15 Gladiator/Paladin - Sir Maximus

[streamofthesky]

This guy uses my variant fighter kit, The Gladiator, and should quickly become a crowd favorite. After having his hometown obliterated for being in the middle of the crossfire of a brutal skirmish on the material plane between demons and devils, as part of the Blood War, he has dedicated his life to hunting down and slaying evil outsiders of all kinds.

Sir Maximus
CG Human Gladiator 12 / Hunter of Fiends Paladin of Freedom 3
Str 14 (18), Dex 15 (19), Con 12 (16), Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 14 (18)
HP: 135 (12d8 + 3d10 +45)
AC: 34 (10 +4 dex +9 armor +7 shield +3 deflection +1 insight) (38 if crowd is at least friendly)
Touch: 25 (29 if crowd is at least friendly)
FF: 30 (has uncanny dodge)
BAB +15/+10/+5, Grapple +19
Saves: Fortitude +15, Reflex +18, Will +12 (16 combat focus)
Speed: 30 ft, Fly: 60 ft (perfect) (boots)

Melee (brackets denote damage vs. evil outsiders)
Cold Iron Holy Longsword +21 (2d6 +6 {10}, Slashing, Good, 19-20/x2) (+2d6 vs. evil)
Silver Shield Spikes +20 (3d6 +4 {4d6 +8}, Piercing, Good, 20/x2)

Full Attack
Cold Iron Holy Longsword +19/+14/+9 (2d6 +6 {10}) (+2d6 vs. evil)
and Silver Shield Spikes +18/+13 (3d6 +2 {4d6 +6})

Languages: Common, Abyssal, Infernal
Skills: (150)
Balance, +11 (5 ranks +4 ability +2 synergy)
Bluff, +15 (8 ranks +4 ability +3 circlet)
Diplomacy, +11 (0 ranks +4 ability +3 circlet +4 synergy)
Gather Information, +9 (0 ranks +4 ability +3 circlet +2 synergy)
Intimidate, +27 (18 ranks +4 ability +3 circlet +2 synergy)
Jump, +12 (6 ranks +4 ability +2 synergy)
Knowledge (planes), +17 (15 ranks +2 ability)
Knowledge (local), +7 (5 ranks +2 ability)
Listen, +15 (13 ranks +2 ability)
Martial Lore, +11 (9 ranks +2 ability)
Perform (weapon drill), +26 (10 ranks +4 ability +3 circlet +7 BAB +2 feat)
Sense Motive, +17 (15 ranks +2 ability)
Sleight of Hand, +21 (15 ranks +4 ability +2 synergy)
Spot, +17 (15 ranks +2 ability)
Tumble, +18 (12 ranks +4 ability +2 synergy)
Skill Tricks: Clarity of Vision, Back On Your Feet

Class Features: Confident Defense, Evasion, Uncanny Dodge, Aura of Good, Detect Evil, Hunter of Fiends (evil outsiders as favored enemy +1; +4 damage), Divine Grace, Lay on Hands (12 points/day), Divine Health, Aura of Resolve (Immune to compulsion effects), Track feat

Feats: Track, Iron Heart Surge, Disarming Strike, Wolf Fang Strike, Sudden Leap, Wolverine Stance, Pouncing Charge, Improved Shield Bash, Two Weapon Fighting, Improved Two Weapon Fighting, Oversized Two Weapon Fighting, Shield Specialization (Heavy), Shield Ward, Combat Panache, Daunting Presence (DC 21), Combat Focus (+4 will), Combat Vigor (Fast Healing 4), Combat Strike (+3 attack and damage), Improved Favored Enemy
Flaws: Shaky (-2 ranged attacks)

Gear: Large Cold Iron Holy Longsword +2, Mithral Breastplate +4, Large Bashing Heavy Silver Spiked Shield +4 (+1 spikes), Lesser Fiendslayer Crystal (attached to shield spikes), Winged Boots, Locked Gauntlets of Str +4 and Dex +4, Amulet of Con +4, Cloak of Cha +4, Circlet of Persuasion, Strong Arm Bracers, Belt of Enlarge Person 3/day, Ioun Stone of +1 AC, Ring of Protection +3, Vest of Resistance +1, clubs (8).

Combat Panache:
Fortuitous Tumble – On the round after being struck by an opponent in melee, you may make an opposed Bluff vs. Sense Motive check as a Move Action against the opponent. If successful, you may use an Immediate Action at the start of the opponent’s next round to designate a different creature he/she
threatens as the target of his/her next melee attack (even if is the opponent’s ally).
Play Dead – As an Immediate Action after taking at least 10 hp of damage from a single hit, you may “play dead” by making a successful Bluff vs. Sense Motive check. If successful, you may later rise without generating an Attack of Opportunity against that foe, who also looses his/her Dexterity bonus to AC against your next attack. Only usable once per encounter.
Sneering Glower – On the round after you do at least 1 hp of damage to an opponent, you may make an Intimidate check as a Move Action to inflict a (Charisma modifier) penalty on the opponent’s attack rolls against you for the remainder of the encounter (unless you use this ability on another foe). Creatures that are Mindless or Immune to Fear effects are immune to this ability.

Maneuvers: Wolf Fang Strike (readied), Pouncing Charge (readied), IH Surge, Disarming Strike, Sudden Leap
Stance: Wolverine Stance (can fight w/ any weapons in grapple and at no penalty)

Combat Focus: First round a melee attack is landed, enter Combat Focus for 13 rounds. While in Combat Focus, Fast Healing 4 and +4 will saves. Ending it early as a swift action grants +3 to hit and damage for one round.

Hunter of Fiends: Know: planes and Survival as class skills; Favored Enemy (evil outsiders) w/ bonus equal to ½ paladin level; Track feat; no smite evil; know: nobility removed as class skill.

Paladin of Freedom: Aura of Resolve (no Aura of courage); Bluff replaces Diplomacy as class skill; spell list and code of conduct changes.

EDIT: Fixed any remaining errors w/ evil outsider damage (didn't affect play, just was lazy in changing), and took some unneeded ranks from perform and put them into intimidate. Still considering trading Combat Strike for Combat Stability.

[streamofthesky]

Tactics:

Sir Maximus typically uses detect evil on his opponent and activates his Winged Boots before an arena match starts. Using Sense Motive to size up the threat presented may also be tried. Before the first blow is thrown, he further typically attempts to engage in a duel of wills (tome of battle). If, at least five minutes prior to the match, he learns that his foe is likely to utilize status effects to a large degree (possibly via Gather Information), he will ready Iron Heart Surge instead of Wolf Fang Strike.

In battle, Sir Maximus makes good use of his readied maneuvers, as they are easy to replenish (as a Warblade). If a foe goes invisible, he has Clarity of Vision. For flying foes, he has the boots. As soon as he strikes a foe, he enters Combat Focus. Therefore, if he does not yet need the boosts from it, he may hold off from melee, using Daunting Prescence, activating his enlarge person belt, or improving his status with the crowd with a perform check. The round after he does deal melee damage, he should take advantage of the Sneering Glower ability gained from Combat Panache. If, on the final round or two of Combat Focus, he is able to full attack the enemy, Sir Maximus should definitely make use of Combat Strike.

Note, his sword overcomes DR good and cold iron, and his shield spikes overcome DR good and silver. This means, if fighting a powerful fiend that requires having both good AND cold iron or good AND silver (discovered via either Knowledge: the planes or the dismal damage one weapon seems to be doing) to overcome DR, Maximus may very well fight using only the weapon that works best. However, against most demons and devils, two weapon fighting works fine.