Lately I've been wanting to make Paladin a prestige class. I remember seeing something similar in Unearthed Arcana a long time ago. I want to make it the Pathfinder's Paladin though. Just wondering if someone has the work cut out for me? :p
Something I read recently was that the Paladin is a Paragon of Good and it is something someone strives for, not something they inherently are. So it makes sense to keep this away from a level 1 character and have it as something they grow into.
This is something I've been going over for a while. I was actually going to make a post about it after I collected my thoughts.
As I said in the 'Paladin Alignment' thread, I've always thought the Paladin should be something you earn through effort, through a demonstration of your principals. It's better to achieve such power and status after having demonstrated that devotion.
There are a couple of good examples of prestige paladins, but the ones I've seen usually have a requirement for possessing divine spell-casting and than add levels to that ability afterword. I'd prefer a prestige class that granted you spell-casting like a paladin without requiring divine spell-casting before-hand.
I thiink I'll sit down and hammer this one out, maybee post it in a day or two if I get my act together, unless some-one with more sense of these things posts one first(or has, as is sometimes common on forums, posted one like a year ago...)
I have some thoughts on the prestige paladin from UA. I always felt it was sorely underpowered, almost criminally. I'd sort it out by giving the class its own spellcasting progression that was essentially what the paladin gets now but condensed into 10 levels. Caster level equal to twice your class level (not to exceed your hit dice). Then you can mix the rest of the paladin goodies into the rest of the class, but you'll have to compensate for essentially losing 10 levels on class specific abilities- like smite evil.
You also encounter the very real issue that Mystic Theurge and Arcane Trickster have. You take a series of prerequisites to gain access to a prestige class that is, essentially, the defining aspect of your character. After you've taken all ten levels, roughly level 16, what do you take? What class is left that isn't simply filler? Most prestige classes build on a single class or concept, so going back to that base class is a natural choice. But the paladin takes an ordinary warrior type and turns him into a warrior for his god. Or, worse, takes a caster and stunts her natural spell progression.
If it's a caster, when she's finished with her prestige class she's going to go back to her spellcasting class. She's still aiming for those high level spells- that's motive. If she's a rogue type, she'll go back to rogue for the skill points and improved sneak attack or whatever. Etc. etc. But if she's a paladin she isn't left with much other than "I guess I can pick up a few feats," or "maybe the cavalier bonuses are nice."
You could avoid this by offering a few paladin specific feats that allowed her to continue striving for "paladin goodies" even after completing the class.
Just a thought.