stonegod's Expedition to Castle Ravenloft: Ch. I [OOC]

[stonegod]

And on that note, could I swap out K(geography) or K(nature) as a class skill in favor K(religion)?

K(nature). I can see a Ranger trained specifically in undead tracking/etc., but the outdoor troop movement would still need K(geo).

 

[drothgery]

K(nature). I can see a Ranger trained specifically in undead tracking/etc., but the outdoor troop movement would still need K(geo).

Thanks.

 

[GwydapLlew]

The rough draft for my character is up on the RG; I dropped a level of ranger to pick up a few extra skill points (and to reflect the whole hunt-them-down-and-smite-them aspect of Shadowbane Inquisitors) but I can easily replace it with a paladin level if you don't like how it turned out. The shifter variant just lets me use Wisdom instead of Charisma for animal empathy.

It's been a long day, so I'm having trouble making the PrC available at 6th level; am I missing something? The details of the PrC make it look like it's available at 6th, but I can't reconcile needing +5 BAB with the turn undead and the sneak attack. Would it be possible that I'm still a noviate, travelling with DEFCON's stalker in order to meet the final requirement of the order to promote me to the PrC?

I'm sussing out the background - once I get answers to the above question, I'll be good to go with backstory - and I'll have the equipment list done by tomorrow night. Since I tend to post from work, I put all the special qualities under an sblock so that I don't have to open books in the middle of the day.

 

[stonegod]

It's been a long day, so I'm having trouble making the PrC available at 6th level; am I missing something? The details of the PrC make it look like it's available at 6th, but I can't reconcile needing +5 BAB with the turn undead and the sneak attack. Would it be possible that I'm still a novitiate, traveling with DEFCON's stalker in order to meet the final requirement of the order to promote me to the PrC?

There is no way I can suss to get it at 6th unless there was a +1 BAB granting class with 1d6 sneak attack. You'd be in training.

I just realized that the build is going to hit multiclassing penalties right-quick (neither paladin nor rogue are shifter favored classes). They're there to limit cherry-picking. You'd be out of it by 7th level (if you took another rogue then) or 8th (if you took Shadowbane first). However, I like the concept and I'd waive it---if you dropped the ranger level which is very cherry-picking to me (The Inquisitors main think is not undead fighting, its evil fighting, remember).

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

I have swapped out Battle Caster for Persuasive and made the appropriate changes to my character sheet.

In other news, I'm a bit swamped with my guests so my responses will be much slower than usual, to all my games. Sorry.

 

[GwydapLlew]

I just realized that the build is going to hit multiclassing penalties right-quick (neither paladin nor rogue are shifter favored classes). They're there to limit cherry-picking. You'd be out of it by 7th level (if you took another rogue then) or 8th (if you took Shadowbane first). However, I like the concept and I'd waive it---if you dropped the ranger level which is very cherry-picking to me (The Inquisitors main think is not undead fighting, its evil fighting, remember).

Yah, I realized that multiclassing penalties last night were going to be a killer; it's actually one of the things that prompted me to pick up a level of ranger (to reduce the disparity between the paladin and the rogue).

I have no problem with dropping the ranger levels; it was a concept I was throwing out rather than something I had my heart set on. If you do waive the multiclassing, I'll go Pal 5/Rog 1 and then straight into Inquistor. I'll update in a bit!

 

[DEFCON 1]

GwydapLlew & stonegod... the only possible way I could see possibly getting into Inquistor at 6th level is by using the Unearthed Arcana Fighter Variant that swaps out bonus fighter feats for Sneak Attack. So by taking Paladin 4 / Fighter 1 (or indeed any combination of paladin and fighter) would qualify you for the prestige class. You'd have +5 BAB, turn undead ability, sneak attack ability, Power Attack, and can take the right amount of skills.

The biggest downside of course is the extreme lack of skills, since swapping bonus feats for sneak attack is the only thing that changes the fighter with this variant. So you'd still only get 2+Int mod in skills for any fighter levels you take. But you do end up being just a bit better in combat because your BAB will be a point higher, and you'll have an extra d10 for HP rather than d6.

If stonegod was to allow this fighter variant, I personally would suggest either doing paladin 4 / fighter 1 (to get that first 1d6 in sneak attack), or do paladin 2 / fighter 3 (and get the 2d6 worth of sneak attack plus avoid multi-classing penalties). There's no real point in taking only 2 levels in fighter, because you no longer get anything special at 2nd level since sneak attack is every-other-level, and the normal bonus fighter feat is now gone.

You can then use your sixth level for the entry into Shadowbane Inquistor.

 

[GwydapLlew]

The biggest downside of course is the extreme lack of skills, since swapping bonus feats for sneak attack is the only thing that changes the fighter with this variant. So you'd still only get 2+Int mod in skills for any fighter levels you take. But you do end up being just a bit better in combat because your BAB will be a point higher, and you'll have an extra d10 for HP rather than d6.

I looked at that option, but Gather Information is not a class skill for either Paladin or Fighter. Taking that option gives me nothing /but/ the entry requirements. (8 for Sense Motive, 2 for Knowledge (religion), and 8 for Gather Information.) I'd rather have a few extra skill points here and there and be one level behind in the PrC - and it can make for a decent backstory, what with shifters not being seen as the most wholesome race in the Church.

 

[GwydapLlew]

Are flametouched items allowed? They are sacred to the Silver Flame, and I was thinking about taking armor and a holy symbol made out of it. (I've currently listed it on my equipment.)

 

[DEFCON 1]

I looked at that option, but Gather Information is not a class skill for either Paladin or Fighter. Taking that option gives me nothing /but/ the entry requirements. (8 for Sense Motive, 2 for Knowledge (religion), and 8 for Gather Information.) I'd rather have a few extra skill points here and there and be one level behind in the PrC - and it can make for a decent backstory, what with shifters not being seen as the most wholesome race in the Church.

Right. The only was to get around that would be to also take the 'Thug' fighter variant as well, because that gives you 4+ skill points per fighter level plus makes Gather Info a class skill. And as it states that's it's often used in combo with the feat/sneak attack swap... you could perhaps do both if you so chose.

The variant class ends up being halfway between a fighter and a rogue. More skill points and class skills than a full fighter, but half as many as a full rogue. The full BAB and hit point progression of a fighter with the full sneak attack progression of the rogue... but losing the other special abilities a rogue traditionally has, plus the mass of extra feats a fighter traditionally has.

Whether or not 1 to 3 levels of 'Thug' coupled with 2-4 levels of paladin just to be able to start with 1 level of Shadowbane Inquistor would create a character better for you than just going regular paladin/rogue and holding off on your first Inquistor level until level 7... that I don't know. But at least the possibility is there if you wanted to start in the prestige class (and stonegod allowed it of course).