ranger/paladin WoTBS

[mr.pink]

My Dm likes to use premade campaigns and has decided to use "War of the Burning Sky" however he wants it gesalt so we are playing with only 3 characters. Here is my character so far

Name: Hedwig
Race: Human
Class: 1 Ranger/ 1 Paladin
Stats:

Str 14
Dex 10
Con 12
Int 10
Wis 18
Cha 8
​

Feats: Intuitive Strike

Devoted tracker
​

As I gain more levels i plan on taking levels of rogue and adding the Devoted Inquisitor feat. I also want to turn my mount/companion into a super monster that i occasionally ride. so i have a couple questions for you guys.

1. Is there anyway i can get my Paladin or Ranger levels to increase sneak attack?
2. In War of the Burning Sky what do you guys suggest for my first few favored enemies?
3. Is there a way to lower my armor penalties for stealth?
4. Do you guys have any suggestions on building a crazy animal companion/mount?

 

[Nebten]

1) No, but Blackguard can.
2) Ragesians are known to be human & orc. A good place to start.
3) Different armor materials such as mithral.

 

[irdeggman]

You need a much higher Charisma score to have an adequate paladin.

So many of their special abilities rely on Charisma bonuses it is essential.

Smite undead, turn undead, Divine grace, and you can't even lay on hands without a charisma score of at least 12.

Wisdom is less important since either class is limited to 4th level spells so a 14 wisdom is adequate.

If you want sneak attack increases - try a scout instead of a ranger. Skirmish, while it doesn't increase sneak attack by itself (I think there is a prestige class that combines them though, although I could be mistaken) - both apply when applicable.

From the way it sounds a paladin is not a good combination for your concept. Perhaps a fighter instead (for bonus feats). A fighter/rogue will get you sneak attack ans with the bonus fighter feats you can get two weapon fighting fairly quick.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

If you're going to have such a heavy wisdom focus (including a feat to replace it for melee attack rolls -- NOT a great idea, IMO, since you still need str for damage anyway and it's limiting you to SIMPLE weapons) then you really just plain NEED the Serenity feat from Dragon Compendium v.1 so at least all your fancy paladin class features work off wis. There's more to the build than just that, but it's a necessary first step.

 

[RangerWickett]

I had great success with a mounted archer ranger/beastmaster. My heavy warhorse mount was, even up to 10th level, fairly deadly in melee combat, which tended to keep mooks away so I could safely pepper the real threats with arrows.

Not sure how to fit paladin in with that.

 

[Herobizkit]

I'm not very familiar with the Complete Adventurer yet, so take my suggestions as you will.

Devoted Inquisitor allows you to daze an enemy when you use your smite evil and sneak attack together. Undead are immune to sneak attack. I would suggest the Razing Attack feat instead which allows you to channel a 'spell use' to harm undead.

If you really want the Sneak Attack, why go Ranger at all? I would strongly suggest a Paladin//Rogue right from the get-go. You'll get Sneak Attack starting at level 1, awesome skill points/level including the fabled Use Magic Device (based off Cha, of which you'll want to be high anyway for the Paladin abilities), and you still get a mount (normally a horse; IMC I gave an NPC Paladin a 'redeemed' Nightmare as a mount - white body and blue flames).

The strength of Gestalt is combining two disparate classes and taking the best of each. Ranger and Paladin are both warrior classes... they don't really lend well to one another.

As for your stats:
Str 14 Dex 10 Con 12 Int 10 Wis 18 Cha 8

Did you get these scores with 30-point buy? If I were creating a Paladin//Rogue, here's what I'd do:

Str 14 Dex 10 Con 13 Int 14 Wis 13 Cha 14

You can Sneak Attack in any armor you like. Design your rouge to be a knowledge guy rather than Mr. Stealth; use those skill points for skills not affected by armor use. As a general rule, I usually design characters as high Dex/low armor types, so I would likely switch Dex for Con if this character were for my personal use.

Use your first bonus point at level 4 for Con, and next one at level 8 for Wis. If you're going to be wearing super-heavy armor, Dex is pretty much a moot point. And, gratz - you don't make Cha a dump stat!

So now we have a Sneak Attacking, heavy-armored holy Smiter who can use spell slots to hurt Undead. You can use lay on hands, max out your spell ability, and use any Wizard item with a decent chance of success. Not too shabby, if you ask me.