Paladin Recommendations [3.5]

[Teapot Salty]

Hey guys. So, I'm making a paladin (this goes against everything I believe:smallsmile:) And I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations regarding stat arrays, skills, feats etc. The only thing I won't do is dump int. The character I think, will be a sort of ranger for evil, determined to hunt down and destroy. Anyway, I really appreciate it, and as always, go nuts.

[DrMike105]

At the very least, you should take Battle Blessing, out of Complete Champion. It makes your paladin spells swift actions. Also, though it may be a little complex, this (http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/3407376)is pretty sweet.

[Azoth]

Just gonna leave this here... http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/3407376

[Flickerdart]

Just gonna leave this here... http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/3407376
How helpful the A-Game Paladin is depends entirely on why the OP wants to play the paladin. That build trades out basically everything that paladins get, so unless the focus is solely on writing "Paladin 20" on the character sheet, there are probably better avenues to explore.

[Coidzor]

Hey guys. So, I'm making a paladin (this goes against everything I believe:smallsmile:) And I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations regarding stat arrays, skills, feats etc. The only thing I won't do is dump int. The character I think, will be a sort of ranger for evil, determined to hunt down and destroy. Anyway, I really appreciate it, and as always, go nuts.

Err, I don't suppose you could just go ahead and steal the Inquisitor from Pathfinder? Pallys can be pretty good at the destroying part, but the hunting down and ferreting out of evil isn't really their forte. And it'd actually reward keeping on with the intelligence score.

Though I suppose that depends on what you mean by hunting it down and destroying it and what ways in particular you want to do such things.

[Teapot Salty]

Err, I don't suppose you could just go ahead and steal the Inquisitor from Pathfinder? Pallys can be pretty good at the destroying part, but the hunting down and ferreting out of evil isn't really their forte. And it'd actually reward keeping on with the intelligence score.

Though I suppose that depends on what you mean by hunting it down and destroying it and what ways in particular you want to do such things.

I'll talk to my dm about it, he does want to start playing pf, so this is a good start.

[T.G. Oskar]

How helpful the A-Game Paladin is depends entirely on why the OP wants to play the paladin. That build trades out basically everything that paladins get, so unless the focus is solely on writing "Paladin 20" on the character sheet, there are probably better avenues to explore.

It goes to show just how much support Paladins got from splatbooks.

The 2nd and 3rd level abilities are pretty much left intact: the A-Game Paladin still gets Lay on Hands, Aura of Courage, Divine Health and Divine Grace. The Paladin still gets its spells, though with expanded functions. The Paladin still gets Smite Evil, but it uses a feat that turns it into Inspire Courage, which is the strong part of the Build as it builds (pun not intended) as well as a Bard would in terms of buffing. The real things that got "traded out" were their ability to Detect Evil, all uses of Remove Disease and the Mount, to be precise.

That said: Paladins get the ability to trade out three good features (Lay on Hands, Turn Undead and Remove Disease) for the Favored Enemy ability of the Ranger, so if you're not attracted to self-healing and Divine feats, you can take this and add some staying power (Detect Evil, choose Evil Outsider and other obviously evil creatures, and so on). Another alternative is to start as a NG Ranger and go Stalker of Kharash, who gets to treat ANY evil creature as a Favored Enemy and the ability to sense and track evil creatures, not to mention Smite Evil. Get Ranged Smite and use those smites with ranged attacks, maybe as part of Greater Manyshot. Both are focused on pursuit and destruction of Evil creatures, but the latter has a more relaxed playstyle and actually plays as a Ranger. Consecrated Harrier is also a pretty flavorful PrC, and gets a pretty good set of 4th level spells.

The A-Game Paladin works best as a buffer character, spending uses of Smite to turn them into Inspire Courage then wading in battle while self-buffing (or party-buffing) with Battle Blessing. It doesn't lose Detect Evil, though, but lacks a mount (so you can't pursue the target that easily).