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View Full Version : [3.5] Harmonious/Crescent Moon Knight and Bard PrCs



Flickerdart
2010-02-19, 06:21 PM
The Harmonious Knight from Champions of Valor web enhancement (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060327a). It's generally regarded as pretty poor, because the Bard-like abilities it grants don't advance by levels.

However! The stuff it replaces (Detect Evil and two uses or Remove Disease) kind of sucks too. In return, you get to Inspire Courage, Competence and Greatness. You also have to worship Milil, which means that Paladins of Freedom can take this class as well.

Being Chaotic, having spellcasting and Bard features means that we can perhaps get into Bard Prestige Classes that normally we would not be able to. I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but there's gotta be something.

A Crescent Moon Knight (Champions of Valor) can also get Inspire Courage at 10th level, and might also be eligible for some PrCs.

So, Playground, what options does this open for our sing-songy Paladin?

T.G. Oskar
2010-02-19, 11:26 PM
The Harmonious Knight from Champions of Valor web enhancement (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060327a). It's generally regarded as pretty poor, because the Bard-like abilities it grants don't advance by levels.

However! The stuff it replaces (Detect Evil and two uses or Remove Disease) kind of sucks too. In return, you get to Inspire Courage, Competence and Greatness. You also have to worship Milil, which means that Paladins of Freedom can take this class as well.

Being Chaotic, having spellcasting and Bard features means that we can perhaps get into Bard Prestige Classes that normally we would not be able to. I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but there's gotta be something.

A Crescent Moon Knight (Champions of Valor) can also get Inspire Courage at 10th level, and might also be eligible for some PrCs.

So, Playground, what options does this open for our sing-songy Paladin?

Oh, you haven't even gotten to the tip of the iceberg.

First and foremost, the Harmonious Knight Web Enhancement grants the individual components of the most popular bardic music songs, but it doesn't grant Bardic Music per se. Which means you'll still have to make a slight dip in Bard or get blocked by the DM.

I can tell you. I actually found a much more hilarious way to work things out. The most hilarious of them all? You can do it even if Lawful. I dunno if I found that technique first, but I'm quite sure I found it on my own; that I can tell. If someone got it before me, then for all means kudos to them. But if not...

First, look at the book itself. Don't look at the Web Enhancement; just look at the book. Go to around page 31 and read that little, itty-bitty feat called Initiate of Milil. Note that it has a requirement of Cleric, but also can be accessed by a 4th level Paladin. Note that you're not forced to go Chaotic by any means just yet; Milil, IIRC, is Neutral Good and allows Paladins (as Harmonious Knight proves).

Read the main benefit. Just...read it. Notice it says that you add your Paladin levels to your Bard levels for purposes of what Bardic Music you acquire, but not for daily uses? However, you are not required to have Bardic Music. Like, at all. It doesn't say anything on the lines of "if you don't have Bard levels, you don't gain this benefit." NOTHING AT ALL. Worse, NOT EVEN AN ERRATA. Thus, it allows for two hilarious openings:

First, the legal way. Start as Bard 1. Then, say you're really a Paladin, change to Lawful Good and get Paladin 1. Then, get Devoted Performer; your Bardic Music abilities return. Get to 4th level, acquire Initiate of Milil. You are now treated as a Bard of 5th level for purposes of what Bardic Music you get, but as 1st level for purposes of daily Bardic Music uses.

However, that's not what we're interested in. We're interested in that little caveat of Initiate of Milil of a "phantom" amount of daily uses of Bardic Music. The one that treats you as if you were a Bard of your Paladin (or Cleric!) level for purposes of Bardic Music abilities. Which technically means you have Bardic Music, but not daily uses. Since you technically have Bardic Music, you automatically apply as having the ability. Get the rest of the qualifications for the PrC, enter, and if it increases daily uses of Bardic Music, Initiate of Milil almost fully kicks in. Bizarre, but true; however, a DM might get the Holy Trilogy of Books and do a DM Smite on you.

However, let's go even further. Further! We're not interested in some of the classes; we're interested in the Holy Grail of Bardic PrCs. That is, Sublime Chord.

Look at Complete Arcane; there's a really nice PrC there called Suel Arcanamach. Full PrC, and up to 5th level spells. Sure, no Bardic Music, but that's not like it can't be fixed. Get the ability to apply, get Suel Arcanamach until you get 3rd level spells, and get the class skills for Sublime Chord (which are pretty difficult to get, especially Listen). There; with little to no problem, you get to Sublime Chord without ever touching a single level of Bard. Get to Sublime Chord 2, you get your sole daily use of Bardic Music. Oh, and 5th level spells; heck, 6th level spells. Add...say, Abjurant Champion to taste.

But, is there another way? Look at the same book you have, Champions of Valor. Look much further, and look at Knight of the Weave. The requirements are less stringent (you don't have to learn Ancient Suloise, nor get...Combat Casting...), and if you do a few nice tricks, you can enter just as well. For example: with Knowledge Devotion, you can get Knowledge (Arcana) as a class skill. Or, Knowledge (history). Neither of those are really crucial to get; the idea is to get the BAB requirement, because the latter two are actually pretty easy to get (2 points for both, you get the requirements even as cross-class). Look at the "Special" requirement, though; you don't need to even worship Mystra. You only need to protect magic; you can say that Milil's clergy has given you that goal. Qualify for Knight of the Weave, get 3rd level spellcasting, enter Sublime Chord. There; hard enough? 3/4 BAB, so be wary that you'll have some troubles with BAB.

There are ways to handle the stringent skill requirements, although not all of them are pretty. First, Able Learner; that way, you can buy all skills with 1 skill point. Harmonious Knight grants Perform as a class skill, so you have one of the prereqs near-completion. Guerrilla Scout treats Spot and Listen as class skills, so two are knocked down. The requirements of Knowledge (arcana) are acquired through either Suel Arcanamach or Knight of the Weave. You already have Profession. So...am I missing something?

Oh, skill points. If you're lucky enough to get Exalted feats; Nymph's Kiss at 1st level (if possible, through Flaws). If not, then invest in some Int and at least one feat on Open Mind (for extra skill points).

The idea is how you wish to deal with getting high-level arcane spellcasting. Fearing your trick will get knocked down? One level of Bard grants way too much benefits, it's not even funny; Devoted Performer virtually solves half of your problems, and Able Learner solves your other half. Abjurant Champion is good, really good to proceed with. You can become an "elf-friend" (read: Ruathar) and get some extra skill points and some required feats, retain spellcasting progression, and get a set of nice gifts (including and not limited to a free weapon of your choice!) for the loss of one BAB. If you're a Gish (and you ARE!), you can afford to lose at least four. Finally, if you can pull off qualifying for prestige classes with only Initiate of Milil, you get a really nice benefit for pulling off the near-impossible; if you're going Sublime Chord, you get 9th level spells. I kid you not. I've thought of the build, and it's possible. If you get a level of Bard, though, you'll probably get to 8th level spells, which while not so bad it's not what we seek. The single spell you'll get from Sublime Chord if you pull off the feat, though, is more than worth it. Consider you get...oh, I dunno, 2/day Wish.

Now, I can't assure you it'll work. The reading of Initiate of Milil is what makes the entire build better and Bard-free. You can still get some benefits from going Bard, but you lose (or rather, delay) getting 9th level spells in or before level 20. The build is pretty strict, but if you pull it off, you're set for life.

P.S.: You might not be capable of entering a few Bard PrCs, though. Warchanter is non-lawful only (Paladins of Freedom are not blocked by this), and you can't enter Dirgesinger either. There may be one or two more that you can't enter. However, you're fine entering Virtuoso, Seeker of the Song or Sublime Chord through the legal or semi-legal method.

Flickerdart
2010-02-20, 12:50 AM
Darn, is there really no way to enter Dirgesinger? The concept of a Paladin that's so inspiring he rallies the dead is too awesome not to play. It's Non-Good as I recall (so no cheesing with [Evil] subtype) but if there was some way of retaining all the important bits as True Neutral, that'd be grand. I seem to recall something called an Anarch that was a CN Paladin, which is close, so maybe there's a NN Paladin variant. I mean, I guess a Cleric works, but Clerics can create Undead anyway, that's not cool or special.

Edit: Would Battle Blessing quicken the Sublime Chord spells too, or just your Paladin spells?