Aiding the Ruby Knight [Archive] - Wizards Community

Aiding the Ruby Knight [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Hailand
01-23-07, 06:23 PM Good day, guys and gals!
I am going to play in a campaign in a DM-selfmade world, starting at level 8. All books are allowed, but the DM might forbid certain books(or parts of them) if he finds them threatening the game balance.
I want to play a Crusader from the Tome of Battle, with slight multiclassing ambitions. His part in the party is a melee skirmisher, mostly designed to aid the other party members. And with mostly, I mean totally.
(Some might have found my older thread "The altruistic Crusader" - yes, this one you are currently looking at indeed is a reworked version of said altruistic Crusader! Thanks go to Fallenangel359 who suggested me to take a level a cleric, which lead me to the Ruby Knight Vindicator)

Houserules:
1) Can pick any feats, but they do not give any benefit until you actually fulfill their requirements.
2) As far as ToB-Prestige Classes go, a level with 0 new maneuvers known means that an old one can be substituted. Neither I nor my DM know whether this actually is a houserule or whether we merely missed a part in which it said that Prestige Classes get the same substitution opportunities as the base classes. But my DM agrees that it sounds reasonable.
Note that in the build below I have not yet chosen which maneuvers will be switched out. So don't be surprised if you seem to look at a new maneuver gained almost every level.
3) Ruby Knight Vindicator renamed to "Devoted Enforcer" and available to followers of all gods.

Without any further ado, I will present the build to you!
The class advanced on each level is shown in bold letters, as are the feats, to seperate them from chosen maneuvers. Note that I have not yet decided on which maneuvers to switch out, but it won't be of much interest, either.
Oh, and stances are in italic.

Human
1) Dragon Shaman 1: White Raven Defense, Clarion Commander, Extra Granted Maneuver, Adaptive Style (1 Human Bonus Feat, 2 Flaw Feats)
2) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1:
3) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 1: Distracting Attack, Douse the Flames, Vanguard Strike, Leading the Attack, Stone Bones, Crusader's Strike, Martial Spirit
4) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 2: Iron Guard's Glare
5) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3: Shield Block
6) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 1: Martial Training: Shadow Hand(Shadow Jaunt), Revitalizing Strike, Tactics of the Wolf
7) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 2: White Raven Tactics
8) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 3: White Raven Strike
9) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 4: Extra Turning, Strength Draining Strike
10) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 5: Flanking Maneuver
11) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 6: Obscuring Shadow Veil, Step of the Dancing Moth
12) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 7: Extra Turning, Rallying Strike
13) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 8: Order Forged from Chaos
14) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 9: Shield Counter
15)Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10: Extra Turning, Clarion Call
16) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 4/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10: Castigating Strike
17) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 5/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10: White Raven Hammer
18) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 6/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10: Martial Training: Five-Shadow Creeping Ice Enervation Strike, War Master’s Charge
19) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 7/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10: Strike of Righteous Vitality
20) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 8/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10: Swarming Assault, Aura of Perfect Order

Dragon Shaman's auras rock, especially Vigor. Even in an epic game. :)
The loss of 1 Crusader IL and 1 maneuver is worth it, along with looking at 5th level cleric spells and all the turning fun. And I still get all 9th-level maneuvers of all my allowed disciplines.
But I am kind of bothered about the feats. You see, it's Extra Turning all the way... Others that could help my party are:
Shieldmate(MH)
Improved Shieldmate(MH)
Least Mark of the Sentinel(ECS)
Sentinel Stance(Dragonmarked)
Wolf Pack(RotW, Spring Attack as requirement…)

But I find none of them that appealing. Shieldmate is nearly worthless, since the other two frontline fighters in our party are a cleric and a fighter, the cleric always and the fighter occassionally wearing shields, making Shieldmate's bonus obsolete.
The Dragonmark-Option is only a minor option, considering Extra Turning.
Wolf Pack is simply great and funny as hell, but the requirements - uh oh. Sorry, bye.
Extra Turning grants 4 additional turn attempts per day, and with an average of 3 encounters per day(which take place very steadily in my group), taking Extra Turning once means I can use Divine Recovery+Divine Impetus one more time in 2 of those encounters to recover and activate White Raven Tactics in order to grant my allies additional actions(I can't find a better use of the Ruby Knight's class abilities. I don't have to, actually, since White Raven Tactics rock the battlefield!).

Equipment
Longsword, Heavy Steel Shield, Chain Shirt. Can't get more basic.

The casting aspect
About the domains, I went with Strength and War of the Eberron deity
Dol Dorn.
I have not yet decided on spells of later levels, but my current spell list as a cleric caster level 3 includes the following:

0th: Virtue, Light, Light, Cure Minor Wounds
1st: Bless, Bless, Bless(remember the 3 encounters?) [Domain: Enlarge Person]
2nd: Elation, Elation [Domain: Bull's Strength]

The party
Switching very often. May consist of any of the following characters:
1. A druid specialized in shapeshifting. Attached to bear forms.
2. A cleric specialized in fighting in close quarters. Not that much of a healer, but he does if demanded from him.
3. An illithid slayer specialized in mobility and using psionic powers to buff him in combat.
4. A fighter, alternating between all kinds of melee weapons.
5. A blaster sorcerer, utilizing fire spells.
6. A blaster kineticist working with all kinds of energy.
7. A bow-ranger, balanced as far as balanced can go. Can do anything, but nothing especially well.

Well, that's it from me! I wonder if you optimization sages have any suggestions to improve this Knight's ability to further pump up his party! :)

Best regards,
Hailand
ressurrector
01-23-07, 07:28 PM Just daying: watch out with White Raven Tactics usage, as it may "threaten game balance" in the opinion of your DM.
A swift action to grant an ally another full round of actions for a 3rd level maneuver is a tad much.

It might be better to look for less obvious ways to help your party, ones that won't attract the DMs attenion towards your character's streingth as much.
Hailand
01-23-07, 07:45 PM He has already had a look at this one and indeed doubts it. But he wants to see it in play to judge.
He really wants. Which means for now I do not only have possibility but also order to use it. :D
I think it's a godsent gift for anyone except the blaster sorcerer/kineticist. They will burn their spells/power points more quickly with more actions, which probably isn't what they intend to do. Anyone else, though, benefits greatly from it.
(Yes, possibly too greatly ^^)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Hailand 01-23-07, 06:23 PM	Good day, guys and gals! I am going to play in a campaign in a DM-selfmade world, starting at level 8. All books are allowed, but the DM might forbid certain books(or parts of them) if he finds them threatening the game balance. I want to play a Crusader from the Tome of Battle, with slight multiclassing ambitions. His part in the party is a melee skirmisher, mostly designed to aid the other party members. And with mostly, I mean totally. (Some might have found my older thread "The altruistic Crusader" - yes, this one you are currently looking at indeed is a reworked version of said altruistic Crusader! Thanks go to Fallenangel359 who suggested me to take a level a cleric, which lead me to the Ruby Knight Vindicator) Houserules: 1) Can pick any feats, but they do not give any benefit until you actually fulfill their requirements. 2) As far as ToB-Prestige Classes go, a level with 0 new maneuvers known means that an old one can be substituted. Neither I nor my DM know whether this actually is a houserule or whether we merely missed a part in which it said that Prestige Classes get the same substitution opportunities as the base classes. But my DM agrees that it sounds reasonable. Note that in the build below I have not yet chosen which maneuvers will be switched out. So don't be surprised if you seem to look at a new maneuver gained almost every level. 3) Ruby Knight Vindicator renamed to "Devoted Enforcer" and available to followers of all gods. Without any further ado, I will present the build to you! The class advanced on each level is shown in bold letters, as are the feats, to seperate them from chosen maneuvers. Note that I have not yet decided on which maneuvers to switch out, but it won't be of much interest, either. Oh, and stances are in italic. Human 1) Dragon Shaman 1: White Raven Defense, Clarion Commander, Extra Granted Maneuver, Adaptive Style (1 Human Bonus Feat, 2 Flaw Feats) 2) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1: 3) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 1: Distracting Attack, Douse the Flames, Vanguard Strike, Leading the Attack, Stone Bones, Crusader's Strike, Martial Spirit 4) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 2: Iron Guard's Glare 5) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3: Shield Block 6) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 1: Martial Training: Shadow Hand(Shadow Jaunt), Revitalizing Strike, Tactics of the Wolf 7) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 2: White Raven Tactics 8) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 3: White Raven Strike 9) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 4: Extra Turning, Strength Draining Strike 10) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 5: Flanking Maneuver 11) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 6: Obscuring Shadow Veil, Step of the Dancing Moth 12) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 7: Extra Turning, Rallying Strike 13) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 8: Order Forged from Chaos 14) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 9: Shield Counter 15)Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10: Extra Turning, Clarion Call 16) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 4/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10: Castigating Strike 17) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 5/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10: White Raven Hammer 18) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 6/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10: Martial Training: Five-Shadow Creeping Ice Enervation Strike, War Master’s Charge 19) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 7/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10: Strike of Righteous Vitality 20) Dragon Shaman 1/Cleric 1/Crusader 8/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10: Swarming Assault, Aura of Perfect Order Dragon Shaman's auras rock, especially Vigor. Even in an epic game. :) The loss of 1 Crusader IL and 1 maneuver is worth it, along with looking at 5th level cleric spells and all the turning fun. And I still get all 9th-level maneuvers of all my allowed disciplines. But I am kind of bothered about the feats. You see, it's Extra Turning all the way... Others that could help my party are: Shieldmate(MH) Improved Shieldmate(MH) Least Mark of the Sentinel(ECS) Sentinel Stance(Dragonmarked) Wolf Pack(RotW, Spring Attack as requirement…) But I find none of them that appealing. Shieldmate is nearly worthless, since the other two frontline fighters in our party are a cleric and a fighter, the cleric always and the fighter occassionally wearing shields, making Shieldmate's bonus obsolete. The Dragonmark-Option is only a minor option, considering Extra Turning. Wolf Pack is simply great and funny as hell, but the requirements - uh oh. Sorry, bye. Extra Turning grants 4 additional turn attempts per day, and with an average of 3 encounters per day(which take place very steadily in my group), taking Extra Turning once means I can use Divine Recovery+Divine Impetus one more time in 2 of those encounters to recover and activate White Raven Tactics in order to grant my allies additional actions(I can't find a better use of the Ruby Knight's class abilities. I don't have to, actually, since White Raven Tactics rock the battlefield!). Equipment Longsword, Heavy Steel Shield, Chain Shirt. Can't get more basic. The casting aspect About the domains, I went with Strength and War of the Eberron deity Dol Dorn. I have not yet decided on spells of later levels, but my current spell list as a cleric caster level 3 includes the following: 0th: Virtue, Light, Light, Cure Minor Wounds 1st: Bless, Bless, Bless(remember the 3 encounters?) [Domain: Enlarge Person] 2nd: Elation, Elation [Domain: Bull's Strength] The party Switching very often. May consist of any of the following characters: 1. A druid specialized in shapeshifting. Attached to bear forms. 2. A cleric specialized in fighting in close quarters. Not that much of a healer, but he does if demanded from him. 3. An illithid slayer specialized in mobility and using psionic powers to buff him in combat. 4. A fighter, alternating between all kinds of melee weapons. 5. A blaster sorcerer, utilizing fire spells. 6. A blaster kineticist working with all kinds of energy. 7. A bow-ranger, balanced as far as balanced can go. Can do anything, but nothing especially well. Well, that's it from me! I wonder if you optimization sages have any suggestions to improve this Knight's ability to further pump up his party! :) Best regards, Hailand
ressurrector 01-23-07, 07:28 PM	Just daying: watch out with White Raven Tactics usage, as it may "threaten game balance" in the opinion of your DM. A swift action to grant an ally another full round of actions for a 3rd level maneuver is a tad much. It might be better to look for less obvious ways to help your party, ones that won't attract the DMs attenion towards your character's streingth as much.
Hailand 01-23-07, 07:45 PM	He has already had a look at this one and indeed doubts it. But he wants to see it in play to judge. He really wants. Which means for now I do not only have possibility but also order to use it. :D I think it's a godsent gift for anyone except the blaster sorcerer/kineticist. They will burn their spells/power points more quickly with more actions, which probably isn't what they intend to do. Anyone else, though, benefits greatly from it. (Yes, possibly too greatly ^^)