[PF] Being a Bad Cop and Paladin Mounts.

[Fenryr]

Hello!

This weekend we're gonna move from 3.5 to PF. A friend of mine and I are trying to improve our roleplay style by making mixed stories: two Paladins, one is an Aasimar (me) and the other is a Tiefling (him). For funny purposes and more complex roleplay, I'm gonna be the Bad Cop and he's gonna be the Good Cop. The point is, how do I roleplay a Bad Cop while still being Lawful Good?

Second, is there a list for alternative Paladin Mounts? Haven't found one in the Core book. Help?

[Coidzor]

Difficult and requires a DM who buys into the idea wholesale and without intention to screw you.

DMG has some ones you can get as your paladin level increases. Dragon Magic(or was it Draconomicon) has the Drakkensteed, a flying horse-like creature with draconic ancestry as an ACF that the regular mount is traded for.

Taking the Dragon Steed Feat allows for progressively stronger dragons as well, but is mostly a higher level option. Leadership may or may not be able to play into things as well, though I think it's mostly up to the DM there.

[Analytica]

The Bad Cop is the dour, cynical and unhappy cop. Don't be aggressive or hostile. Just express contempt and/or disappointment with most creatures you meet, because they are not lawful good enough. Expect nothing better. Be completely honest with these opinions, and be grumpy and hard-pressed about it. You do not stoop to insults. You just act according to the truth as you see it, and it does not occur to you that others might see this as harsh - or rather, you realize that a love of lies is yet another weakness of most others.

Maybe this ends up more as psycho parent than bad cop, but there are some similarities.

[Curious]

Remember; Good is not Nice.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoodIsNotNice

[Jude_H]

Q2:
DMG page 204.
Level 6: Celestial Heavy Warhorse, Dire Wolf, Hippogriff, Large Monstrous Spider, Large Shark, Unicorn, Celestial Warpony, Dire Bat, Dire Badger, Dire Weasel, Giant Lizard
Level 7: Dire Boar, Dire Wolverine, Giant Eagle, Giant Owl, Pegasus, Rhinoceros, Sea Cat
Level 8: Dire Lion, Griffon
The Draconomicon has a dozen flavors of Dragon Mount and I think Dragon Magic added a couple more.

Q1:
You're a paladin. Your job is butchering goblins and kobolds. Just do what you ordinarily do, but snarl more.

[Lord.Sorasen]

What sort of build are you going for? I know most people consider that irrelevant to this kind of question, but I think it can open up a lot of roleplaying options. Particularly if you choose the mount or the magic weapon.

[Sarakos]

I played something similar with a Paladin I modeled after the Teutonic Knights. I tried to roleplay him as close to lawful neutral without changing alignments. Learn the code and think about if whatever you are about to do isn't explicitly forbidden by the code.

"a paladin's code requires that she respect legitimate authority, act with honor (not lying, not cheating, not using poison, and so forth)"

This is probably the line that will cause you the most problems. You cannot lie, so no bluffing to NPCs that you know some dirt on them to get them to confess and you cant drug them with some kind of truth serum. You CAN intimidate them however. Intimidation with a Paladin code of honor can be a bit tricky and you'll have to think carefully before you say something (no threatening to roast the hostage's family over a slow fire if he doesn't tell you where the BBEG's secret lair is). Maybe the guy is a family man who cherishes his wedding ring, bring him to a Blacksmiths forge and threaten to throw it in the fire if he doesnt tell you what you want. Make sure to balance any grey/borderline evil acts with good ones. Sure , you threatened and traumatized one guy (an evil or neutral act depending on how you handle it) but in return you saved the world by finding and stopping the BBEG's before he can implement his totally evil plan of world domination

TL;DR Best way to describe it is, look at the Grey Guard prestige class in Complete Scoundrel from 3.5 for ideas. Also, be TOTALLY familiar with the code and all the concepts it talks about so you know how far you can push it and where to draw the line. Toeing the line is gonna be the name of this game and it'll require a lot of judgment calls on your part

[Lord Loss]

3.5's Complete Scoundrel has a perfect class for you, the Gray Guard. Allows some, justified evil actions without loss of powers and has all sorts of nifty abilities for a darker paladin, perfect for your "Bad Cop" style of play. Converting it to PF might be a pain, though...

[Coidzor]

About the only thing I can think of is to play off of the SMITE vs. REDEEM dichotomy that's possible... Even if Pallys don't really do the latter all that well with their gimped skillpoints and have to really focus to do the first well in practical terms, depending upon OP level. I'd see if you could get more skillpoints so the two of you could actually interact with the world meaningfully in this capacity.

[Fenryr]

Wow, thanks a lot (: Gonna read the Trope and the Greyguard again.

He's gonna use a Two-Handed Mace (the Earth Breaker) and Power Attack so far. He even is an Anti-Hero (no Hero Point and additional Feat). He's very offensive while his partner is defensive (spear and shield). And he has the Intimidate trait. So, yeah, he will Intimidate to make enemies cower or confess.

Thanks again, peeps.

[Coidzor]

When you can afford it Imperious Command+Never Outnumbered+Fearsome Armor Property if you want to Intimidate in combat.