Building a mage-killer NPC from slightly weak foundations

[Milodiah]

Hello all,

I'm trying to actually stat up a character with whom my players have been interacting lately, and I'm trying to actually make him a decently strong combatant mechanics-wise even though, as I stated in the title, he's not the best off for it because of narrative issues.


Human fallen Paladin, roughly 6th-8th level, who is actively trying to atone so the variety of ex-paladin classes aren't desirable for him. Basically we're looking at the "fighter without feats" issue and hoping to make the best of it. This guy's role was/is as an anti-magic martial character...which, as the Playground knows, is a rather tricky thing to achieve without a solid build. About the only thing going for him is the solid Will save derived from a well-built paladin (and IIRC, the charisma-to-saves class feature isn't lost if the paladin falls, correct? Only the active features like smiting and the mount?)

Any suggestions? I'm pretty open in terms of how it's to be achieved, I'm only asking here because the radical build my friend suggested is nearly the opposite of a paladin fluff-wise, it consisted mostly of line-of-sight screwing, feints, and bow fire from concealment. Magic items are acceptable, so long as they're not more than one would expect in the hands of a 6th-8th level character.

Also, I suppose it would make sense to actually build the character under the assumption that he was a fully-imbued Paladin, since he was up until recently...

[Flickerdart]

You lose everything except proficiencies and HD as a fallen paladin.

This means your best bet is to pick up Mage Slayer, get a reach and trip weapon, and hope for the best.

[jiriku]

Also, as a non-spellcasting mage hunter, he should take Blind-Fight, Mage Slayer, Pierce Magical Concealment, and Pierce Magical Protection feats. Ranks in Balance and Jump would be useful for navigating magical obstacles quickly, and he should wear light armor to preserve his mobility. Such a character is a credible threat to a mage in melee, forcing the mage to take steps to deal with him. Ideally the paladin should also have a means of flight or at least a whip, harpoon or lasso to grab low-flying mages. He'd be especially effective in dungeons and indoor settings where mages don't have the option to fly 50 ft overhead. Such a character could work well in a mixed group of spellcasters and nonspellcasters that expected to face magic-using opponents.

[daremetoidareyo]

Maybe he found a ritual that grants the spellwarped template?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

What you're proposing is a Warrior (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/npcClasses/warrior.htm) (NPC class) who gets d10 HP and the Paladin class skill list, whose feats and skills should be selected as though he had the Paladin class features (so you may end up with something useless like Extra Smiting or Battle Blessing), who you expect to stand up against Tier 1 spellcasters.

Let's say he already was an anti-spellcaster before he fell.

Make the build Cloistered Cleric 1/ Paladin X, get the Inquisition domain along with Knowledge Devotion and probably Law Devotion for your domains, and trade the Paladin turn undead ability for the Divine Counterspell ACF in CM. Take Practiced Spellcaster for Cleric, get the feat Divine Defiance in FCII, and you can spend one of your Cleric turn undead uses to make using Divine Counterspell an immediate action, so no need to ever ready an action to counterspell. The Inquisition domain's power plus 5+ ranks in Kn: Arcana (a class skill thanks to Knowledge Devotion) makes your Divine Counterspell check 1d20+(character level +2) versus a DC 11+caster level for the spell you're trying to counterspell. He can use items like an Ephod of Authority (MIC) and a Scepter of the Netherworld (MIC) to gain a bonus to that Divine Counterspell check. Trade your special mount for either Charging Smite (PH2) or Underdark Knight (CC) depending on personal preference.

Assuming you were using that build originally and he's now a fallen paladin, you would still be a Cloistered Cleric 1/ Warrior X. Get a Wand of Dispel Magic and put it in a wand chamber on his primary weapon or shield, and he can still use Divine Defiance to use that to counterspell as an immediate action, using a dispel check (1d20+wand caster level, +4 Inquisition domain) versus a DC 11+caster level for the spell he's counterspelling.

He can still take Mage Slayer and meet the caster level requirement for Divine Defiance, but his Paladin caster level will be screwed unless he takes Practiced Spellcaster for that as well.

In any case I would make him a Warforged, give him Adamantine Body at 1st, Practiced Spellcaster: Cleric at 3rd, and Divine Defiance at 6th, and use all three of the Warforged Paladin substitution levels (RoE). Trade Ride for Tumble as a class skill (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a), his speed is reduced by the Adamantine Body feat, not by being armored, so he can still use the Tumble skill. Also consider the Quick trait (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterTraits.htm#quick) to put his speed back up to 30 ft. I would make him use his natural slam attack (adds 1.5x Str to damage, but only gets one attack with it) with a shield, since his preferred method would have been to cast Rhino's Rush (SC) and use Charging Smite.

His items should include a bunch of 1st level Pearls of Power (to cast Rhino's Rush more often, he can still use them with Cleric spells such as Sign). Give him a +1 heavy steel shield with a Lesser Crystal of Arrow Deflection (MIC) and a wand chamber (Dungeonscape). Say he'd hired NPC spellcasters to put Greater Magic Fang + Permanency on his slam attack at a caster level of 20th, the standard rate (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goodsAndServices.htm#spell) for those would be 600 gp for Greater Magic Fang and 8,500 gp for Permanency, and say both used a Ring of Enduring Arcana so each has a dispel DC of 35. A Wand of Dispel Magic at a caster level of 10th is 22,500 gp fully charged, so say it has 20 charges remaining for a value of 9,000 gp. Also throw a +1 Enhancement bonus onto his Adamantine Body and get a Cloak of Resistance +1. That puts him slightly over the standard WBL for an 8th level character, and as a warforged he doesn't need to eat, sleep, or breathe and he has tons of natural immunities that will give him an advantage when fighting spellcasters.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Biffoniacus_Furiou
In any case I would make him a Warforged….

Note that the OP mentioned the PCs have already been interacting with this individual, so his race may have already been established.

[fishyfishyfishy]

Note that the OP mentioned the PCs have already been interacting with this individual, so his race may have already been established.

Warforged with a really good disguise check then.