Character building help. A Sorcerous Paladin?

[NekoJoker]

Hey there! one of the guys at my game is trying to come up with some original Fighter/Sorcerer build. He has fallen in love with the Abjurant Champion PrC and wants to go in depth with many more ideas. His plan right now is using a paladin for a bout 5 lvls and use de Smiting charge feature to deal more damage in melee. then do 1 lvl of sorcerer and enter Abjurant champion.
I have to say that the idea sounds interesting... but far from optimized.
He has asked me to post his concern in this board to see if we can get some enlightment from some more experienced players. He is would like a 20 lvl progression

Note. In my opinion if he wants to go for a caster and a melee type he should go for duskblade... but that's only my opinion.


About books, we are open to almost all core material PHB 1&2. all the complete series and some environment-specifics (dungeonscape, sandstorm, stormwrack, the one about urban environments) but we try to stay away from the Tome of Battle.
thxs

[Tsotha-lanti]

There's a PrC for pretty much precisely this in Heroes of Valor. Forget the name, but it'll be obvious enough when you look through the 5 or so in the book. Paladin powers, spontaneous casting up to 6th level (with some spells available as lower-level spells than usual). Probably easy to combine with Abjurant Champion,

[hamishspence]

Knight of the Weave? It simply says "You can multiclass into this and still retain paladin class" doesn't actually grant paladin-ish powers. Spellfire + arcane spells + paladin is a pretty interesting combination though.

[Iku Rex]

An old build of mine: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2741325&postcount=7 . (lv12)

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Hey there! one of the guys at my game is trying to come up with some original Fighter/Sorcerer build. He has fallen in love with the Abjurant Champion PrC and wants to go in depth with many more ideas. His plan right now is using a paladin for a bout 5 lvls and use de Smiting charge feature to deal more damage in melee. then do 1 lvl of sorcerer and enter Abjurant champion.
I have to say that the idea sounds interesting... but far from optimized.
He has asked me to post his concern in this board to see if we can get some enlightment from some more experienced players. He is would like a 20 lvl progression

Note. In my opinion if he wants to go for a caster and a melee type he should go for duskblade... but that's only my opinion.


About books, we are open to almost all core material PHB 1&2. all the complete series and some environment-specifics (dungeonscape, sandstorm, stormwrack, the one about urban environments) but we try to stay away from the Tome of Battle.
thxs

Well, your buddy certainly has the right idea! Paladin and Sorcerer synergize VERY well, due to Charisma synergy. However, he's got the scale all wrong.

What your friend is blindly groping towards is called a 'gish' build, one that can do both fighting and casting, and do both well.

The build you are wanting probably looks closer to this:

Paladin 2/Sorcerer4/Spell Sword 1/Abjurant Champion 5

What you get:

Casting Stat to all saves
All of the Cure X Wounds spells on his spell list (from Paladin), so he can use Cure x Wounds Wands to act as a secondary healer in emergencies
10/12 for BAB and casting. This is actually a better BAB than a 3/4 BAB class like a Cleric. Sure, loosing two caster levels sucks (only casting 5th level spells, rather than having access to 6th level spells), but it all evens out in the end.
10% Arcane Spell Failure Chance Reduction. This is from Spellsword, and lets you equip a Mithral Chain Shirt without requiring the Twilight enhancement to cast in armor without penalty. This makes the Mage Armor spell obsolete (since the bonuses from Abjurant Champion do NOT add to the Mage Armor spell, because it is Conjuration and not Abjuration). It is also a viable target for Magic Vestments spell, unlike any Mage Armor spell.

Overview:
You are more of a finesse fighter. Strength can be low, you are wanting Dex and Charisma to be strong, and Con and Wis to be okay, with Int and Str your dump stats. You can use an auto-quickened Shield spell to grant yourself an extra +9 AC, so there is no point at all in equipping a shield. Mirror Image is another good spell for you, as it helps keep you from being hurt.

Spells you take will depend on what you want your party role to be.

Do you want to be the Party Buff-Bot? Fine. Pick up things like Haste, Greater Magic Weapon, and let's rock

Do you want to be Battlefield Control? Slow, Solid Fog, Glitterdust, Web, and Stinking Cloud are some of the more interesting and lively methods of making your opponents sit down and shut up.

Do you want to be the Blaster Master? Pick up a couple of solid blasts, then pick up some Energy Substitution feats so you can vary the flavor. Don't neglect staples like Magic Missile, Scorching Ray, and Disintegrate. The Orb Of X spell series (and the 1st level lesser versions thereof) are great at single-target damage. Pick up Fireball and Cone of Cold if you are wanting some Area Effect blastomancy.

Regardless, you will want the 'always useful' spells like Mirror Image, Shield, Dispel Magic (auto-quickened with AbChamp!), and Enervate.

[Chronos]

The build you are wanting probably looks closer to this:

Paladin 2/Sorcerer4/Spell Sword 1/Abjurant Champion 5
Good so far as it goes, but from there you'll probably have to either give up another casting level and go into Eldritch Knight or the equivalent, or sacrifice BAB to keep your casting up.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

As a general rule, any warrior/mage type character build should try to get as much spellcasting as possible while sacrificing as little base attack bonus as possible. The ultimate goal is to have 9th level spells at level 20 with a +16 BAB.

For this character, try going Paladin 2/ Sorcerer 4/ Spellsword 1/ Abjurant Champion 5/ Sacred Exorcist 8. Smite Evil should not be considered a reliable source of damage, especially compared to feats like Power Attack, Leap Attack (CV), and Arcane Strike (CW), especially when combined with the spell Wraithstrike. Use Polymorph and Draconic Polymorph from the Draconomicon to take the form of a creature with powerful physical stats, such as a Cave Troll or a War Troll (MM3). One of the best races to use is the +0 LA Aasimar (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040213a), for which you never have to spend a level (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20030824a) to gain the level adjustment and other abilities. Plus your creature type will be Outsider, allowing you to (Draconic) Polymorph into powerful Outsider forms such as a Planetar or a Kelvezu (MM3).

Get a few Lesser Metamagic Rods of Extend, and note that when you use a metamagic feat with a spell that has a casting time of a swift action its casting time will not be increased, as that rule only applies to spells with a normal casting time of a standard action or longer. Use those to make Wraithstrike last two rounds instead of one. Be sure to get Practiced Spellcaster (CA, CD) to keep your caster level equal to your character level, and the Metamagic Specialist variant for Sorcerer from PHB2 is definitely worth taking. Get a Lesser Metamagic Rod of Quicken with the spell Whirling Blade, one round you can cast Extended Wraithstrike, activate Arcane Strike, and charge in with power attack and leap attack to deal obscene damage, then the next round arcane strike and power attack again with a full attack or another charge with leap attack, then cast a Quickened Whirling Blade to hit every opponent in a 60-ft Line with the same melee attack and damage bonuses.

Remember to cast Shield at the start of every fight, Abjurant Champion Quickens it for free and increases its AC bonus considerably. Greater Mirror Image (PH2) is another good defensive spell to have once you're high enough level. You'll need to get Dismissal as a spell known before gaining Sacred Exorcist, but at the 4th level of the class your Dispel Evil spell-like ability will fulfill that prerequisite and you can trade out Dismissal for a more useful spell. Other useful spells for later on are Greater Magic Weapon so you can put money into special properties rather than extra Enhancement bonus, and Protection from Energy which you can cast Quickened thanks to Abjurant Champion. A Lesser Metamagic Rod of Chain Spell (CA) is also good to have for those so you can buff the whole party (or everyone's weapons) with a single casting. Other useful low-level spells to keep for later on include Ebon Eyes, Benign Transposition, Heroics, and Ray of Dizziness.

Apart from metamagic rods, get a good two-handed weapon and make it +1, Spell Storing, and if possible get Valorous (UE) on it. The Sudden Stunning property from DMG2 is also a spectacular choice. Put a spell like Vampiric Touch, Sound Lance, or even Shivering Touch into your Spell Storing weapon, and remember that it can store a (Rod of) Maximized version of any 3rd level or lower spell because it doesn't count as a higher level spell even if it took a higher level spell slot to cast, unless it was Heightened. Boots of Temporal Acceleration (XPH) are great to have, and a Gemstone of Heavy Fortification from the Draconomicon is cheaper to get than getting Heavy Fortification on any armor higher than +1 even considering the cost of hiring an NPC spellcaster to embed it with Limited Wish (2410 gp standard fee), plus it can't be unequipped or lost/stolen. At Spellsword 1 you can wear Mithril Breastplate with a Thistledown Suit from Races of the Wild and have a 0% chance of arcane spell failure.