Ya Know What I'm Craving....A Little Bit of EVIL!!! (A Request to Paizo Devs)


Homebrew and House Rules


Ever since the anti-paladin class came out, I have always wanted to create a character that pretty much used the powers of evil in order to crush other forms of evil. Think of it as a radical paladin who dabbles in the 'forbidden arts', believing that the best way to combat evil is to use evil against itself. The paladin in question willingly puts their soul on the line in the hopes that obtaining greater power through patrons like demon lords will help them to quell other forms of wickedness in the world. They are keenly attuned to the dark desires that lie within every creature's heart, and as such, they are exceptionally gifted in understanding how to thwart the plots and plans of tyrants, murders, and cut-throats alike. They disdain the methods of 'goodly' warriors (like paladins), believing that their methods are far too conservative to make any real progress against the forces of darkness.

Such anti-paladins have no reservations about lying, torturing, or betraying other creature's in order to get the job done. Where a normal paladin might scoff at the notion of breaking their word or harming a captured prisoner, the anti-paladin understands the necessity of doing 'small evils' in order to obtain a greater good. After all, what good does it do to keep your honor if evil is allowed to thrive because of it?

Because of this mentality, such anti-paladins are far more difficult to predict and manipulate, which is seen as a common 'weakness' among most other 'good-aligned' creatures. Patrons of these 'radical paladins' often view their servants as amusing, misguided, but useful tools, and often employ them to thwart the plans of other rival deities. In some cases, such deities can even call upon these anti-paladins to test the worth of their own followers, or use the anti-paladin as their personal enforcer to punish those who have displeased them.

[Side note: Yes, I realize that this is starting to sound like an introduction to a new archetype, but to be honest, I really do hope that paizo eventually starts releasing 'expansions' for some of the more underused classes like the anti-paladin]

Anyway, this was just one idea I had for giving the anti-paladin a little more flare, but I was also curious to see if anyone else had any other cool ideas for expanding upon the class as well. Basically what I'm looking for are creative ideas that support the 'cool' kind of evil rather than the 'eat babies and kick puppies' kind of evil. After all, if a hero fails, then perhaps it is time to call upon a villain.


Eh, you could always do what I do...

Play one of the 3 "Evil" mage prestiges. Demoniac, Diabolist, or Soul Drinker. I literally just posted a comment in another thread about the (home game) Tiefling Sorcerer (Cross-Blood + Eldritch Heritage = Demon/Devil/Daemon, in whatever order you want) into Soul Drinker. Between summoning daemons, devouring souls himself and sending them screaming to abaddon, raising visions of the abyss (along with some choice demon summons), and burning them with hellfire (Hellfire Ray) to send them screaming into hell, he was pretty freaking evil. The Powers That Be had no idea what to do with him, since he was undeniably evil, but was targeting only the other evil yahoos in the world...

Except for maybe the occasional puppy that gets in his way. One of the BBEGs of he quest had brainwashed some orphans into being a meat shield for him by adopting them. The "evil" of this tiefling was in the uncaring manner in which he just blew up the entire area, killing the kids in range of his Greater Death Knell Aura, and clearing the way to Hellfire Ray the big bad.... Eventually, the GM and I worked it out that at the very climax of the campaign, Pharasma blasted him with a Bolt From The Blue and tucked his soul away from EVERYONE because she was tired of him throwing a monkey wrench in her machine. Rather cinematic death too, considering he exploded with all the arcane and evil energy in him that dealt a nice 25d10 chunk of damage to the big bad, broke the "Impenetrable Mystic Shield" the BBEG got from some artifact, and let the party have at him.

It was truly a pain in the tookus to actually get some of that to work mechanically with support from the game, outside of some basic fluff. But I, too, would personally like to see a bit more support of the more "anti-hero" type of villain. Even if they're doing it for evil reasons.

Seriously need to give Way of the Wicked a try...

Shadow Lodge

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Read a nice little book called "Villains by Necessity" by Eve Forward from TOR books. The devs need to do this story for sure as an AP.


So after looking over the advanced class guide, I finally came up with a great archetype for the anti-paladin class....

The Unholy Assassin

While most antipaladin's crave the power and protection provided by their dark patrons, others choose to forgo such gifts in order to slay their enemies regardless of their allegiance.

Class Skills: An unholy assassin gains survival as a class skill.

Skill Ranks Per Level: 4 + Int Modifier

Studied Target (Ex)

At 1st level, an unholy assassin gains the slayer's studied target class feature. He uses her antipaladin level as his effective slayer level to determine the effects of studied target.

This ability replaces smite good.

Slayer Talent

At 3rd level and every 3 levels thereafter, an unholy assassin selects a slayer talent. Starting at 12th level, he can select an advanced slayer talent in place of a slayer talent. He uses his antipaladin level as his slayer level to determine what talents he can select.

This ability replaces aura of cowardice, cruelty, and plague bringer.

Marked for Death (Ex)

At 11th level, an unholy assassin gains the quarry class feature; this functions like the slayer ability of the same name.

This ability replaces aura of vengeance.

Doomed to Die (Ex)

At 17th level, an unholy assassin gains the improved quarry class feature; this functions like the slayer ability of the same name.

This ability replaces aura of depravity.

Vassal of Darkness (Ex)

At 20th level, an unholy assassin gains DR 10/good and becomes a master of murder. As a standard action, he can make a single attack against a studied target at his full attack bonus, choosing one of the following effects: kill, knock unconscious for 1d4 hours, or paralyze for 2d6 rounds. If the attack succeeds, the target takes damage normally and must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or suffer the additional effect. The DC for this save is 10 + 1/2 the antipaladin's level + the antipaladin's Charisma modifier. Whether or not the target succeeds, it cannot be targeted by this ability again (by any slayer) for 24 hours.

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