Iron Knight (49/365)
Edward Mallory has had a long....long....LONG history with me.
And just in general.
I don't rightly remember which came first anymore, his Necroverse incarnation or the original D&D character. He's always had the monniker of "The Iron King" though that seems to have morphed into 'Knight' since I realized he was actually part of the Cult of Blades. Because of a rather....unique set of circumstances Mallory didn't have the normal training the Cult usually has and so he's adopted a rather different style of combat as will be demonstrated.
Now, while the original D&D version of Mallory was a Fighter (and a rather vicious one at that) that build evolved into a completely seperate direction so Mallory evolved into a combination of Knight, Fighter, and Warblade in a gestalt game (the same game that spawned Gideon Kale, actually).
From there he became, in a single class version, a plain Knight/Warblade. No fancy tricks, no alternate class features, nothing but an even 10/10 split.
As I mentioned, he fights differently from the other Cult Masters (all of whom wore little or no armor) in that Mallory uses heavy armor and a large cumbersome weapon as well as incorporating mounted tactics into his style. Fluff wise he started off as an axe-and-shield fighter before dropping the shield for a larger axe and eventually came to use an axe called Turus; a long handled axe that was a cross between a halberd and this.
In a nutshell, Mallory is also my excuse to play with a Knight which I've wanted to do ever since the PHBII came out. He's one of a few Knight concepts I've got running around but he's also the oldest of them.
Level
1 Knight Weapon Focus (Halberd), Evasive Reflexes
2 Warblade
3 Knight Mounted Combat, Ride by Attack
4 Warblade
5 Knight
6 Warblade Trample
7 Knight
8 Warblade
9 Knight Spirited Charge, Cavalry Charger
10 Warblade White Raven Defense
11 Knight
12 Warblade Clarion Commander
13 Knight
14 Warblade
15 Knight Martial Stance/Study
16 Warblade
17 Knight
18 Warblade Blade Meditation (White Raven), Martial Stance/Study
19 Knight Animal Affinity
20 Warblade
I realized something when I was attempting to figure out Mallory's feats -- what is the problem with a cavalier? Simply put, if they lose their horse, they're screwed. All their feats and all their abilities are geared to fighting on horseback and, let's face it, it's damn hard to get a horse than can stand up to the rigors of high level combat. But then it hit me -- a martial adept doesn't care if he's mounted or on foot; they're still dangerous no matter what. While Mallory is more dangerous on horseback he's not useless on foot by any stretch.
And I'd also never considered a mounted adept before but damned if it doesn't make sense in this case since Mallory's already got Mounted Combat and the bonus feats from Knight to make it all worthwhile.
Now...I had as strong an argument for Crusader as I did for Warblade. They both had White Raven, they both were superbly tough and both had good Fort saves to balance the Knight's good Will. In the end though, I went with Warblade because it also had a couple of disciplines than Crusader I didn't see Mallory with Devoted Spirit.
The combination of Warblade and Knight gives me 10 levels of both a good Fort and a good Will save, the best BAB and twenty levels of a d12 HD. Plus I get to shore up my Reflex save with the Warblade's abilities and get Uncanny Dodge and a few other fun things.
So what about his feats?
At first level, because he's human, Mallory gets two feats. I got Weapon Focus for the halberd and then Evasive Reflexes. Now why Evasive Reflexes? Well, it can sub for Combat Reflexes (so if I wanted to I could get the Spinning Halberd weapon style feat) but because it also lets me move around the battlefield a bit more which will be important. Even though I get to Armor Mastery for heavy armor I don't get it until almost 20th level so anything that helps my movement speed is useful.
Third level I get Mounted Combat as a bonus feat because it's my second level of Knight and then I pick up Ride By Attack. I might as well use what I've got, right? Plus I want the mounted combat tree as quickly as I can get them.
I don't see another feat until 6th level when I pick up Trample.
At 9th level I'm a 5th level Knight so I get another bonus feat, I get Spirited Charge and then, with my regular feat, I get the Cavalry Charger tactical feat. While the first of the maneuvers (Unhorse) isn't that great, Leaping Charge is because of the bonus damage I can do and Fell Trample is just awesome.
At 10th level I'm a 5th level Warblade and get my first Warblade bonus feat which is White Raven Defense. Thanks to using a Halberd (a favored weapon of White Raven) anyone next to me gets a +1 bonus to AC if I'm in a white raven stance. And, of course, I'd be getting a +1 to AC for being next to an ally. From here on out, with one exception, it's all about the martial adept stuff.
12th level I get Clarion Commander which is the tactical feat for White Raven. All three abilities are useful, especially pile on which would allow me to make use of Evasive Reflexes.
Now, at 15th level I get Martial Study/Martial Stance. Because I'm a warblade (especially a multiclass Warblade) I won't get very many maneuvers and stances so this'll help me shore that up.
The same thing applies at 18th level when I take Martial Study/Martial Stance again. But I also get my second Warblade bonus feat which is going to be Blade Meditation for White Raven.
And then at 19th level, my last levle of Knight, I get Animal Affinity because, well, why the hell not?
I also want to take a moment to call out Mallory's gear which will include a Halberd with Discipline Focus (White Raven) on it and as many parts of the Five Virtues as I can attach to the boy.
Voting Time:
Knob, Multiterrain Shocktrooper, Balthas Kasra, Kurth, Alarian Thrakos, Tarman Vorse, Spellsmiter, Highlander Build, Dragonmage, Melee-ist Fighter, "Standard Fighter", Master of Chains, Mounted Archer, Arisias, Whirlwind, Vykes, Cerberus Ranger, Kobold Pick Fighter, Magekiller, Ebin, William Corshek, Grappler, Stormlord Cleric, Storm Mage, Lucky Adventurer, Toguro Character, Slashing Killer, Meta-Mage, Hunter of Man, Force Mage, Bardic Dervish, Halberdier, Assassin Homage, Dragoon, Draco-Blade, Missile Mage, Aiel Homage, Graeme, Ulric Vantir, Archer Mage, Vartyr Kellisk, Nature Mage, Trapper, Blessed Hunter, Dwarven Thane
Gestalt Builds:
Seige Engineer, Ubertrooper, Leon Thrakos, Ravenclaw Bard, Tri-Weapon Fighter, Warblade/Lurk Concept Char, Alikin, Bloodclaw Master, Wordspeaker, Dread Pirate Roberts, Disarmer, Joshua Numenor, Direfrost Mage, Incarnate Dragon, Fortress Sorcerer, Voice of the Forgotten, Voice of Gruumsh, Kalix of Black Iron, Urzai Irondancer, Shadow Hunter, Elias the Stormwalker, Njal the Warbringer, Randal Bernard, Marsarlis #113, Eddie the Pierce Sniper, Graul the Ice Fisted, Tero Dach, Armored Tank, Earthbender Sorcerer, Mindreader, Dusk Commando, Eldritch Fistfighter, Lucian Thrakos, Merek Stonebreaker, Flash, Captain America, Arhmis Diei, Liam Ironarm, Runecaster Dwarf, Horizon, Desmond Arlin, Undead Psy-Warrior, Paladin of Revelry, Lord of Moil, Master of Fears, Jokhan Thrakos, Arch Druid of Cair Moloch, Duskblade Vindicator, Anarok Tor, Fangborn Martial Artist, Original Gideon, Edward Mallory
And just in general.
I don't rightly remember which came first anymore, his Necroverse incarnation or the original D&D character. He's always had the monniker of "The Iron King" though that seems to have morphed into 'Knight' since I realized he was actually part of the Cult of Blades. Because of a rather....unique set of circumstances Mallory didn't have the normal training the Cult usually has and so he's adopted a rather different style of combat as will be demonstrated.
Now, while the original D&D version of Mallory was a Fighter (and a rather vicious one at that) that build evolved into a completely seperate direction so Mallory evolved into a combination of Knight, Fighter, and Warblade in a gestalt game (the same game that spawned Gideon Kale, actually).
From there he became, in a single class version, a plain Knight/Warblade. No fancy tricks, no alternate class features, nothing but an even 10/10 split.
As I mentioned, he fights differently from the other Cult Masters (all of whom wore little or no armor) in that Mallory uses heavy armor and a large cumbersome weapon as well as incorporating mounted tactics into his style. Fluff wise he started off as an axe-and-shield fighter before dropping the shield for a larger axe and eventually came to use an axe called Turus; a long handled axe that was a cross between a halberd and this.
In a nutshell, Mallory is also my excuse to play with a Knight which I've wanted to do ever since the PHBII came out. He's one of a few Knight concepts I've got running around but he's also the oldest of them.
Level
1 Knight Weapon Focus (Halberd), Evasive Reflexes
2 Warblade
3 Knight Mounted Combat, Ride by Attack
4 Warblade
5 Knight
6 Warblade Trample
7 Knight
8 Warblade
9 Knight Spirited Charge, Cavalry Charger
10 Warblade White Raven Defense
11 Knight
12 Warblade Clarion Commander
13 Knight
14 Warblade
15 Knight Martial Stance/Study
16 Warblade
17 Knight
18 Warblade Blade Meditation (White Raven), Martial Stance/Study
19 Knight Animal Affinity
20 Warblade
I realized something when I was attempting to figure out Mallory's feats -- what is the problem with a cavalier? Simply put, if they lose their horse, they're screwed. All their feats and all their abilities are geared to fighting on horseback and, let's face it, it's damn hard to get a horse than can stand up to the rigors of high level combat. But then it hit me -- a martial adept doesn't care if he's mounted or on foot; they're still dangerous no matter what. While Mallory is more dangerous on horseback he's not useless on foot by any stretch.
And I'd also never considered a mounted adept before but damned if it doesn't make sense in this case since Mallory's already got Mounted Combat and the bonus feats from Knight to make it all worthwhile.
Now...I had as strong an argument for Crusader as I did for Warblade. They both had White Raven, they both were superbly tough and both had good Fort saves to balance the Knight's good Will. In the end though, I went with Warblade because it also had a couple of disciplines than Crusader I didn't see Mallory with Devoted Spirit.
The combination of Warblade and Knight gives me 10 levels of both a good Fort and a good Will save, the best BAB and twenty levels of a d12 HD. Plus I get to shore up my Reflex save with the Warblade's abilities and get Uncanny Dodge and a few other fun things.
So what about his feats?
At first level, because he's human, Mallory gets two feats. I got Weapon Focus for the halberd and then Evasive Reflexes. Now why Evasive Reflexes? Well, it can sub for Combat Reflexes (so if I wanted to I could get the Spinning Halberd weapon style feat) but because it also lets me move around the battlefield a bit more which will be important. Even though I get to Armor Mastery for heavy armor I don't get it until almost 20th level so anything that helps my movement speed is useful.
Third level I get Mounted Combat as a bonus feat because it's my second level of Knight and then I pick up Ride By Attack. I might as well use what I've got, right? Plus I want the mounted combat tree as quickly as I can get them.
I don't see another feat until 6th level when I pick up Trample.
At 9th level I'm a 5th level Knight so I get another bonus feat, I get Spirited Charge and then, with my regular feat, I get the Cavalry Charger tactical feat. While the first of the maneuvers (Unhorse) isn't that great, Leaping Charge is because of the bonus damage I can do and Fell Trample is just awesome.
At 10th level I'm a 5th level Warblade and get my first Warblade bonus feat which is White Raven Defense. Thanks to using a Halberd (a favored weapon of White Raven) anyone next to me gets a +1 bonus to AC if I'm in a white raven stance. And, of course, I'd be getting a +1 to AC for being next to an ally. From here on out, with one exception, it's all about the martial adept stuff.
12th level I get Clarion Commander which is the tactical feat for White Raven. All three abilities are useful, especially pile on which would allow me to make use of Evasive Reflexes.
Now, at 15th level I get Martial Study/Martial Stance. Because I'm a warblade (especially a multiclass Warblade) I won't get very many maneuvers and stances so this'll help me shore that up.
The same thing applies at 18th level when I take Martial Study/Martial Stance again. But I also get my second Warblade bonus feat which is going to be Blade Meditation for White Raven.
And then at 19th level, my last levle of Knight, I get Animal Affinity because, well, why the hell not?
I also want to take a moment to call out Mallory's gear which will include a Halberd with Discipline Focus (White Raven) on it and as many parts of the Five Virtues as I can attach to the boy.
Voting Time:
Knob, Multiterrain Shocktrooper, Balthas Kasra, Kurth, Alarian Thrakos, Tarman Vorse, Spellsmiter, Highlander Build, Dragonmage, Melee-ist Fighter, "Standard Fighter", Master of Chains, Mounted Archer, Arisias, Whirlwind, Vykes, Cerberus Ranger, Kobold Pick Fighter, Magekiller, Ebin, William Corshek, Grappler, Stormlord Cleric, Storm Mage, Lucky Adventurer, Toguro Character, Slashing Killer, Meta-Mage, Hunter of Man, Force Mage, Bardic Dervish, Halberdier, Assassin Homage, Dragoon, Draco-Blade, Missile Mage, Aiel Homage, Graeme, Ulric Vantir, Archer Mage, Vartyr Kellisk, Nature Mage, Trapper, Blessed Hunter, Dwarven Thane
Gestalt Builds:
Seige Engineer, Ubertrooper, Leon Thrakos, Ravenclaw Bard, Tri-Weapon Fighter, Warblade/Lurk Concept Char, Alikin, Bloodclaw Master, Wordspeaker, Dread Pirate Roberts, Disarmer, Joshua Numenor, Direfrost Mage, Incarnate Dragon, Fortress Sorcerer, Voice of the Forgotten, Voice of Gruumsh, Kalix of Black Iron, Urzai Irondancer, Shadow Hunter, Elias the Stormwalker, Njal the Warbringer, Randal Bernard, Marsarlis #113, Eddie the Pierce Sniper, Graul the Ice Fisted, Tero Dach, Armored Tank, Earthbender Sorcerer, Mindreader, Dusk Commando, Eldritch Fistfighter, Lucian Thrakos, Merek Stonebreaker, Flash, Captain America, Arhmis Diei, Liam Ironarm, Runecaster Dwarf, Horizon, Desmond Arlin, Undead Psy-Warrior, Paladin of Revelry, Lord of Moil, Master of Fears, Jokhan Thrakos, Arch Druid of Cair Moloch, Duskblade Vindicator, Anarok Tor, Fangborn Martial Artist, Original Gideon, Edward Mallory