Making a lord Marshal NPC

[Spiritchaser]

The PCs are going to encounter the leader of an imperial army. in the end game, they may be fighting with, or against her, I'm not sure which way they'll go, but they're going to get to know her starting rather soon.

I'm trying to figure out what she should be.

Fighter1, Theurge (Tempest)or (war) 19 would seem fine, As would Cleric (whichever) 1, Sorcerer (Favoured soul) whichever. 19

She's primarily a general, a strategist and a thinker, so I need high wis/int/cha whatever I pick, but she needs to be able to wear plate (or I guess half plate in a pinch) and use a shield. She also needs to heal at least reasonably well and cast bless with a high level slot.

Any other thoughts on what a good starting point would be? I want her to be effective and don't mind her having a magic item or two to patch up weak points...

[Callin]

Look into Purple Dragon Knight in the SCAG.

[hymer]

I'd suggest you build her as an NPC, not a PC. You want something specific, why limit yourself? And why get so much superfluous stuff? Give her the stuff you want her to have, and then balance her to the CR you want her to have with her offensive and defensive capabilities.

[Spiritchaser]

I always like to build major npcs as PCs... Always have (though in fairness, I went through a 2 decade gap of not playing.)

I'll sometimes swap a skill for a tool proficiency... (i needed a sailor who needed a diguise kit) But generally I don't like building major npcs in ways I wouldn't let players build their characters.

If nothing else it educates me.

[Specter]

Purple Dragon Knight or Valor Bard or Crown Paladin. The rest are not true leaders of men.

[Demonslayer666]

Just make sure he has the same key as the king, and only he and the king have that key.

[JellyPooga]

Valour Bard is really your go-to her, I think. Give her a Noble background and you've got an NPC who can inspire the troops (Bardic Insp), do the Henry V "night before the battle" thing (Song of Rest), fight in a pinch, use magic both for divining the battle and in the battle and generally have a broad knowledge base as you'd expect a high ranking member of the court to have (JoaT).

If I ever build (friendly) NPCs as PCs, I usually look to the Bard first because while it's good at many things it's unlikely to overshadow the PCs if ever their stats ever actually need to come into play.

[TorsteinTheRed]

Just make sure he has the same key as the king, and only he and the king have that key.

And that said king has an awesome self propelled retractable-bladed throwing weapon named after a polearm.