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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gez" data-source="post: 1943197" data-attributes="member: 1328">I thought Paladins were OK in Ravenloft, but that they couldn't detect evil, so they detected chaos instead. But maybe this was changed for RL 3.5.There are interesting options in Races of Stone, if you can have access to it, for a dwarf tank.For an example of a build:Str 17+1 (4th level)=18Dex 13Con 17+2 (dwarf mod)=19Int 14Wis  7Cha  8-2 (dwarf mod)= 61st level: Fighter. Feats: Toughness. Skills: Climb 4, Heal 2.0, Jump 4, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 2.0. Use Racial Substitution level to get Axe Focus instead of bonus feat: it gives Weapon Focus (battleaxe, dwarven waraxe, greataxe, handaxe, throwing axe, dwarven urgrosh-axe head).2nd level: Fighter. Skills: Climb 5, Heal 2.5, Jump 5, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 2.5. Use Racial Substitution level to get Racial Foes: +2 bonus on weapon damage rolls against orcs, giants, and gobelinoids.3rd level: Fighter. Feat: Endurance. Skills: Heal 3.0, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 3.0, Survival 1.0.4th level: Fighter. Feat: Weapon Specialization (dwarven waraxe) (B). Skills: Handle Animal 4 (Or something else, Craft, Ride, whatever). Stat increase in Strength.5th level: Ranger. Skills: Heal 5, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 5, Survival 5. Gets Favored Enemy (either Undead, 'cause it's Ravenloft, or one of the Racial Foes, preferably Giants, to up the weapon damage to +4 against them), Track, and Wild Empathy.6th level: Deepwarden (RoS). Gets Trap Sense (and Track again, sigh). Feat: Dodge. Take the skills you want, you have 6+2 skill points and a rich class skill list.7th level: Deepwarden (RoS). Gets Stonewarden: adds your Con bonus to AC instead of your Dex bonus. Again, take the skills you want.8th level: Dwarven Defender. Stat increase in Constitution.The Deepwarden, like the Dwarven Defender, gets a d12 HD, full BAB, and good Fortitude.That way, at level 8, you'll have BAB +8, HD 1d8+4d10+3d12+43 (counting the maxed HD at first level, that's an average of 93!).Naked Armor class: 10+5 (Con bonus)+1 dodge (Dwarven Defender bonus)+1 dodge against one enemy (Dodge feat)= 17. Add armor and shield.Damage: With a Dwarven Waraxe, and against a Giant, you get 1d10+10 or 1d10+12 without counting any enhancement bonus from magic. +4 from Str (+6 if wielding it two-handed), +2 from Weapon Spec., +2 from Racial Foes, and +2 from Favored Enemy. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />If you do not take the 2nd level Racial Substitution level (I don't know Ravenloft enough to know if it's really worth it, as the primary enemies seem to be undead rather than savage humanoids and giants), Power Attack as a bonus feat seems a good choice. Opens up Cleave and Great Cleave.Otherwise, at level 9, take Improved Critical. A 19-20 threat range on a x3 critical is nice and nifty!If you really want to soak up damage like the best of the tanks, you could go for Improved Toughness (Complete Warrior) at level 9, it will adds your level to your hit points. Average hp at level 9 would thus be 109!An asset of this build is that it will give you a few more hit points, and far more skill points, than a straight level 7 Fighter+Dwarven Defender combo. While you lose, on average, one hp from the Ranger level, you gain 2 more, on average again, from the Deepwarden levels, so the trade-off is in your advantage. Your numerous skill points will help your character in non-combat situation: the Deepwarden class list includes Balance, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Escape Artist, Handle Animal, Heal, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (dungeoneering, geography), Listen, Move Silently, Search, Speak Language, Spot, Survival, Swim, and Use Rope. And, as you do not need any skill to qualify for Dwarven Defender, with your Int bonus, that's 16 skill points you can spend anyway you wish amongst those.</blockquote>

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