Abadaran Antipaladin?


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


So I was toying with things while reading through the Hell's Vengeance players guide and the thought of a Tyrant archetype Antipaladin of Abadar came to mind. The issue I have is, I'm not entirely sure what the best way to derive an Antipaladin code from the Deity and Paladin code. I have that it would be much more Law focused than evil, but not sure how that would interact with the default Tyrant code.


Antipaladins are chaotic. Abadar is lawful. They aren’t supposed to be compatible.


There are archetypes that allow for a lawful evil antipaladin so sure, why not?


Yes, tyrant specifically means an LE antipaladin


City in the Lion's Eye, the 4th Book in the War for the Crown AP, features an Abadaran Tyrant (the LE archetype of the antipaladin). He's not a central figure, but if you get your hands on the book it has a good description of the guy. No code as such, but you get a sense of his outlook and personality. Combining 1) the description of his personality and tactics along with 2) the philosophy of the Abadaran splinter sect he founded and rounding that out with 3) a twisting of Abadar's paladin code seems like what you're looking for: Discipline and order, submission to strong and financially-minded authorities (which might even be you depending on your backstory), strict social hierarchy, and profit superseding individual freedom. Prosperity theology with a militant arm to rival Bioshock. Skip Ayn Rand and Gordon Gekko to find religious justifications, but keep their overall rhetoric. Abadar doesn't really want people relying on the church or the government for their prosperity anyway, so Rand and Gekko might even give him a nod. Historically, there's potential precedent for what you're looking for in the buying and selling of Indulgences in the Catholic Church (condemned by people like Dante Alighieri, Geoffrey Chaucer, and Martin Luther before being outlawed in 1567). Pile on some Manifest Destiny instead of the Crusades and you've got your Abadaran Tyrant.

An Abadaran Tyrant is still advancing society's aims, but doing so regardless of the individual cost *except* to the self (and key supporters/your own boss). There's probably still a focus on protecting travelers for trade purposes, though they'll be levied the highest taxes currently legal. You probably still hate bandits. But corruption in the courts is probably acceptable, and maybe even something that you're a part of, especially if the corruption is about exploiting loopholes. To an Abadaran Tyrant, the march of civilization is probably the most important thing, and squabbles over rights, the protection of the wilderness, and charity are anathema.

Evil in the alignment system is less about badness and more about selfishness, mercilessness. Here is another good resource as you're drafting a specific code: http://easydamus.com/lawfulevil.html

I haven't run Hell's Vengeance, though I'm pretty sure that Cheliax allows worship of other deities as long as you also pay devotion to Asmodeus. That might be something you'll have to contend with as a player. Asmodeus seems cool with it, and Abadar probably would, too, since they seem to have a decent partnership.


Wyran Tegus wrote:

City in the Lion's Eye, the 4th Book in the War for the Crown AP, features an Abadaran Tyrant (the LE archetype of the antipaladin). He's not a central figure, but if you get your hands on the book it has a good description of the guy. No code as such, but you get a sense of his outlook and personality. Combining 1) the description of his personality and tactics along with 2) the philosophy of the Abadaran splinter sect he founded and rounding that out with 3) a twisting of Abadar's paladin code seems like what you're looking for: Discipline and order, submission to strong and financially-minded authorities (which might even be you depending on your backstory), strict social hierarchy, and profit superseding individual freedom. Prosperity theology with a militant arm to rival Bioshock. Skip Ayn Rand and Gordon Gekko to find religious justifications, but keep their overall rhetoric. Abadar doesn't really want people relying on the church or the government for their prosperity anyway, so Rand and Gekko might even give him a nod. Historically, there's potential precedent for what you're looking for in the buying and selling of Indulgences in the Catholic Church (condemned by people like Dante Alighieri, Geoffrey Chaucer, and Martin Luther before being outlawed in 1567). Pile on some Manifest Destiny instead of the Crusades and you've got your Abadaran Tyrant.

An Abadaran Tyrant is still advancing society's aims, but doing so regardless of the individual cost *except* to the self (and key supporters/your own boss). There's probably still a focus on protecting travelers for trade purposes, though they'll be levied the highest taxes currently legal. You probably still hate bandits. But corruption in the courts is probably acceptable, and maybe even something that you're a part of, especially if the corruption is about exploiting loopholes. To an Abadaran Tyrant, the march of civilization is probably the most important thing, and squabbles over rights, the protection of the wilderness, and charity are anathema....

Thanks! That is an awesome response. I'll look into all of that.

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