Sammy123's page

Search is most definately what I'd recommend adding. And a version that takes advantage of the iPad screen size.

Anyone know if the Pathfinder Reference Documents app is being updated for the iPad?

(IMHO) Torture is an evil act.

I'd keep track of them doing it, and after a couple times say, "Can I see your character sheet?" Erase their current alignment and move them one alignment notch toward evil. Maybe also move them towards chaotic (esp if their rational is "I'm doing a bad thing for a greater good").

For certain classes, those changes will matter a lot.

I'm still going to stand by my earlier statement. The rampaging orc horde doesn't get a free pass to kill everyone in town without the paladin interfering, just because they brought their kids along to watch.

I think everyone already agrees with that.

It's meant to be an absolute scenario that puts emphasis on the paladin's choice: The necromancer knows the cure (fact), there is no other cure available (fact), it is highly unlikely that traditional magical means will rip the info from the vile man's mind as he has prepared for that eventuality though mundane means of information gathering such as torture may work (fact), paladin has to make a choice (fact), will the paladin fall due to his choice of action? (Whatever that may be.)

The Paladin cannot torture. Here's my justification. Torture is an evil act. It simply is. The good that will come out of it does change the nature of the means. It's evil mean to achieve a good end.

The only reason you're tempted to use torture is because you're making the Paladin responsible for the plague. The Paladin isn't responsible for the plague, the necromancer is. If people die, it's on the Necromancers soul (or lack their of).

The Paladin is obligated to fight a good fight to defeat evil. The Paladin is wrong to resort to evil to fight evil. The Paladin is wrong to make themselves responsible for the evil that others do. If the Paladin takes responsibility for the evil that others do, it will lead them to believe the ends justify the means, and then they fall.

Until now. Now, I understand that all I have to do is bring a small child along to watch me attack, and the paladins will be unable to fight back against me.

LOL, yes, human shields have presented a problem for quite some time (in R/L). Strap a baby to your shield and the Paladin may have trouble swinging at you.

But there's also rationality of who's causing the harm. If someone says "answer my questions or I hurt the kid," they're the one responsible for the harm, not the person being questioned. If you place your sniper on top of a day care center, you're turning a civilian site into a military target, and you're responsible for the loss.

In your case, the Paladins have a right (obligation) to defend. They may consider how to fully defend while minimizing the civilian harm, but at the end of the day, they have to defend.

Any creature against whom he receives his greater smite damage is a candidate for such treatment, especially undead and evil outsiders.

FWIW, my Paladin says, "Killing undead ain't even killing."

Well, my question is when a PC dies and decides not to raise dead / reincarnate, but create a new character. At what level do you let the new PC join as?

Typically the lowest level in the party. If everyone's the same level, -1.

The party typically gains all the magic items from the fallen character, plus the new character is joining with a bunch of shiny new stuff. We had one campaign where there ended up being really high attrition (some people are on their 4th character), so there was a need to limit the inflow of magic items to the party (new characters started at the level of the lowest with 1/2 starting gold).

Can't find anything requiring the Paladin to follow any organized religion only following the divine and receiving the benefits granted by that power.

Please stop equating paladin to police officer and legitimate authority to some type of court system/central government.

Yes the paladin directly serves the legitimate authority his GOD, in leu of the big guy coming down to do it himself....

What are the paladins abilities for other than as I have suggested.

A paladin can be played either way the PC wants, just as the mythic "noble savage" "Tarzan" nonsense can be applied to Barbarians OR NOT...

If you're in town, fighting someone, and the militia comes along and yells stand down, you stand down, or at least back down. In cities, there is legitimate authority, and you follow their directions unless you believe them or their orders to be evil.

IMHO, if a Paladin believe he only listens to his God, and pays no mind to local authorities, doesn't abide local laws (no weapons in town, etc.) then that doesn't fit my definition of lawful.

Outside of town, in ungoverned areas, the Paladin just falls back on LG and their code.

Paladins are being veiwed in a very goody goody light on this thread for some reason.

You can play a paladin as a justicar, judge dread, Texas Ranger, why do you suppose paladins have detect evil intent so they have to sit around and wait for the scoundrel to act, wait till the person actually gets attacked or stabbed.

Detect lies is also a good spell for trials immediately after surrender or capture of a foe. The Paladin is the judge the battlefield is the court, that was the trial, Other PCs can act as a jury...
If the offender attempts to get away they are slain for failing to be judged.

What are the purposes of these abilities other than as I have suggested?

Part of the deal is, they're LG, not CG or LN. If they were CG, then they could get away with more of "I'm doing a bad thing to achieve a good goal." They can't use poison, for example, because their code says they can't, and *they're lawful*. The Lawful Stupid part is that they do legitimately have to follow laws and rules that they don't entirely agree with, just like any soldier or police officer.

They're no more lawful or good than any other LG character. In addition, they have a code (much of which any LG character would follow anyways.) IMHO:

1. A paladin's code requires that she respect legitimate authority - I'd expect this from any LG

2. act with honor (not lying, not cheating, not using poison, and so forth) - In general, I'd expect any LG to be truthful and good for their word. An LG would have a high bar to get over to justify the use of poison. For a Paladin, it's simply off the table.

3. help those in need (provided they do not use the help for evil or chaotic ends) - Again, expected of any LG

4. and punish those who harm or threaten innocents. - A specific obligation for paladins, but I would expect LG adventurers to generally do this.

I modeled it up above, and didn't see a big benefit for the Scimitar at 11th level. Bless weapon helps the scimitar pull slightly ahead. Keen won't stack with bless weapon, so you'd have to take improved critical to get it to stack. At that point you've used a scarce feat, and it seems you'd only want to do that if you're going to go all-in on crit focused feats.

Beyond 10th I could imagine the scimitar pulling farther ahead, but in this circumstance, I'm going with a shield bash through greater bull rush feat progression, and I'm feeling that the longsword's a better pick for that build.

I could also see building a paladin focused on criticals and going the scimitar route, but at that point a dual wielding kukri seems better?

J.R. Farrington, Esq. wrote:

...bring harm to the enemy WHILE his/her innocent spouse and young children bear witness...

Not ok.

I think everyone but I has said this. I wonder...why? I never got any comment on my reply to this - and I don't understand why it would be evil or dishonorable.

What I believe is the key point of my opinion that in and of itself, killing or harming the villain in full view of his/her loved (loving?) ones isn't evil or dishonorable:

Jess Door wrote:

What you do should be good or evil whether you're being watched or not, and despite who you're being watched by.

Thoughts?

I just think it's very situational. In general, if there's a way to take the person out that's not directly in front of the kids, I'd try to find a way to do so. Only if I thought this was my only or best chance to act would I cut the person down. Even then, if it (as expected) caused massive distress on the part of the women and children, I'd feel it is something I'd have to atone for.

To me, the main penalty you take for all the Paladin benefits is that sometimes you're forced to chose between the lesser of evils, and when that happens, your character may lose Paladin abilities and have to atone. I think if you play a Paladin that will simply be unavoidable at some point.

The damages you've listed are average, right? So for a die roll, it's 1/2 + .5 (1d8 does 4.5 on average). If so, this is what I get:

This assumes a threat for crit of 19-20x2

For #1, I get 235 DPR all the way up to AC25, dropping to 222 at AC30. Adding in another boots of speed attack moves it up to 294 DPR

For #2, I get 221 dpr vs AC20, dropping to 168 vs AC 30. For BoS, add 48 more damage. I didn't calc TWR into this, so it would be 17.5 more when that happens. (crit = 18-20x2)

For #3, I get 154 vs AC20, 122 vs AC 30. With BoS, it's 194 vs AC20 to 162 vs AC 30. Also + 17.5 for TWR

For #4, I get 179 vs AC20 - 108 vs AC 30 + BoS = 228 vs AC20 - 155 vs AC30 (crit 18-20x2)

It's your campaigns. If you imagine paladins backstabbing people with poison dripping daggers, go to town. If you imagine paladins hiding behind cover and firing arrows upon little old ladies, go to town. If you imagine paladins raping and pillaging, because that's how you want paladins to behave and why should someone limit your creativity, man, go to town.

It's a cheap rhetorical trick to come up with the most extreme example and then argue against that, rather than what anyone actually said.

Look, it's just a discussion. I get that you view a Paladin as the proverbial knight in shining armor. IMHO (and it really is just my opinion) that guy wouldn't be traveling with a party (of commoners) crawling through dungeons. You have a valid view, and you can find evidence that medieval knights didn't use bows because it was viewed as dishonorable. You can also find example during times and places in Europe where they did.

I'm not saying your wrong in how you set up your campaign, I'm just explaining why I view it differently in mine. Each campaign is it's own alternate universe, and we're all here mainly to share ideas.

I guess if you have an image in your head of a Paladin as strictly a armored mounted warrior, then your Paladin can't use a bow.

You should also then view your Paladin as mainly working as a component of an army on a battlefield, supported by infantry and bowmen. Your Paladin must also be male, and human. And I don't know of stories of a real plated up English knight doing a dungeon crawl with a smorgasbord of fellow travelers fighting ranged spell casters and undead.

In short, I don't think anyone's taking too muck liberty with the rules by saying that their are other valid views of a Paladin in the D&D/Pathfinder setting.

Robert Young wrote:

"It does not allow characters to see anything that they could not see otherwise" - seems to be of relevance to the discussion at hand.

Except it actually isn't. That is the text of the Darkvision extraordinary ability, NOT the text of the Darkvision spell.

I think the question is, does the title of the spell convey meaning, or only the description of the spell. If the title is absolutely meaningless, then yes, reading the description of the spell would imply that it counteracts blindness (well, you'd still be blind beyond 60', regardless of the light conditions).

But if the title also conveys information then you would have to conclude that the spell is granting dark vision to the target. This seems to obviously be the case. They could have named it anything, but chose Dark Vision for a reason.

Let's say you have a fighter with 2 attacks, the attack bonus is +10/+5, and the damage bonus is +5. It's a simple longsword (1d8). DPR vs. different ACs for two straight attacks is:

AC15: 12.02 dpr
AC20: 6.79 dpr
AC25: 3.63

If you cleave, it's:

AC15: 15.05 dpr
AC20: 8.91 dpr
AC25: 4.08

So just on that calculation, cleave is better, unless of course you want to do all that damage to one foe.

Now for the thornier (and more common) scenario...

The party is traveling through the dungeon/ruins/whatever. They come under attack from an evil party. They end up taking a prisoner, question the prisoner and get information, and then decide to kill the prisoner for all the normal reasons - we don't have a way to keep the prisoner with us as we battle on - we're days from town, and what would the town lock him up for anyways? - if we let him go, we'll just end up fighting him again.

I have my own code for this, but what are your opinions on what the Paladin should do?

And FWIF, from the PHB:

help those in

need (provided they do not use the help for evil or chaotic
ends), and punish those who harm or threaten innocents.

This strongly indicates you can slay the druid. You know they will use any mercy for evil, and you have an obligation to punish those who harm or threaten innocents (which this NPC has done at least twice). Time for justice.

Prisoners and Paladins don't mix very well.

That said, (by my Paladin's code) you did the right thing the first time by trying to transport the captive.

At this point, you know the captive isn't truly defenseless (or won't remain defenseless for long). The captive has the ability to escape and has demonstrated that if he escapes it will result in the death of innocents.

The Paladin always faces the possibility that sections of their code are in irreconcilable conflict in certain circumstances. Here the code of not attacking the defenseless, and the requirement to protect innocents. The paladin has to choose between them, and in this one circumstance, I believe the requirement to protect innocents trumps attacking the (briefly) defenseless.

At first opportunity, the Paladin should consult the temple and determine if atonement is required (regardless of the decision he makes).

I am curious as to how you guys and gals would handle a 5th level Paladin who, as a servant of Erastil, would handle a ranged weapon focus. 20 point buy.

20 Point Buy: Str 14, Con 13, Dex 16, Wis 7, Int 7, Cha 16

From Cryptic's guide.

Maybe bump up Wis, and trim down Con so your perception and sense motive aren't so bad. I recommend Cryptic's guide for some good ideas around this build.

Other stuff:

Would you condone any of the following...

...ambush enemies from hiding...

Seems dishonorable. I wouldn't think it's dishonorable on a very large scale (diversion attack while main army attacks elsewhere), or the ambush of a very large army by a smaller army. In terms of smaller groups (say <15), hiding in bushes and ambushing a passing group seems dishonorable.

...make a pre-emptive strike against an enemy or enemies prior to their having shown actual hostility...

Are they evil? Are they an already declared enemy? Have they been offered surrender? If no to all the above, then it's probably evil to preemptively strike.

...pelt enemies to death with ranged attacks from afar while said enemies are unable to return fire...

They can be allowed to surrender, and then be pelted if they refuse to surrender.

...bring harm to the enemy WHILE his/her innocent spouse and young children bear witness...

EVIL

...slay an enemy who has just been disarmed, or otherwise rendered ineffectual...

EVIL

...kill an enemy who is clearly outnumbered/overpowered by the paladin and/or his allies...

Offer surrender and attack if they refuse. They can choose to die with honor rather than surrender. That doesn't mean you have to let them go free.

well, in any event, the scimitar will never be so much better than the longsword that having it is somehow bad. At high levels, the scimitar pulls ahead, but it's never way out in front.

If you are starting at level one, going with a longsword will give you more damage at lower levels, which is when you really need it.

I think part of the confusion comes from the greatsword vs falchion comparison. The greatsword is a little better at low levels, but as soon as Imp Crit and the Critical feats are available, the falchion is significantly better. But for longswords vs scimitars, the difference is never really dramatic.

Go with what fits.

Cool. Thanks for chatting this through with me.

I don't think shooting arrows at opponents from a distance is any more dishonorable than trampling your unmounted opponents under the hooves of your armored warhorse while you stab down with your lance (a primary duty of knights on the battlefield).

At least with arrows, they have an even chance of shooting back. Vs. spell casters, it actually seems pretty mano-a-mano.

There's a difference between the rules when you've been challenged to a dual, vs participating in a group that's attempting to win a battle against another group. In the latter, I would expect paladins to use their superior knowledge of battle tactics to arrange foot soldiers, cavalry, and archers (without viewing the archers as dishonorable).

FWIF, Samurai also used bows.

Power attack doesn't seem to help. While it's increasing damage, it's decreasing the hit chance and confirm crit chance.

Running some simulations, I can see where the scimitar starts to pull ahead. You definitely have to be smiting, and have improved critical.

Here are the numbers I get

Attack bonus = BAB 10 + 4 (Str) + 3 (Cha) + 2 (bull str) + 1 (weapon) = 20
Damage = (3.5 or 4.5) + 10 (smite) + 4 (str) + 2 (bull str) + 1 (weapon) = 20.5 or 21.5

Vs AC 15
Longsword = 24.73 DPR
Scimitar = 25.63 DPR *

Vs AC 25
Longsword = 20.64 DPR
Scimitar = 21.32 DPR *

So with a huge amount of damage that multiplies, the longsword is barely better, and that's only if you burn a feat for improved critical, and you're smiting. If you bless weapon so the crits always confirm, it's still not a huge difference:

Vs AC 25 (bless weapon)
Longsword = 21.50 DPR
Scimitar = 22.55 DPR *

And then that's yet another buff you have to count on, so I'm just not sure that trying to maximize the threat range is really better than just taking a more common weapon that does slightly more damage and gives you back a feat slot.

So, 6.5*50% + 6.5*15%*50% = 3.7375 = 3.74 DPR

Against AC20 the same calculation with a 25% chance to hit and to confirm crits.

So, 6.5*25% + 6.5*15%*25% = 1.8688 = 1.87 DPR

The formula will start to break down when you threat range becomes greater than your chance to hit.

Sweet, so it looks like my basic simulation is right, and that leads to some thoughts.

First, I've seen people talk about having high crit range weapons, but I'm having trouble finding a scenario where a scimitar is better than a longsword, so I wonder if the high crit approach is bunk? (or my maths are off)

Also, it seems like using divine bond to keen a weapon is a waste compared to adding flaming.

James Jacobs wrote:

I believe so. A light shield allows spellcasters to use their hand to cast, and lets you carry an object; the only thing it actually prevents is wielding a weapon. Since lay on hands only requires you to touch someone, you could indeed use this ability while wearing a light shield.

Not to argue (I'm perfectly happy doing this in PF) but in 3.5 the FAQ said it a little differently. . .

** spoiler omitted **

I know we're talking about a free hand to use lay on hands versus a free hand to cast spells with a somatic component, but are they different?

Yes, the 3.5 FAQ doesn't apply to PF -- but the problem is that a lot of people have been conditioned to follow the 3.5 FAQ. Things will change when...

Interesting, so LoH is (probably) allowed with a shield hand, but when a Paladin goes to cast a spell, he'd have to drop and pickup his weapon, or do the - pass it to the shield hand, cast, pass it back - routine.

I'm working on a DPR calculator (I'm sure many already exist, and if you have a link to one, that would be great) that takes into account crits and damage resistance. Just for a simple calculation, I have:

1st level paladin using a scimitar

Attack bonus: +4
Damage: 1d6+3
Crit: 18-20x2

For DPR vs. various ACs, I get:

AC 15: 3.74 dpr
AC 20: 1.87 dpr

Does that look right?

Sammy123 wrote:

Can a paladin do LoH with during combat when holding a sword and light shield?

I believe so. A light shield allows spellcasters to use their hand to cast, and lets you carry an object; the only thing it actually prevents is wielding a weapon. Since lay on hands only requires you to touch someone, you could indeed use this ability while wearing a light shield.

Thanks for the clarifications everyone. Is there a page in the players guide that says you can cast with a shield hand, and hold an object? It seems like it's common knowledge, but I'd like to be able to pull out the PHB if it comes up as an issue.

Can a paladin do LoH with during combat when holding a sword and light shield?

Thanks for all the advice everyone. It's been super helpful.

You definitely want the high crit range when possible. You multiply Smite damage on a crit so doubling your damage becomes even sweeter.

I know flaming doesn't multiply with crit, but does holy?

Also, you can only divind bond disruption on a bludgeoning weapon, correct? Since the difference between a shield vs. spiked shield is 1d3 vs 1d4, I wonder if it's better to carry a regular light shield for the option to divind bond disruption on it when fighting undead?

Is there a character story or RP reason for using a shield? You can get pretty good DPR out of two-handed weapons and not needing more than a 12 in Dex will get you better Strength. Plus, you're not shoveling feats into two-weapon fighting feats and shield feats. With swift action self healing, Paladins don't really need much AC. You get ouchies, you get bandaids.

The thinking on using the shield was to get an extra attack when smiting, and I'm just interested in trying the shield-as-weapon route for something interesting.

The scimitar at 11th level doesn't look too impressive, but with power attack + divine bond + 15-20 threat for crit, I think it'll do OK. Again, not as good as a straight fighter, but a paladin's never going to keep up with a straight fighter.

And for undead that you can't crit, the smite damage is pretty huge.

I think the bastard sword build posted above is pretty good too. I'll load it in the spreadsheet and see how it compares.

Here's the full character up to level 11, and like I said, I'll compare with the bastard sword build above.

(assumes no magic weapons, armor, or buffs, so this is a worst-case)

SODWORTH GOODHAMMER
Male human Paladin 11
LG Medium humanoid
Init +2 ; Senses Perception +11
==DEFENSE==
AC 21, touch 12, flat-footed 19 (+8 armor, +1 shield, +2 dex)
hp 87 (11d10+22)
Fort +11, Ref +8, Will +10
==OFFENSE==
Spd 20 ft./x3
Melee Scimitar +13/+8/+3 1d6+4 15-20/x2
Melee Spiked shield, light +15 1d4+2 20/x2
Melee Scimitar +15/+10/+5 1d6+6 15-20/x2
Ranged Longbow +13/+8/+3 1d8 20/x3
==STATISTICS==
Str 18, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 16
Base Atk +11, Cmb +15Cmd +27
Feats Armor Proficiency (Heavy) (PFCR 118), Armor Proficiency (Light) (PFCR 118), Armor Proficiency (Medium) (PFCR 118), Improved Bull Rush (PFCR 126), Improved Critical (PFCR 127), Improved Shield Bash (PFCR 128), Power Attack (PFCR 131), Shield Master (PFCR 133), Shield Proficiency (PFCR 133), Shield Slam (PFCR 133), Two-weapon Fighting (PFCR 136)
Skills Diplomacy +11, Perception +11, Sense Motive +9
Languages Common
Combat Gear Scimitar, Spiked shield, light, Longbow, Sc, Shield, light steel
Other Gear Armor & Shield, Weapons
Class Abilities • AURA OF GOOD - The power of a paladin’s aura of good (see the detect good spell) is equal to her paladin level. (PFCR 60).
• CODE OF CONDUCT - Lawful Good. Never commit an evil act. Respect legitimate authority. Act with honor. Help those in need, punish all who harm or threaten innocents. (PFCR 63-64).
• DETECT EVIL - At will, a paladin can use detect evil, as the spell. (PFCR 60).
• PALADIN WEAPONS AND ARMOR - Paladins are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor (heavy, medium, and light), and with shields (except tower shields). (PFCR 60).
• SMITE EVIL - 4 timess per day, swift action to choose an evil target. Ignore its DR, take +3 to attack and +11 to damage. If outsider, dragon or undead, damage bonus is +22. Gain +3 deflection bonus to AC vs. target while smite is in effect (until target is dead or paladin rests). (PFCR 60-61).
• DIVINE GRACE - At 2nd level, a paladin gains a bonus equal to her Charisma bonus [+3 on all saving throws. (PFCR 61).
• LAY ON HANDS - Heal 5d6 with a touch, or the same as damage undead. Swift action to heal self. Standard action to heal others. Touch attack to harm undead. 8 timess per day. The following mercies apply against status effects of those you touch:
- Cursed: As Remove Curse (PFCR 332) at caster level 11.
- Diseased: As Remove Disease (PFCR 332) at caster level 11.
- Poisoned: The paladin’s lay on hands ability also acts as neutralize poison, using the paladin’s level as the caster level. (PFCR 61).
• AURA OF COURAGE - Beginning at 3rd level, a paladin is immune to fear (magical or otherwise). Each ally within 2 squares of her gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects. This ability functions while the paladin is conscious, but not if she is unconscious or dead. (PFCR 61).
• DIVINE HEALTH - At 3rd level, a paladin gains immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases. (PFCR 61).
• MERCY - Every three levels, the paladin can choose a Mercy that can remove a status effect as part of Lay on Hands. (PFCR 61).
• CHANNEL POSITIVE ENERGY - You channel Positive Energy allowing you to either heal the living or harm the undead for 6d6. Affects 30 ft. radius from paladin. Will save DC 18 to halve damage. Standard action. Costs 2 Lay on Hands uses. Does not provoke Attacks of Opportunity. (PFCR 62).
• DIVINE BOND - You have chosen to form a divine bond with a Celestial Spirit, as detailed in PFCR 63. Its current bonus is +3. (PFCR 63).
• AURA OF RESOLVE - At 8th level, a paladin is immune to charm spells and spell-like abilities. Each ally within 2 squares of her gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against charm effects. This ability functions while the paladin is conscious, but not if she is unconscious or dead. (PFCR 63).
• AURA OF JUSTICE - At 11th level, a paladin can expend two uses of her smite evil ability to grant the ability to smite evil to all allies within 2 squares, using her bonuses. Allies must use this smite evil ability by the start of the paladin’s next turn. Using this ability is a free action. Evil creatures gain no benefit from this ability. (PFCR 63).

Good advice on STR instead of CHA.

I'm also strongly leaning towards PA vs the double-slice TWR route. I'm not sure I want to pour all my attribute gains into Dex, and PA seems to deliver more damage.

I'm also curious how keen from divine bond stacks with improved critical?

Brutesquad07 wrote:

I don't know that I would worry about Wis either. Casting is now in Cha so the only advantage Wis gives is for Wil saves and wis based skills which aren't really the Paladins thing. Drop the Wis down a couple and capitalize the points somewhere else.

+1, Will save(all saves actually) will go up by +3 at 2nd when you get your Divine Grace.

Yeah, just noticed that. I could go with:

Str 16, Con 13, Dex 16, Wis 7, Int 7, Cha 18

At 4th I could bump up the Con, and at 8th I could bump up Dex to qualify for improved two weapon fighting, but I'm not sure I want to play Lawful Retarded.

Any thoughts on the feat progression?

Tried posting this before, but the post won't open. Strange.

Anyways, I'm thinking about playing a Paladin based on Cryptic's Guide to Paladins Sword and Board, and some other advice I've read in the forums. I don't know yet if my DM's doing 20 or 25 pts for point-buy, but here are my thoughts for stats and feat progression:

Point Buy (20)
Str 15
Con 14
Dex 15
Wis 10
Int 7
Cha 16 (+2 Human)

Point Buy (25)
Str 16
Con 14
Dex 15
Wis 12
Int 7
Cha 16 (+2 Human)

H Improved Shield Bash
1 Two Weapon Fighting
3 Power Attack
5 Improved Bull Rush
7 Shield Slam
9 Greater Bull Rush
11 Shield Master
13 Improved Two Weapon Fighting? (assuming I pump more into Dex as I level up)

Scimitar as main weapon and shield (light or heavy??) as off-hand.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd have to drop the shield to do Lay on Hands or cast spells? Anything anyone would like to point out or give suggestions on for this build?

Thanks.

Ok, I've read Cryptic's guide to Paladins, and lots of other posts about Paladins and I'm thinking of going with the Sword and Board approach (It's more in keeping with my Paladin as Knight roleplay thinking vs. the Smite Arrow Machinegun).

I'm not sure if we'll be using 20 or 25 points for point-buy, but I'm thinking of the following stats:

Point Buy (20)
• Str 15
• Con 14
• Dex 15
• Wis 10
• Int 7
• Cha 16 (+2 Human)

Point Buy (25)
• Str 16
• Con 14
• Dex 15
• Wis 12
• Int 7
• Cha 16 (+2 Human)

And the following feat progression (suggested in another post)

H Improved Shield Bash
1 Two Weapon Fighting
3 Power Attack
5 Improved Bull Rush
7 Shield Slam
9 Greater Bull Rush
11 Shield Master
13 Improved Two Weapon Fighting?

Main weapon will be a Scimitar for improved threat range. I'll be going the Divine Bond w/weapon route (probably putting Keen on the weapon)

First, and issues with this so far in terms of stats and feats?

Second, what are the thoughts about light vs heavy shield (I'm thinking light at low levels to minimize the penalties). Also, to use lay on hands, I'd have to drop the shield, correct? Same for spell casting?

Any other thoughts on ways to optimize?

Thanks