Sword and Board...of DEATH!

[Lamoni]

Try to make him use the houserule of the paladins spellcaster level as class level -3. It really makes a difference without being too unbalancing.

Just curious (I know this is off topic) but are there any spells that would be unbalancing if you gave the Paladin a full spellcaster level? I think the same goes with the Ranger. Maybe they didn't want them to beat any caster level checks or to make sure their spells are easily dispelled... but the spell selection is limiting enough without making the spells useless. A houserule that I would like to implement is to change the description on all Ranger and Paladin spells to be dependant on Ranger/Paladin level OR spellcaster level for determining the effects.

With that said, I think that there are several useful spells for the Paladin, but they are all found in Complete Divine and have nothing to do with combat... except for celestial barding which sort-of does. Sticking to the PHB, the only spell that looked attractive was Holy Sword.

Back on the topic, The point of having a shield is to have better defense. I think it is worth sacrificing damage output. I would keep the shield, forget about bashing with it or animating it. Instead of spending the money to animate it, give it a nice ability like element resistance or fortification. It ends up being much cheaper to put defensive modifications on a shield and armor rather than just on armor. If they both equal +5, that costs 50,000 whereas armor with a +10 would cost 100,000.

EDIT: I partially retract my answer with the new pricing. Now it costs the same to add greater fire resistance to a +1 shield as it does to a +5 shield. Of the abilities that still standard +X enhancements I think that fortification is the only one that is still very worthwhile. Critical hits and sneak attacks can easily kill you at any level and being able to just negate them is quite nice. Of course you can now have armor with fortification and still add resistance to every element type on top of it so having a shield doesn't help the pricing much anymore which is unfortunate. Why did they make the pricing change?

 

[FireLance]

One feat I was really considering that works really good for a high Cha character is Resounding Blow from BoED. I don't remember the BAB req, so you might not be able to get it until level 9. But with an 18 Cha (at level 9), its a DC 18 Fort save on a crit or you foe is...stunned? Nauseated? I can't remember.

For Resounding Blow, your opponent has to make a Will save or cower for 1 round. It's a good feat, but it requires 7 ranks of Intimidate, which is a cross-class skill for paladins.

Another good feat with this as a prerequisite is Quell the Profane. When you score a critical hit against an evil creature, he has to succeed at a Fortitude save or take 1d4+1 points of Strength damage.

These two feats are excellent when combined with a weapon that has the Blessed property so that every threat against an evil creature is automatically a critical hit.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Some great ideas here. Of course, with my 9 Int, skill points are in short supply, so I'm not sure whether I can hit that 7 Intimidate since I'd be sacrificing Ride and Diplomacy.

Incidentally, I checked out some of the links in your sig, FireLance. You seem to be quite interested in the paladin's path. The idea of spending Remove Disease charges is one I've played with too, though in the end paladins are so feat-starved that modifications in the form of feats often fail to do what they set out to do: give the paladin more options. Ironically, they make the paladin/fighter even more appealing.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Don't forget to get enchanted shield spikes.

You enchant them seperately from the shield, so it can have positive attack bonuses even with TWF.

Once you have that, add the Bashing enchantment (+1d6). Going by the example of the Asura Shield (BoED), Bashing damage stacks with the base damage of the weapon.

So, including the +1 minimum weapon enchantment on the spikes, you now have a weapon that does 3-13x2P as an offhand weapon.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Don't forget to get enchanted shield spikes.

You enchant them seperately from the shield, so it can have positive attack bonuses even with TWF.

Once you have that, add the Bashing enchantment (+1d6). Going by the example of the Asura Shield (BoED), Bashing damage stacks with the base damage of the weapon.

So, including the +1 minimum weapon enchantment on the spikes, you now have a weapon that does 3-13x2P as an offhand weapon.

My understanding is that you don't need to bother with the shield spikes, Danny. Which is to say that a shield is enchanted seperately for offense and defense as it is. So you could enchant your shield just as you would enchant the spikes, with the same results, for the same cost.

This is how I understand it, anyway, and what I was planning to do, though now that I've been reminded of the Dex requirement...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The difference is, as I understand it, that while spikes can be enchanted to take other weapon enchantments, a shield cannot.

So, while Bashing is a shield enchantment, things like the "Captain America trio" (Throwing/Returning/Distance), Thundering, Shocking Burst, Speed, Wounding, etc., are weapon enchantments that could not be placed on a regular shield.

Thus, if you want to have the ability to add future magical weapon enchantments, the spikes need to be enchanted.

 

[jabberwocky]

The difference is, as I understand it, that while spikes can be enchanted to take other weapon enchantments, a shield cannot.

This isn't true, because the shield (with or without spikes) is a martial weapon (according to the shield bash rules) and therefore eligible to be enchanted as a weapon as well - you just have to enchant the shield and weapon properties separately.

 

[Darklone]

I've been playing a sword and board paladin for just over a year now (he's level 8) and I tried to go the same path you did with this...the shield and sword TWF...but the -4 penalty on each attack was killing my char but then he doesn't have an 18 Str like yours does.

-4? Heavy shield?

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Sorry Shadeus, I completely missed this post before Darklone quoted it.

I'm a bit curious...how did your paladin get Divine Might before level 6? Was he a 3.0 conversion? Because paladins get turning at level 4 now, it's usually impossible to get it before level 6.

My DM allowed me to take Divine Might at level 3. That's when it would have been available in 3.0, and there's really no balance reason why it shouldn't be allowed at that level in 3.5, save for the fact that the designers wanted to spread out the paladin abilities over several levels and didn't particularly care that they were weakening paladin turning and delaying divine feats in the process.

I've been playing a sword and board paladin for just over a year now (he's level 8) and I tried to go the same path you did with this...the shield and sword TWF...but the -4 penalty on each attack was killing my char but then he doesn't have an 18 Str like yours does.

Well, if you use a light shield, it's only a -2 penalty to each attack. What dexterity does your pally have? Mine would have to snag Gloves of Dex +2 just to qualify for the feat. If yours doesn't, you're probably still in better shape for TWF.

One feat I was really considering that works really good for a high Cha character is Resounding Blow from BoED. I don't remember the BAB req, so you might not be able to get it until level 9. But with an 18 Cha (at level 9), its a DC 18 Fort save on a crit or you foe is...stunned? Nauseated? I can't remember.

That does sound nice. Though the Intimidate prereq that FireLance mentioned will be tough for us...denser...pallies.

Another option which I wanted to try was Ride-by Attack (6) and Spirited Charge (9). Combine that with Divine Might, Smite, and a lance, and you've got 3d8+51 [(4 (str) + 4 (Cha) + 9 (level) ) x 3] and that's without even nifty stuff like divine favor, magic lances, or power attacking.

Yes, I wouldn't mind doing this. I'm not sure how often it'll be doable, since my mount will be large, but it's an idea. I'm thinking of seeing if my pally might be able to buy a modified Battle Bridle (MoF), that gives one the Spirited Charge feat if you already have Mounted Combat and Ride-By Attack. Then I could use Spirited Charge at level 9 (by taking Ride-By Attack at level 8) without dipping into fighter levels. We'll see.

 

[Shadeus]

For Resounding Blow, your opponent has to make a Will save or cower for 1 round. It's a good feat, but it requires 7 ranks of Intimidate, which is a cross-class skill for paladins.

Another good feat with this as a prerequisite is Quell the Profane. When you score a critical hit against an evil creature, he has to succeed at a Fortitude save or take 1d4+1 points of Strength damage.

These two feats are excellent when combined with a weapon that has the Blessed property so that every threat against an evil creature is automatically a critical hit.

Umm...err...you're right. It looks like I won't be taking this at level 9 then. Thanks for clarifying the feat.