How would you guys build a grey warden like character in D&D?

[sage20500]

"In peace, Vigilance. In war, Victory. In death, Sacrifice."



Title says it all, how would you guys want to go about building a Grey Warden like character in D&D?

I'm personally thinking a Hellbred Paladin that takes 2 levels in Shadowstriker before a full 10 levels in Grey Guard, with either Pelor or Heironeous as their deity.

What would you guys do?

[Eonir]

I think a Grey Warden would be a template more than anything.

[Waker]

I would agree that Grey Warden would make sense as a template rather than a class. If you were to try to go with a feel I suppose that Ranger would actually make more sense than Paladin. Grey Wardens run the gamut for alignments, being picked from nobility and condemned criminals alike. One of the other big things about the Wardens is their ability to locate the Darkspawn with the bloodbond they share with them, which could be emulated by the Ranger's Tracking + Favored Enemy bonus. Some prestige classes to consider are Foe Hunter, Dark Hunter and Darkrunner.
As for the Darkspawn themselves, I would classify them as either Aberrations (due to their physiology and unusual reproduction methods), Monstrous Humanoids or Outsiders (Native).

[ranagrande]

It would depend on what class I wanted my Warden to be. For a warrior, I'd probably go with a heavily multiclassed melee type. For a mage, I'd make a Favored Soul. And for a rogue, I might go with... Rogue.

[Esprit15]

Hard seconding of making it a template. Either that or a single level class that does nothing to interfer with other classes (+1 BAB, advance casting, grant track and gain favored enemy (whatever darkspawn are) as a ranger of your character level).

[Psyren]

Don't forget their most important ability, taint immunity. But you have to basically halve their lifespan as well.

[Jeff the Green]

What about Corrupt Avenger? A favored enemy, the ability to detect said enemy, and taint resistance? If you'd be willing to make it homebrewed a bit, make it progress casting at a ~2/3 rate or give spells or give bonus feats.

[Xerlith]

In the vein of Corrupt Avenger - Impure Prince. Just use the symbiont that resembles the Darkspawn's blood the most mechanically, and you're good. casting progression? Check. Ranger-y feel? Check.
I'm partial to the Gutworm myself. It rather fits.

Although I'd rather just use an Elan and move some things (Lifespan, for example) around.

[T.G. Oskar]

The first thing would be to use the Taint mechanics. There are templates and PrCs that depend on it, and you can just add them to basic monsters: Hurlocks are tainted Orcs, Genlocks are tainted Goblins, Ogres are...tainted Ogres, and Shrieks are tainted Werewolves (or similar) that are locked into their hybrid form.

From there, you can build a(n acquired) template that grants only a few minor things, but in exchange imposes no LA (alternatively, a LA of +1): a Taint score of 1, Taint Resistance (you can't get further taint and you manifest none of the physical or mental disabilities from Depravation and Corruption), and a Detect Evil-like ability that only detects the Taint. That would be your Gray Warden. If you want to make it as per the games, add a +2 to a single ability score to represent the extra experience or something. If you REALLY want to stretch it, give them 5 extra skill points and a free feat.

A Gray Warden class proper would be heavily limiting, since it would cause everyone to behave the same way. Gray Wardens, as mentioned, cover all aspects: from Warrior to Rogue to Mage, from Peasant to Noble, from Criminal to Commoner to Lawkeeper, from Templar to Assassin...all are equal. Thus, their talent is best represented as a template that physically alters them, rather than by a class. In fact, that's the way in which the Dragon Age RPG handles it; as a template of sorts. This will allow any character to join: a Paladin could be a Gray Warden, and so would a Blackguard, a Barbarian, a Monk, a Warlock, a Wizard and even an Adept. Their access to Taint gives them the ability to take Taint feats (maybe by treating their Taint as higher but without actually increasing it and without granting access to feats that require depravity or corruption) and PrCs related to Taint (such as the aforementioned Corrupt Avenger).