[Character building help requested] Witch Hunter

[Orca96]

Hello to whomever might have stumbled over this thread and first off thank you for taking the time. The idea of a witch hunting character has been on my mind for some time now and I've searched the web to some extend without actually finding any do-able options to my liking for NWN. Or atleast I am defintely not set to create the character as of now, which is why I'd like your opinion/help with what I've got.
For starters, my general inspiration for the character comes from the Order of Witch Hunters in the warhammer universe. They basically are agents of the human empire, trained to hunt down renegade mages, heretics and all other corrupted by demons. While they serve a good cause they are not shy to use torture and other vile methods to accomplish their task.
While you might think a paladin or cleric would do the trick, I really want to capture their asthetics, which is where it gets tricky. An image to give you an idea:

They use rapiers and flintlock pistols and for armor they go with rather light attire. So for class I've thought something like rogue/CoT perhaps? Adding some ranger to it would make things more difficult as we get to my second point, lore and background.
Of course I don't want the character to cross over from warhammer, which is why I have researched witch hunting organisations from FR, with a rather low amount of results. The only thing I've found are the witch hunters for Halruaa, who are sent out to kill renegade mages in their magocracy. With that I'd have to make him worship Mystra, which in turn would cause difficulties with the ranger class (no nature spells)
At any rate, I will be grateful for all of your input and on request I'll gladly give you more information, to what I want to do with the character, as I have to keep this OP rather short.

Just wanted to get my request on the way, before I had to go, so I could check for answers on my return

[miesny_jez]

What I think You should consider would be some minimal Ranger investment - 4 levels maybe just to get tracking.. or maybe take Harper even hmm.. Harper would probably be much better suited

So I think the RP mix would be: Rogue (maybe Opportunist if possible?, Traps,Posions, etc), Harper (Scouting, Tracking, Bluffing), CoT (Anti-magical defenses, fighting skills)

well. at least I would do such a mix considering the background You provided.

How effective would it be against mages? Well considering Buffed saves from CoT a tracking/stealthing and traps You should manage I think unless going against fully warded-mage (which is stupid in any class case). Focus on the tracking, poisoning and subterfuge method firsts.. and if all fails.. pull out that Gonne

[hikoisnumber1]

It looks like you're looking for a pvp focused smite-evil build. pve and leveling will be a bit difficult, but you'll have no problem smacking down warlocks when you see them. There's some really great builds posted on this thread. I'll also shamelessly promote that you play a harper, cuz harpers are some cooooool cats.

[Hunter548]

I personally would do an STR based Ranger 21/Harper Paragon 5/Bard 4, potentially with rapier focus so you aren't stuck in hide when you don't want to sneak. Otherwise, probably kukri or handaxe. Pick up Bane of Enemies, pick enemies appropriate to witch hunting (Elf, Aberration, Outsider, Human, Undead? Dragon or Giant, maybe?). Use Harpe bonus feats for Great CHA, rather than FE, since they don't stack with Ranger.

[Orca96]

Thank you for your build ideas, first off.

As for hikoisnumber1, the builds you've posted would again go into the paladin direction and I'd rather avoid heavy armor. How viable would a paladin in light to medium armor be?

So I think the RP mix would be: Rogue (maybe Opportunist if possible?, Traps,Posions, etc), Harper (Scouting, Tracking, Bluffing), CoT (Anti-magical defenses, fighting skills)

That one sounds good for further working out. As for weapons, to singlehandedly wield a rapier would be to inferior as opposed to dual-wielding them, I suppose. I have still to figure out a nice way in that regard. The classic, right hand rapier, left hand flintlock pistol, isn't possible, so I thought to really just wield one rapier, even if its not as good.

And the more pressing issue for me to tackle would be the backround. As I said, the only thing close to a witchhunting organisation would the agents of Halruaa and there isn't all too much source material to find about them. Would anyone know something better? Or should I just make up my own organisation for a fitting kindom (or a made up one too?) If so, which would be a good kingdom?
Full freedom by the way, as to their motive, why they hunt renegade mages, and magical beast.

[Orca96]

I personally would do an STR based Ranger 21/Harper Paragon 5/Bard 4, potentially with rapier focus so you aren't stuck in hide when you don't want to sneak. Otherwise, probably kukri or handaxe. Pick up Bane of Enemies, pick enemies appropriate to witch hunting (Elf, Aberration, Outsider, Human, Undead? Dragon or Giant, maybe?). Use Harpe bonus feats for Great CHA, rather than FE, since they don't stack with Ranger.

I'd actually rather not rely on sneaking all that much. The thing about the witch hunting order should be omnipresence and intimidation. I've even considered to take the crippling parry feat, just to make him more of a dexterous fencer.

[The GrumpyCat]

About a year ago, in response to the amount of Warlocks about, I ran a quest reguarding Witch Hunters. So if you want something with a bit of Arelith lore (And it is only Arelith lore - not cannonical!) then I can provide something.

Here's the blurb I wrote up for the DM Team about the 'Browncoats' As they came to be called.

The Witch Hunter order, (The Order Benedictus? The Order Invisigus? It should be something cool and latin sounding) was founded shortly after the fall of Benwick. The founding members saw the destruction that could be wrought from the tolerance of demons and devils, and decided it should never happen again.
Whilst the orders founders were Holy Knights, and whils there are many holy knights involved, by no means are all the order such. As it has grown and become somewhat unwieldy, more and more of them are warriors, rangers, rogues or even assassins. Magical and arcane classes are not unheard of but are much rarer.
Though the founding of the order was based on Law and Good, it’s now far from it. The Order does attempt some manner of serious investigation before setting any witch to the fire, but often they put more stock in speed than thougherness. The longer a warlock is ‘tested’ and alowed to live, the stronger it may become and the more dangerious.
Whilst a Witch-hunter may respect the laws of the land in so much as they can, they consider their own vows (to destroy all Pacted) to be above any other law, a mandate from the gods themselves.
The structure of the order is very loose. Primarly this is to allow for fast action, and a lack of central leadership or property for their enemies to strike at. This may seem a bit chaotic for a holy order, but it is built (from their perspective at least) out of necessity. A true leader of the organization would no doubt be targeted by any witch or warlock and would prove nothing more than a target at best, or a liability at work (given the enchantment powers of feypact warlocks). A very loose organization of only semi connected individuals, whilst much more difficult to organize coherently, is far less prone to these things.
Witch Hunter General often keep excellent notes of all investigations and trails, and share these out with any other Witch hunter they meet.
Often Witch Hunter General use their titles to refer to one another, rather than their names. A sign that the Call, the Order comes before all other things.
Witch Hunter Generals often take on one or more apprentices. Apprenti are taught the way of the Witch Hunter, and all the lore possible about Warlocks/Witches. When an Apprentice has killed their first warlock, or overseen their first investigation/trial then they are given the title Witch Hunter General and sent off on their own, to take up the calling elsewhere.
Most Witch Hunters are relatively well educated about the workings of Warlocks and Witches, but that doesn’t mean they won’t take rumor and other oddities into account. Once a person is accused of Witch-craft, the general assumption is guilty until proven innocent.
Not all witch hunters resort to torture to gather confessions out of such souls, but a few do. And a Witch hunter is tireless in the pursuit of their prey

I hope it helps.

[Maladus]

To keep with the dual wielding theme you could go with a rapier main hand and a smaller off hand, something like a dagger or shortsword. That would be unique and reduce the penalty for your off hand. Ultimately if you want to dual wield you can go fighter and take Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting, and if you wanted to avoid heavy armor you could go DEX based and wear light armor or no armor and rely on a high DEX to boost your AC.

Without having my spreadsheet in front of me it is difficult to give a full account of how the class breakdown would go

[Scurvy Cur]

My own inclination on this build would be to set it up as a rogue 16/ranger 9/Harper paragon 5. This ought to secure epic dodge, decent divine might and shield, and charisma bonus to saving throws. Strength based variants are possible, but thematically, you seem to want lighter armor, for which you should be looking at dexterity anyhow. Heavy investment into rogue will ensure you have lots of thematically appropriate skills for someone whose job is to find, investigate, convict and most likely execute warlocks, evil magi, and abominations against the natural order of the world.

Some benefits from the build:

Charisma bonus to saving throws will make you fairly resilient against magic.
Between sneak attacks and divine might, your damage can circumstantially be quite high
Gobs of skill points to support search, spot, lore, set trap, etc
Touch AC is nuts with both dex and divine shield running, which remains one of the best answers to a warlock in PvP.

Also, rapier + epic dodge + good AC is a much better mechanical expression for a fencer/duelist than any number of parry ranks you can get. The skill is dreadful and bad, so find another way to express this.

I think this character would thematically fit the Harpers, at least if you are willing to embrace the more hardassed side of the faction that is entirely willing to find villains, murder them in their sleep, and hang the body somewhere public, if it looks like they're using the law to shield themselves from the due consequences of their action, else I'd not have suggested the class as an option. Just remember, if you take Harper levels, due to a lot of the mechanical support the class gets on this server, RP that you actually are a Harper, rather than using the class as a stand-in for membership in another organization entirely.

If you envision a character more bound by a code of conduct and sworn to uphold rigid principles of conduct, or just don't think the Harper ethos fits your character, there are a few dex paladin builds out there that work too.

As for region, just grab a 3e FR sourcebook and find a part of the realms that has problems with fiends, abominations, or other horrors, which could produce a character intensely focused on eradicating said horrors.

[Orca96]

Thanks bunches for all the fast feedback, to all of you.

My own inclination on this build would be to set it up as a rogue 16/ranger 9/Harper paragon 5. This ought to secure epic dodge, decent divine might and shield, and charisma bonus to saving throws. Strength based variants are possible, but thematically, you seem to want lighter armor, for which you should be looking at dexterity anyhow. Heavy investment into rogue will ensure you have lots of thematically appropriate skills for someone whose job is to find, investigate, convict and most likely execute warlocks, evil magi, and abominations against the natural order of the world.

I am really inclined to try something in that direction now. As for lore, I've talked to Grumpy Cat a tad and I may breathe life once more into his Browncloak order.
To figure it out lorewise, would it make sense for a member of the witch hunting order, to be a member of the harpers aswell? Seeing that the harpers are all secretive, it would seem possible to me, that they'd contact an outstanding member of another order, to work with them. Say, let them in on their secrets, so that they may pursue their good task. Or it might be, that a member of the harpers has established a new order, to work as front for the harpers. In that way the harpers could show presence without actually giving up their secrecy. I mean, it would only make sense for the harpers to try and have members in as many other organisations as possible, as you can't see if someone's a harper anyhow.

[Dalenger]

Thank you for your build ideas, first off.

As for hikoisnumber1, the builds you've posted would again go into the paladin direction and I'd rather avoid heavy armor. How viable would a paladin in light to medium armor be?

I'm not so sure... not very, it'd be an intentional gimp. If all you're worried about is ascetics, you can easily dress your full plate armor to look like ~not~ full plate armor (namely, robes). However, if you just flat /don't/ want to be wearing heavy armor, then that build isn't for you.

[Anime Sword Fighter]

im just going to throw this out and keep in mind i know nothing about builds

won't monk help for the spell resistance?

[Scurvy Cur]

im just going to throw this out and keep in mind i know nothing about builds

won't monk help for the spell resistance?

It will, but in order to be particularly helpful against high level casters, a monk needs to take more than the 16 - 20 levels that are optimal, and monks badly need the multiclassing room.

OP, I'll be PMing you a couple of builds.

[Sabines]

A couple years ago the Arcane Tower used to have an order of "magehounds" who would hunt down rogue magi. I was never involved, but I saw them in action once or twice and it was pretty badass: I've always yearned for them to come again.