its a villain sort of

[Blackhawk748]

im running a campaign where the players are lords and one of the other lords is going to be a Knights Templar-esque High Marshall (think their worst attributes) and i need some help on what he should be class wise.

PS he should be level 20

PPS no ToB please

[Fates]

It really depends on a few things. What character level/level of optimization are your players? Are they going to be fighting this fellow?

If they're not very high op, you could make him a Knight (PHB II). They're somewhat weak, but have some useful abilities that could make them annoying to deal with.

[Gildedragon]

Paladin of Tyrany. Replace the detect/smite good with chaos... Or non-lawful.
High-minded ideals, a hegemonic and orthodoxic zeal, a veneer of piety, and some undertones of hypocrisy...

That would add up to a well regarded noble, with a penchant for finding criminals. Spells that deal with Pain would be good for this knight; as would be subdual spell metamagic. This villain doesn't take the law into their hands. Opting, instead, for the extraction of confessions and subsequent execution.

To make this fella more threatening. Have this foe have palladin minions... Or rather minions that would be paladins if their boss wasn't so vile. They are LG types that may even admire their boss because of his/her divine connection.
Thus they are unaware they have fallen (having fallen since lvl 1) and their need to atone.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Make him a Paladin with an outlook similar to Kore from the comic Goblins (http://www.goblinscomic.com/). I think this encounter (http://www.goblinscomic.com/10152010-4/) (spoilers, in case you wanted to start the comic from the beginning) says a lot for where his power actually comes from, because he's definitely not LG.

Cloistered Cleric 1/ Paladin 19, Knowledge Devotion, Law Devotion, Inquisition domain. Trade Paladin Turn Undead for Divine Counterspell in CM. Take the feat Divine Defiance in FC2, powered by his Cleric turning, which allows him to Divine Counterspell as an immediate action. You can tack on pretty much any Paladin build you want after that, you've only spent one feat and only lost one point of BAB, but gained at least a +1 to attack and damage vs everything via Knowledge Devotion.

I'd probably go Desert Half-Orc (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/environmentalRacialVariants.htm#desertHalfOrcs), use the Half-Humans variant in RoD p150, and get the Half-Orc Paladin sub levels in RoD. Give him Dreadful Wrath (PGtF), max Intimidate ranks, Never Outnumbered (CS), Menacing Demeanor via the Otyugh Hole (CS), Imperious Command (DotU), Fearsome armor (DotU), and possibly even throw in one to three levels of Half-Orc Paragon (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/racialParagonClasses.htm#halfOrcParagon). Replace Detect Evil with Inspire Courage via Harmonious Knight (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060327a) 1, and trade Inspire Courage for the Inspire Awe Bard ACF from Dragon Magic with a Harmonizing weapon (MIC). If you include Half-Orc Paragon be sure to pick up Extra Rage at least once, and maybe trade Rage for Whirling Frenzy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#rageVariantWhirlingFrenzy ).

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

The more I considered it, the more I needed to build this. Note that this is actually a LG exalted character.

Biffoniacus
Frostblood Desert Half-Orc (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/environmentalRacialVariants.htm#desertHalfOrcs)
Medium Humanoid (Human, Dragonblood)
Cloistered Cleric 1/ Half-Orc Paragon 3/ Paladin 16

Ability Scores (32 points):
Str 30 (15 base, +2 class, +5 levels, +2 inherent, +6 enhancement)
Dex 16 (10 base, +6 enhancement)
Con 24 (15 base, +2 race, +1 inherent, +6 enhancement)
Int 18 (14 base, -2 race, +6 enhancement)
Wis 14 (8 base, +6 enhancement)
Cha 22 (15 base, +1 inherent, +6 enhancement)

Half-Orc Paladin 1, 3, and 6 sub levels.
Harmonious Knight 1 sub level.
Half-Orc Paladin 1 and Harmonious Knight 1 trade out different class features, so they are compatible. Taking the d10 HD of Harmonious Knight over the d12 of Half-Orc Paladin as payment for combining them seems fair.

Trade Inspire Courage (Harmonious Knight) for Inspire Awe, but it does not upgrade at 8th/14th/20th.
Trade Paladin Turn Undead for Divine Counterspell.
Trade Rage (Half-Orc Paragon) for Whirling Frenzy.
Trade Paladin Mount for Underdark Knight, permanently gaining Earth Glide and also Dimension Door 3/day.
Trade Ride for Tumble as a class skill whenever he would get it.

Gain Menacing Demeanor, Skill Focus: Intimidate, Iron Will, and Extend Rage feats via multiple visits to the Otyugh Hole at a cost of 12,000 gp.

Domains: Trade Knowledge domain for Knowledge Devotion, trade Law domain for Law Devotion, Inquisition domain.

Two flaws: Aligned Devotion and Skulker (http://alt.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=258440#30).
Two traits: Abrasive (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterTraits.htm#abrasive) and Unnatural Aura (Dragon 356 page 89, -2 interactions with animals and vermin, +2 Indimidate and +2 DC to spells with the [fear] descriptor).

Feats: Knowledge Devotion, Law Devotion, Menacing Demanor, Skill Focus: Intimidate, Iron Will, Extend Rage, Endurance, Run, Alertness (B), Power Attack, Nymph's Kiss (F), Dreadful Wrath (1), Item Familiar (3), Leap Attack (6), Haunting Melody (9), Divine Defiance (12), Imperious Command (15), Extra Rage (18).

Skills (29 Cloistered Cleric, 18 Half-Orc Paragon, 4 Harmonious Knight, 8 Half-Orc Paladin, 52 Paladin): 111
Invested skill points (item familiar): 70
Ranks (Kn: Arcana is a class skill for all levels via Knowledge Devotion):
Intimidate 23, Perform: whistle 23, Jump 8, Tumble 5, Kn: Arcana 5, Concentration 4, Heal 2, Kn: Dungeoneering 1, Kn: Local 1, Kn: Nature 1, Kn: Religion 1, Kn: Planes 1; Never Outnumbered skill trick.


Magic Items (760,000 gp for ECL 20 PC WBL)
Assuming someone in the party is buffing (Magic Vestment, Greater Magic Weapon)
Belt of Magnificense +6 (200k)
Armbands of Might (4,100)
+1 Fearsome Soulfire Mithral Full Plate (40,500)
+1 Animated Heavy Steel Shield (9,170)
Winged Mask (13k)
+Third Eye Clarity (4,500)
Ring of Freedom of Movement (40k)
+Deflection bonus to AC +3 (18k)
Ring of Sustenance (2,500)
Boots of the Battle Charger (six uses/day) (6k)
+Anklet of Translocation (six uses/day) (6,300)
Gemstone of Heavy Fortification (35k)
+NPC spellcasting: Limited Wish to embed (2,410)
NPC spellcasting: Wish x4 (inherent bonuses) (106,120)
Shax's Indispensable Haversack Type III (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148101#3) (25,158)
Ephod of Authority (800)
+Resistance bonus to saves +3 (9k)
Phylactery of Undead Turning (11k)
Otyugh Hole visits (12k)
Necklace of Adaptation (9k)
+Enhancement bonus to natural armor +3 (18k)
Night Stick (7,500)
1st level Pearls of Power x15 (15k)
Wand of Lesser Vigor x2, 100 charges (1,500)
=596,558 gp


Item Familiar:
+1 Kaorti Resin Falchion (3,310)
Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10
Improved Senses, Greater Senses, Spell Use.
Invest Skill Ranks bonus: 23, all applied to Intimidate.
+Sudden Stunning (1k gp, 80 xp)
+Keen (3k gp, 240 xp)
+Wrathful Healing (21k gp, 1680 xp)
+Valorous (6k gp, 480 xp)
+Displacement (50k gp, 4k xp) (Oriental Adventures, gain 50% miss chance while it's held)
+Competence bonus to Intimidate when held, +30 (45k gp, 3,600 xp)
+Lesser Power: Faerie Fire 3/day (550 gp, 44 xp)
+Greater Power: Magic Circle against Evil at will (8k gp, 640 xp)
+Special Purpose and dedicated power: defeat evil, Crushing Despair at will (25k gp, 2k xp)
=162,860 gp, 12,764 xp

582 gp remaining.
6236 xp above current party level.


Harmonious Knight music 16/day, spend two at a time and a standard action to whistle, inspiring awe in opponents within 30 feet and causing them to become shaken for as long as they hear him perform plus one round after. Any affected can make a Will save (DC equals Perform check result) to negate the affect. A given creature can only be affected once per 24 hour period, regardless of whether or not they make the save. It also creates a haunting melody, causing opponents within 30 ft. to make a Will save (DC 24) or be Shaken for 23 rounds (Perform ranks).

Intimidate: 23 ranks, +23 item familiar, +30 competence, +4 class, +4 feat, +3 feat, +3 traits, +2 feat, = +92 total skill bonus to the d20 roll.
Never Outnumbered 1/encounter: Intimidate check to demoralize affects all opponents within 10 ft. instead of one threatened opponent.
Intimidate check to demoralize: Move action (fearsome armor), an affected opponent Cowers for one round (Imperious Command) and is shaken on the following round.

Dreadful Wrath feat: Any time he attacks, charges, or casts a spell, he automatically gains a 20 ft. frightful presence. Affected opponents must make a Will save (DC 26) or become Shaken for one minute. Spending a swift action to cast Rhino's Rush triggers this.

Fear effects escalate, a shaken opponent who would become shaken is frightened, a frightened opponent who would become shaken is panicked. The most severe condition lasts until all contributing fear effects' durations have expired per the Rules Compendium. Note that the -2 penalty to saving throws for Shaken persists throughout any more severe conditions and makes further fear effects more difficult to resist, plus his Item Familiar will be spamming Crushing Despair every round, imposing an additional -2 penalty to saving throws.


Counterspelling: He can spend a turn attempt (13/day) to attempt to counterspell as an immediate action thanks to Divine Defiance. He can use Divine Counterspell for this (7/day), ignoring the requirement of a spellcraft check and instead making a Dispel check at 1d20+24, per the counterspell function of dispel magic.

Devotion Feats: He can spend his remaining turn attempts (6/day not spent to counterspell) to get two additional uses of Law Devotion. He always gets at least +1 to attack and damage against every opponent he fights thanks to his Knowledge skill ranks and Knowledge Devotion feat.


Attacks: When charging with Whirling Frenzy (10 rounds), Righteous Fury (7 rounds), Power Attacking for -2 to hit with Leap Attack, and after casting Rhino's Rush, he gets one attack at +33, dealing three times 2d4+37 damage, averaging 126, with a 15-20 crit for six times damage instead, averaging 252 damage. Every additional point he power attacks for adds +4 to that base damage, or +12 per point of BAB at x3 or +72 per point of BAB on a critical hit.


He can use wands and staffs of any Cleric or Paladin spells that his Wis score permits. All of his 1st level Paladin spell slots should be Rhino's Rush. He gets an additional 4th level Paladin spell slot which his Item Familiar can cast for him, most likely Favor of the Martyr. His other Paladin spell slots should be spent mostly on situational and utility spells. His 1st level Cleric spell slots should have Ice Slick prepared once and the rest filled with Sign.

[Blackhawk748]

Damn nice, that is one scary pally