Epic campaign, new character to build. I could use some help

[dehro]

I rolled a 16, a 14, 3 10s and a 9
I start as a 19th or 20th character, depending on whether the others have levelled up in today's session.
The budget isn't super, at 270.000 MO. we play in a setting that tends to be low on resources (very few outposts of civilisation left to trade in/with)
The party is mostly good oriented and engaged in saving the world. I am aiming for either a cleric/ordained champion or a favored soul/ordained champion.
Those are the only two class combos I'm willing to consider / explore. Alternatively, I could just go 20 cleric or 20 favourite soul.
I am also considering the Saint template.
Optimisation dips are frowned upon... I'd really prefer to avoid them.
The setting is faerun inspired.

The main no-no I got from the DM is the divine metamagic + persistent spell combo, which he vetoes outright.
Further limitations are related to a point buy system for feats, races or spells outside the allowed sources.
Detailed costs:
-templates: 3 points
-races: 2,5 points
-classes: 2 points
-Prestige Classes: 2 points
-feats: 1 point (3 feats maximum)
-spells and spell-like abilities: 0,1xlevel
-Magic items: 0,0001xMO

allowed sources are:
core books, + the complete series, for feats and classes
player handbook and spell compendium for spells,
core books and magic items compendium for equipment.
I have 5 points to spend for races,classes, feats, spells or other stuff from books that are not included in the above list. Things that are included are free
Dragon magazines is a matter of debate.
Is favored soul a decent fit for ordained champion? Is the Saint template too much of a caster level drain? Should I aim for damage sponge or damage output?
Any race suggestion? Aasimar? Plain human?
I should not forego healing, since we have one and a half a paladin and are further restricted to wands and potions.
Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome

Edit: I forgot to mention that level buyoff is not contemplated

[GilesTheCleric]

I rolled a 16, a 14, 3 10s and a 9

Optimisation dips are frowned upon

How optimisation-averse is the group generally? It seems like it will be pretty low-op given that you're rolling for stats, aren't allowed dips, and have few other resources to use. Do you know why exactly you're playing at epic levels? Epic and low op don't exactly mesh togther well, and something will have to give in one direction or another.

[dehro]

How optimisation-averse is the group generally? It seems like it will be pretty low-op given that you're rolling for stats, aren't allowed dips, and have few other resources to use. Do you know why exactly you're playing at epic levels? Epic and low op don't exactly mesh togther well, and something will have to give in one direction or another.

We're playing epic levels because we started at level 1 a few years (and a bunch of characters) ago and have reprised the champaign. Blatant optimisation is not appreciated, but there is a bit of wriggle room, hence the 5 point buy system. The limitation to a single prestige class (and no more Base classes than necessary to qualify for such a class) is a preference we all share and that in my case is something of a necessity, me being super-bad at keeping track of long lists of abilities, powers, feats (hence why I'm considering the favored soul, for simplicity)
Edit: I forgot to mention that level buyoff is not contemplated

[AvatarVecna]

I can definitely sympathize with going Favored Soul for the sake of simplicity. Now, I need to recommend against Ordained Champion; it's not terrible, but it loses two caster levels, so you won't start with 9th lvl spells if you're at 19th lvl (and even if you're starting at 20th, wouldn't it be better to have more spells?). The Saint template is solid enough to actually be worth considering giving up CLs for, but only for a lower-op game (which it sounds like you're going for anyway), but there's some serious RP stuff attached, so talk it over with your DM before going for it so that you both have an understanding of what's going on with your character. More potentially problematic for Saint is that the requirements stated in Chapter 2 of BoED include "3 exalted feats"; unless BoED is on the list of "free" sources, those feats are 1 point each, and Saint is another 3 points, for a total of 6...and you have a budge of 5 points. Thus, unless your DM puts BoED on the free source list, or waives the requiresments for Saint, you can't take it, so it's a non-issue.

If BoED is allowed and you find the Saint's RP stuff to be a bonus, you might also like combining it with Vow Of Poverty (again, pretty unoptimized, but decent enough for a low-items combat-focused game as long as you don't mind the lack of access to certain effects largely considered necessary for mid/high-op play).

The biggest problem with the Favored Soul is that spontaneous casting that's a level behind and limited to a spells known list is far worse than prepared casting that's on-track and gives access to the full cleric spell list. The second biggest problem is that they use Cha for determining spell access and bonus spells, but use Wisdom for Save DCs, so if you're wanting to blast/debuff, you need to be MAD (multiple attribute dependent). You can get around this by basically buffing yourself and your allies to great power, and then wading into combat and killing people.

I've got a potential build brewing in my head ATM involving Saint and VoP, but it only really works if your DM allows BoED, as previously mentioned.

[dehro]

We actually have a Saint in the party (his sainthood is just a little tarnished, lately :smallbiggrin:)
So I'm guessing that shouldn't be a problem... Not sure about how the prerequisites are dealt with, but I'll ask

Edit: Saint + ordained champion would set me back some 4 casting levels, so no..
I've just made up my mind and am going with
FAVORED SOUL - ORDAINED CHAMPION OF TORM ( or Tyr)

[dehro]

He's going to be a mix between Don Quixote and the knight who guarded the holy grail in Indiana Jones last crusade.

[AvatarVecna]

I still don't think Ordained Champion is good (certainly worse than Saint), but it's your character, do what you want.

[dehro]

Yup...
Character starts out at 19th level, either 17 favored soul/2 ordained champion, or 15 FS/4 OC, or 14 FS/5 OC... Not sure yet

[dehro]

Fleshing him out a little more...
He's a former human guardian of some holy place or item, who is now retired and living the life of a hermit. When he is called back in action, he retrieves his old armor and weapons from under a pile of clothes in his closet. It clearly fitted him better a few years ago, when he hadn't lost a lot of muscle.
He's old, so gets age related modifiers
His stats will be:
16 14 10 10 10 9
Modified as follows:
STR (10 -3 from old age, +1 for level advancement) = 8
DEX (10 -3 from old age, +1 for level advancement) = 8
CON (16 -3 from old age) = 13 (I'm thinking of splurging on a +1 manual of bodily health) to round it up to 14
INT (9 + 2 from old age) = 11
WIS (14 +2 for old age +2 for level advancement) = 18
CHA (10 +2 for old age) = 12

I think I'll go with either FS 15/ OC 4, or FS 14/ OC 5
Any idea which would be better?