Multiclassing as a Paladin

[Famine]

Right now I am a level 8 Half-elf paladin and i'm trying to multiclass into something seeing as paladin gets dull from here on out. Any Ideas, I was thinking Purple Dragon Knight (Complete Warrior)

[Mr.Moron]

What are you current skills/feats/equipment/stats?
What sources do you have access to, which ones are allowed (even if you don't currently have access)?
What is the direction you want to take the character in?
What is the rest of your party composition?

[quick_comment]

Champions of Valor have a ton of paladin ACFs and some prcs to look into.

[Famine]

-My feats are: Power attack, Cleave and Mounted Combat

-My scores are: Str 18 (20 with item), Dex 14, Con 14, Int 11, Wis 12, Cha 20 (22 with item)

-My equipment is: +1 spell storing cold iron longsword, +3 full plate, +3 heavy steel shield, cloak of CHA +2, Belt of giant STR +2, ring of climb and ring of protect +2

-My skills are all in Diplomacy, Ride and Knowledge (religion)

-I have access to all the books, DM didn't ban anything

-Party composition is an elven wizard who specialized in Illusion, an elven rouge who uses two weapons and favored enemy dragons, and a human favored soul of bahumut who only has cure and buff spells

As for my direction i want to be a tank for the party, my AC is 29 and I have 87 health, so i'm the hardest to hit and have the most health

Sorry for wall of text

[quick_comment]

Take a crusader dip to get thicket of blades

[Mr.Moron]

You could also take Holy Mount (Dragon 325) and move into any class that progresses casting, while keeping your mount up to par. Otherwise, retrain(PHB 2) the class feature to charging smite EDIT: (Also PHB2)


EDIT: I'm forgetting my sources.

[quick_comment]

Also, definitely take battle blessing from champions of valor. Quicken on all your spells.

Edit: You can combine this with sword of the arcane order to get quickened wizard spells in your slots.

[Person_Man]

Since you're already Paladin 8, I suggest staying a strait Paladin. Otherwise you're going to screw your spell or special mount progression. As no prestige class progresses both, if you left for a PrC now, you'd be wasting the last 3+ levels of progression on one or both.

If that doesn't fit your needs, ask your DM to see if you can retrain to Paladin 5/Prestige Class X. My suggestion is to check out this thread (www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106815) on Special Mounts, and to choose a PrC that suits your needs.

Another solid alternative is to go Paladin 11, then fall from grace. Become a Blackguard, and turn into a Fallen Paladin 1/Blackguard 10. Then if possible, retrain your 1 Fallen Paladin level into something like Fighter or Crusader. There's really no where good to go from there (as there's nothing that progresses your Blackguard spells or fiend companion beyond that point) but it rocks for ECL 11ish.

Good Paladin feats:

Dragon Cohort (Draconomicon): For a Dragon Special Mount, if your DM is crazy enough to let you have one.

Mounted Combat->Ride by Attack->Spirited Charge: Basic mounted combo. Skip Trample, its not worth it. Alternatively, you could find a flying mount with a breath weapon or other special abilities, and just hover above your enemies while using an archer build.

Sword of the Arcane Order (Champions of Valor): You can memorize Wizard spells in your Paladin or Ranger slots.

Battle Blessing (Complete Champion): You can cast Standard action Paladin spells as Swift actions. Invest in the Spell Compendium and similar spell rich splat books.

Most of the domain devotion feats (fueled by Turn Undead uses) from Complete Champion rock as well. In particular, Travel, Earth, and Animal devotion are very potent.

[Keld Denar]

If you venerate Heironeous or other applicable Lawful diety, you could head into Ordained Champion (Complete Champion). It gives you some more smiting, and smiting is good. Also look at the Awesome Smite feat from Complete Champion. If you are gonna be smiting a lot, make your smites count for much much much more!

[ErrantX]

Another option would be to look into the Book of Exalted Deeds and check out Fist of Raziel, a great smiting option as well and nearly full spellcasting advancement.

-X