Out of personal bias, I have actively avoided playing Paladins in any game where they are an option, especially in Diablo 2 and Pathfinder. However, a new character concept screams Paladin to me and after reading a particular comment I saw on a Pathfinder question on Reddit, I am actually interested in the Paladin now.
That said, I've never played one before and so it is a little daunting to say the least. As a general rule, I like to play characters with an assortment of abilities so that I can provide even a little assistance to more specialized characters or to be an option if our party doesn't have certain roles, as is often the case in PFS play.
However, I'm not sure that's an option as a Paladin. (I could be wrong)
I need to be martial with a lot of charisma, which limits how much INT or WIS I can afford, especially since I hate dumping any stat lower than 10. This also limits the number of skill points I get per level or what feats I qualify for.
Anyhoo, I'm looking to make a Human Paladin in the vein of Jeanne D'Arc. I'd like to have some European flavour with some kind of spear or lance as well as a sword for my primary weapons and eventually Full Plate armor. As such I'm not sure if I should have a mount or not.
Human Female from Galt
Paladin
(diety?)
STR 14
DEX 12
CON 13
INT 12
WIS 10
CHA 16
1st EWP Bastard Sword
Human Power Attack
3rd Cleave
(trait 1?)
(trait 2?)
Any input would be appreciated as, again, this is a class I am unfamiliar with. This is for a Pathfinder Society character, so some options/tactics may not be PFS legal.
Core Rulebook
Advanced Players Guide
Advanced Race Guide
Advanced Class Guide
Ultimate Combat
Ultimate Magic
Ultimate Campaign
Ultimate Equipment
Pathfinder Unchained
The Inner Sea World Guide
Inner Sea Races
Monster Codex
Bestiary
Bestiary 2
Bestiary 3
Bestiary 4
Pirates of the Inner Sea
Adventurer's Armory
People of the North
Always remember that most of the GMs are good ones. Do not let a session with bad ideas about how a Paladin should act discourage you. Do not be afraid to report an incident if you feel that a GM was treating you unfairly. This may not be related to build advice, but I felt that it needed to be said.
If you can, get gods of the Inner Sea, and maybe Inner Sea Faiths. I do not like to tell people to buy more books, but I highly recomend using your god's Paladin Code.
for stats I recommend 16+2/12/13/10/10/14 Str is more important than charisma for paladins.
I also recommend against bastard sword. It's not really worth the feat, either use a longsword or a greatsword and take weapon focus.
Fey Foundling from The Inner Sea World Guide is a great feat for lv1 paladins. GREAT feat.
Mounts are hard in games. They are large, so it's sometimes hard to get them with you, or to ride them. So I see a lot of people prefer to not have a mount.
for stats I recommend 16+2/12/13/10/10/14 Str is more important than charisma for paladins.
I also recommend against bastard sword. It's not really worth the feat, either use a longsword or a greatsword and take weapon focus.
I assume he wants the flavor choice of a european style sword and shield. If that's the case, bastard sword IS the best way to go
Always remember that most of the GMs are good ones. Do not let a session with bad ideas about how a Paladin should act discourage you. Do not be afraid to report an incident if you feel that a GM was treating you unfairly. This may not be related to build advice, but I felt that it needed to be said.
If you can, get gods of the Inner Sea, and maybe Inner Sea Faiths. I do not like to tell people to buy more books, but I highly recommend using your god's Paladin Code.
Haha, I had an issue about this happen last session I GM'd. The paladin player got up and walked out partway through the session. Said I had ruined his roleplay opportunity of his paladin because when they were visiting a prison I had the guard that was tasked to watch them ask them not to cast anything in the prison. Paladin was upset that this guard saw him casting detect evil when the guard was tasked to watch the party, because the player said, I want to do this behind the guard to check out this big room. So while yes you'll have good GMs, don't be a bad player paladin.
Casting SLA is casting. It gives of the "indication of spellcasting/magic lights/whatever you want to describe it as as long as there something clearly identifiable as spellcasting." FAQ
You may find this guide to be a good basis on which to plan your character.
That was an interesting read, though some pages didn't load. I use my Xbox 360 or my PS Vita for internet, so PDFs and Googledocs are typically hit or miss. But thank you for that.
As was said, I am looking for a European flair with my equipment as most images I see of Jeanne are with either a sword and shield or a sword and spear. I figure TWF with sword and short spear would be very difficult to do and be very subpar, so I'm looking at 1 or 2 spears while closing the distance before using a sword at melee. (NOT greatsword, my Cavalier does that)
So, 18/12/13/10/10/14 looks like a powerful choice with a STR or CON belt (maybe STR/CON), a CHA headband, and a CON bump @ 4th. Combined with a Weapon Bond and she's really looking like the character from the PSP game. I like it!
Are GIS and ISF player companions? Are they important? Are they helpful for other classes?
Second: Don't go with the Bastard Sword. Paladins are hurting on feats & skill ranks.
Couple questions -
How do you view multi-classing?
Paladins just do not get skill points. You can multiclass a couple levels without really hurting yourself and grab those skill points in a couple different classes.If you want a mount, you should go with a small class - medium mount, and go with a lance. Lances can be nasty when charging. If you go multi-classing and grab 4 levels of Rogue/Scout, you pick up a lot of skill points and 2D6 SA when charging & double damage with the weapon.
If you don't want to loose that many levels of paladin, a couple levels in Hunter would also work.
I actually have a difficult time NOT multiclassing, though I figured Paladin would hate to do so. Especially with only 11-13 playable levels available.
And I am set on human, so small size with medium mounts are out.
I played a sword and board Paladin for kingmaker and he worked pretty awesome. I was NOT able to make TWF work with him. Between wanting a decent strength and Chr.. and Con for front liner... High Dex requirements were just right out.
It's cool to plan to have multiple uses for the characters... just keep it realistic. Paladins are very skill deprived, so you have to chose well. For most of the game, my paladin was chief beatstick/front line fighter/damage dealer. He was the diplomat. He was also chief healer. (About 5 mini sessions we had an oracle join in, but for the entire Campaign Lay on Hands and Channel were our own healing) Not to mention the last one standing when Saves were needed.
Those three/four things there made him extremely valuable and a lot of fun to play. Paladins don't need to identify every monster... or disarm the traps.. or use the survival skills...
I always recommend looking over what the class skills are and focusing on one or two. Full BaB and Class Skill of Diplomacy automatically makes him useful in combat and out of it.
Also, I didn't bother with the bonded mount. I got a lot more use out of the bonded weapon. Especially once the sorcerer was casting phantasmal steed or whatever and we were faster that way... Horse stayed in the stable at that point :(
I assume he wants the flavor choice of a european style sword and shield. If that's the case, bastard sword IS the best way to gofor stats I recommend 16+2/12/13/10/10/14 Str is more important than charisma for paladins.
I also recommend against bastard sword. It's not really worth the feat, either use a longsword or a greatsword and take weapon focus.
Are long swords not European or something?
The longsword is the superior weapon to the bastard sword once you consider the value of an extra feat to spend.
Even INT 10 will let you get 4 skill points (2/lvl, +1 human, +1 FC bonus), which covers Diplomacy and Sense Motive (the two essentials for inspiring leadership), Ride (if you ride) or Perception, and a Knowledge skill so you know something about what you're doing.
If you're not going to two-hand, sword-and-shield would be decent damage, lance if you're riding, javelins to throw. You won't match a barbarian or some others, but you'll pull your weight.
Fey Foundling is a great feat, but most of yours should probably go for combat support -- Power Attack, Weapon Focus, Mounted Combat if you ride.
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Spear and sword can work if you go with longspear (or Lucerne Hammer or some other martial reach weapon for slightly more optimization). Use the reach weapon to get early AoOs and control the battlefield, then draw the longsword and use it when enemies close in or you need to shut down an opposing spellcaster. Since it's a one-handed weapon, dropping the reach weapon and using your sword two-handed for extra damage is optional--you can wield the sword one-handed if you want to drop it and switch back to your reach weapon next round.
It's not a damage optimizing style (though it's not bad) but is does enable you to be very flexible in terms of how you engage the enemy and it fits the image you said you were looking for.
For the reach/thrown and sword approach, would Quick Draw be helpful? I know it lets me full attack with thrown weapons as well as 5ft and full from unarmed, but does it allow me to resheathe my sword as a free action so that I don't have to drop it?
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I actually have a difficult time NOT multiclassing, though I figured Paladin would hate to do so.
Not sure why a Paladin would hate multi classing. Just because he has ridged vows doesn't mean he has to think rigidly. Why would a Paladin deny himself skills and powers that might make himself even better capable of fulfilling his vows? Also, you could start him as a different class and he could 'see the light' and then become a Paladin.
Not sure why a Paladin would hate multi classing. Just because he has ridged vows doesn't mean he has to think rigidly. Why would a Paladin deny himself skills and powers that might make himself even better capable of fulfilling his vows? Also, you could start him as a different class and he could 'see the light' and then become a Paladin.
I think he means mechanically a loss in Paladin levels is typically a bad idea. See the caster motto of "Though shalt not lose casting levels"
Paladin is a great dip, but dipping other classes while being a Paladin can be a poor decision. The main exception would be if you're going Oradin.
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There's a lot of rewards for a paladin for staying single-classed;
- More and better Smite Evil, which is extremely good.
- More Lay on Hands, especially if you take Fey Foundling.
- Some more spellcasting, which has some nice stuff in it.
- If you take the very popular Oath of Vengeance, lots and lots of smiting.
- If you go classic, Aura of Justice at level 11 is spectacular.
2H weapon paladins aren't feat-starved. You can always use more feats, but you're pretty functional with just Power Attack and Furious Focus. Fey Foundling is extremely nice because you'll get hit a lot (because people react to your damage output). After that you can take lots of different feats depending on your style.
Skill points are a problem. Being human helps a bit. Might want to look for a way to get Int 12; it's about the best you can realistically do. Skills are just hard for paladins, although your ability scores do help.
Don't put all your trust in armor. Unless you dedicate a vast amount of resources, it'll be hard to keep your AC competitively high. Expect to get hit a lot, but to hit back harder yourself and thereby survive long enough to get out of combat healing. At some point the goal of armor is just to avoid getting hit by iterative attacks.
The highest AC I've personally managed is 27 on my level 10 Dragon Disciple. +1 Armor (Haramaki), +4 DEX, +1 Dodge, +4 Natural, +3 Armor (Mage Armor), +4 Shield (Shield) Great for mooks, but elite mooks and higher hit at AC 34-40 so he's not as great a 2nd liner as he used to be. Other party buffs have given me higher AC on him and other characters, but on my own without buffs my characters typically don't get a baseline above 20...Fullplate and 12 DEX get me that already.
I realize you don’t like dumping stats but you may want to consider the following array, STR 18(includes racial +2), DEX 12, CON 13, INT 12, WIS, 8, CHA 14. You are going to get a lot more mileage from STR than CHA. The 12 INT and putting your FCB into skills gives you 5 points per level. Max out diplomacy and sense motive, which still leaves you 3 points per level to play with.
Take Fey Foundling and Power Attack for your first level feats. Use a great sword instead of a bastard sword. The damage form the higher dice works out to doing an extra point of damage on the average. If you did not want a European flavor I would suggest using a falchion for the higher crit range. But a great sword works almost as well.
This build is often called the masochistic paladin. The idea behind the build is that you know you are going to get hit, but you use your swift action lay on hands to heal yourself. With Fey foundling and latter greater mercy it is really difficult to keep you down. Your mercies should be condition you are likely to need removed like fatigued and exhausted. Don’t waste your lay on hands on others save them for yourself.
The funny thing is that you actually don’t want too high of an AC. As a paladin your movement in armor is pretty bad. Many foes can outmaneuver you and avoid you if they choose. You want your AC high enough that you can avoid the majority of the hits but low enough that opponents have a chance to hit you. As long as they think they are hurting you they will probably keep attacking. This means that you take the focus of a lot of attacks instead of your teammates.
I assume he wants the flavor choice of a european style sword and shield. If that's the case, bastard sword IS the best way to gofor stats I recommend 16+2/12/13/10/10/14 Str is more important than charisma for paladins.
I also recommend against bastard sword. It's not really worth the feat, either use a longsword or a greatsword and take weapon focus.
Are long swords not European or something?
The longsword is the superior weapon to the bastard sword once you consider the value of an extra feat to spend.
He wants the bigger blade, the higher damage dice, or maybe he wants to be something other than the cookie cutter Iomedan style longsword and shield Paladin. Again, if the flavor is important enough, it's worth spending a feat on.
It is worth noting that the artwork of Iomedae seems heavily inspired by Jeanne d'Arc.
Just gonna jump in here, when I was starting out I was underwhelmed by the paladin spells. Then I got Advanced Player's Guide, and the spells are Definitely check that out.
Just gonna jump in here, when I was starting out I was underwhelmed by the paladin spells. Then I got Advanced Player's Guide, and the spells are Definitely check that out.
Given the choice between Cast a spell or Attack for serious damage... I never found any Paladin spells worth the standard action.
EXCEPT...
Heroe's Defiance And that's an immediate action..
and My absolute Favorite of the bunch,
Angelic Aspect... all three.
Anything else?? Payoff didn't seem worth the action for me.
Given the choice between Cast a spell or Attack for serious damage... I never found any Paladin spells worth the standard action.EXCEPT...
Heroe's Defiance And that's an immediate action..
and My absolute Favorite of the bunch,
Angelic Aspect... all three.
Anything else?? Payoff didn't seem worth the action for me.
Agreed. Another useful one would be Grace. Between Hero's Defiance and Grace, both have saved my bacon numerous times.
It is true that I love flavour or coolness over standard builds and stereotypes. It's part of the reason my Dragon Disciple dipped 1 level into Fighter to gain proficiency in Martial weapons and Falcata and why he often TWF kukri. Same with my CORE Fighter/Cleric/Shadowdancer, but I digress.
I am fine with not using a Bastard Sword and instead using a Longsword. BS was always my favorite sword type, but I can hold off if necessary. I don't want a Greasword or other super BFS on this particular character. I like the sword/spear combo similar to Hilde from Soul Calibur 4.
So either 18/12/13/10/10/14 for overall rounded or 18/12/13/12/8/14 for more skills and better Religion/Spellcraft with lower Heal/Sense Motive and WILL.
I do like the bit of naivite the second introduces, but is the hit to WILL worth it? I've seen what a single failed save can do to a party...(Minsc, why?!)
Longsword/Ranseur for primary melee weapons and 3 or so Amenta Javelins for range. Field or Full Plate for defense. Weapon for Divine Bond. Power Attack for first feat and as nice as Fey Foundling is, I want to break the norm for the human feat. I'm thinking Fast Learner, Lightning Reflexes, or Improved Initiative with Cleave @ 3rd.
Any other recommended Dieties besides Iomedae and Sarenrae? I see those 2 all the time.
I would look at the Empyreal Lords. There are a ton of them, but they make great paladin gods.
Just gonna jump in here, when I was starting out I was underwhelmed by the paladin spells. Then I got Advanced Player's Guide, and the spells are Definitely check that out.Given the choice between Cast a spell or Attack for serious damage... I never found any Paladin spells worth the standard action.
EXCEPT...
Heroe's Defiance And that's an immediate action..
and My absolute Favorite of the bunch,
Angelic Aspect... all three.
Anything else?? Payoff didn't seem worth the action for me.
Dunno, but as Oracle/Cleric player i do have to wonder why "Divine Favor" and "Divine Power" aint one of the spells even paladins would consider?
divine favor. Spend a standard action to get a sight buff, or do a full-round attack and kill something. Repeat dilemma each round.
It is true that I love flavour or coolness over standard builds and stereotypes. It's part of the reason my Dragon Disciple dipped 1 level into Fighter to gain proficiency in Martial weapons and Falcata and why he often TWF kukri. Same with my CORE Fighter/Cleric/Shadowdancer, but I digress.
I am fine with not using a Bastard Sword and instead using a Longsword. BS was always my favorite sword type, but I can hold off if necessary. I don't want a Greasword or other super BFS on this particular character. I like the sword/spear combo similar to Hilde from Soul Calibur 4.
So either 18/12/13/10/10/14 for overall rounded or 18/12/13/12/8/14 for more skills and better Religion/Spellcraft with lower Heal/Sense Motive and WILL.
I do like the bit of naivite the second introduces, but is the hit to WILL worth it? I've seen what a single failed save can do to a party...(Minsc, why?!)Longsword/Ranseur for primary melee weapons and 3 or so Amenta Javelins for range. Field or Full Plate for defense. Weapon for Divine Bond. Power Attack for first feat and as nice as Fey Foundling is, I want to break the norm for the human feat. I'm thinking Fast Learner, Lightning Reflexes, or Improved Initiative with Cleave @ 3rd.
Any other recommended Dieties besides Iomedae and Sarenrae? I see those 2 all the time.
Paladins have awesome saves. I wouldn't worry in the slightest about a hit to them. My Paladin started and ended with a wisdom of 10 and still had the best saves of the party.
His perception was nonexistent and his inititave sucked... but that helped to add to personality. Gotta let the others shine a bit too ;)
Between naturally great saves... and adding CHR to them, I wouldn't worry about Will.
Any other recommended Dieties besides Iomedae and Sarenrae? I see those 2 all the time.
Damerrich is best god.
Litany of Righteousness i find is a great paladin spell too.
Paladins have the best saves of the game, so don’t worry about a minor penalty to will save. As to the bastard sword go ahead and use it two handed. It is considered a martial weapon when wielded two handed, so you only need the feat if you don’t use two hands.
Fey Foundling is pretty much standard for paladins so I can understand wanting to be different. As I stated paladins have great saves so lightning reflexes really does not do much. You are not a primary spell caster or rogue so going first on the first turn is not as important to you. Fast learning simply means you get more HP so again not really worth it. Toughness would actually be better because it is front loaded for 1st level when having more HP matter.
Take Shield of Swings to give you a defensive option. This is also helpful if you get surrounded by opponents and need to go on the defense to survive. It is also good for when you are fighting multiple weak foes that still do decent damage. This saved one paladin in the game I run when he got surrounded by a group or rogues and they were sneak attacking him like crazy.
Another option is to take improve sunder. This is a great feat for a paladin because it gives you another way to end a combat without having to kill someone. It is also useful for shutting down spell casters. An arcane caster who has had his spell component pouch sundered is probably not casting too many spells. You can do the same thing to a divine caster by attacking their holy symbol. This will not completely shut down the spell caster, but will severely limit them.
Paladins have a lot of useful spells including a lot of condition removal spells like restoration. They actually get lesser restoration as a first level spell which is incredibly useful. While clerics and other casters have access to these spells, they also have better spells. A good use of a paladins spells is to free up the slots of the real caster. By memorizing lesser restoration the paladin enables the cleric to memorize bull’s strength.
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In my experience the only paladin spells I really use are the swift/immediate ones, and stuff like Angelic Aspect to get at flying targets. 95% of the time your standard action is just too valuable to be spent on casting, it's better to just hit enemies since you're very good at that.
I assume he wants the flavor choice of a european style sword and shield. If that's the case, bastard sword IS the best way to gofor stats I recommend 16+2/12/13/10/10/14 Str is more important than charisma for paladins.
I also recommend against bastard sword. It's not really worth the feat, either use a longsword or a greatsword and take weapon focus.
Are long swords not European or something?
The longsword is the superior weapon to the bastard sword once you consider the value of an extra feat to spend.
He wants the bigger blade, the higher damage dice, or maybe he wants to be something other than the cookie cutter Iomedan style longsword and shield Paladin. Again, if the flavor is important enough, it's worth spending a feat on.
It is worth noting that the artwork of Iomedae seems heavily inspired by Jeanne d'Arc.
As long as they understand in that case that they're making a clearly inferior mechanical choice in the name of flavor.
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As long as they understand in that case that they're making a clearly inferior mechanical choice in the name of flavor.
This quote perfectly describes Pathfinder.
Not going off of what anyone else has said and speaking from my own experiences I have to say the Paladin will fit you well if you seek a jack of all trades helper class. Despite how some people feel I've always considered the Paladin at heart a hybrid of a Fighter and Cleric, with a few tricks neither possesses that really sets them apart.
Paladins play well as the "holy tank of nope", Constantly putting themselves in the way of attacks, cleansing allies of debuffs and keeping them in the fight, while marshaling them to be the best they can be. "You gonna curse my ally with fear magic? Nope I'm gonna force you to cast that on me instead, but lol! I'm immune to fear effects!", "You gonna curse my ally with mummy rot as he's already bleeding out after reaching zero hitpoints? Nope! I'm gonna turn your undead ass away and then cure that disease, stabilize my friend and then come turn your ass into a pile of dust and bandages!"
Offensively I find them lacking, unless undead or evil outsiders (or their defined evil mortal henchman), in which case only Clerics outshine them in dealing directly with enemies, even then a Cleric is much squishier then a Paladin, as most if not all invest in heavy armor as soon as they can, so they can dish out as much as they can take, if not more.
I've always loved Paladin's lorewise, as unlike the more unthinking Crusader Cleric, Paladins never forget their humility, and don't let their zeal turn into bloodlust, it's like Uther told Arthas in Warcraft III: "Remember, Arthas, we are paladins. Vengeance cannot be a part of what we must do. If we allow our passions to turn to bloodlust, then we will become as vile as the Orcs."
Crusaders may give into blind zeal but a Paladin refrains from doing this at all cost for the above reason, if he does do so, and he's not stripped of his powers he's exceedingly repetitive just the same. This point brings up the age old Paladin conundrums more... unscrupulous GMs like throw at PC Paladins; aka having to choose between "being lawful or being good".
I'll just spoil the answer for you right now, if forced into that choice, [b]always choose to be good[b/]. It's a hundred times easier to repent for being unlawful then it is to repent for not being good. You may not even need to repent at all, depending on what "law" you broke. If you have to break down someone's door in broad daylight to stop an evil cultist mid ritual because the whole town was in danger it's easier to explain that to the Magistrate and local guards after the fact then why you cut down the cultist in cold blood in the middle of the street without being attacked or provocated first.
Both are equally "wrong" but one is much more easier to justify then the other, despite both being done with the intent to do the right thing in the end.
Deities are a tough choice, not sure what setting you are planning to play in, or if it's homebrew but if you have to choose a god choose a god of justice but one not without mercy, the concept of forgiveness, redemption and mercy are very important to truly experiencing play as a Paladin. For my own part I prefer Paladins who eschew deities altogether, and instead fight for a concept, or just "good for goodness sake", like the original origin of the "Holy Light" from Warcraft III before the whole "Naaru of Light" thing spoiled the concept.
As for equipment and the like, I can only make a few suggestions based on what I know and feels works, I don't play much so take it for what you will. I'd suggest investing in a good set of armor to start with, prioritize defense over offense, you should easily be able to afford a set of scale armor with your starting gold, then I'd choose a one handed weapon and a shield if you are feeling tanky or your party needs one, a good shield will never be a bad investment. If tank is covered and you are feeling a little more "Hammer of Justice" then "Bulwark of Hope" a two handed weapon is a good investment.
Speaking of weapons while a sword is always a solid choice for any martial class blunt weapons are more of a Paladin standard, undead tend to be little effected by edged weapons, a skeleton feels no pain so a cut to his boney rib cage even if breaks a few ribs won't slow him down like it would a human, but smash his arm off with a mace, and he won't be using that arm to attack you anymore. Heavy Mace for one handed along with a Light/Heavy Steel Shield or a Warhammer for two handed.
Stat spread depends on (assuming this a point buy, which I feel safe in doing) depends a lot of what kind of Paladin you wanna be. Do you wanna be the tough "no nonsense champion of light"? Favor Endurance and Wisdom over Charisma, invested as much Strength as needed. If you want to be more the "leader of the common man" favor Charisma and Wisdom over Strength and Endurance, if you rally the hearts and minds of the people overwhelming martial prowess might not be needed in the first place, but invest enough of the later two to get by all the same.
Stat choice is more tweaking to personal tastes in my honest opinion. That's all I've got, I hope I've helped, sorry if my advice is less "building" and more "lore and purpose" I always value the later to the former when RPing. :D
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*sigh*... I love my paladins, but I would never, NEVER make Strength a higher stat priority than Charisma. Leave the day to day bashing to the fighters. You have Smite Evil to make up anything you lack in strength when it really matters...and for that you need Charisma...and for your lay on hands, and for your spells, and for your social skills.....get my point? My default choices for paladins stats are:
Str: 14
Dex: 13 *needed to qualify for Dodge and other nice feats
Con: 13 *bump to 14 at 8th lvl
Int: 10
Wis: 12
Chr: 17 (+2 from Racial Mod) *bump to 18 at 4th lvl
Traits: Seeker (There is no more valuable skill in the game than perception), Armor Expert (helps with those pesky ACP from Full Plate)
Feats: (These are my usual choices, in order) Shield Focus, Dodge, Greater Mercy, Vital Strike, Imp Initiative, Extra Mercy
I usually pick up a Belt of Strength +2, and upgrade it to Str/Con, as well as a Headband of Chr +2 (Headband 1st though). Longsword +1, Holy is also a "get as soon as you can" item for me, along with Full Plate and Large Shield. For Ranged attacks I carry javelins since (especially in PFS) you can usually get within 30ft of an enemy and they let you take advantage of your Strength damage. A haversack is useful for managing weight.
This makes a really good Paladin Tank who can definitely protect others by shrugging off hits and healing as a swift action with some high-powered lay on hands (+1d6 from Greater Mercy is awesome)
16+2/12/13/10/10/14
vs
14/13/13/10/12/15+2
You're -2 to hit and -2/3 damage.
When smiting it's still -1 to hit.
You gain +1 lay on hands, +1 to cha skills, +1 to AC while smiting
For a feat you can get +2 lay on hands and for 4,500gp Circlet of Persuasion gets you +3 to all charisma.
the -2 and -2 damage would need weapon focus twice (which you can't actually do) and weapon specialization (which you can't get normally). Or spending 16000 or 24000 to have your weapon be +2 higher than expected.
This is why I suggest str being highest, it's far easier to raise the stuff cha boosts over the stuff str boosts. Especially if you are the "day to day fighter" role person as you don't have a backup to handle all the fights while you wait for the boss.
For PFS Play, longsword and Shield is ideal. If you don't need the shield AC, then just 2h the longsword.
Fey Foundling for more healing is iconic and useful.
Power Attack is your damage feat.
Consider Toughness for even more hit points. PFS can get quite swingy if you get crit.
Prioritize Str over Cha. Smiting is to take down boss encounters. You still need to hit and damage all the stuff you don't smite. Just buy Cha boosters to up your saves and spells.
You can totally get away with an 8 Wis if you want more build points.
You're not the skill monkey. You have Detect Evil, and you're human. Pick 3 skills you want to be adequate at and work with them.
Sword Bond totally makes up for not being able to smite whole encounters, as you go up in level. And unlike a mount, can go into every dungeon. Early enhancement bonuses are just as good as Weapon Training.
At higher levels you'll have to consider going either the Extra/Improved mercies path, or a damage/defense path. If you get the Mercy that can raise the dead with no component cost, your parties will LOVE YOU.
Unsanctioned Knowledge lets you grab spells from other spell lists out there to complement your own. There's some really nice ones, but I don't have a list handy. Barkskin is the first that comes to mind.
I should probably make a good list of 3-4 each level, but I'd have to prevail on others to find the best ones.
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For the reach/thrown and sword approach, would Quick Draw be helpful? I know it lets me full attack with thrown weapons as well as 5ft and full from unarmed, but does it allow me to resheathe my sword as a free action so that I don't have to drop it?
It is quite helpful. It does not allow you to sheath your sword as a free action but it does allow you to draw as a free action and thus full attack after a foe has closed with you. At the start of combat it can also be useful to make attacks with thrown weapons (typically javalins) and still force force foes to close and provoke an AoO.
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Paladins are not a mix of fighter and cleric. For one, 4th level casting puts most of condition removal out of their hands(remove paralysis clerics get at 3, paladins get at 7, remove fear clerics get at 1, paladins at 4) and you'd need serious charisma and feat investment for ultimate mercy to raise dead which would leave you pretty ineffective for melee. Paladins play more like a fighter, imo, and you should piroritise str over cha(but you shouldn't have below 14 cha). Cha can be used be for attack limited times a day, while str(unless you're doing a dex based paladin) is used all the time.
Wow, I don't think I've ever had this much response to one of my advice requests! Thanks everyone!
There is a lot to consider still, but I've gone ahead and signed up for a low tier game this Monday (7-22 I think) and will spend the weekend putting the character sheet together.
Actually, you can just make your shield a Quick-draw version, if that's all you are going to use it for. No need for the feat, which is really only super useful for TW specialists.
If you want to build for Ultimate Mercy, go for it. It's not going to meaningfully impact your combat ability. You might need a point or two more Charisma to get there in a meaningful amount of time, but it shouldn't be bad...and it WILL be appreciated by the party.
My guy got Ultimate Mercy. I wasn't even building for it... it just worked out that I had the prerequisites, and I decided i'd never have another character qualify... so why not.
It only actually got to be used ONCE... but it was the final night against the final big bad and it brought our Oracle back from the dead.
Very memorable, very awesome.
Didn't actually impact his combat much at all.
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If you want to rush it to get it at level 5, and play as a gnome as a result, yes it will, heh.
If I were running a pally on a 20 point buy, I'd do start allocation something like this:
Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 14
Combat reflexes, get a honking reach weapon, power attack, wear spiked armor, call it a day.
Probably won't happen, because I don't play pallies.
Maybe combine the traits Blade of Mercy and Bully with the Enforcer feat?
You would do non-lethal damage with your sword, and get a free Intimidate check to demoralize the opponent you hurt. Which sort of buffs your allies by debuffing an opponent.
Maybe consider half-elf to get Skill Focus Intimidate at 1st level OR take that variant human option where you get Skill Focus at levels 1, 8, and 16?
If you decide to go with a two-handed weapon, Shield of Swings and Pushing Assault can be fun.
Do you know what the other characters in your party will be? Knowing that might help with coming up with ideas and builds that complement them.