Big charge damage ideas?

[StreamOfTheSky]

It's also highly debatable if you can pounce while mounted, as any Pal charger build would be. I definitely don't allow it, especially on a Ride-by Attack.

Jeff...is there a reason you're trying to make an NPC that can vaporize people on the tip of his lance? It's an awesome, fun build exercise, but really not a good/fun idea to actually use in play, especially against the PCs. DM: *rolls a 2 to hit* "Thanks to Shock Trooper, that still hits you even with full PA, you take 534 damage." PC: "....What?!"

The only time I've ever used an uber-charger as an enemy, his damage was still in the range where barring a crit, he could at best knock someone to dying, but not dead. And I made him boastful and full of hubris, so the PCs knew what to expect. Fight became almost more like a puzzle, with them doing everything they could to prevent his charge. Grease worked amazingly (used as a readied action ). Stopped one charge, then when he tried the next round, the Setting Sun focused PC used Counter Charge and sent him right back into the grease, leaving him prone to boot! It was an awesome fight. /reminiscing

 

[NewJeffCT]

I was going to do it something like that - have the evil paladin charge an NPC/ally/cohort and skewer the NPC/ally/cohort with the big damage. Then, when the paladin turns to charge again, the PCs know they have a formidable foe on their hands and will have to do something about this foe instead of just concentrating on the evil cleric (the party psion can do his "entangling ectoplasm" first level power and stop the charge cold as well...similarly, a dismissal/banishment on the nightmare mount will keep the charge damage down, or just outright killing the mount... and I'm sure they have other options I'm not aware of either.) Also, edited to add that I would agree that Pounce would not work while mounted.... I'm going more for the Valorous Lance, Spirited Charge, Power Attack & Charging Smite route

But, since the party has a paladin of freedom that can jack his AC up to the 60s and his touch AC to around 50, I was going to have the paladin of tyranny face off with him as well.

Similarly, I also warned them on the frenzied berserker - giving them a description of how he took out the elf king with a massive leap across the battlefield and then one round of huge damage (in fact, when I saw the psion had taken the entangling ectoplasm power when advancing from level 16 to 17, I thought for sure he'd use it on the FB)... however, they still rushed into combat with him and ended up paying the price.

 

[NewJeffCT]

ok, i was looking through the variant character classes & the like in Unearthed Arcana and I could not find Charging Smite at all? Which book is that from?

Thanks

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

ok, i was looking through the variant character classes & the like in Unearthed Arcana and I could not find Charging Smite at all? Which book is that from?

Thanks

PHB 2. Trade your Paladin special mount for it, so it's hard to do mounted charges with it without an ally, a cohort mount via leadership, or another class giving a special mount (and even then, probably as a gestalt character, lest the mount's still too wimpy to live long).

 

[NewJeffCT]

Thanks - It says I must spread XP around more before giving to you again!