Paladin and Antipaladin

[nerdforchrist77]

Ok so a paladin and an antipaladin are blatant opposites right? like at first level paladin gets aura of good, detect evil and smite evil. Antipaladin gets aura of evil, detect good and smite good. it starts becoming a problem if an antipaladin and paladin fight each other, because paladins are supernaturally immune to fear and antipaladins cause supernatural fear among other things like overlapping auras. so my thought was that if a paladin and antipaladin of equal strength (level-wise) were to come into range of each other (maybe a mile or so?) they cease to have any powers except weapon, armor, BAB proficiencies. however if one were stronger than the other, say a 7th level antipaladin and 4th level paladin, The paladin would be overcome by the antipaladin and lose his power. However the antipaladin would retain his 5th-7th level abilities such as Fiendish boon, his 6th level cruelty and his 7th level smite (but not his 4th or 1st level smite.) What do you guys think? or are there already rules about this?

[Andezzar]

There are no rules for them to cancel each other out. And honestly I think this is a stupid idea. Both classes are the embodiment of their alignment and strive to eliminate the influence of the opposite alignment. Becoming nearly powerless in the presence of a representative of that alignment is pretty counterproductive.

That certain things don't work on the opposite is simply do to the fact that the classes are designed to thwart the tricks of their opposite.

[Curmudgeon]

There isn't any "Antipaladin" in D&D 3e. There's the Blackguard (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/prestigeClasses/blackguard.htm), who could be a fallen Paladin. There are the Paladins of other alignment extremes: Freedom, Slaughter, and Tyranny (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#paladinVariantsFreedom SlaughterAndTyranny).
The paladin of freedom is chaotic good, dedicated to liberty and free thought. The paladin of tyranny is the opposite, a lawful evil villain bent on dominating those weaker than she. The paladin of slaughter is a brutal champion of chaos and evil who leaves only destruction trailing in his wake. (If you use these versions of the paladin class, you might consider designating the standard paladin as the "paladin of honor" to differentiate it from the variants.) The Paladin of Slaughter is the extreme opposite of the standard Paladin; perhaps that's your "Antipaladin".

[BlackDog918]

Methinks he's talking about Pathfinder. Antipaladin is its own base class there.

[T.G. Oskar]

There isn't any "Antipaladin" in D&D 3e. There's the Blackguard (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/prestigeClasses/blackguard.htm), who could be a fallen Paladin. There are the Paladins of other alignment extremes: Freedom, Slaughter, and Tyranny (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#paladinVariantsFreedom SlaughterAndTyranny). The Paladin of Slaughter is the extreme opposite of the standard Paladin; perhaps that's your "Antipaladin".

I believe the OP is going with the PF Paladin, which has the Antipaladin as a counterpart and an alternate class. Note the mention of "Fiendish Boon" and "Cruelties", which are class features of the Antipaladin.

On-topic: the only real interactions between Paladin and Antipaladin are on the latter's mark (aka "Smite" Good; I still can't call that class feature by its name for personal reasons), where the Antipaladin deals double damage to marked Paladins, and the Aura of Cowardice which explicitly ignores immunity to fear (particularly that from Aura of Courage). Due to Aura of Faith/Aura of Sin, a Paladin ignores the DR from the Antipaladin's Aura of Depravity with its attacks in the same way the latter ignores the former's Aura of Righteousness with its attacks. Otherwise, while in close proximity, the class features of the Paladin and Antipaladin don't cancel each other out.

Note, though, that the Paladin is built to last (Lay on Hands being a swift-action ability when used on yourself, gain about 4 immunities) while the Antipaladin is far more aggressive (Touch of Corruption and Channel Negative Energy, the Cruelties, the debuffing auras). Even their unique weapons reflect this: a Holy Avenger grants SR and Greater Dispel Magic at-will; Bastard's Sting grants a DoT effect and Unholy Blight at-will, not to forget that the latter is a bastard sword.

[Ravens_cry]

Having at will ranged artillery like that is nice, and helps get around the fact that a Strength based antipaladin probably doesn't have the Dex for ranged. And hey, finally a use for a the grey bag of tricks, yes? Well, besides trap finding and monster negotiations, but that's not always reliable.

[Spore]

or are there already rules about this?

Yes. You play the game like you would normally. They don't cancel each other out, getting into a flashy but long battle like DBZ. There's no exploding energy beams meeting in the middle. As a matter of fact or more specific Smite [Alignment] the battles will be short and brutal.

It depends on general builds and who wins initiative. A dexterous finesse'd touch attacker Antipaladin versus a Sword and Board Paladin will mean an entirely different game than a Twohanded Antipaladin versus a ubercharging Paladin.