Thoughts on a Prison Warden [3.5]

[Hellwyrm]

Having begun to DM for the first time for my group (I have played several times), I have tried to create a relatively unique world and campaign.
One of evil bad guy roles I would like filled (not quite BBEG material, but still hopefully a doozy), is a baddy who will be a prision warden of some description. Now, with thoughts as varied as solid spellcaster, gish, psion, summoner, I have come to the conclusion that the role I would like him to fill is that:
He has full, or nearly full casting.
He has some melee ability. In actual fact this can probably be satisfied by correct spell choice and buffing, so this is no biggy. With this in mind, what warden type classes can the Playground suggest to create a flavoursome nasty?


And yes, I have thought about planar binding :smallbiggrin:

[supermonkeyjoe]

Cleric fits the bill here I think, full spellcasting, ability to buff himself into a fighting monster, give him the law and protection domains and you should be good to go.

[Ithandor]

Cleric fits the bill here I think, full spellcasting, ability to buff himself into a fighting monster, give him the law and protection domains and you should be good to go.

Indeed - levels in Church Inquisitor, perhaps slightly refluffed, might be good too.

[Feralventas]

It might require a bit of flavor different from what you'd intended, but here's what I use for combat gishes.

This warden's been around a while, and knows the same tricks that his in-mates do, at least well enough to match them one on one. He's sly, smart, and quick.

Aim for high Dex and Int. Swashbuckler for 3 levels, a dip in Fighter for the feat, 1 level of Warblade for a set of combat maneuver options as if he were a 3rd level initiator, then take a 1 level dip into Wizard before going into Abjurant Champion (Complete Mage). At lower levels (presuming minmum 6) You've got an agile, light-armored combatant who can pull a few tricks out on the PC's (grease, animate rope, ray of enfeeblement) and still packs a punch while defending himself (Combat reflexes, int-mod to damage, dex as to-hit.).

At low mid levels (level 10) he's got those same melee combat options, but has developed into a 5th level 'caster, 3rd level initiator, and still has those same traits augmented by things like Enlarge Person, Invisibility, Fly, or even Fireball if he needs to put down a riot in a hurry.

At high mid levels (15) you start running into much more options; the 11th level (AbjuChamp 5) puts your Caster Level as equal to your BAB (which if you follow the build as suggested= ECL-1). After you finish AC, you can continue to progress with any other Gish PrC like Swiftblade or Bladesinger, or even Eldritch Knight if you want to just keep going as it was. Alternatively, you can look back at the ToB for Jade Pheonix Mage to increase both arcane magic and initiator levels.

[Randomguy]

Have you considered a paladin of Tyranny sorcadin? You only lose 3 caster levels. It would be paladin 2/sorcerer 4/spellsword 1/ab. champ 5/eldritch knight 8. It's a bit worse than a good sorcadin, since you don't get nines in the end and you've got worse hp, but unless you're playing at really high levels then that doesn't come into play.

Straight cleric or favoured soul would also work, using divine power to get better fighting.

[Glimbur]

Beguiler. You get better skills than a cleric or wizard from a better class list. You get spells for keeping prisoners in line and few options for actually killing them. Add Mindbender dip for even better prison wardening; planning an escape is harder if the warden can actually read your mind.

[legomaster00156]

Perhaps it is prudent to ask what level this prison warden is. Unless he's imprisoning eldritch abominations (which, make no mistake, would be awesome), he should probably be no higher than level 8.

[Hellwyrm]

Perhaps it is prudent to ask what level this prison warden is. Unless he's imprisoning eldritch abominations (which, make no mistake, would be awesome), he should probably be no higher than level 8.
... Welll he might be imprisioning those foul beasties now.... That idea is too good not to be taken.

As for all the rest, getting a lot of varied feedback. So far I'm feeling a bit of swiftblade for this guy (and no, there is no reason for that, I just want it. I have no idea why).... But then again cleric with some refluffed PrCs is also nice....
Too much to choose from for now. Keep the good ideas coming people.