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Multiclassing a paladin with the white necromancer found in Kobold Quarterly #19.
Mulling this over for two settings, as a PC for Golarion(where choosing a fitting god seems the biggest hurdle) or an NPC for my homebrew(which has a deity that would be all over the White Necromancer class).
The basic goals it has to fulfill:
1. Scythe-wielder. Flowing midnight-black cloak absolutely required. Backup sickles optional.
2. Be as much about protecting, helping, and working with the dead as with the living.
3. Be a dark, potentially scary, but benign and holy warrior.
4. Be able to call upon help from the dead and actually have undead backup if only for a limited amount of time.
5. Temporary undead servants are always made from willing souls, either those who this character has sworn to help or those hoping to alleviate the weight of their sins before going to their final rest.
But how best to divvie up the class levels so that it lives up to that image, particularly if the character is meant for an AP where at most they may go up to 14-15th level? At a glance it's looking like it would be best to focus on the white necromancer, since a lot of the paladin's flavor can get its mechancial support in early levels.
On the Golarion end of things, which god would be the best fit for the theme? Helping the restless spirits of the dead get past whatever is holding them back from their proper afterlife fits the general theme of healing, as do the white necromancers self-sacrificing-let-me-give-you-my-hp abilities, and the theme of giving the wicked a second chance at clearing up their karma falls under redemption, so Sarenrae feels like the easiest fit. But she's a sun goddess, which runs counter to the "Dark Is Not Evil" theme I'm hoping to pull off. Wondering what the best way is to spin that particular goddess and her mythos into something that supports this concept.
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Pharasma would fit better the Death is not Evil theme, but you would need allowance from the GM to make a Paladin of a True Neutral god. Also the "souls hoping to get a lighter sentence" does not mesh well with her worldview of impartial justice based on your deeds before death.
However, helping put the spirits of the dead to rest does indeed fit her portfolio.
As you mentioned, Sarenrae is the goddess for all things about Redemption. You can have a look at the Exalted RPG to see how a Sun God needs agents in the dark corners of the world where his light cannot shine.
I do enjoy the white necromancer, and I suspect that Marc will be all over this like a zombie on brains. But have you looked at the Death Mage from SGG? One of the Paths is an anti-undead scythe wielder. Not sure how to make the things they make not evil though. Just as a headsup!
Seranae seems like a good fit. Maybe use the UA paladin variants to get a CG paladin? You strive to free the spirits of the dead. No one knows how to have a better time than Cayden.
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Every ray of light casts a shadow. Without Light, one can not define the darkness. The Night is nothing more than the time the Sun isn't there for you.
Yeah, any way to spin light and dark into a yin-yang relationship where darkness isn't any more or less morally weighted than light is welcome. Unfortunately there's not a lot of "good and dark" representation in Golarion, though there's a fair amount of "light and evil", particularly with Nergal. Wish there was an Empyreal Lord that could pick up that slack. I'd be happy to just make one but coming to the table with your own homebrew pantheon additions probably won't fly at most tables.
I'd love to make this work with Pharasma, but yeah, going by the book her alignment stands in the way(she certainly feels like a LN god though, doesn't she). It's her hardline stance on undead that would have me most worried about the concept getting shut down though. But yeah, while the aesthetics may scream Pharasma, the spirit of the character really does feel like a better match with Sarenrae.
Haven't checked out the Death Mage, but I am interested in how they approached the martial aspect now. Especially since I just realized how not-that-great a WN/Paladin that favors the WN side is probably going to be with a scythe. Thanks for the headsup!
A Reaper Death Mage should do decently. The bonus damage is pretty minor, but the Fetish is really cool.
At level 3, your Fetish can be your Scythe, and you could do a constant +1d6 damage vs enemies your fetish is attuned to.
They kind of lack in the Self-Buff department (although Deathly Pall does it a bit).
This would work with the melee scythe caster part, not so much the White Necro part...
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Yeah, it looks like it could help in the melee department, but like you said it doesn't really mesh with the WN portion of the character. Thanks though!
Maybe leaning a little harder on the paladin side of things and depending on smites to make up for the handicap could still be doable, as far as keeping the character reasonably competent with his signature weapon, at least against certain enemies.
Make an archetype! Get rid of Divine Grace, and you can do pretty much anything.
Just remember that in Golarion a paladin is not required to have a patron deity, so if you can come up with a proper set of ideals and a code that does not clash with being LG, then it all should be good.
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Actually..that has me thinking of taking a pantheistic approach now...centered around Sarenrae while lifting aesthetics from Desna, Pharasma and
Oh yeah, I can make something out of this! Thanks for the brain-jarring. :)
Trying to avoid homebrewing any archetypes or any other adjustments, if only to increase the likelihood of this character getting approved at the table. Certainly going to be looking through the archetypes that already exist though!