anyone know of a good prestige class for Paladins?

[Plane Sailing]

An excellent synergy can be gained with Iaijutsu master from Oriental Adventures if your DM is prepared to allow that (and the iaijutsu focus skill which is central to the prestige class).

It would be an interesting direction for any paladin-type to take, and makes full use of a great charisma.

Cheers

 

[Nightfall]

There's an excellent PRC for the paladin: Blackguard

Selling point number one: Code? Honor? Virtue? Screw all that!

Not always. Some can be LE after all. They just are more "flexible" about what constitutes a code, honor and virtue.

 

[ForceUser]

Just looking for a good prestige class for a paladin. Right now I am 4th lvl, but I want to have one in mind now for the future in case i need to meet certain requirements.

I came up with the Knight of Saint Midea for my homebrew with paladins in mind. You're welcome to use it, though you will need the Ravenloft campaign setting book from Sword & Sorcery Studios to fully utilize the class. Enjoy.

 

[Stone Angel]

In the Book of Exalted Deeds there is a Servant of Bahamut that is worth taking a look at. Especially if your campaign is dragon heavy.

The Seraph of Earth and Stone

 

[fusangite]

People are correct that from a purely game-mechanical standpoint, there is no better prestige class for a Paladin than Blackguard. It also troubles me that even in 3.5E, Blackguards continue to be better healers than Paladins. Then there's the batter of giving a tank sneak attack bonuses, etc.

Perhaps one reason it's hard to creat a good Paladin prestige class is that Paladin should be a prestige class open to fighters, clerics and fighter-clerics.

 

[Renfield]

Yeah, one of my players thinks that a Paladin should be a prestige class, especially considering Paladins are technically supposed to be given something of a calling to become one in the first place which would make more sense. Compact all the paladin abilities into a class of ten levels and there you go Not that it's that simple. *sigh* a pity one tends to have to look for good prestige classes in D20 publishing. I swear Wizards is too balance happy, a mean they lessened a whole bunch of spells from 3.0 because they actually worked well when used and I wont even begin on the Dragon Desciple PRC any way, WAY off topic, sorryl. As for the monks not having good prestige classes, well, they get lovely crunchy bits throughout their class and PRC's tend to nullify some of their level dependant abilities in exchange for other abilities that more often than not don't make up for such sacrifices. IMHO

 

[Taelorn76]

I came up with the Knight of Saint Midea for my homebrew with paladins in mind. You're welcome to use it, though you will need the Ravenloft campaign setting book from Sword & Sorcery Studios to fully utilize the class. Enjoy.

thank you for the PRC, I was considering picking up the Ravenloft CS, now I have an excuse to go buy it.

 

[Artoomis]

As far as I am concerned a Paladin's Prestige Class should focus on some aspect of Paladinhood at the expense of some other. I think such classes already exist for every aspect of Paladinhood except for maximizing the mount without giving up ALL other progression of paladin abilities.

A mount-base class made primarily for paladins should, I think, add in several really cool mounted abilities including making the mount celestial as the final power. Such a class should give up progressing in spellcasting in exchange. To be sure the balance is just right, it should be a 7-level class, ensuring that no 4th level spells can be gained (through 20th level, at least) if one wants to gain all levels of the Prestige Class.

I'd have all other Paladin powers continue to progress.

The mounted powers would be, I think, something like a more flexible charge (maybe allowing one turn at first, and allowing two turns at higher level), giving a "charge" multiplier that is "holy" - that is, works against evil only - perhaps only
in conjunction with "Smite Evil, allow a full attack when mounted while riding by various opponents (AoOs apply, no more than one attack per opponent) and making the mount celestial. Something like this:

Level 1: Flexible Charge (one turn up to 45 degrees when charging, must otherwise be in a straight line as normal. May ride through allies squares just as normal movement allows.)
Level 2: Mount Advancement (one level sooner than a Paladin)
Level 3: Mounted Full Attack (as explained above)
Level 4: Flexible Charge II - Up to two 45 degree turns (NOT 1 90 degree turn, though)
Level 5: Very Spirited Charge: Spirited Charge bonus increases by 1x (or Spirited Charge feat is gained for free (IF prerequisites met), usable only when using Smite Evil.
Level 6: Improved Shared Saving Throws. (The mount gains the Paladin's ACTUAL, modified saves or it's own, whichever is higher)
Level 7: Mount becomes Celestial AND gains +2 HD, +2 Natural Armor AND now SHARES Improved Evasion with its rider - but only when the rider is mounted on the special mount, of course.

Something like that.

 

[Artoomis]

Here is a class that is fairly well-balanced for a better mount/rider relationship and is complete (for 3.0- it needs a tweak or two for 3.5):

Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here>

A few select holy warriors devote themselves greatly to their mounts and the slaying of evil from atop their steeds. Some of these, with the guidance of their holy orders, and after spending much time in meditation and prayer seeking guidance, become Righteous Lances of <Insert Name Here>. As such, they do not progress in spell casting, but instead gain a few powers that help them in their quest for slaying evil from high atop their holy mounts (low atop their mounts for halfings!). A few fighters or clerics occasionally are granted Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here> status, though it is most unusual for anyone other than a paladin.

Rules info:
Prerequisites:
BAB: +7
Mounted Combat, Ride-By Attack, Spirited Charge (He must focus on his riding feats)
Ride (7 ranks) (He must ride well)
Religion (6 ranks) (He must be educated in WHY he fights)
Must have patron deity (DM option: Complete a quest for the deity.)
Alignment: LG
Class Skills: The Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here>'s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are, Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Ride (Dex).
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Righteous Lances of <Insert Name Here> gain no new weapon or armor proficiencies.

Base Level//Attack Bonus//Fort Save//Ref Save//Will Save//Special
1 // +1 // +2 // +0 // +0 // Special Mount, Flexible Charge, Divine Ride I, Ride +1
2 // +2 // +3 // +0 // +0 // Glorious Charge, Ride +2
3 // +3 // +3 // +1 // +1 // Share Divine Grace, Divine Ride II, Ride +3
4 // +4 // +4 // +1 // +1 // Mounted Synergy, Ride +4
5 // +5 // +4 // +1 // +1 // Superior Mount, Divine Ride III, Ride +5

Special Mount: A Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here> may call a special mount exactly as the paladin. The effective level for this purpose is Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here> level + 4, unless the Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here> has one or more levels of paladin, in which case the effective level for determining the mount's abilities is the Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here> level + Paladin level + 1.

Flexible Charge (Ex): The Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here> and his mount are blessed with the knowledge of how to charge by an enemy more effectively. When executing a Ride-By Attack, the Righteous Lance only has to maintain a straight line in the portion of the charge that leads up to the attack - after that he may freely change direction. This is restricted only in that each change of direction must be in a generally forward direction (he can make as many turns as he want, but all must be less than 90 degrees).

Divine Ride I/II/III (Su). Divine Ride is a by-product of the divine nature of how the Righteous Lance and his mount act together as a single unit. At 1st level, the Righteous Lance may substitute a ride check for a concentration check when casting spells while the mount is moving (not running/galloping). At 3rd level, this substitution may be made while the mount is running/galloping. Finally, after achieving the ultimate bonding of mount and rider, the Righteous Lance may substitute a ride check for the concentration check anytime he is mounted on his special mount. This ability is always active (it does not take a standard action to activate)

Ride +1 (Su). A Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here> is granted a circumstance bonus of +1 to their riding skill. This increases to +2 at 2nd level, +3 at 3rd level, etc. This bonus is restricted to when riding the special mount. This ability is always active (it does not take a standard action to activate)
Glorious Charge(Su): The Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here> may, when charging, mounted on his special mount, and fighting evil, deal a sacred bonus of +2 damage. This ability is always active (it does not take a standard action to activate)

Share Divine Grace(Su): The Righteous Lance and his mount are beginning to merge together into a single fighting unit. The mount now benefits from the rider's Divine Grace (Charisma bonus to saving throws). If the rider did not already have Divine Grace, it is granted now, but for the mount only. This ability is always active (it does not take a standard action to activate)

Mounted Synergy: The Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here> may take the Mounted Synergy feat (this is not a free feat). The feat is:

Mounted Synergy. (preq - Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here> level 4, special mount as per Paladin): This character gains a +2 bonus to damage when mounted on his special mount, as he has learned how to take maximum advantage of working together with his special mount. (This bonus is "unnamed.")

Superior Mount: This power is the holiest of the Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here> granted abilities. His mount becomes celestial, getting the celestial template applied at its current hit die (and re-calculated as its hit die increase, of course). If the mount is already celestial, it does not gain some other benefit instead - the character was simply already blessed. In addition, the connection between the mount and the paladin also intensifies so that they act like a single unit: when mounted, the mount may now benefit from Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here>'s ability score modifiers to saving throws, using either the Righteous Lance's or the mounts, whichever is higher. This latter beneift is supernatural.

Multiclassing: Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here> levels combine with paladin levels for all paladin class abilities except spell casting (which the Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here> does not get). The paladin's special mount, however, is granted a rapid progression such that the effective level for the mount abilities is the Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here> level + Paladin level + 1. As the Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here> is divinely selected, he may not freely multiclass. If he advances in any class other than Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here> or paladin, he may no longer advance as a Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here>. The Righteous Lance of <Insert Name Here> may multiclass with the paladin class with no restrictions.

 

[LegendaryGames]

Holy Vindicator

From the Advanced Player's Guide is pretty cool.