What would Dudley look like if his mean old party hadn’t taken him underground?
the Dudley Do-Right
This is your typical Knight-In-Shining Armor type. He is strong and fit, not necessarily nimble (who could tell under all that armor, anyway). He rides a white heavy warhorse, has an impressive lance, a metal kite shield, and a longsword with a girl’s name.
Dudley is a Cavalier. He rides a horse, he likes shouting “I say thee nay, villain!” and so forth. All the ladies swoon when he rides into town, and his party members appreciate him drawing all the bad-guys’ attention all the time.
His spent his first couple of levels looking to be a master horseman, but couldn’t help putting some emphasis on his longsword. He always wanted a nice shiny longsword.
- Mounted Combat, Weapon Focus (Longsword), Power Attack
- Weapon Focus (Heavy Lance)
- Ride-By Attack
- Spirited Charge
- –
- Cleave, Weapon Specialization (Heavy Lance)
- –
- Improved Critical (Heavy Lance)
- Weapon Specialization (Longsword)
Dudley on a horse is Death personified at this point. With Weapon Focus and Specialization on both Longsword and Heavy Lance, along with his Power Attack and Spirited Charge, you simply don’t want to be on the receiving end when Dudley sets his spurs in.
Dudley can redirect 9 of his attack bonus into damage with any weapon, and deals double damage with his longsword on a charge ((1d8 + 2 + Strength Bonus + Power Attack Bonus) *2). Don’t worry about that too much because he’s even more fearsome with a lance ((1d10 + 2 + Strength Bonus + Power Attack Bonus) *3).
Just for giggles, he has the Improved Critical (Heavy Lance) feat. This means on a natural 19 or 20 while charging, Dudley here threatens to crit for (((1d10 + 2 + Strength Bonus + Power Attack Bonus) *3) *3). That’s potentially 189 damage, assuming a nonmagical weapon and no strength bonus. From a single blow. This is the stuff that dragonslayings are made of, and that’s what fills Dudley’s dreams at night, and keeps him going whenever things get rough.
Additionally, because he doesn’t rely upon his agility, Dudley is probably safely enveloped in Full Plate armor (ac +8 unenchanted) with a big steel kite shield (ac +2 unenchanted) that undoubtably bears some proud and noble family crest. That would leave a nice impression as you suck 189 damage from a single blow from this guy.
His AC of 20 makes it very difficult for rookies to strike him effectively, but his big shiny-guy-on-horse persona makes him a magnet for spells that incur Reflex saves. He is also invariably the first target of every opponent his party runs across, an arrangement that suits the party Wizard and Rogue just-fine-thank-you.
In return for all the attacks he draws to himself, his party likely lets him have first dibs on any magic lances, plate mail, or long swords they run into, likely resulting is something more like a 25 AC.
A laughably stereotypical fighter, to be sure, but the rules favor Dudley here, so maybe the munchkins should, too.