Hi,
a character in my current group died and adding in a new character is currently not all that easy. The DM suggested that the easiest way to add a new character is, if that character was a ghost.
The way i understand the ghost template, it can be applied to any "normal" character, gaining the undead and incorporeal trait and a bunch of other stuff, but losing other abilities. So far so good.
When it comes to class choices, the paladin is the favoured choice of the character and that's were it gets a little mushy. Would that be viable?
Is it possible that any not-evil deity still lends its power to a paladin, despite the fact that the paladin is only a ghost, tethered to the earth by some unresolved task?
The Ghost template does not change the alignment of the character so you can actually have a Lawful Good ghost. Since the undead is not evil there is not really any reason for the paladin’s deity would not continue to support the character. Some deities with a strong prejudice against undead might have a problem with supporting a ghost paladin, but other than that nothing in the rules prohibit it.
While the rules do allow this the ghost template is bad choice for a paladin. Being a ghost means that the character has no STR or CON score. That means the ghost can no longer use a lot the abilities that a paladin uses. Any STR based feats like power attack can no longer be used. Their normal stat distribution runs counter to what is best for a ghost. You could build a DEX based paladin, but other than paladins of Sarenrae those are rare. Sarenrae is one of the deities that might have problems with a ghost paladin.
Their normal stat distribution runs counter to what is best for a ghost.
Yes, not only that, the whole lay-on-hands and healing magic may also be a problem with an undead - i am aware of that. This is about checking the viablity from a roleplay and rule perspective, not so much from an "is it effective"-point of view.
Your typical paladin that becomes a ghost is going to be severely handicapper. Most paladins focus on STR, CON and CHA in pretty much that order. From a roleplay view the best way to create a ghost player would be to write up the character and then apply the ghost template. If you do that the character is probably screwed. They will have invested the majority of their points in stats they no longer have.
Your typical paladin that becomes a ghost will end up with stats of STR -, DEX 13, CON – INT 10, WIS 10 CHA 20. He will be using his DEX to hit. A paladin who is built with the idea he will be a ghost on the other hand will probably end up with stats of STR -, DEX 20, CON -, INT 10, WIS 12, CHA 20. This is based on a 25 point buy at 7th level. The first paladin will have a +8 bonus for his corrupting touch, but the second one will have a +12. If the character gets ahold of a +1-ghost touch longsword the 1st paladin will be +9/+4 to hit doing 1d8+2 points of damage, the second one will be +13/+8 to hit doing 1d5+6 points of damage.
Using the second paladin example will result in a decent character but I would not say that fits with the idea of roleplay. The first paladin example is better from a roleplay standpoint but is much less playable.
The other thing to consider is that a lot the extra powers a ghost gains are somewhat evil or at least counter to what a paladin normally does.
If willing to homebrew a bit, you could declare it to be a phantom instead of a ghost. The phantom is an outsider instead of an undead, but is otherwise very ghost-like
So is the dead character a paladin or is the player going to be creating a new character that is a ghost paladin?
What level are the characters (dead paladin and his party)?
Is the Paladin player willing to do this?
There is also a Prana Ghost which is like a ghost, but not undead.
The new character has to be a ghost, but the class is open to discussion. The player wants a character that is easy to play mechanics-wise, but is not averse to tricky role-play. Our group is currently at lvl15 and the GM has decided that the conversion to ghost will incur a level adjustment of -2 to the character, so the new char is effectively lvl13.
Since the player is already playing a paladin in a different group, I am currently leaning towards a Paladin of Shelyn with the Virtuous Bravo Archetype. Losing spell casting and mercies removes some of the hassle of chosing spells...
Using the Bladed Brush feat, the Paladin can use a Glaive as a finesse weapon which fits well with the archetype. The build is DEX-based from the start and does therefore not negatively interfere with the loss of STR from conversion. With the "grave trappings" Special ability, the Ghost can retain some gear with the ghost touch quality, notably his weapon. It is still not extremely effective combat-wise, but thats not the point anyway - it should look cool :-)
With a +4 Glaive, Piranha Strike and Precise Strike, she should do about 1D10+33 DMG with an attack bonus of +19.
Of course, many of the benefits of being a Paladin are lost as a ghost and i agree that many of the special abilitiesa are somewhat "evil", however there are some that are actually ok, like telekinesis, grave trappings, eternal warrior and similar. The GM and i will come up with something, i guess :-)
With Ghost Trappings allowing his weapon to have the ghost touch ability the ghost paladin becomes a lot more viable. You do not need weapon finesse or any of those feats. An incorporeal creature uses DEX instead of STR on all melee, range attacks and CMB. This also means you get DEX to damage and even 1.5 DEX to damage with a two-handed weapon.
You do not need the build you proposed, but if you do stick with the build Piranha Strike will not work. Bladed Brush allows you to use DEX to hit and treat the weapon as a one-handed piercing or slashing weapon. Piranha Strike only works with light weapon so you cannot use it with a glaive even with Bladed Brush.