[3.5] Picking and building a character

[Strife Warzeal]

I was in a pbp campaign (as a druid) and had to leave for medical reasons. Now I am rejoining the campaign and I want to make a new character.

So what I was considering was a Paladin but I am open to other class choices.

What I need figure out is:
Is there a better choice than Paladin? I want to build something with a Holy Warrior feel to it.
Any specific race to consider?
And feats.

For sources I am unsure of all of them ,but I do know the complete series is acceptable. And as I've seen the DM is open to other sources.

Any and all help is appreciated.

Edit: A lot of the game takes place solo if that affects anything.

[IthroZada]

A Crusader from Tome of Battle is rather similar to a Paladin, and in some respects superior. But he does lose out on any divine spell casting or mounts. Their only alignment restriction is that they can't be neutral, which you can't really do with any Paladin variant anyways.

[pilvento]

complete champion and divine gives a new gap for holy fighters, u can play a favored soul (aka the divine sorcerer) or you can think in lonk term an play figters to become future pious templars PrC or a monk/cleric/sacred fist PrC.

[Strife Warzeal]

Favored Soul does seem appealing. I quite like it. Especially with the clerics spell list opposed to the 4 levels of paladins casting.

Now to pick a deity, I'm thinking preferably in the LN, LG, or NG range.
Bahamut LG (Toying with the idea of him)
Ehlonna NG
Garl Glittergold NG (most likely no to him)
Heironious LG
Moradin LG
Pelor NG (maybe)
St. Cuthbert LN (maybe)
Wee Jas LN
Yondalla LG

I think I'm going to stick with Bahamut. So races now... This is a level 1 campaign unfortunately so nothing above LA +0.

[PetterTomBos]

Dragonborn of bahamut! :D Perfect choice, it's a template in one of the dragon books :) (My guess: races of the dragon, but not sure)

[Strife Warzeal]

Dragonborn of bahamut! :D Perfect choice, it's a template in one of the dragon books :) (My guess: races of the dragon, but not sure)

That certainly does make sense to pick bahamut for that and why they could channel his divine energy. Just need to flip through my books until I find it...

Found it, you were right on the location, Which aspect should I take Breath Weapon, Dark Vision/BlindSense, or Wings. I think I'm leaning towards Breath Weapon.

[IthroZada]

If you do take the Breath Weapon, taking the feat Entangling Breath will go nicely with it, and make it a bit more useful.

[Strife Warzeal]

Moving along, onto feats:

That breath feat sounds good.
Any others that may be good, something other than the breath feat, or other feats for the higher levels.

Still open to which aspect to take.

[Keld Denar]

I'm partial to the senses. Darkvision is useful. Unless you are doing the Entangling Exhalation combo, the damage will generally be less than you'd get just attacking, and while non-magical flight is often cited here as being ZOMGAMAZING, in most practical games, its not as vital. Being able to see in the dark, and eventually getting Blindsense is VERY useful.

Another idea for a Pally character devoted to Bahamut would be a Sorcadin. Dragons are naturally sorcerously inclined, by all the fluff given, and Bahamut is the father of all goodly dragons. Thus, a paladin who awakens his latent sorcerious potential is very thematic. The default Sorcadin build is:

Paladin2/Sorcerer4/Spellsword1/AbjurantChampion5/SacredExorcist8.

It looks kinda dippy, but the only real dip in there is the Spellsword dip, which is needed to get the BAB you need for Abjurant Champion while maintaining your casting. Abjurant Champion is 5 levels long, so you take all of it, and Sacred Exorcist is taken as far as you can get pre-epic. If you can't take the Spellsword dip, 2 more levels of Sorcerer works, and taking 1 less SacEx level at the end. Spellsword is in CWarrior, AbjChamp is in CChamp, and SacEx is in CDivine.

Its very Cha-erific. You get +Cha to saves, your casting is based off Cha, and you get Turn Undead which you then burn on other effects like Law Devotion or Divine Might (both feats, found in CChampion and CWarrior respectively).

[Strife Warzeal]

I'm partial to the senses. Darkvision is useful. Unless you are doing the Entangling Exhalation combo, the damage will generally be less than you'd get just attacking, and while non-magical flight is often cited here as being ZOMGAMAZING, in most practical games, its not as vital. Being able to see in the dark, and eventually getting Blindsense is VERY useful.

Another idea for a Pally character devoted to Bahamut would be a Sorcadin. Dragons are naturally sorcerously inclined, by all the fluff given, and Bahamut is the father of all goodly dragons. Thus, a paladin who awakens his latent sorcerious potential is very thematic. The default Sorcadin build is:

Paladin2/Sorcerer4/Spellsword1/AbjurantChampion5/SacredExorcist8.

It looks kinda dippy, but the only real dip in there is the Spellsword dip, which is needed to get the BAB you need for Abjurant Champion while maintaining your casting. Abjurant Champion is 5 levels long, so you take all of it, and Sacred Exorcist is taken as far as you can get pre-epic. If you can't take the Spellsword dip, 2 more levels of Sorcerer works, and taking 1 less SacEx level at the end. Spellsword is in CWarrior, AbjChamp is in CChamp, and SacEx is in CDivine.

Its very Cha-erific. You get +Cha to saves, your casting is based off Cha, and you get Turn Undead which you then burn on other effects like Law Devotion or Divine Might (both feats, found in CChampion and CWarrior respectively).

That does sound quite good now I just have to decide between the two.

I think I'm going to stick with Favored Soul, on this character at least.
So onto the last step (unless if something else pops up that I need help with) which is spells.
I'm thinking self-buffs with a healing (if necessary) on each level. Any thing that jumps out as TAKE THIS for that?

[Keld Denar]

I'd at least look into Sacred Exorcist for your Favored Soul. Turn Undead is an awesome ability. To heck with actually TURNING undead, use it to power some awesome feats like Law Devotion or Divine Might (as I mentioned above).

As for self-buffs, Divine Favor, Ice Axe, Divine Might, Righteous Might, and Righteous Wrath of the Faithful (the last is a group buff) are all great.

[Strife Warzeal]

Where would I find some of those, they don't spark a memory.
What I've picked for first level is: Divine Favor, Shield of Faith and Lesser Vigor for healing. Should any be exchanged?

[Keld Denar]

I think you'll have better results with Bless at low levels than Divine Favor. Both give you the +1 to hit, but Bless trades the +1 damage for boosting your whole party's +hit. Unless you have a bard with you, Bless will generally be responsible indirectly for more damage than Favor will.

Ice Axe and Righteous Wrath are both in SpC. Divine Might is in Complete Warrior (and is a feat, not a spell), and Law Devotion is a feat in Complete Champion. Both are powered by your Turn Undead ability.

[Strife Warzeal]

Thank you everyone for all your assistance with this. At least for now I don't need any more help.