Junkyard Wars IX: Earth Dreamer + Ordained Champion - Cleric

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Garag "Sunsword" Ragnarsund
Wasteland Dragoon, Champion of Re-Horakhty

Spoiler: Build Stub

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LG Dwarf Paladin 5/Ordained Champion of Re-Horakhty 5/Earth Dreamer 5/Ashworm Dragoon 5

Spoiler: Background

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As a young Dwarf just growing into his beard, Garag grew up in the mountains on the edge of the Burning Waste. Devoted to Re-Horakhty with a near zealous fervor, but with a strength of arm and build more suggestive of a fighter, Garag took up the khopesh in Re-Horakhty's name, and swore himself to the brotherhood of Paladins serving the kingdom. After serving as a squire and shield Dwarf for a few decades, Garag finally earned his spurs and became a notable member of the brotherhood, able to summon his own warmount and bring Re-Horakhty's favor into being with a small number of spells.

He even earned the notice of his order's Ordained Champions, Dwarves dedicated wholeheartedly to Re-Horakhty and to bringing war to any that would threaten Dwarvenkind. Usually a caste of warrior-priests, any with a spark of divine spellcasting is able to dedicate themselves to the cause, so long as they can prove their worth with Re-Horakhty's favored weapon, the khopesh. And Garag was able to do that better than many. He took to the life of sword-swinging and foe-smiting with a near reckless abandon, but unfortunately for him, this abandon nearly brought about his downfall.

While fighting in a cave deep underground against his homeland's most hated foes, the Dark Elves, Garag took a deep cut to his shoulder, nearly severing the artery running under his clavicle, and rendering his shield arm useless for the immediate future. While lying on the cavern floor, bleeding out from his near fatal wound, Garag found solace with the earth soaking up his life force. He took peace in the steady dreams that threatened to overwhelm him, and that was when he realized he could be more than just a sword swinging lout, that he could help guide his fellows with his new-found connection to the rock and earth that he had spent his entire life treading upon.

It was at that moment that Garag decided there was more to being a Dwarf than simply driving the blade into his foes. Being a Dwarf is about being one with the earth, embracing their stolid nature and unmoving stature, emulating the immovable mountain and the winding tunnels. Being a Dwarf was about being as solid as a rock, but as shifting as the sand. With this realization, Garag decided to leave his mountain home, and to travel across the great Waste, and to meet people other than his fellow Dwarves and the dignitaries that came to trade with his clan. It was time to see more of the earth.

In his adventures across the Waste, Garag met Nomadic Humans, fierce Orcs, crafty Kobolds, and Wandering Elves. Some he fought with, some he fought against. All he learned from. When his trusty warsteed couldn't keep it's footing in the shifting sands, arrangements were made to procure other mounts. This was when Garag first rode an Ashworm. From then on, his fate was sealed. He would become one of the great Defenders of the Waste. He would become an Ashworm Dragoon.

Trading in his khopesh (figuratively) for the lance, and undergoing the Consecration of the Shifting Sand ritual, Garag joined the ranks of Dragoons as one of their Paladin members, enjoying a few benefits at the expense of his Ashworm's poison sting. He now rides across the Burning Waste with his Dragoon brothers, combating the evils that arise within, and harassing those that threaten from without.

Spoiler: Ability Scores

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Attribute	Base	Racial	From Level	Total
Strength	16	0	5	21
Dexterity	12	0	0	12
Constitution	12	+2	0	14
Intelligence	12	0	0	12
Wisdom	14	0	0	14
Charisma	12	-2	0	10

All increases from level go into Strength.

Spoiler: Build Progression

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Paladin	+1	+2	+0	+0	Knowledge (Nature) 2, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Spellcraft 2	Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Khopesh)	Aura of Good, Detect Evil, Smite Evil 1/day
2nd	Paladin	+2	+3	+0	+0	Knowledge (Nature) 2.5, Knowledge (Religion) 5, Spellcraft 2.5	-	Divine Grace, Lay on Hands
3rd	Paladin	+3	+3	+1	+1	Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Spellcraft 3	Weapon Focus (Khopesh)	Aura of Courage, Divine Health
4th	Paladin	+4	+4	+1	+1	Knowledge (Nature) 3.5, Knowledge (Religion) 7, Spellcraft 3.5	-	Turn Undead
5th	Paladin	+5	+4	+1	+1	Knowledge (Nature) 4, Ride 1, Spellcraft 4	-	Smite Evil 2/day, Special Mount
6th	Ordained Champion	+6/+1	+6	+1	+3	Knowledge (Nature) 4.5, Spellcraft 6	Mounted Combat	Bonus Domain (War), Combat Feats (None), Continued Advancement (Turn Undead), Modified Spontaneous Casting
8th	Ordained Champion	+8/+3	+7	+2	+4	Ride 2, Spellcraft 10	-	Channel Spell, Divine Bulwark
9th	Ordained Champion	+9/+4	+8	+2	+5	Handle Animal 1, Ride 4	Earth Sense	Fist of the Gods, Rapid Spontaneous Casting
10th	Ordained Champion	+10/+5	+8	+2	+5	Handle Animal 2, Ride 6	-	Holy Warrior, War Caster
11th	Earth Dreamer	+10/+5	+10	+2	+7	Handle Animal 2.5, Ride 7	-	Earth Friend
12th	Earth Dreamer	+11/+6/+1	+11	+2	+8	Handle Animal 3, Ride 8	Ride-by Attack	Earth Dream
13th	Earth Dreamer	+11/+6/+1	+11	+3	+8	Handle Animal 4, Listen 1	-	Lesser Tremorsense
14th	Earth Dreamer	+12/+7/+2	+12	+3	+9	Listen 4	-	Earth Sight
15th	Earth Dreamer	+12/+7/+2	+12	+3	+9	Listen 7	Spirited Charge	Earth Glide
16th	Ashworm Dragoon	+13/+8/+3	+14	+3	+9	Handle Animal 6, Ride 9	-	Ashworm Mount, Saddle Bonus
17th	Ashworm Dragoon	+14/+9/+4	+15	+3	+9	Handle Animal 8, Ride 10	Trample	Bonus Feat
18th	Ashworm Dragoon	+15/+10/+5	+15	+4	+10	Handle Animal 10, Ride 11	Tremondous Charge	Heightened Sting
19th	Ashworm Dragoon	+16/+11/+6/+1	+16	+4	+10	Ride 14	-	Relentless Shield
20th	Ashworm Dragoon	+17/+12/+7/+2	+16	+4	+10	Ride 17	-	Stamp into the Sand

Spoiler: Spells

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Spells per Day

Level	1st	2nd	3rd
1st	-	-	-
2nd	-	-	-
3rd	-	-	-
4th	1	-	-
5th	1	-	-
6th	1	-	-
7th	2	-	-
8th	2	-	-
9th	2	-	-
10th	2	1	-
11th	2	1	-
12th	2	2	-
13th	2	2	0
14th	2	2	1
15th	2	2	1
16th	2	2	1
17th	2	2	1
18th	2	2	1
19th	2	2	1
20th	2	2	1

Spoiler: Level Breakdown

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• Levels 1-5: Starting early, Garag plays as a standard sword & board Paladin. Even without the Improved Trip feat, he can still use the unique shape of his khopesh to make trip attempts, helping out his allies with a little battlefield control. He doesn't really gain much from his Divine Grace ability, without the use of a + Charisma item at least, but he still manages to dish out the melee damage, while keeping a healthy dose of AC and HP on hand. He should upgrade his starting Scale Mail with some Fullplate at his earliest convenience, and later have a suit made out of Mithral in order to take advantage of any + Dexterity items he should find himself acquiring, although it is hardly necessary. By level 5, he should be able to cast Magic Weapon, giving him access to Ordained Champion at level 6.
• Levels 6-10: During this time, he is progressing through the levels of Ordained Champion, still focusing mostly on melee combat, since he doesn't really have that many spells, only 2 first level spells and 1 second level spell by level 10. Spiritual Weapon becomes a relatively useful spell from the War Domain for him to cast, putting another blade on the field to help even out the odds. He has Mounted Combat at this point, and his Paladin Special Mount, so riding in and swinging his sword isn't a bad tactic, and Heavy Warhorses have a hoof attack as well. If terrain favors, he can also charge with a lance to deal some extra damage.
• Levels 11-15: By this point, his Earth Dreamer abilities start coming online. He gains a few nifty abilities, including the ability to divine the answer to some specific questions, but notably is the Earth Dreamer capstone, Earth Glide, giving him a unique mode of movement, and the ability to make some rather interesting ambush attacks.
• Levels 16-20: Focusing on mounted combat more now than ever before, Garag also stalls out on his casting abilities. He caps out with 3rd level Paladin and War Domain spells, but cranks his physical damage up a few notches while riding his Ashworm. With Spirited Charge, a pair of Riding Boots, and the Valorous enchantment on his lance, Garag is looking at a x5 modifier to damage with a bonus +2d6 when charging. The best part is, he can trample foes underneath his Ashworm. This gets better at level 20, at which point Stamp into the Sand makes a trampled foe take a full round action to stand back up, taking them out of the fight for a round at a time. Even though the ritual he undertook sacrificed the poison sting abilities of his Ashworm, it is now his Paladin Special Mount.

Spoiler: Gear

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Like any adventurer, some gear is needed, unless you are playing a VoP character. And Garag is definitely not a VoP character. They say a character should not be dependent upon items to be effective, but unless you make a Wizard or a Sorcerer, you'll never really hit that mark. However, Garag can make do with a minimal number of items. All he really needs is a special saddle (70g) to ride his Ashworm, a khopesh (16g), full-plate armor (1500g), and a heavy steel shield (20g) for melee combat, a lance (10g) for mounted combat, and maybe a light crossbow (35g) or a composite longbow (400g for a +3 Stregth rating) for ranged combat.

Now, does he get better with magic items? Of course he does! Riding Boots and a Battle Bridle top the list of items he should buy, as does getting his lance enchanted with Valorous. I would recommend something like Ghost Touch or Brilliant Energy for his khopesh, but that's just me. Soulfire (BoED) is always popular for armor enchantments, negating death effects. Strength and Constitution tomes are usually good investments, and the Belt of Magnificence (MHB) is hard to beat, if you want bonuses to all your stats (will boost attack bonus and damage from Str, AC, Reflex saves, Ride checks, and Initiative from Dex, HP, Fortitude saves, and Earth Glide duration from Con, Will saves and bonus spells from Wis, and all saves plus more turn checks from Cha. Standard defensive items also help out, along with a mode of flight (just in case).

Spoiler: Sources

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Player's Handbook - Dwarf, Paladin, feats, weapons/armor
Complete Divine - Ordained Champion
Races of Stone - Earth Dreamer, Earth Sense
Sandstorm - Ashworm Dragoon, Khopesh, Re-Horakhty (LG Deity, has War Domain)
Forgotten Realms: Unapproachable East - Valorous Weapon Enchantment
Miniatures Handbook - Belt of Magnificence
Magic Item Compendium - Riding Boots, Battle Bridle
Book of Exalted Deeds - Soulfire Armor enchantment
Dungeon Master's Guide - Assorted other magical goodies
DragonLance Campaign Setting - Tremendous Charge
Image - Google Search for Dwarf Fighter, chose this one, all credit goes to Kodiakcarl, or to whoever he pulled it from. I'm not good at tracing image sources.