A nice fireplace is warm. Stoke the fire too much, however, and it can burn down your house.
Quote Originally Posted by Phoebus
Phoebus, The Fallen Son
LG->LE Changeling Rogue 1/Paladin 6/Shadowbane Inquisitor 5/Blackguard 7/Black Flame Zealot 7

Stats
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Str 14
Dex 10
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 14
Cha 16 (all increases here)

Backstory
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Phoebus grew up under the strong guidance of the Church of Taiia. In his village Taiia was the only deity that anyone worshipped, for she provided them with all they needed. In her multifaceted glory Taiia represented benevolence and fury, protector and punisher. He paid close attention in the difficult lessons in which the teachers explained the almost paradoxical duality of Taiia. As he grew he yearned for greater things as so many young men from small villages do. The village elders agreed to let him go out in service, strongly cautioning him to be careful. In the outside world not all worshipped Taiia, and the people were not willing to accept the changelings of the village. He would have to hide both his face and his faith.

Phoebus soon found work in a group focused on bringing light to the world by dispelling the darkness, working as soldiers for a cause and occasionally for hire. Phoebus saw this as a worthy effort that Taiia would approve of.

As time drew on he learned of a guild of those most dedicated to destroying the darkness in the world. Phoebus humbly approached the group and was accepted only after a long process of tests of body, mind, and faith that almost all failed. Phoebus admired their conviction, but at times he felt them too close-minded. Several of his comrades told Phoebus regularly that it was not they who were too strict, but he who was too lenient. Regardless, they were able to work together well, for a time.

One day the group Phoebus was working with got itself into a fight where it was woefully outmatched. The inquisitors cursed the stalkers for providing them with poor information. The stalkers cursed the inquisitors for rushing in on incomplete reconnaissance. They had thought they were sent in to rout a cadre of would-be demon worshippers. None of them was prepared to enter a ceremony in completion with a marilith overseeing. The group fought valiantly and in the end was able to defeat it, but lost close to half of their number in the process. Phoebus was struck unconscious near the end of the battle and very nearly died. When the remaining set about tending to the wounded and dead, they found him in his true Changeling form.

He was sent back to headquarters for trial immediately, barely given a chance to recuperate from the battle. They charged him with presenting himself falsely and lying to the order. They even charged him with being a spy for their enemies. He denied all of it vehemently, but it was clear that accusation meant guilt. They stripped him of his position and excommunicated him from the order, and it was only his excellent record of service that changed the death sentence to an exile.

In the dark crisis of faith that followed, Phoebus realized where he had gone wrong. He had turned his back on the inclusive nature of Taiia. He had mistakenly thought that he could serve her best in a single capacity of dispelling the darkness, and she had expressed her displeasure at his foolishness. Though Taiia strongly stood for light and warmth, she knew in her great wisdom not to bathe the earth in eternal day. The heat of noon must be tempered with the chill of midnight. The order Phoebus had served was to focused and hardheaded in its pursuit, like a beam of sunlight through a shaped glass. They threatened to unbalance the world and scorch the innocent with the fires of their tireless inquisition. Phoebus would best serve Taiia by restoring balance to the world. Though they would call him a villain, he was a necessary part of the universe. The brightest light casts the deepest shadow.

After a time headquarters began receiving notices of comrades falling in the line of duty in abnormal numbers, even in the less dangerous tasks. When they sent out the stalkers for greater information the number that returned told them that the deaths all occurred in similar circumstances. The comrades were struck down suddenly, often far from any location where an attacker could hide in. Many were crumpled to the ground without weapons drawn. All had one thing in common; near the body they always found a chilling black flame.

Build
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Phoebus, The Fallen Son
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features

1st|Changeling Rogue 1|
+0
|
+0
|
+2
|
+0
|Balance 4, Bluff 4, Gather Information 4, Hide 4, Intimidate 4, Jump 4, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Move Silently 4, Sense Motive 4, Tumble 4|Able Learner|Sneak Attack +1d6, Social Intuition

2nd|Paladin Blackguard 1|
+1
|
+2
|
+2
|
+0
|Hide 5, Sense Motive 5| |Aura of Good, Detect Evil, Smite Evil 1/day Aura of Evil, Detect Good

3rd|Paladin Blackguard 2|
+2
|
+3
|
+2
|
+0
|Hide 6, Sense Motive 6|Power Attack|Divine Grace, Lay on Hands* Dark Blessing, Smite Good 3/day

4th|Paladin Blackguard 3|
+3
|
+3
|
+3
|
+1
|Hide 7, Sense Motive 7||Aura of Courage, Divine Health Command Undead, Aura of Despair

5th|Paladin Blackguard 4|
+4
|
+4
|
+3
|
+1
|Hide 8, Sense Motive 8||Turn Undead Sneak Attack +3d6

6th|Paladin Blackguard 5|
+5
|
+4
|
+3
|
+1
|Knowledge (Religion) 5, Move Silently 5|Cleave|Smite Evil 2/day, Drakkensteed Mount Fiendish Servant, Smite Good 4/day

7th|Planar Paladin Blackguard 6|
+6/+1
|
+5
|
+4
|
+2
|Knowledge (Religion) 6, Move Silently 6| |Celestial Mount

8th|Shadowbane Inquisitor 1|
+7/+2
|
+7
|
+4
|
+2
|Knowledge (Religion) 8, Move Silently 8| |Absolute Conviction, Pierce Shadows

9th|Shadowbane Inquisitor 2|
+8/+3
|
+8
|
+4
|
+2
|Concentration 3, Knowledge (Religion) 9|Iron Will|Sacred Stealth +4, Smite 1/day

10th|Shadowbane Inquisitor 3|
+9/+4
|
+8
|
+5
|
+3
|Concentration 7||Improved Sunder

11th|Shadowbane Inquisitor 4|
+10/+5
|
+9
|
+5
|
+3
|Concentration 11| |Sneak Attack +2d6

12th|Shadowbane Inquisitor 5|
+11/+6/+1
|
+9
|
+5
|
+3
|Concentration 15|Divine Denial|Merciless Purity

13th|Blackguard 7|
+12/+7/+2
|
+9
|
+5
|
+3
|Concentration 16, Tumble 5||Sneak Attack +5d6

14th|Black Flame Zealot 1|
+12/+7/+2
|
+9
|
+7
|
+5
|Tumble 9||Death Attack, Zealous Heart

15th|Black Flame Zealot 2|
+13/+8/+3
|
+9
|
+8
|
+6
|Ride 4|Improved Fiendish Servant|Poison Use

16th|Black Flame Zealot 3|
+14/+9/+4
|
+10
|
+8
|
+6
|Jump 5, Tumble 12||Sneak Attack +6d6

17th|Black Flame Zealot 4|
+15/+10/+5
|
+10
|
+9
|
+7
|Hide 10, Move Silently 10||

18th|Black Flame Zealot 5|
+15/+10/+5
|
+10
|
+9
|
+7
|Hide 12, Move Silently 12|Persistant Refusal|Fateful Stride

19th|Black Flame Zealot 6|
+16/+11/+6/+1
|
+11
|
+10
|
+8
|Hide 14, Move Silently 14||Sneak Attack +7d6, Sacred Flame

20th|Black Flame Zealot 7|
+17/+12/+7/+2
|
+11
|
+10
|
+8
|Hide 16, Move Silently 16| | [/table]
Spells
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Spells per day
{table=head]Level|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th

1st|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

2nd|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

3rd|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

4th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

5th|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

6th|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

7th|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

8th|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

9th|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

10th|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

11th|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

12th|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

13th|2|1|1|0|-|-|-|-|-|-

14th|2|1|1|0|-|-|-|-|-|-

15th|2|1|1|1|-|-|-|-|-|-

16th|2|1|1|1|-|-|-|-|-|-

17th|2|2|1|1|-|-|-|-|-|-

18th|2|2|1|1|-|-|-|-|-|-

19th|2|2|2|1|-|-|-|-|-|-

20th|2|2|2|1|-|-|-|-|-|-[/table]

Level Breakdown
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Level 5
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What better way to pick up sneak attack than Changeling Rogue? Social Intuition easily makes itself useful in most social interactions. Able learner lets you retain the entirety of that beautiful skill list.

Paladin abilities help you keep a hold on things in combat, bringing up health and BA. Everyone loves Power Attack to make things tough for your enemies. All its defensive goodies keep you safe, and divine grace buttresses your saves to nice levels. Don’t get too attached to paladin, though. You won’t be using it forever.

Level 10
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Say hello to Shadowbane Inquisitor. The last levels of Paladin gave you a celestial drakkensteed mount, which is really pretty great. Drakkensteeds can fly, which is of great advantage at level 6. Celestial makes him a bit tougher when you run into trouble. He should be around for much of your adventuring day.

Sacred Stealth is honestly a worthwhile use of a spell of yours, and it will stay a useful bonus when you want to do some sneaking.

Shadowbane Inquisitor’s smite doesn’t just work on one alignment. It works on any creature you judge as guilty, and if they’re fighting you, they’re probably guilty, right? Shadowbane Inquisitor gives you the beautiful gift of Improved Sunder for Blackguard so you don’t have to buy it yourself. Iron Will shores up your will save to the level of reflex. Absolute Conviction will make itself exceptionally useful when you fall in a few levels.

Level 15 (Sweet Spot)
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A lot has happened in so few levels. Merciless Purity’s +1 bonus to Fort and Reflex when you kill a creature you have hit with a smite. The 24 hour duration means you should always have this up and running.

At this point all your Paladin levels have been traded in for Blackguard levels. You are able to do this because of Shadowbane inquisitor’s final gift of stacking with paladin levels for determining blackguard abilities. As a result you are able to trade away 6 and also get the bonuses for having 5 paladin levels. The levels replaced on the chart are shown with strikethroughs. It seemed the best way to do it.

Divine Denial helps to protect you against servants of the gods who oppose you and yours, since it makes divine spells that offer no save into will negates, and you have pretty good chances of making it thanks to dark blessing. Lay on hands sticks around, but that’s essentially all you keep from paladin. Your celestial companion is traded in for a fiendish servant (I’d suggest a crow for the extra set of eyes and good use as a scout).

At level 15 you trade it in for a Large Viper, which is much more helpful when things get hairy. It can be used as a very good mount, and its swim and climb speed make it all the more useful. It makes a great flanking buddy for using your sneak attack which blackguard has boosted. The increased HD make it hardier and increase the poison DC, which you can also make use of thanks to the SI’s poison use. Don’t forget to use increase virulence on doses you extract from it.

The Blackguard list is chock-full of buffs that you can share with your Viper nicely. Zealous Heart restores your benefit from Aura of Courage, which is comforting for an ex-Paladin. For Death Attack have your Viper climb you to a good vantage point and hide it out, then pounce.

Level 20
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The SI has completed your blackguard casting, so no waste here. Persistent Refusal serves as a great use of your rebuke attempts by letting you burn one to make a save against any continuing effect, and your odds of making a save the second time round if you miss the first are pretty good. Fateful Stride helps you get down from a perch your Viper put you on, and you can even take it with you.

Sacred flame helps to put more of the hurt on people you attack. If you’re going to use up the flaming burst, you’d be wise to prepare with corrupt weapon to make sure it gets its full use. By now your Fiendish Servant should have full benefits, which are based on character level, interestingly enough. The bonus HD means it should get more skills and feats.

Ask your DM about what sort of restrictions, if any should be placed on these. Your DM may feel that it should be limited to stuff like Improved Natural Attack and Ability Focus. If your DM allows more leeway I would recommend Spit Venom as it adds a valuable option for combat.

Sources
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Taiia: Deities and Demigods
Changeling, Changeling Rogue: Races of Eberron
Shadowbane Inquisitor: Complete Adventurer
Able Learner: Races of Destiny
Divine Denial: Exemplars of Evil
Improved Fiendish Servant: Champions of Ruin
Persistent Refusal: Fiendish Codex II
Planar Paladin: Planar Handbook
Drakkensteed Mount: Dragon Magic
Paladin, Rogue, Blackguard, Power Attack, Cleave, Iron Will: srd