Piratecat said:
I'm looking for a small-sized (kobold?) neutral or evil riding specialist. He's going to be roughly 16th lvl and mounted on a fairly stupid horse-sized dragon. (He'll also be accompanied by an
intelligent horse-sized dragon, but not as a mount; that's a little too cheesy when it comes to using the ride skill.) I'd like to mine whatever synergies I can out of the pairing.
I'm okay with the base class being a sorcerer (for a mobile spellcasting platform) or a fighter-type. I just don't know enough about mounted prestige classes to do a good job at design. Any fun ideas?
Thanks!
I had some free time, so here's a partial stat-block for a fairly generic kobold cavalier of the level you asked for. It's not really twinked out (other than the human-bane lance), so it's nowhere near as tough as could be, but it's a starting point.
Due to the low Str and small weapon, it doesn't do that much damage even with the Deadly Charge ability. Simplest way to increase that would be to find ways to raise the BAB so that it can shave pts off with Power Attack (which will give +4 dmg for -1 to hit, or +6 to -1 on a crit). Depending on how you interpret the lance used on horseback under the +2 dmg for -1 to hit and two-handed weapons rule, that can go up very quickly. I gave it some generic equipment, but it has about 20k gp left over for what a 16th lvl NPC should have, so an oil of Greater Magic Weapon would help (as would potions of Barkskin and Shield of Faith with the low AC). Or just take out two a level of Cavalier and replace that with one of Sorcerer for some real cheese, i.e. the True Strike + Power Attack (which, for a Sor1/Ftr8/Cavalier7, could produce a Deadly Charge doing at least +30 to hit and damage starting at an average of 100 pts on a non-crit).
Hope it helps.
Kobold Ftr8/Cavalier8; small humanoid (reptilian); HD 16d10+32; 155 hp; Init +3; Speed 20 ft; AC 25 (+1 size, +3 Dex, +6 armor, +3 shield, +1 natural, +1 deflection), touch 15, flatfooted 22; BAB/Grp +16/+15; Attack +1 Human-bane Lance +22 melee (1d6+6/19-20/x3); Full Attack +1 Human-bane Lance +22/17/12 melee (1d6+6/18-20/x3); SV Fort +18, Ref +11, Will +12; AL LE; Str 15 (+2), Dex 14 (+2), Con 12 (+1), Int 13 (+1), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 8 (-1) [Str 17 (+3), Dex 16 (+3), Con 14 (+2) w. magic items]
Skills: Ride +30 (19 ranks +3 Dex +2 synergy +6 PrC)
Feats (5 Normal, 5 Fighter): Weapon Focus (Lance), Weapon Specialization (Lance), Improved Critical (Lance), Mounted Combat, Ride-By Attack, Spirited Charge, Greater Weapon Focus (Lance), Power Attack + 2 feats
Special Abilities/Qualities: Kobold racial abilities, special mount, mounted weapon bonus (lance, sword) +2, Ride bonus +6, courtly knowledge, deadly charge 4/day, burst of speed, full mounted attack
Equipment (77k gp worth): Human-bane Lance +1 (8.31k), Breastplate of Moderate Fortification +1 (16.35k), Heavy Shield +1 (1.17k), Belt of Strength +2 (4k), Gloves of Dexterity +2 (4k), Bracers of Health +2 (4k), Cloak of Resistance +4 (16k), Amulet of Natural Armor +1 (2k), Ring of Protection +1 (2k) + 19.17k gp
Using Deadly Charge - +24 to hit, doing 4d6+24 (6d6+36 on a critical), or +26 to hit, doing 6d6+32 (8d6+48 on a critical) vs. humans.