My friend has this great character concept: a father who insists that his gentle, good-hearted (and not at all violent or confrontational) son is destined to bring his family great honor and glory. Buys him a knighthood. Dusts off the family's ancient armor, shield and lance--all much too heavy and ornate to be at all practical--and sends him off into the world to earn renown.
The son is a genuinely good, kind person and wants to help others. This is absolutely not how he'd go about it, but he doesn't want to hurt his dad's pride, either. So he's sort of hesitantly doing the whole Knight Errant thing.
Thinking this character will probably be a paladin, definitely focused on defense, and with the goal of being as simple to run as possible (so, for example, trading away spells for simpler abilities, etc).
How would you build this guy?
I'm not sure a Paladin is the class that would best suit the described character. Paladins tends to know the Path that they are to walk and are quite devoted to that cause, even if they don't know the destination that Path is going to lead them towards.
I'd most likely build the character as some manner of Fighter, and leave any Paladin or similar classes for later with retraining options. Or, maybe just go with Paladin but make it the Chosen One archetype, so that the character has a level or two to really grow into the concept of what a Paladin is.
well there is genuinely good, and then there is paladin good, a soul so pure and a will so focused that the gods or the very concept of good takes notice.
that said, I don't know if I'd start him off as a paladin given their reluctance. I'd start him off as a fighter, let him play into paladin if that's what the player wants and then at the appropriate apex of his story, allow him to either take paladin or trade his levels of fighter in for levels in paladin (in the same way an anti-paladin trades in paladin levels).
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Divine Guardian Paladin gives up spellcasting and spell-completion items and becomes an amazing Bodyguard for their allies. I think this would fit pretty well with this character concept.
Barbarian, because every once in a while he throws fits... it really shows, at times, that this is not what he would rather be doing.
Arcane Duelist Bard... because he is a poet at heart, but if he must fight might as well be good at it.
Order of the Penitent Cavalier... I don't want to hurt you...
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All great input, thank you.
The way I'm seeing it so far is, his father might actually be right about him being "destined for greatness" or whatever, just wrong about how.
And while he is reluctant in terms of violence and toting around 70lbs of steel everywhere he goes, he is definitely still very, very good. A caring soul who, although he was never interested in jousting or fencing with his father's Master-At-Arms, would absolutely stand up for what is right, should the need arise.
Cavalier was one of my first thoughts besides paladin, but it really goes against the "ease of play" idea I'd go with.
How would you build a defense-minded, high-AC paladin who could potentially be devastating on the charge, isn't a one-trick pony and requires minimal paperwork to run?
How would you build a defense-minded, high-AC paladin who could potentially be devastating on the charge, isn't a one-trick pony and requires minimal paperwork to run?
....
As I said before, I wouldn't make him a Paladin but ... here is something close:Bloodrager (Id Rager: Kindness) [[spontaneous casting, less paperwork]]
Chaotic Good (to match the "I want to help, but less rigid about how")
Have him venerate Gorum (or a god of battle) and take Divine Fighting Technique (Gorum's Swordmanship). This will allow you to Vital Strike (or better) at the end of a charge with a greatsword. The only feats he will really need is: Power Attack, Furious Focus & Vital Strike. I'd likely pick up Cleave at low levels (retrain it later or go for Cleaving Finish). After that, I suggest picking other feats to fill out your ranged options.
The archetype and spiritual focus will net him Lay on Hands at 7th level, and the ability to change focuses if he wants another kind of play style. Also, bonus feats to help make up for the loss of a bloodline.
Solid options, there. To give a few more details:
- the character will most likely be played as a very mild-mannered, sort of bumbling person.
- his overly heavy armor/shield and an absurdly long lance, as well as very fine clothing not at all meant for hard travel, will emphasize his semi-clumsy nature as well as the fact that he's ill-suited to this sort of thing.
While he's definitely not a typical paladin, he's also not a typical fighter (I mean. He doesn't *want* to fight. At least he wants to help people). And anything that has a rage-type ability is right out.
He's really just not your typical adventurer in any sense, I think. But this game will be pretty goofy and lighthearted, so I think it'll work fine.
So. Ignoring all the character-related stuff and focusing on the game mechanics, what's your unkillable paladin look like? Sacrifice pretty much everything to AC, hp and saves. He should probably be at least a decent threat on the rare chance he can actually pull off a mounted charge with his lance, though. But...between the lance's normal rules and a free Power Attack from feat tax house rules, that's probably enough?
I think you are on the right track with a paladin. Focus on the healing by taking the following archetypes, Hospitaler, Oath of Charity and Warrior of the Holly Light. You give up spells for extra lay on hands and your lay on hands heal a lot more than normal. You also gain the ability to channel positive energy without having to use your lay on hands. You give up divine bond for the ability to swap out your mercies on a daily basis.
You still have all the defenses of a paladin, but the offensive ability is less than normal. You still have smite evil but get less of them so you need to be even more careful about using them. This works out pretty well with your concept. When you really need to you can take out the BBEG, but don’t have enough staying power to keep doing it.
If you do decide you want the mount drop the oath of charity.
My unkillable Paladin takes 1 level in Scaled Fist Monk, 4 levels in rogue, 11 levels in Divine Guardian Paladin, and 4 levels in Duelist, and wears no armor. It simultaneously maximizes Dodge and debuffs their attack with Offensive Defense Rogue Talent +SnA die to Dodge, Shaken/Sicken + Debilitating Injury for -8 att, and Great Cleave, Cornugon Smash, Shattered Defenses to spread the debuffs around.
Not sure if that's what you're looking for, but it's super easy to play, but highly technical in the feat and class level order. As far as playability, you just Move and Cleave and Move and Cleave. If you or your Troth is hurt, LoH as Move and Cleave. If evil BBEG, Smite and pwn with full attack actions.