Jedi Knight-ish type royal bodyguard

[Max Caysey]

So I'm looking for inspiration on a Kings bodyguard in D&D 3.5. The build is level 20 human, all official sources allowed. The theme (I say Jedi for lack of a better name), must be someone who wears no armor ( or light armor at the most), have high attack bonus, as many attacks as possible and all in all be a very fast, agile, nimble swordsman. The npc will be roped in something akin to a jedi's rope and will accompany the King where ever he goes. He must be able to very quickly cut down multiple foes, react super fast and not be too affected disguises or bluff.

I don't want a full caster, even though I know a wizard or full cleric would be the best for the job... I'm looking for a build that uses either longsword, bastard sword, katana or scimitar. Dual wielding optional.

I have had my eyes on a few things already; swiftblade or psychic warrior in some form or another...

Any suggestions on classes, feats, items etc will be muchly appreciated!

Thanks

[Raxxius]

Swordsage from ToB would fit.

Else some form of Jade Phoenix mage combo would also work well.

[fire_insideout]

Swordsage focusing on Tiger Claw, Diamond Mind & Shadow Hand can come pretty close. Magic items + skill choices can take care of the 'not fooled by bluff or disguises'. Don't go all 20 levels since the capstone sucks.

See this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?229178-Optimized-Lvl-20-Swordsage) for optimisation ideas.

The Magus class from Pathfinder would also work pretty well I think.

Good luck!

[Sagetim]

Soulknife can get you the light armor at most and laser sword theme. Soulknife/Illumine soul would make them better at killing undead and give them a number of bonuses, like getting death ward on themselves when they expend focus, and having a once per day 'when I hit 0 or lower, auto heal for 5d8+5 hp'.

If you want to get really messy with tome of battle, you could mix and match Warblade, Swordsage, Master of Nine, and Shadow Sun Ninja to taste. Sword Sage will net you wisdom mod to ac while wearing light armor, warblade has a full bab and a fast recharge on their moves, master of nine is great for learning a lot of maneuvers and maneuvers readied, and shadow sun ninja gives you maneuver progression and unarmed combat progression. Add in a monk's belt and laugh and laugh and laugh...

Or you could go Soulknife for the majority of levels, and then at the end pick up some Sword Sage or Warblade at the end. 4 Warblade might make your mind blade less than fully effective, but I think there's a feat that lets you still get Some progression, and those 4 warblade levels would push your BAB up to 16, for four attacks in a round. Additionally, you could use those warblade levels to really focus on a particular discipline and on the rounds you recharge by making a standard melee attack? expend your focus to get psionic weapon's bonus damage on the mind blade. Thematically, Diamond Mind seems like it would be the discipline of choice at first blush.

Soulknives have the perception skills you're looking for as class skills (spot, listen, sense motive). You'll get more wisdom synergy from mixing in Sword Sage, and more maneuvers known and readied, but the recovery is much slower and you will take a hit to your base attack bonus instead of pulling it ahead.

[digiman619]

Though if you're thinking of using a soulknife, I'd suggest back-porting the Pathfinder version (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/soulknife) It's an actually decent class this way.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Middle-Age Illumian (Naenhoon), which appears to be a bald human when the glowing sigils are deactivated. He only needs to have those on when he's casting two of his daily buffs.

Paladin 2/ Sorcerer 4/ Spellsword 1/ Abjurant Champion 5/ Sacred Exorcist 8, which gets a +16 BAB and 9th level spells.

Feats: Combat Casting, Extend Spell, Persistent Spell, Invisible Spell, Power Attack, Draconic Heritage*, Ancestral Relic, Improved Unarmed Strike, Ascetic Mage.
Two Flaws: Love of Nature, Weak Will (or Vulnerable, or Bravado, or Skulker, etc.)
*Draconic Heritage is only so he can affect additional targets with Wings of Cover, for protecting the king. If he doesn't need this, replace it with something like Leap Attack.

Weapon of choice, Ancestral Relic: Quarterstaff, two Wand Chambers, +1 Valorous, Speed, Blindsighted/+1 Defending, Warning, Spellblade: Greater Dispel Magic. It's also a custom Runestaff (MIC p224), and a magical staff that holds charges of spells.

Items (way over budget, but the king's bodyguard has access to more wealth than a standard NPC):
Wand of Wings of Cover (RotD) (in a wand chamber, so it's always in hand),
Wand of Rhino's Rush (SC) (in a wand chamber, so it's always in hand),
Circlet of Rapid Casting (MIC) with a +6 Enhancement bonus to Cha added (MIC p234),
Banner of the Storm's Eye (MIC, shoulders slot),
Hathran Mask of True Seeing (UE),
Robe enchanted with a +1 Enhancement bonus to AC (redundant, but required) and the Soulfire armor enchantment (BoED),
Ring of Freedom of Movement with the effects of a Ring of Anticipation (DotU) added at +50% cost,
Ring of Arcane Might,
Ring with an Orange Prism Ioun Stone mounted in it (same effect, still slotless so same price),
Necklace of Adaptation with a +6 Enhancement to Con added (MIC p234),
Monk's Belt with a +6 Enhancement to Str added (MIC p234),
Armbands of Might with a +6 Enhancement to Dex added (MIC p234),
Boots of Temporal Acceleration (3/day, 3x cost)
Shirt of Wraith Stalking
Gemstone of Heavy Fortification (Draconomicon, embedded via Limited Wish)
Rod of Bodily Restoration (MIC)
Lesser Metamagic Rod of Sculpting (CA)


His Ancestral Relic Runestaff effectively removes his limit on spells known, as he can put any spells he wants on that and even switch them out for spells of equal level which takes zero time (not even a free action is spent to do so).

Daily Buffs:
Persistent Expeditious Retreat (7th)
Persistent Shield (7th)
Persistent Wraithstrike (8th) (SC)
Invisible Greater Luminous Armor (5th) (BoED)
Overland Flight (4th)
Heart of Air, Water, Earth, Fire (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th) (CM)
Primal Hunter, Instinct, Senses, Speed (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th) (Dragon Magic)
Naenhoon Persistent Draconic Polymorph into a War Troll (Str 39, Dex 16, Con 31, Enhancement bonuses are applied after) (5th) (Draconomicon)
Persistent Alter Self into himself (retains the physical stats of the Polymorph form, loses the special attacks and natural armor) (8th)
Persistent Magic Circle Against Evil (9th)
Mind Blank (8th)
Superior Resistance (6th) (SC)
Energy Immunity (7th) (SC)
Extended Energy Immunity x2 (8th, 8th) (SC)
Greater Anticipate Teleportation (6th) (SC)
Naenhoon Persistent Greater Dimension Jumper (9th) (CM)
Contingency: Greater Mirror Image (6th, 4th, not necessarily cast every day as it lasts multiple days)
Greater Magic Weapon to give both ends of the Quarterstaff a +5 Enhancement bonus (3rd, 3rd)
Greater Mighty Wallop to increase the base damage of the main hand end of the Quarterstaff to colossal 4d6 (3rd) (RotD)
Moment of Prescience, which he uses to get +20 initiative (8th)

I probably forgot to a few buffs, but that happens.


Str 45 +17, Dex 22 +6, Con 37 +13
Cha 18 base, +1 age, +5 levels, +6 enhancement, +5 Wish = 35 +12
Fort +40, Reflex +28, Will +34 +Wis -flaw

60 ft. land speed, Fly 40 ft. average.

AC: 56 (10 base, +6 Dex, +13 Monk's Belt/Ascetic Mage, +13 Armor Greater Luminous Armor/Abjurant Champion, +9 Shield Persistent Shield/Abjurant Champion, +5 Defending)
Touch: 34
Incorporeal Touch: 56
Flat-Footed: 56
You can add a +5 Enhancement to natural armor to his necklace (MIC p234) and a +5 Deflection bonus to AC to one of his rings (MIC p234) if you want his AC to be higher.


Tricks of note:
He has a large metal dome with Invisibility + Permanency cast on it, as well as Shrink Item. He wears it on his head like a helmet. If he enters an antimagic field, it will suppress the spells on the dome, returning it to normal size, shielding him and blocking the antimagic field's line of effect to him and anyone adjacent such as the king. He can then use Teleport to get them out of there before the enemies can strike.


He always uses the Quarterstaff as a two-handed weapon, and puts the +5 Enhancement bonus of the Defending end toward his AC. In any given round he may be doing one or more of the following:

Charge with Rhino's Rush and Power Attack for -16 to hit, one touch attack at +24, 12d6+192, or 12d6+474 with Leap Attack.
Charge and Power Attack for -16 to hit, one touch attack at +24, 8d6+128, or 8d6+316 with Leap Attack, then Circlet of Rapid Casting a Whirling Blade to hit every opponent in a 60-foot line or any area shapes permitted by Sculpt Spell (including the charge target) with an identical attack.
Greater Dimension Jumper to teleport 60 ft. and full attack, Power Attack for -16 to hit: +22/+22/+17/+12/+7 melee touch, 4d6+64 per hit.
Full attack, Power Attack for -16 to hit: +22/+22/+17/+12/+7 melee touch, 4d6+64 per hit, then Circlet of Rapid Casting a Whirling Blade to hit every opponent in a 60-foot line or any area shapes permitted by Sculpt Spell (including the charge target) with an identical attack at +22 to hit.
Full attack, Power Attack for -16 to hit: +22/+22/+17/+12/+7 melee touch, 4d6+64 per hit, then Circlet of Rapid Casting a crowd control spell like Web or Glitterdust, or lead with a Circlet of Rapid Casting Arcane Turmoil (CM) on a buffed opponent.
Boots of Temporal Acceleration (swift), cast a crowd control like Freezing Fog or Wall of Force or Black Tentacles, move and use a swift action, cast another crowd control, move again and use another swift action, then after Temporal Acceleration ends full attack as above.


Remember he can't use a swift action (Rhino's Rush, Circlet of Rapid Casting, Greater Dimension Jumper) on his next round after using an immediate action spell like Nerveskitter or Wings of Cover.

[INoKnowNames]

Furiou, I just wanted to ask if there was -any- part of that character that wasn't sub-optimal. Much Plan. So Numbers. Very High Tier. Wow.

[Sam K]

Bardblade? Bard 4/warblade 16 with dragonfire inspiration. You wear light armor at most, you can duplicate alot of Jedi fighting stuff with tome of battle (leaping across rooms? Parrying lasers? You got it!), your (minor) bard magic might give you a shot at a Jedi mind trick of some kind (probably only against the weak minded), and if you take the draconic template (force dragon) you can actually make a glowing sword (otherwise, a burning sword will have to substitute).

Singing isn't very Jedi-like, but maybe you can take perform (oratory) and recite the characters version of the Jedi code instead?

[Zakerst]

Warlock with eldrich glaive would be my go to, quicken spell like ability would give him plenty of attacks in a round and plently of flexibility. Likewise with their ability to take a 10 on UMD you should be able to get most any special spell you need

While you can't quick draw wands you can quick draw daggers with wand chambers

[Anxe]

I'm a fan of the 3.0 Devoted Bodyguard prestige class for things like this. It got replaced by the Knight base class in 3.5, but I feel the Devoted Bodyguard did a better take on it. The class doesn't fit everything you said, but its an alternative to the more optimized builds that people are suggesting. Mix it with the Tempest prestige class and a few of the Spring Attack feats and it should be a fun character to play or fight against.

[nolongerchaos]

If you're flexible on the human requirement, you could be a (yucky) half-elf and run a (pretty sweet) Eternal Blade, using Warblade or Crusader for entry.

You can use your maneuver selection to get thematically neat (while mechanically strong) things like Iron Heart Surge (assuming it's being used as intended, and not a lightswitch) to showcase the warrior's inner resolve.

If you pick up Martial Study as their final feat, you can use the Eternal Training ability to have access to Strike of Perfect Clarity, Time Stands Still, and Strike of Righteous Vitality (perfect for a royal guardian) all at the same time.

As for as many attacks as possible, 10th level Eternal Blade nets you Island in Time, which means if you have access to Time Stands Still and the Sudden Recovery feat, once per day you can take up to 4 full attack actions in a row. Add Haste or a Speed weapon and Stormguard Warrior's Combat Rhythm for further shenanigans that are still all pretty simple and straightforward.

[Max Caysey]

Hi again...

Thank you for you contributions so far. I certainly have something to look at now and to consider.

A special thanks to Biffoniacus_Furiou, who have supplied a most generous build!

Great stuff!!!

[AnimeTheCat]

Daily Buffs:
Invisible Greater Luminous Armor (5th) (BoED)

AC: 56 (10 base, +6 Dex, +13 Monk's Belt/Ascetic Mage, +13 Armor Greater Luminous Armor/Abjurant Champion, +9 Shield Persistent Shield/Abjurant Champion, +5 Defending)
Touch: 34
Incorporeal Touch: 56
Flat-Footed: 56
You can add a +5 Enhancement to natural armor to his necklace (MIC p234) and a +5 Deflection bonus to AC to one of his rings (MIC p234) if you want his AC to be higher.


I bolded the parts that I have a question about. Even with a monk's belt and ascetic mage, he's still only considered a 9th level sorcerer/monk for determining AC bonus and nothing grants him his Wisdom modifier to his AC like the monk class would so he would only get +1 to his AC, not +13.

Also, if you make the Greater Luminous Armor invisible, I'm pretty sure your enemies don't take the penalty to attacking you because the spell effects are all invisible.

[WeaselGuy]

Apart from the Jedi bit, it also sounds, fluff-wise, kinda similar to the Warder, from Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. Which has a d20 campaign module, and a Warder class (or maybe it was a PrC? I forget). If I dig up that book, I can post some specifics, but really Biff's Sorcadin is gonna be pretty hard to beat, unless you don't want to use casting, in which case Warblade or Swordsage would probably fit the bill without a whole lot of effort.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

I bolded the parts that I have a question about. Even with a monk's belt and ascetic mage, he's still only considered a 9th level sorcerer/monk for determining AC bonus and nothing grants him his Wisdom modifier to his AC like the monk class would so he would only get +1 to his AC, not +13.

Also, if you make the Greater Luminous Armor invisible, I'm pretty sure your enemies don't take the penalty to attacking you because the spell effects are all invisible.

Monk's Belt gives you the AC Bonus class feature of a 5th level Monk, which does include the Wis bonus.

Invisible Luminous Armor is to fulfill the appearance requirements of the OP.