Ruby Knight Vindicator help

[Andry]

Hey guys I am looking to use the Book of Nine Swords for the first time in a campaign. I was looking at the Ruby Knight Vindicator as I know no one in my group will be making a cleric and I will probably also be the default melee guy. So I was wondering if you guys could help me with what feats,stances and maneuvers I should take. The build should be capping out at about 15-16th level. All Wotc books are allowed. No Dragon Magazine or 3rd party source books are allowed.

Thanks in advance for any help given.

[Eldariel]

You'll probably want more casting levels than adept levels, since you get ½ progression to initiator level that way. With that in mind, the simpliest approach would be:
Cleric 4/Crusader 1/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10/whatever 5, with whatever either being another Prestige Class (for example, Sacred Exorcist or Church Inquisitor or Divine Disciple or some such) or just more Cleric

Alternatively, if you don't mind being evil, there's of course:
Swordsage 2 (for example; any high Will-class will do)/Crusader 3/Ur-Priest 2/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10


Then there are maneuver-heavy options like Crusader 4/Cleric 1/RKV. Overall though, you should enter RKV on level 6 meaning you'll finish it on 15. After that, pursue your chosen path with another class.

[HamHam]

There's a number of ways you could approach this.

a) Be a fairly typical DMM-cheese Cleric who just happens to know some maneuvers. In this case Cleric 4/Crusader 1 is the best entry.

b) Be a Crusader who happens to be able to use CLW wands. In this case, Crusader 4/Cleric 1 is probably best.

c) Paladin 4/Crusader 1 and use the Spell Compendiums nice selection of Swift Action spells with Divine Impetus to do crazy things like Rhino's Rush to double the damage you do with your charge-based maneuvers, or Zeal to be able to move through enemies to get to their leader, or Knight's Move to set up flanks or whatever.

d) Cloistered Cleric 5 taking two feats to get the needed stance and maneuver and then do crazy things involving Divine Impetus and Quickened Spells.

Personally I like c.

[quick_comment]

With option C you can also take the battle blessing feat from complete champion and quicken all your paladin spells

[HamHam]

And replace your mount with charging smite.

[Frosty]

I'm thinking of doing B (Cloistered Cleric 1/Crusader7/RKV7/Crusader5) right now, but I'll probably make another thread for it since it'll likely be using at least partial Pathfinder rules.

My goal is a super tank who can use Strike of Righteous Vitality repeatedly in dire situations while in the Immortal Fortitude stance, thanks to Divine Recovery and Divine Impetus. "I used a counter last turn and I need to re-activate my stance and get my SoRV back? No problem, I'll just spend two Turn Attempts.

[Sinfire Titan]

I prefer Human Paladin of Tyranny 2/Hexblade 4/Crusader 2/Ur-Priest 2/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10 with a dash of Reflavoring and possible Elder Evil devotion. Broken? Yeah. Viable at every possible level? Yeah. Flavorful? Depends on how you justify it.

[Keld Denar]

Do note that while its not in the rules, CustServ and the Sage have HIGHLY suggested the limiting of Divine Impetus do once per round. This gives you 2 swift actions a round, which is really good, without having the ultranova circumstances like Chuck the Ruby Knight Windicator or Fred the Flame Strike Flinger (Cleric4/Cru1/RKV7/OrdainedChamp4/X4 who can convert all his level 5+ spells into Flame Strikes and cast them all in a single round, depending on how many TU attempts you can get, 300+d6 save for half, once per day).

A REALLY awesome feat with RKV, thougn, is Travel Devotion. Once active, you can take move actions as a swift action. Since you can manufacture an extra swift action per round, you can move a lot more!

[HamHam]

Don't forget about Divine feats, if you aren't already using your turning for other things. Divine Might (Cha to damage) and Divine Vigor (Temp HP and speed boost) from Complete Warrior in particular.

Feats from Tome of Battle that are good:

Stone Power is ridiculiously good for tanking.

Extra Granted Maneuver is something all Crusaders should take IMHO.

As for Maneuvers, the following stand out to me:

Douse the Flames (and later Covering Strike)
Crusader's Strike (and it's higher level versions)
Iron Guard's Glare
Martial Spirit
Stone Bones (and it's higher level versions)
Thicket of Blades
White Raven Tactics
the Mountain Hammer line

[Frosty]

Do note that while its not in the rules, CustServ and the Sage have HIGHLY suggested the limiting of Divine Impetus do once per round. This gives you 2 swift actions a round, which is really good, without having the ultranova circumstances like Chuck the Ruby Knight Windicator or Fred the Flame Strike Flinger (Cleric4/Cru1/RKV7/OrdainedChamp4/X4 who can convert all his level 5+ spells into Flame Strikes and cast them all in a single round, depending on how many TU attempts you can get, 300+d6 save for half, once per day).

A REALLY awesome feat with RKV, thougn, is Travel Devotion. Once active, you can take move actions as a swift action. Since you can manufacture an extra swift action per round, you can move a lot more!

It's like Quicksilver motion for free! XD

[Andry]

Thanks for all the suggestions folks. This definitely will help a ton. The Dm finally told us he will be running the meat grinder adventure City of the Spider Queen (updated to 3.5 where needed). So it should be fun as I only have a few days to get this guy done.