Elite Guards of the King

[battlemindjase]

Hello all,

I am DMing a game in which the King has been gone for 1000 years and has left a series of challenges to find a worthy successor. None have succeeded. He is coming back to see who his successor is, and is going to be very displeased when he finds that no one is worthy of his standards. 1000 years of isolation in a personal demiplane has a bit of a toll on his mind. As such, he is going to begin a campaign of destruction across the kingdom. (There is a lot more detail than that due to motivations etc., but that's not the point here. Just context).

I want to make his elite guards (Don't know Race yet, though most likely Human) wear some form of Construct Armor (Ultimate Magic). Inspiration taken from the Brotherhood of Steel in Fallout. Do you guys have any suggestions on class builds that would work well with that? Construct types can change. I'm assuming fairly high levels of power, though he can't mass produce things like Unstoppable Punching Machines (Adamantine Golem) or other such things like Quintessence Golems. I figure Iron Golem is a fairly safe way to do it, though Animated Object can get wacky and fun.

Anyways, the actual question, in case you missed it: What kind of martial-focused build would work well with Construct Armor?

Btw, the King is a Wizard (Universalist) 7/Swashbuckler 3/Eldritch Knight 10/ MR 10 with access to the Cloud Castle of the Storm King and the Codex of the Infinite Planes, in case that helps.

Thanks in advance. :)

[legomaster00156]

First off, it is obvious that these elite guards are bodyguards for a badass (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BodyguardingABadass). Their only advantage over the man they are protecting is numbers and maybe hit points.
Instead of serving strictly as bodyguards, you should also let them act as enforcers and investigators - sort of like the Secret Service. They should have plentiful resources available to them, mundane and magical, and individually be able to complement their partners' skill sets. Instead of looking at it as building a single training regimen, have squads of high-level pseudo-adventurers in typical fashion of "martial, magic, skills".

[Azoth]

Half-Elf Exemplar Brawler1/Weapon Master Fighter4/Wizard2/Arcane Archer3/Eldritch Knight10.

If you use the Mage Guild Rules you can regain 3 lost levels of Spell casting. Take Favored Prestige Class and Prestigious Spellcaster for Arcane Archer.

That allows you to have BAB19 and cast at as 17 level Wizard.

It also allows you to do the Martial Flexibility->Advanced Weapon Training->Item Mastery->spontaneously gain a useful SLA based on Fort Save.

Weapon Spirit Advanced Weapon Training (to give your weapon the Training Property) + Martial Flexibility + Paragon Surge (coupled with Emergency Attunement) allows you to freely gain 3 feats a limited number of times per day.

If you make one a Diviner (Foresight) specialist and give them Sandals of Quickness in Action they can make all allies within 30ft not flatfooded in a surprise round and still act themselves.

If you make one a Transmuter and give them Annihilation Spectacles, they can freely have any Transmutation spell they need on hand.

Instead of Construct Armor, you could give them Awakened Tattoo Guardians. This would allow them to have support units bound to them that take half the damage they would, and that can use their actions to bolster/heal them or provide tactical backup. It is significantly cheaper and still a badass visual display.

[Dr_Dinosaur]

What are the king’s weaknesses? If he’s to be defeated by the heroes eventually he must have some. Build the guards to counter those weaknesses

[battlemindjase]

I was already thinking of Tattoo Guardians, though Awakening is an interesting idea to add to them.

The Kings weaknesses/downsides are that he is erratic and self-absorbed. 1000 years of isolation plus a bit too much time with the Codex of the Infinite Planes will do that. The King is not subtle about what he wants. He's going to prefer hard-hitting, precise strikes on key targets once he finds out there is no one to suceed him. This also makes it easier for me to throw specific plot-points at the players.

An anti-party of some description acting as heralds/special forces types would work quite well. I was initially thinking of the Construct Armor because I thought it was cool. Maybe he has a few suits lying around, but the heralds only take them out when they really need them.

I think lvl 19 is a bit high for the heralds though. My players are only level 8 right now, despite two of them having gained Mythic Rank. This is going to be an ongoing campaign, so they'll have plenty of time to run around and thwart plans.

Thanks for the advice.

[Peat]

How powerful should these guards be in comparison to the King/PCs? Bit hard to give ideas without knowing this.

Also, are they his elite bodyguards, or his elite "eff shizzle up merchants"? Or a bit of both?

[Azoth]

The build idea I provided can be scaled down in level. Even "new recruits" That are only level 10 still have 9 BAB and cast as level 7 Wizards. Due to meeting the feat prereqs for AA they are decent archers off the bat and should have enough feats left for Power Attack and Arcane Strike to make them good in melee as well.

That is the nice thing about that particular build. Once it hits level 7 it is incredibly flexible and really hard to play or build ineffectively.

I have toyed with using awakened tattoo guardians and find the they are pretty good anti caster minions if they are leveled as Arcane Duelist Bards, Eldritch Scion (Arcane Bloodline) Magus, Untouchable Bloodragers with either Arcane or Destined bloodlines, or a Spell breaker or Witch Hunter Inquisitor with the Spell Killer Inquisition.

Each one offers it's own means of providing tactical support to the creature it is bonded to through skills, spells, and class abilities.

[battlemindjase]

@Peat
I want these guys to be tough at first but get easier over time. So a static level, probably 9 or 10, would work well. Also, the King doesn't really need to worry about money. He's had 1000 years wandering the Planes to build up infrastructure. The only reason he would "eff shizzle up merchants" would be to restrict supplies to his enemies.

@Azoth
I like the build. Very flexible. I'll look at it in more detail and see how well it works. Also the Awakened Tattoo Guardians are great and nearly double the deadliness of these guys. I look forward to seeing these guys in action. :)

[unseenmage]

Just want to say that I love the awakened Tattoo Guardians idea. Am glad too that the quirky little buggers getting some love.

In our own games I used the 3rd party Amalgam Creature (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/templates/amalgam-creature-cr-special/) template to make unique versions. Amalgam is as balanced as the person using it's grasp of the CR system.

Also, having more than one Tattoo Guardian is risky because RAW they all share damage with their wearer at the same rate.

Oh! One more thing, Constructs in PF can have weapons and armor modified right into them even post creation. This is another means by which you could differentiate the guardians.