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Paladin: strength or charisma item?


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Human Paladin 6, adventures in Living Greyhawk.

Str 14
Dex 12
Con 14
Int 8
Wis 13
Cha 16

Feats: EWP Bastard Sword (for roleplaying reasons, his goddess is Mayaheine), Power Attack, Cleave, Divine Might

Skills: Diplomacy 11, Knowledge (nobility & royalty) 0, Knowledge (Religion) 0, Ride 9

In Living Greyhawk there are many battles so I´m needed to be a tank but Diplomacy is so far a boon, too. I will stay Paladin (if I survive :)), future feat choices are Divine Shield, Extra Smiting or Weapon Focus (and some other divine feats like Divine Vigor). A Cleric is not always present so the healing ability is not unimportant.

So far I´m more convinced on getting the charisma-item first and then Strength. One minor problem: In Livng Greyhawk you can freely purchase Cloaks of Resistance but not a Vest of Resistance. If an opportunitiy in future adventures to buy a Vest will not come up I´ll won´t be able to use a Cloak of Charisma and a Cloak of Restistance together.
 
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Oh yes, that's a big problem with the Cloak of Charisma.

Using up the same slot as such a standard item (Cloak of Resistance, which I suppose is THE most often existing item at all in a D&D world (mostly speaking of adventurers and such, of course)) isn't very fair. :)

Bye
Thanee
 



Thanee said:
Oh yes, that's a big problem with the Cloak of Charisma.

Using up the same slot as such a standard item (Cloak of Resistance, which I suppose is THE most often existing item at all in a D&D world (mostly speaking of adventurers and such, of course)) isn't very fair. :)

Bye
Thanee

I agree, my fighter's Cloak of Resistence +4 makes him harder the hell to slow down (iron will doesn't hurt either)
 
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Here's my take.

Since you have EWP Bastard Sword, I imagine you wield it one-handed most of the time. That effects your choice here.

Strength gives you a bit more carrying capacity (not too relevant since medium load doesn't do anything to you that your fullplate didn't do already), +1 to hit and +1 to damage. If you wielded a two handed weapon and had the opportunity to take your strength to 18, you'd get +2 to damage which would skew things in favor of strength.

Charisma gives you: +1 to saves (easily achievable through a +1 cloak of resistance), +1 to hit with your smite evil attacks, 1 extra use of divine might per day (+4 or +8 damage), and 1 extra point of damage on all of your existing uses of Divine Might, +1 to diplomacy, and +6 hit points when you lay on hands.

I would probably go with charisma. The extra use of Divine Might and the extra damage from your existing uses is a big deal. The bonus to hit when you smite evil is significant. And the extra six hit points of lay on hands is the difference between it being equal to a cure serious from an APL appropriate cleric (average 15 points of healing vs. 18 from Lay on Hands with your 16 cha) and being significantly better (24 points of healing).

Longbow said:
Human Paladin 6, adventures in Living Greyhawk.

Str 14
Dex 12
Con 14
Int 8
Wis 13
Cha 16

Feats: EWP Bastard Sword (for roleplaying reasons, his goddess is Mayaheine), Power Attack, Cleave, Divine Might

Skills: Diplomacy 11, Knowledge (nobility & royalty) 0, Knowledge (Religion) 0, Ride 9

In Living Greyhawk there are many battles so I´m needed to be a tank but Diplomacy is so far a boon, too. I will stay Paladin (if I survive :)), future feat choices are Divine Shield, Extra Smiting or Weapon Focus (and some other divine feats like Divine Vigor). A Cleric is not always present so the healing ability is not unimportant.

So far I´m more convinced on getting the charisma-item first and then Strength. One minor problem: In Livng Greyhawk you can freely purchase Cloaks of Resistance but not a Vest of Resistance. If an opportunitiy in future adventures to buy a Vest will not come up I´ll won´t be able to use a Cloak of Charisma and a Cloak of Restistance together.
 

Actually, the bonuses to hit and damage from smite evil and Divine Might for higher Charisma only equal the bonuses to hit and damage from higher Strength, and only for some of the time.

Higher Charisma gets you a +1 to hit when you smite evil, higher Strength gets you a +1 to hit all the time.

Higher Charisma gets you a +1 to damage when you use Divine Might, and one more use per day. Higher Strength gets you a +1 to damage all the time.

Basically, your trade-offs are:

Higher Strength: +1 to hit when not smiting evil. +1 to damage when not using Divine Might.

Higher Charisma: +1 to saves, +1 to Diplomacy checks, 6 more hit points healed from Lay on Hands.

I stand by my initial analysis. If you're the party's main tank, the Strength item is probably more important. If you're the party healer or diplomat, the Charisma item is probably more important.
 

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