Fast Paladin. Could it work? [3.5]

[Sling]

How is it that all my questions seem to surround this class...?

So, I've been thinking of reinventing a character I regularly play, partially to better fit the characters backstory and personality, and partially out of an urge to experiment with a favored class. Being a hengeyokai, especially one who prefers his hybrid form, he's not capable of wearing heavy armor. Due to also being a Paladin of Freedom, rather than the typical paladin, I tend to play him as a little more of a free spirit, who employs a lot of nonstandard tactics to uphold his duty. As such, I figured it best to have him do the same in combat.

Thus, my idea.

What I considered doing, was, rather than give him the best armor I can and make him try and tank as usual, give him lighter armor, and give him a high Dexterity to make up the difference in his AC. Meanwhile, I would also put ranks into skills such as Tumble and Move Silently. While his code likely prevents him from attacking an opponent from behind, I figured he could use this to get behind enemy lines, and draw attention when he's in the best strategic location, while the rest of the party uses this distraction to strike from their positions.

I also considered having my character take a few ranks in Rogue, before going into paladin to allow him to have a few extra skill points to do all this, and maybe reap the benefits of his rogue training. This also has the added bonus of fitting in with the characters backstory, due to a criminal past prior to devoting his life to a higher calling.

So, wise Playgrounders. Would you say this is a good idea to attempt, or would it be suicide to push this hard to make a character do something it's not built for? Or, if it is possible, is there a better way to go about it?

[SurlySeraph]

It's doable. Consider taking the Divine Vigor feat, which gives you +10 speed and a bunch of temporary hit points. You could adapt the Shadowbane Inquisitor and Slayer of Domiel PrCs, which require Lawful Good alignment and give sneak attack progression; neither of them are all that strong, though.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Actually, your idea for a dex-based guy is not a bad one. Mithral Chain Shirt has an Armor bonus of +4 and a Max Dex of +6 with an Armor Check Penalty of 0.

So, if you can get his Dex up to 22, you've got just as much defense as full plate would give him.

Tumble, yes. Sneak, no. Not for a Paladin, not even one of Freedom. Tumble can be used to bypass AoO's to close with big things that have long reach. Sneak is... well... sneaky.

Rogue2 nets you Evasion, which can be exceedingly handy if you face a lot of AE blasting. Granted, your Sneak Attack dice will be worthless, but you can trade that off for the Feat Rogue, to pick up a Feat on the Warrior's list.

So yes, it can be made to work well. Not entirely orthodox, but hey... it's a cool concept.

[Rixx]

At least two levels in Feat Rogue prior to Paladin seems like me to be the simplest and best option, as well! That is, if your DM will let you take the Rogue variant...

More info: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/cl...sses.htm#rogue

[Draz74]

It's not "dexterous" per se, but Travel Devotion is an excellent feat for Paladins and is all about mobility.

[Keld Denar]

If you went into some Swordsage, nabbing Martial Study and Martial Stance for some Devoted Spirit swag, you could PrC your Pally/Swordsage into Ruby Knight Vindicator. That would let you pick up even more Shadow Hand manevuers while keeping your BAB relatively full and kinda advancing your Pally casting. Then, with Travel Devotion, you could spend a TU attempt with Divine Impetus to gain a swift action, and spend that swift action moving. Eat your heart out Pounce! You could move, Strike, and then swift action move again. Its better than Spring Attack even!

RKV is normally a REALLY strong PrC, but I think this application of it keeps it pretty well in check.

[deuxhero]

Ask your DM if you can drop heavy armor for skill points and mobility skills (jump, climb, tumble, swim) on your class list (Ala Thug)

You can still offically trade Ride for Tumble (Cityscape web enhancement)

[Xallace]

Well, it's a little old, but I came up with this PrC a while back.

[deuxhero]

Oh don't make your Paladin lawful stupid. Attacking people while hidden is called TACTICS.