What would you Play?

[Mycanid]

Psi-warriors are an interesting class. They can tank extremely well, although you will do much better with a few rounds of prep than you will when surprised.

I'd go Dwarf Psiwarrior

str: 15
dex: 14
Con: 18
Int: 13
Wis: 16
Chr: 9

Wear heavy armour, use Fleet of foot to keep your speed up. You can use vigor to soak damage, and call weapon will take care of the lack of magic weaponry.

I think this is a good suggestion ... although Stormborn's for the outsider focused classes is a good one too.

If it were me I'd go with the psiwarrior - but just because I have always been a big fan of psionics.

 

[airwalkrr]

Have you thought about a knight?

 

[Abraxas]

Have you thought about a knight?

Yes, however, I'm not sure it will fit very well in the upcoming campaign.

 

[Aaron L]

Grey elven Duskblade, Knight of Luna, from Celene.

 

[green slime]

They weren't all elves, IIRC. Prince Thrommel was a Knight of the Hart, before his disappearance at the Battle of Emridy Meadows.

There are three branches of the Knights of the Hart (Veluna, Furyondy, & the High Forest).

 

[green slime]

I looked over the crusader last night, and I must say, I don't understand why it is getting so much love. In fact, if you accept the delay, why not try Fighter/Swordsage/CoC or Fighter/warblade/CoC? I find the randomness and bookkeeping associated with the crusader put me off.

You can avoid the XP penalty in this case by splitting classes evenly until entering the PrC.

 

[Kafkonia]

I'm going to tout the possibilities of the Stalwart Battle Sorcerer again. Take the Battle Sorcerer from UA and add on the Stalwart Sorcerer alternate feature from Complete Mage.

You get a Cleric's BAB, d8+2 hit points per level before CON modifier (meaning that for every level other than first you're averaging the same as someone with d12), weapon proficiencies with two martial weapons and Weapon Focus with one of them, proficiency with and the ability to cast in light armour, and lose very little in the way of spellcasting (since the Stalwart Sorcerer description specifies that you lose one of your top-level spells to a minimum of one spell, which is all the Battle Sorcerer has at first level anyway, and that the missing slot migrates upwards as your caster level increases.) Play a human, spend your two 1st level feats to get medium armour proficiency and Battlecaster (letting you cast in medium armour) and you're set.

You won't necessarily be the #1 front line fighter, but a few of those spells you have limited access to can certainly make you a pretty good secondary fighter -- bull's strength, true strike, and the like.

 

[Mistwell]

Forgot to mention one of the very few houserules - the DM gives rangers d10 for Hit Dice.

Dwarven Ranger with a high CON (and no need for a high DEX) and then into Deepwarden is a good play. Deepwarden gets d12 HD, two good saves (Fort and Will), full BAB, good skill points (6), full martial proficiency and armor proficiency, CON bonus to AC instead of DEX, and some interesting abilities. And I believe it's requirements are Ranger-like (endurance and some Ranger skills).

I'd go Ranger 6 (to fill in the lacking Reflex save, get your second favored enemy so you can have both Dragons and Evil Outsiders, your improved combat style, and first level divine spells to go with your future use of divine wands and scrolls), and then go Deepwarden thereafter. And then all you have to decide is whether you want two-weapon fighting or archery as your focus (I think two-weapon would make a better tank).

 

[Abraxas]

Thanks everyone - Dwarven ranger/paragon/deepwarden is what I'm planning on.
If this character bites the dust I'm gonna try the elven fighter/champion of corellon.

After that its a human warblade when I've had more time to read Bo9S.

 

[Mistwell]

Thanks everyone - Dwarven ranger/paragon/deepwarden is what I'm planning on.
If this character bites the dust I'm gonna try the elven fighter/champion of corellon.

After that its a human warblade when I've had more time to read Bo9S.

Which Paragon? The Dwarf one, that gets you heavy armor proficiency, improved darkvision, improved bonus to save vs. spells, and +2 Con? I can see that being good for this build, though you lose out on spells, animal companion, second favored enemy, and improved combat style (and still won't enter Deepwarden until level seven, as you will need three levels of Ranger to get endurance, and three levels of Paragon to get the +2 Con).