite is just a trap feat. You spend a use of Channel Energy to do more damage than you would with a normal Channel Energy, but it is against only 1 target, and you have a chance to waste it with a blown attack roll. Unless you absolutely have to have it as a prerequisite (feat tax) for something, just take Selective Channel (already on the Cleric but not the Antipaladin) instead for the Antipaladin. Since this is already on the Cleric, get Sacred Summons instead (partially redundant with Summon Evil, but they do have some synergy). Alternatively get Augmented Summons, but then you would have to figure out how to squeeze in its prerequisite Spell Focus (Conjuration), which a semi-trap option on most divine casters, unless recent supplements gave them some additional offensive Conjuration spells that allow Saves.
I don't think Summon Evil Monster is worth it on the Antipaladin (4/9 casting is really bad for being a monster summoner, and even 6/9 casting isn't very good for being a monster summoner, unless you are an actual Summoner).
+1 on getting Power Attack for the Antipaladin. Actually, it's a prerequisite for Cornugon Smash anyway.
Not sure if Extra Lay on Hands is worthwhile for the Antipaladin, unless the Antipaladin has Negative Energy Affinity or has an archetype (like Insinuator -- see below) that allows Touch of Corruption to act as Lay On Hands for the Antipaladin. If you are going to invest in this, also get a Conductive weapon for the Antipaladin to enable quasi-Spellstrike of Touch of Corruption and Cruelties (unless the Antipaladin has an archetype, like Insinuator, that trades these out and/or can't use the equivalent against an enemy).
By the way, if you do go for Insinuator Antipaladin, this archetype trades out spells for Bonus Combat Feats (can also select Skill Focus) at levels 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, and 19, which, considering that an Antipaladin is otherwise as feat-starved as a Paladin, is worth considering (among other things, it makes investment in some social feats no longer prohibitive). Insinuator Antipaladins can also be any Evil alignment, not just Chaotic Evil. And although the Insinuator can't cast Summon Monster (no spells at all), the Insinuator can call in an Outsider, which can be different each day, which is better than the wimpy monsters a regular Antipaladin would get by casting Summon Monster with 4/9 spellcasting. The Insinuator does make some painful trades, but most of them are less painful than Gray Paladin (I wish we had a Paladin archetype that was the Any Good Alignment equivalent of Insinuator Antipaladin, which is certainly serviceable, unlike Gray Paladin, which isn't, and doesn't even cover Chaotic Good).
Well, 2 extra feats could be handy. The Antipaladin is a level 9 NPC. The cleric will be higher, like 14 or 15. I'll take a look at the archetype.
Well, the weapon and armor training would be helpful as will the bonus feats. The BAB, skills, and saves would stay as they are. With a gestalt at level 9, he'd get a total of 10 feats, with 4 of them having to be Combat feats.
I think I'm going to stick with regular Antipaladin instead of the archetype. But I will gestalt him with fighter. I also decided to bump his stats up a little bit aside from Str. It's now 18 Str, 12 Dex, 16 Con, 13 Int, 16 Wis, and 18 Cha. The 13 Int is in case I decide to use Combat Expertise. I'm going with the traits Weapon Training and Fury. His first feat is Power Attack. As a human fighter, he has 2 more first level feats to pick, then 8 more for a total of 11.
Since he's an NPC, I wasn't entirely sure what skills to give him. Antipaladins and fighters both get 2+Int points a level. That's a total of 27 in all. I picked 5 ranks in Bluff, 5 in Diplomacy, 7 in Handle Animal, 5 in Intimidate, 2 in Knowledge Nobility, and 3 in Knowledge Religion. His Fiendish Boon is going to be an animal, so I figured the Handle Animal ranks were needed.
I'm thinking Cornugon Smash and Intimidating Prowess would be good choices. Weapon Focus is often a requirement for other feats. Furious Focus seems decent. Lunge maybe? Weapon Specialization?
Rovagug's favored weapon is a greataxe. I'm going to have him use it. It's a two-handed weapon.
I couldn't edit anymore. I forgot the human skill point bonus. 7 Bluff, 7 Diplomacy, 6 Handle Animal, 7 Intimidate, 2 Knowledge Local, 4 Knowledge Nobility, 4 Knowledge Religion. Do NPCs get a favored class bonus?
For the villian, the mini BBEG, should I go with a fallen paladin that doesn't have any class features and gestalt him with a fighter? Or just make a straight up Antipaladin?
I might have misread something trying to catch up, so please ignore this if you have already gone past this. When using gestalt, you might want to split from two martial classes. In this case you are gaining a lot of feats, but almost everything else is redundant. Because of Charisma base, oracle would be a good second class for paladin by increasing the spellcasting capabilities for example. Spiritualist or summoner could add some flavor with a physical embodiment of his diety close at hand.
Also the half-dragon template has a class-level-equivelant. Meaning one half of a gestalt character can be the half-dragon. A fifth level character would look like: cleric 5/half-dragon 3/fighter 2.
Depending on the longevity of the campaign, you might consider leaving the BBEG un-statted. Let your player's choices and styles guide you in building that when they get there. It will make the ending seem more whole to their involvement.
Finally, I thought of this when I saw your thread title. :)
Well, at the moment, I'm mainly just trying to get a good feel for how an NPC and gestalt would work. I can switch it around later if needed. The Antipaladin/Fighter is the mini-BBEG who's being manipulated by the big BBEG.
The big BBEG is going to be a dragonkin, and I really don't want to use a half-dragon template on a dragonkin. I will be using it for other NPCs though. I figured I'd make a few different NPC minion types and adjust for levels when I use them.
You know, like if the party runs into 5 NPCs, 3 would be dragonkin and 2 would be half-dragons. 3 melee fighters, a ranged fighter, and a spellcaster.
Very true. I think I'll put the bonus into HP.
I'll consider it. I might redo the dragonkin, I'm just afraid of unbalancing it.
Ok, thanks. :) I think I'll finish up the Antipaladin first and then move on to the dragonkin. Maybe I'll make wings an alternate racial trait. That way there'd be some that can fly and some that can't.
For the Advanced Weapon Training, I'm leaning towards Defensive Weapon Training. +1 shield bonus to AC plus half my weapon's enhancement bonus. I like Steel Headbutt for the Advanced Armor Training. It's an extra attack that's made out of the same material as the armor but is enhanced separately.
Oh, and the table says a level 9 NPC has 7800 gold. Would that be enough?
I have absolutely no idea what you just said.
Ok, I think I got that.
The Antipaladin will be getting 2 attacks due to BAB, but he will be wielding a greataxe, which is a two-handed weapon. So Effortless Dual Wielding won't work.
I didn't realize that the armor and weapon training can also be taken as a feat. So I can decrease the AMP by 2 instead of just one. Armor Specialization would only add +2 to my AC, though.
Defensive Weapon Training would add +1 plus half the bonuses on the greataxe. And if he has, maybe, +4 on the axe, that's +3 to my AC.
As for Armed Bravery, he already has +13 to his Will saves, plus another 2 against fear effects.
Too bad Angelskin can't be made into heavy armor. It would be a perfect way to hide my Antipaladin's evil aura.
Too bad Angelskin can't be made into heavy armor. It would be a perfect way to hide my Antipaladin's evil aura.
Agreed. :) Isn't there an amulet that does something similar?
no half dragon template is cr +2 so it would only take 2 levels from one side or even potentially 1 level from both sides so a level 14 character would be cleric 14, oracle 12 half dragon template* or cleric 12, oracle 14 half dragon template or cleric 13, oracle 13 and half dragon template**Also the half-dragon template has a class-level-equivelant. Meaning one half of a gestalt character can be the half-dragon. A fifth level character would look like: cleric 5/half-dragon 3/fighter 2.
My bad, I mis-remembered the number.
*final CR is 15.**final CR is 16. These don't quite match, so I am not sure one could build a level 1 gestalt half dragon/half dragon. (IDK, maybe one can?) I do not think it matters for Lady-J's home campaign though, go for it if you want to. :)
Probably. I'll have to look it up.
Found a way to hide his aura. The spell Undetectable Alignment. It's level 2 for both regular paladins and antipaladins and it lasts for 24 hours.
Nice ring. Expensive ring. Unless I give him PC gold, it's a little out of his price range.
Fair point.
PCs should only get nice stuff from the bad guys.
If you give character bad guys the same tools as PCs, it stays challenging.
The only reason dragons have piles of gold is because they cannot use cool magic items. Every dragon should have Kobold minions to use cool magic items for them.
PCs should only get nice stuff from the bad guys.
If you give character bad guys the same tools as PCs, it stays challenging.The only reason dragons have piles of gold is because they cannot use cool magic items. Every dragon should have Kobold minions to use cool magic items for them.
Luckily in this world, there are dragon people who can use cool magic items.
I found an item to give my Antipaladin just for the flavor. The Collar of Obedience. The cleric could have put it on him to make him more compliant. The price would be taken out of the cleric's gold rater than the Antipaladin's. I just thought it would be fun as a plot point.
Any way to gestalt him with rogue or slayer or ninja? Get some skill points, sneak attack, and good reflex saves, but still be pretty basic melee.
Ok, so for my Antipaladin's gear, I'm thinking of going with these: Ring of Protection, Ring of Mind Shielding, Broken Chain of the Beast, Sash of the War Champion, Collar of Obedience, and a Cracked Orange Prism.
Including the armor and weapon, without enhancements, and starting at 9th level PC gold, he will have 17620 gold left over. That should be enough for some enhancements and potions or wands and still leave plenty for the PC's to loot when they beat him.
Any way to gestalt him with rogue or slayer or ninja? Get some skill points, sneak attack, and good reflex saves, but still be pretty basic melee.
I was planning on a fighter gestalt, actually.
I know, but if you don't need all the feats and armor tricks, there are some alternatives if you want them. But you don't have to min-max an NPC. You can build one to challenge the party just right. :-)
I will keep it in mind.
With the Sash of the War Champion, my Antipaladin is considered as level 13 for armor and weapon training. I picked Armor Specialization to give him another +2 to his AC. But I'm not sure what I should pick for the weapon training. Should I just pick another weapon group and give him another weapon in case he gets disarmed?
Oh, you're right. I misread it. Oh well.
I've already decided not to use the Broken Chain item. He already gets a Fiendish Cobra thanks to his Fiendish Boon class feature and there will be minions. I thought about getting him a Vibrant Purple stone, but the Cracked one only stores a single level spell and the Normal one is too expensive.