Ok so I really enjoyed Paladins of Freedom from back in 3.5. At least I always found that Chaotic Good seemed to be where my party always ended up being. We hardly ever listened to the laws of the land, and we toppled a few church schemes as well were I felt a regular pally might be hindered or have to fall.
So I was thinking of converting that to PF, maybe as a psuedo template to just change out the wording and alignment system. Is this an ok idea?
Also for the gestalt idea, it was Swashbuckler//Paladin of Freedom.
Gives all good saves, plus Cha to saves without blessing or domain feats, later levels grant limited spell casting, self-heals that fit the theme of limited Swift action control (So no going insane) but also a good feel as Cayden Caylen is one of my favorite gods and a Paladin of Freedom//Swashbuckler seems like a Paladin of Cayden (Rapier included and all that)
But is this generally a good idea?
|
I am assuming this is for a homebrew game?
You could always adapt the paladin class to allow CG, or to be LG Paladins serving CG gods.
In our homebrew game, we had an LG Paladin serving Cayden Cailean.
Here was his code:
- I lead by example, not with my blade. Where my blade passes a life is cut short and the world's potential celebrants are lessened.
- I will always find a reason to celebrate, for doing so increases joy and camaraderie.
- I do not abide slavers. Freedom is the greatest gift offered by Cayden Cailean. I refuse to trade in human misery, or oppress the weak to benefit the strong.
- The gifts I offer are my wit, sincerity, skill and knowledge. I endeavor to use these well.
- I will judge people by how they treat others, and by their outlook. Friends can come in all races, and from all backgrounds.
- Taverns and drinking halls are places of sanctuary that bind communities together. I will offer the drink of friendship to strangers, consolation to the grieved, joy to the blessed, and divine justice to those who require it.
- Law is supposed to protect the weak and innocent; where it fails to do that, it is unjust. However, there are many ways to fight or change an unjust law. I will use my wit before my sword. Where danger threatens, I refuse to be a fool. Instead I will seek to first make sure the weak and innocent are safe, then quell the danger.
- I will never abandon a companion, but I will honor sacrifice freely given. If my life would be wasted in the attempt to follow danger alone, I will find allies who can help me. Once the danger has been quelled, then comes the time for celebration and the sacred communion of friends.
We based it off of a number of the official codes from the ISG for folks like Shelyn and Erastil.
Hmm
|
Check with your GM about fiddling with paladins. Some will let you just play a normal paladin with a different alignment (and possibly different code), some will want you to use a homebrew or 3rd party archetype (example 1, example 2) and some will just plain not let you do it.
It is strong but probably not the best for a Gestalt campaign.
Often in gestalt you want to pick up things that the other class is lacking.
All good saves + charisma is good, full bab is good, level 4 spell casting is bad.
Genrally I would not use 2 full bab classes. You might be better served and keep the same or better flavor with a Swashbuckler/War Priest.
Full Bab, all good saves, + charisma to saves (for the cost of one feat) rapier base damage scales with level.
Usually I like to get level 9 casting in the mix... So another option would be Swashbuckler/Cleric. Stronger casting but perhaps a little less what you were looking for.
Swashbuckler and either Cleric or War Priest are going to be very MAD since swashbuckler uses Cha and the latter two use Wis. If more spellcasting is important I would recommend Paladin of Freedom / Bard. Despite being an arcane caster the bard is a good thematic fit - they are inspirational, mobile, and social. You'll expand your buff/support options with Inspire Courage and spells like Gallant Inspiration, Heroism, Good Hope, and Haste. Other useful spells include Comprehend Languages, Tongues, Identify, Detect Thoughts, Glitterdust, and Freedom of Movement if your paladin archetype doesn't already give you that. You keep all good saves, get 6 skill points/level, and can still use light armour and shields. The arcane duelist, buccaneer, and songhealer archetypes are worth looking into.
That said, while I would prefer Paladin/bard to Paladin/swashbuckler, I don't think the latter is a bad option. You do gain mobility and extra offense, and the bonus feats will be handy if you plan on doing anything fancy like TWF. You just don't have as many out-of-combat options.
If your GM doesn't permit a paladin of freedom, Swashbuckler / Oracle might be a decent choice. They don't get a good Fort save, but you can make up for that with Divine Protection which replicates Divine Grace - if you don't find that too cheesy.