Playing a Fallen Aasimar Conquest Paladin without being evil

[nickl_2000]

So, I'm always sitting around thinking of thing that would be fun to play and after reading the Conquest Paladin guide it seems like it would be a very fun class to play and this seems like a great combination of race and class

However, I'm not a person who likes to play evil characters in a non-evil campaign. How could this combination of race and class not be evil? How would that look to you?

[Dudewithknives]

So, I'm always sitting around thinking of thing that would be fun to play and after reading the Conquest Paladin guide it seems like it would be a very fun class to play and this seems like a great combination of race and class

However, I'm not a person who likes to play evil characters in a non-evil campaign. How could this combination of race and class not be evil? How would that look to you?

Think like hardcore military general, LN to the core.

You do not just go out to defeat the enemy, you go out to make an example of them as to let other know that to stand against you and your mighty cause is futile.

[Unoriginal]

So, I'm always sitting around thinking of thing that would be fun to play and after reading the Conquest Paladin guide it seems like it would be a very fun class to play and this seems like a great combination of race and class

However, I'm not a person who likes to play evil characters in a non-evil campaign. How could this combination of race and class not be evil? How would that look to you?

Think Saruman before he turned evil.

Or Batman on a bad day.

[nickl_2000]

Think like hardcore military general, LN to the core.

You do not just go out to defeat the enemy, you go out to make an example of them as to let other know that to stand against you and your mighty cause is futile.

Are we talking acting like Star Wars Rebels style Thrawn (not the creepy guy from one of the books).


Think Saruman before he turned evil.

Or Batman on a bad day.

Not a bad comparison, I can see how that would work. You are still doing things that are good, but in a really bad way. Could Punisher's style actions fit into Conquest Paladin as well (although he would likely be CG/CN)?

[Dudewithknives]

Are we talking acting like Star Wars Rebels style Thrawn (not the creepy guy from one of the books).



Not a bad comparison, I can see how that would work. You are still doing things that are good, but in a really bad way. Could Punisher's style actions fit into Conquest Paladin as well (although he would likely be CG/CN)?

Can't help you with that reference I know almost nothing about Star Wars.

[Unoriginal]

Not a bad comparison, I can see how that would work. You are still doing things that are good, but in a really bad way.

It's more doing things that are good, but in a in a way that is very scary/doesn't tolerate opposition, and that is based on a jaded view of others' moral standing.



Could Punisher's style actions fit into Conquest Paladin as well (although he would likely be CG/CN)?

Dude, if someone did the things the Punisher did in a D&D game, they'd be evil.

[lunaticfringe]

You put a G in the alignment slot on your sheet and play your character?

[nickl_2000]

You put a G in the alignment slot on your sheet and play your character?

Thanks? Alignments are a guideline, I was looking for help on how you would play this without becoming Emperor Palpatine

[TundraBuccaneer]

Your would be the adult version of the bogeyman, as in if you aren't nice he will come for you.

[Temperjoke]

Be ruthless. When fighting an opponent, unless some extenuating circumstance prevents it (like needing a prisoner to question), don't stop until they are dead. They threatened you, after all, and if given the chance they would do the same to you. Enemies that escape could be a threat in the future, after all.

Something to consider when creating your character background. Why are you a fallen aasimar instead of a protector or scourge? What caused you to be immersed in shadow rather than light? Is this why you became a conquest paladin, or did you become a fallen aasimar because you became a conquest paladin? Was it a traumatic event, something that would have been prevented if you hadn't shown mercy or weakness? (not saying those things are bad, but from a darker view they could be)

It's going to be very hard to play the race/class combo you want and not be evil. Not to get into an alignment discussion, lord knows it's been debated to death, but this combination would be very hard to be seen as being good.

[Throne12]

He's not good but when I read and think about a Conquest Paladin I think of Negan from the walking dead. You don't hurt your target you hurt the ones close to the target. You break people's wills then reshape them. When I play a Conquest paladin I'm not going to kill to many things I'll knock them unconscious then take a arm a leg or just give them some disability.

[nickl_2000]

Be ruthless. When fighting an opponent, unless some extenuating circumstance prevents it (like needing a prisoner to question), don't stop until they are dead. They threatened you, after all, and if given the chance they would do the same to you. Enemies that escape could be a threat in the future, after all.

Something to consider when creating your character background. Why are you a fallen aasimar instead of a protector or scourge? What caused you to be immersed in shadow rather than light? Is this why you became a conquest paladin, or did you become a fallen aasimar because you became a conquest paladin? Was it a traumatic event, something that would have been prevented if you hadn't shown mercy or weakness? (not saying those things are bad, but from a darker view they could be)

It's going to be very hard to play the race/class combo you want and not be evil. Not to get into an alignment discussion, lord knows it's been debated to death, but this combination would be very hard to be seen as being good.

Lots of things to think about and to how to craft the background. I try and make decent backgrounds, so it would be dropped into that pretty well.


Just so people know, I never said that the character had to be good, I just said not evil. I'm comfortable playing a LN boogeyman like character. He uses rough methods, causes all kinds of problems for those who are against his law, and gives no ground. However, he isn't killing people for the sake of killing people.

[DarkKnightJin]

I'd play one (and I do have one planned, too) like they'd been broken or indoctrinated.
They can be nice enough outside of combat, but once that switch has been flipped? They give no quarter, and ask for none in return. They fight with great fervor, and don't stop until the enemies' eills are broken.

I'd probably take some inspiration from the Overlord games. Not really 'Evil', but thry're not going to back down from a fight if they think they can win.
I suppose you could think of the Conqueror as the Paladin version of a Barbarian?

[alchahest]

Ender, from Ender's game is a great example. You don't necessarily start every fight, but when you finish it, and you will finish it, it is finished

[Dudewithknives]

Ender, from Ender's game is a great example. You don't necessarily start every fight, but when you finish it, and you will finish it, it is finished

That is a good example.

[nickl_2000]

Ender, from Ender's game is a great example. You don't necessarily start every fight, but when you finish it, and you will finish it, it is finished

Okay, this is probably the example I can understand the best having loved this series for 25+ years

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and advice!

[DarkKnightJin]

Ender, from Ender's game is a great example. You don't necessarily start every fight, but when you finish it, and you will finish it, it is finished

Hot damn, I hadn't thought of Ender yet.
That is a VERY good example of what a Conquest Paladin should be like.
They might not start the fights, but they will do their damnedest to finish it, and make sure you don't get up with any ideas of fighting back any more.

[Spiritchaser]

I’d use Mattis as a starting point

"Find the enemy that wants to end this experiment and kill every one of them until they’re so sick of the killing that they leave us and our freedoms intact."

"Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet."

"I’m going to plead with you, do not cross us. Because if you do, the survivors will write about what we do here for 10,000 years."

Probably lots of other good material too.

[Zerdal]

You could use Raziel from the Legacy of Kain series as an inspiration. You were once a mighty deva, but your rival thrown you into the abyss and your wings were burned in the process (only bones remained). Now you came back for revenge, stripped away from your former power and transformed by the dark influence of the Lower Planes.

[Provo]

Conquest Paladin:
This is pretty easy. You don't have to be evil to be terrifying and unyeilding. It is basically the Paladin's job description to act exactly that way towards evil doers.

Fallen Asimar:
This one is a little harder. We need to justify necrotic damage and bone wings. I see two options:

1. Touched by the angel of death. The angel of death is servant of good, though it is almost universally feared. Everybody passes away in time, but you are tasked with protecting the innocent from dying "before their time". You are also tasked with passing "judgement" (reads as "death") on those who act in malice.

2. Repentant: Your dark powers are signs of having fallen short in the past. Now you are striving to live up to the holly standard that you once failed.

3. Too dedicated: You are unyeilding in your dedication to good. However, you see the world as black and white, and you lack mercy for evildoers. An angel of mercy was angered by your actions and cursed you... Your ways have not changed however.

[lunaticfringe]

Thanks? Alignments are a guideline, I was looking for help on how you would play this without becoming Emperor Palpatine

Well if I adhered to the book fluff I'd probably approach it more like a Cliche Barbarian than a Paladin. Not too bright or at least not a schemer, very direct. Values strength, crushes foes and offers no quarter in battle. Probably worships a god of war and has no sympathy for those that are meek.

[Spamotron]

One way to think about it is this: Devotion and Redemption Paladins are about Doing Good. Conquest and Vengeance Paladins are about Destroying Evil.

[Sception]

Aasimar draw their powers from an angelic patron. An aasimar paladin could draw their power from the same place. So what happens if such an agelic being creates an aasimar paladin, virtuous and upright, to spread virtue through the mortal realms, only for the angelux patron to fall to the dark side, perhaps captured and corrupted by an archfiend or evil god?

The aasimar has not themselves turned from the light, but they now find their powers to be cruel and corrupted, drawn as they are from the aasimar's fallen patron. Where once they inspired hope, now they inspire fear. Where once the were born aloft on glowing wings, now they are wreathed in an aura of suffering and pain.

Now they travel the planes, using their dark powers to work what good they can, all the while hunting for their angelic patron, to save them if they can, or destroy them if they must.

[Kane0]

I’m thinking sgt johnson.

[Caelic]

"General, we cannot be bound by the rules of honorable combat! The enemy has no such compunctions! They will stop at nothing to ensure the destruction of all we hold dear! We must be as ruthless as they are if we are to have any chance of victory! We CANNOT stand on the defensive!"

"You are rash, Paladin Belonar. Do you not realize that, if we resort to the tactics of the enemy, we are no better than they? No, we shall stand on the defensive. Our cause is right; our faith will see us through."

"Faith did not save the town of Greenhaven. Faith did not save the town of Riverford. The Infernal Legion is gobbling up our territory, one bite at a time. The people you have sworn to defend are being slain, their lands laid waste, their children dragged off in chains, and you tell me we must hold back to preserve...what? Our own righteousness? The purity of our own souls?"

"Do not undervalue righteousness, Belonar...or your soul."

"General, with all due respect: if my soul is the price for keeping this kingdom intact, then so be it."

[Talamare]

It sounds like to me like the Ranger from Middle Earth, Shadow of War

He forces Orcs to join him thru Fear (and a bit of mind control)
He harshly punishes any Orcs who betrays him, and even rewards Orcs who follow him
He constantly needs to prove to the Orcs that he is the strongest

[Requilac]

Whoever says you need to make up a fancy role-playing scheme, Just play like a normal paladin would. Keep in mind that alignment is determined by your morality and actions, not by how edgy you look while performing those actions. Sure, as a fallen aasimar qonquest paladin you are kind of messed up, you are causing people to get eaten up by necrotic shrouds and instilling shattering terror in your enemies, but in truth, is that really any worst than other adventurers? The wizard can hijack peoples’ mind and cause them to go borderline insane while slowly incenerating their targets and still be good, so why can’t you be good too? I mean, even normal D&D paladins are not the most moral of all people. Getting stabbed is not a nice action, and having a smite applied to it probably not a pleasant experience for the person on the recovering end. Sure, you look like evil, but in truth is your character actually doing anything more evil than the rest of their compatriots.

[Caelic]

Rorschach.

"No. Not even in the face of armageddon. Never compromise."