My Halfing Paladin

[Artoomis]

I've talked about him, asked advice on running him, and now, on the off-chance that anyone is interested, here is the background story and stat blocks on an unusual hero - Gibley, my halfling paladin mounted on his celestial riding dog, Odif, armed with his light lance.

This is an example of how to create a combat-effective halfling.

Gbiley and Odif

Comments welcome.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

I like him. The celestial armor on the pooch is a nice touch.

Do you have Smite Evil? That spirited charge damage will go through the roof if you Smite Evil. That is +64 damage if you convert the hit bonuses into power attack. You will get average damage of 106 once per day (if you hit).

Your third weakness is your own nearly nonexistent Spot and Listen. Common problem for a Paladin. On one hand you mount will help you out there much of the time. OTOH, fat lot of good an aware mount does if he always has to delay for you.

 

[Artoomis]

I like him. The celestial armor on the pooch is a nice touch.

Do you have Smite Evil? That spirited charge damage will go through the roof if you Smite Evil. That is +64 damage if you convert the hit bonuses into power attack. You will get average damage of 106 once per day (if you hit).

Your third weakness is your own nearly nonexistent Spot and Listen. Common problem for a Paladin. On one hand you mount will help you out there much of the time. OTOH, fat lot of good an aware mount does if he always has to delay for you.

Ridley's Cohort:

Thanks for your comments. Yes, he has Smite Evil (I must have not put that in the special abilities, I should go back and edit that). Once per day I get an obscenely large amount of damage with a single strike (against evil, anyway). But only once per day, and if I don't have the time to detect evil first it may be wasted.

You're right about Spot and Listen - and you are also right in that I rely on my mount for that (as well as relying on other party members ).

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

You can do some funky things with spells like share a Shield Other with your mount. That is useful if your opponent tries to either kill your mount and ignore you or vice versa.

Works best if HPs for both team members are fairly close.

Paladin spells start to look pretty cool if you share them with an ever present mount.

Make sure you pick up some scrolls when cash becomes available. It is always a good idea to have more members of the party who can cast a Dispel Magic, Dispel Evil, or Neutralize Poison in an emergency, even at less than 100% success probability.

(BTW, make sure you review the rules for casting from scrolls.)

 

[Artoomis]

Thanks for the advice. Funny you should mention "Shield Other" - that's now a standard tactic for me to use to keep the mount alive. Also I always keep "Heal Mount" as my 3rd level spell - great for removing blindess and other nastiness from the mount so he can save my rear end after we both get hit with the Power Word Blind (or whatever).

I am quickly learning the ins and outs of working with a Paladin's Mount - nothing like a couple of mistakes to speed up one's education.

 

[Ted the Cowboy]

Halfling Paladin

Hello there fellow halfling

I too play a halfling Paladin. He is currently 8th level but just made 9th. I have to get him to the nearest town before I add on his new skills, feat and hp.

The mounted combat abilities and a small character make for some interesting play. I have a riding dog for my paladin, and it's great to be able to ride him into places where a horse cannot go. I think it would be a bizarre sight to see a mounted halfling on a dog with a lance charging down those long dungeon corridors.

My dilemma now is which feat would better serve my character. He so far has Mounted combat, Ride by attack, and extra smiting (which my dm recommended but has so far only been used once).
I am thinking spirited charge has obvious benefits, but Improved critical (shortsword) would be nice also.

I have a nice +4 shortsword, and improved critical would mean a critical hit on 17-20 (20% of attacks). (2d6 +12 dmg (str+2,Magic+4, x2)) Combine this with the spell Bless weapon and the guesswork of the second roll is now out of the equation. Add smiting attacks to that and pray that you are not evil. (+4 more attack, 2d6 +28 dmg (str+2, magic+4,level for smiting +8: x2). That is 50 dmg maxed out.

We also use threat to kill in our game also. If the spell is in effect the threat to critical is automatic, but I still have to roll for threat to kill. With a range of 17-20, that is still a 20% chance if everything else is in place. (Now if I can just find a mage to cast keen edge on my sword.....)

I'm new to this site so I don't know how to put a link with my character on it, but here he is briefly:

Tymothi "Tym" Lockwood

halfling, male, paladin level 8, lawfull good, diety Yondalla, 3'4"height, 40 lbs, hazel eyes, light brown hair

str 14, dex 18, con 12, int 10, wis 14, cha 18

hp 66, ac 22(chainshirt +4, +1 small steel Sheild +2, dex +4, size +1, amulet +1) speed 20, init +4 Base attack +8/+3, fort +12, ref +11, will +9

Short sword +4, attack +15/+10, dmg 1d6+6
throwing axe, att +11/+6 (+12 thrown), dmg 1d6+2
light lance +11/+6, 1d6+2
light crossbow +13, 1d8
M.W. dagger +11/+6 (+12 thrown) 1d4+2
light mace +11/+6, 1d6+2

feats - mounted combat, rideby attack, extra smiting
skills - concentration +2, diplomacy +6, handle animal +6, heal +3, knowledge religion +4, ride +17

items, other than weapons and armor listed above:
Quiver of Yondalla*
light lance with flametrap*
potion of superheroism*
potion of charisma*
10 potions of cure light wounds*
2 vial of anti toxin
4 vials holy water
tanglefoot bag
gold holy symbol 50GP
explorers outfit
courtiers outfit
3 empty flasks
backpack
rations 1 day
sack
bedroll
small wooden sheild with holy symbol
short sword - original
2 short sword +2*(spoils to be used as tithes)
hooded lantern
5 flasks of oil

GP 6252, SP 554
Lay on hands 32hp/day
hometown Pebbleton

Taylor - Special Mount riding dog, medium sized animal
hp 37, init +2, speed 40ft, ac 22 (10 + 2 dex, +6 natural, +4 chainshirt barding w/ mil saddle) attack +7, dmg 1d6+4, special qualities - scent, imptroved evasion, share spells, empatic link, share saving throws, saves as tym, abilities str17, dex 15, con 15, int 7, wis 12, cha 6, skills listen +5, spot +5, swim +5, wild/lore +1

Okay that wasn't very brief, I just happened to cut and paste it from a previous email. Tym is one of our party's central characters. We were up to 9 other pcs, except now we've stepped through a magic portal into a snowy field with 2 moons in the sky. Our party is now down to 4 players: Tym (and Taylor), Jinsin the ranger/sorceror, Morsheeba the fighter/sorceress, and Dave the cleric/barbarian.

 

[Skullfyre]

Re: Halfling Paladin

Okay that wasn't very brief, I just happened to cut and paste it from a previous email. Tym is one of our party's central characters. We were up to 9 other pcs, except now we've stepped through a magic portal into a snowy field with 2 moons in the sky. Our party is now down to 4 players: Tym (and Taylor), Jinsin the ranger/sorceror, Morsheeba the fighter/sorceress(*edited*She changed her name), and Dave the cleric/barbarian(*edited*that is not his character's name. But I do believe that you have it).

Being his DM. I think I may have scared him

 

[Artoomis]

Re: Re: Halfling Paladin

Being his DM. I think I may have scared him

Hmm. He doesn't seem so scared to me. Anyhow....

Ted, you do understand that Taylor does not get Tym's saves, right? Only BASE saves.

To help in your mounts survivability I suggest you appeal to your DM for a friendly ruling - that being that he allow your riding dog to advance as a Magical Beast (except he keeps d8 hit die). This will give him a slightly better attack bonus a few skill points and a couple of feats (one now, one later).

The rules are silent on this point, leaving plenty of wiggle room for your DM to give you a friendly ruling and still be within the rules, if that matters. It will only make the difference of two feats and about 8 or so skill points, I don't remember exactly, but not so much as to be unreasonable. It has always seemed to me to be a bit odd to gain intelligence yet no gain skills or feats. If he allows this, you should choose feats and skills that help him survive above all else.

(Both Caliban and the Sage disagree with my viewpoint on this, just so's ya know.)

As for your next feat, I'd go with Spirited Charge and chew up the bad guys. Frankly, though, as you've probably already found out, you don't get to charge as much as you'd like. You might like Divine Might (I think that's the right name) from DotF. You'll like it!

 

[Skullfyre]

Artoomis, Could you point me to the information on Advancing his mount?
I would love to see that.

 

[Artoomis]

Artoomis, Could you point me to the information on Advancing his mount?
I would love to see that.

We had quite a debate on that topic.

The rules say:

A paladin's mount is a magical beast, not an animal. It is superior to a normal mount of its kind and has special powers, as shown below

and

Bonus HD: These are extra eight-sided (d8) Hit Dice, each of which gains a Constitution modifier, as normal. Remember that extra Hit Dice improve the mount's base attack and base save bonuses.

No mention is made of skill points or feats.

I say that he should advance as a Magical Beast because that's what he is (except he stays at d8 because that is addressed specifically).

Those on the opposite of the issue say no - he advances as a animal (saves, attack bonus, no skill or feats). Essntially they think the Paladin's Mount is a template that does not grant the skills, feats or attack bonus of a magical beast.

I, of course, disagree. The language in templates is quite different than the language here, so you could comfortably rule either way.

For your handy reference:

Advancement

This book lists only the weakest and most common version of each creature. The Advancement line shows how tough the creature can get, in terms of extra Hit Dice. (This is not an absolute limit, but exceptions are extremely rare.)

Animal: An animal is a nonhumanoid creature, usually a vertebrate. All animals have Intelligence scores of 1 or 2. Unless noted otherwise, animals have low-light vision.

Hit Die: d8
Attack Bonus: Total HDx3/4 (as cleric)
Good Saving Throws: Usually Fortitude and Reflex
Skill Points: 10-15
Feats: -

and

Magical Beast: Magical beasts are similar to beasts but have supernatural or extraordinary abilities. Unless noted otherwise, magical beasts have darkvision with a range of 60 feet and low-light vision.

Hit Die: d10
Attack Bonus: Total HD (as fighter)
Good Saving Throws: Fortitude and Reflex
Skill Points: +1 per extra HD
Feats: +1 per 4 extra HD

and, finally it's worth noting that a Riding Dog normally has no advancement (that is, the entry for advancement is "-")

I hope that's helpful.