Conquest Paladin RP Tips

[Waifu Collector]

So I’m playing a Conquest Paladin for a campaign, and I’m looking for some tips as to how to play her.

To give some story to both the world and her, her name is Noire Constance, and she’s a member of the now dissolved “Knights of the Black Rose,” (a totally original name that I totally didn’t steal from Matthew Colville). Basically a lawful evil group of Paladins, clerics, and fighters who directly served the king. How did this group dissolve you may ask?

Well, a tyrannical organization known simply as “Truth” suddenly appeared in the southern region of the continent (a Pangea sized continent btw), and began a worldwide blitzkrieg. They conquered everything in their path, and eventually got to the homeland of Noire. Truth utterly decimated the Knights of the Black Rose, and left Noire as the only one left alive (as far as she knows). Years later, she joined a rebellion and became a part of a party, more than half of which are do-gooders, though she does have a kindred spirit.

Other details include a mother dead through an unknown illness that no one could identify, and a missing father and wife, both of whom disappeared upon Truth’s incursion. She’s also a fallen Aasimar

So what are ways I can really bring out the character in roleplay, without coming off as too edgy?

[Unoriginal]

Play her comically?

You're the Black Knight, people tell tales of all the do-gooder knights you've flattened in jousts and duels, and you enjoy the hell out of it.

[Man_Over_Game]

So I’m playing a Conquest Paladin for a campaign, and I’m looking for some tips as to how to play her.

To give some story to both the world and her, her name is Noire Constance, and she’s a member of the now dissolved “Knights of the Black Rose,” (a totally original name that I totally didn’t steal from Matthew Colville). Basically a lawful evil group of Paladins, clerics, and fighters who directly served the king. How did this group dissolve you may ask?

Well, a tyrannical organization known simply as “Truth” suddenly appeared in the southern region of the continent (a Pangea sized continent btw), and began a worldwide blitzkrieg. They conquered everything in their path, and eventually got to the homeland of Noire. Truth utterly decimated the Knights of the Black Rose, and left Noire as the only one left alive (as far as she knows). Years later, she joined a rebellion and became a part of a party, more than half of which are do-golfers, though she does have a kindred spirit.

Other details include a mother dead through an unknown illness that no one could identify, and a missing father and wife, both of whom disappeared upon Truth’s incursion. She’s also a fallen Aasimar

So what are ways I can really bring out the character in roleplay, without coming off as too edgy?

It's fine being edgy, as long as there's some color to it. Take the saying Every Rose Has Its Thorn, in this case, add flower to the thorn. Why was it justified to be lawful evil? What's in her human side?

Create some sort of softness to it. Maybe her cool composure goes out the window for cute animals, or maybe she has favoritism for children. Perhaps she's naïve and is entranced by odd races rather than scared of them, or she's a happy drunk. Tension is best felt when it's occasionally broken, so come up with reasons why she'd stop being so tense all the time to make her a more enjoyable character.

[Wildarm]

Perhaps she sees the rebellion has a serious vacuum in it's leadership structure. She's determined herself to be the best person to fill that void and will be ruthless in that pursuit. Once in control, she plans to retake her kingdom, restore her family and take her rightful place at the ruler of the country that was so woefully managed to have let a group of outside invaders to seize control.

No need to be evil, just ruthless and efficient with little room for the luxury of morals. The fate of her kingdom lies in the balance. Think Poe Dameron at the start of Episode 7.

[Unoriginal]

Don't forget to practice your evil laugh.

[lunaticfringe]

Affably Evil (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AffablyEvil) is worth taking a look at for ideas. It also has links to other flavors of evil characters that may help.

[Angelalex242]

You're Darth Vader. Do your best James Earl Jones voice every game session. Then go nuts :)

[Malifice]

You're Darth Vader. Do your best James Earl Jones voice every game session. Then go nuts :)

Vader was CE. Betrayal, acting however his fear and anger dictated, never kept his word, betrayed and destroyed everyone and everything that he cared about (his Wife, the Republic, the Jedi, his best friend, Lando Calrissian etc). Didnt care about family, honor or tradition. Choked his wife to death, tortured his daughter, abandoned his mother, cut his sons hand off before trying to murder him in front of the Emperor. Never followed an order in his life, unless compelled to by fear (of Palpatine).

He just worked for a LE organisation.

That he also betrayed and destroyed of course.

Vader was the most non-lawful dude getting around.

[Maan]

Perhaps she sees the rebellion has a serious vacuum in it's leadership structure. She's determined herself to be the best person to fill that void and will be ruthless in that pursuit. Once in control, she plans to retake her kingdom, restore her family and take her rightful place at the ruler of the country that was so woefully managed to have let a group of outside invaders to seize control.

No need to be evil, just ruthless and efficient with little room for the luxury of morals. The fate of her kingdom lies in the balance. Think Poe Dameron at the start of Episode 7.

This.
If you want an "evil" character not to be a moustache-twirling cliché, work on why they are that way.
They could be ruthless but have very noble intentions, like wanting to unite the people and avoid a bloody anarchy; they may have been scarred in their past by seeing what a power vacuum brings; they may have been wronged in the past and bitter with revenge.
Things may also be more emotional than rational: maybe they follow a harsh code of honor. They may also feel it has its faults, but feel bounded to follow it: because they swore allegiance to someone they love, or respect, or has helped them; or because their family, loved ones or people all abide by it (peer pressure).

I do this all the time, both when I play an evil character or when I'm creating a villain as a master: nothing is more memorable than facing a villain that you actually feel may be right!

I played a paladin of the sort you may use, once. She would dedicate herself to helping people during downtime... her way: lecturing people to either grow strong and take command of their fate or quit whining and be content with their lot serving their betters; sheltering orphans... and training them to be strong and self-sufficient; helping people in need to get back on their feet, than leaving them with enough for a day more and telling them to now go and never let it happen to them again.

[Corran]

It's difficult and non advisable to play an edgy low level character. There are so many things that can defeat you without much effort, that it will hurt twice us much when you fail from time to time, if you set up your low level character as someone perfect and special. So you are not edgy, you are not special, you are just another rebel recruit (with the PC status, thus with potential). Build up your edginess (however you have imagined it) slowly as you progress in levels, and no more that you think you can afford to (that means character growth, meaning you start low and you have a broad idea of where you want you character to go, personality wise; though don't discount the fact that however the campaign story unfolds, you might find or decide your character moving towards an unexpected direction). Try to present that character growth as something organic and have it related to in story events/decisions and not on character leveling, though use character power (both from a character level and character's status/allies/influence perspective) as an upper bound to how edgy/special/awesome you show off your character as.

Now, it is logical to assume that in the rebels you will find people from all walks of life. There might be former members of the knight organization your character belonged to, there are also rebels that used to be classified as criminals by the previous regime that now is no more, there might be hired blades, etc. Meaning, that there are certainly some alliances of convenience going on, meaning that even inside the rebellion there might be several factions, and each of these factions will probably have a very different idea of how the kingdom should be ruled, once Truth is deal with of course. It's easy to assume that the do-gooders will want something very different than going back to a king ruling with an iron fist situation. That's sth you can slightly touch on with your roleplaying. Meaning, while it would be non sensical to argue the theoretical state of government of the kingdom before you are even close to liberating it, you could add some rp touches (a hint of distrust or uneasy compromise) when your character is interacting with certain senior rebel figures that don't belong to the tyranny camp.

Being evil, can also mean that you could be the sort of person that believes in ''the end justify the means'' thingy. Classic example, your party is handed a mission, the execution of which presents the following opportunity: We can increase the odds of succeeding in the mission, but at the same time we increase the chances of causing collateral damage. The do-gooders will probably choose not to endanger civilian lives for a better chance at a positive outcome. You on the other hand, might be the sort of person that would be advocating risking lives for the cause, because the cause (victory over the conquerors) is what matters the most. You can have your character be as unempathetic as you want. For example, this might not be an easy decision for her and she might struggle, but in the end she would probably make it. Or she might not feel even a trace of sympathy for civilians, because they are to blame too since they are not actively fighting back the conquerors. As with everything else, better to start with the former approach and escalate your character's views as the story progresses and as your character's personality grows (or in this case, shrinks). Otherwise your character might just feel like an evil emotionless robot (meaning if you have your 1st level character's views be so cruel and fixed from the start). As with everything else, apply moderation. Have your character be wise enough to accept it if the other PC's go with the 'safe and good' plan. Because your character is wise enough to realize that she needs allies and that it is necessary for people with different beliefs to band together if Truth is to be defeated. Because in the end, you are all fighting for the same reasons, so no matter how wrong your PC allies seem to you, it's the allies you have for good or for bad, and thus you have to make the best out of what you've got (and that might mean going along with other people's plans sometimes; experiencing dialogue and in a sense, democracy, could sure be a painful or refreshing, certainly a new, experience, for your lawful evil, soldiery mentality, tyranny advocate character.

Edgy/evil characters can be amusing a breath of fresh air in a party. It's hard to pull off, and it's difficult to set any good guidelines, because in the end what may work for one party might not work for another. So it is just a matter of taste to a good degree. But even if you manage to run a very successful (in term of how the play really profited from one) edgy character, you still may come across a point in the campaign, where it will just be better for everyone if that character was kindly taken out of the picture. Even if you didn't do any mistakes, it might be just how the story unfolds that would push this character to become non compatible with the rest of the PCs. So my best advice, is that before even starting to play your character, make peace with the idea that it may eventually come to a point where you will have to give this character up. That imo is the real price when choosing to play an edgy character.

[Waifu Collector]

It's difficult and non advisable to play an edgy low level character. There are so many things that can defeat you without much effort, that it will hurt twice us much when you fail from time to time, if you set up your low level character as someone perfect and special. So you are not edgy, you are not special, you are just another rebel recruit (with the PC status, thus with potential). Build up your edginess (however you have imagined it) slowly as you progress in levels, and no more that you think you can afford to (that means character growth, meaning you start low and you have a broad idea of where you want you character to go, personality wise; though don't discount the fact that however the campaign story unfolds, you might find or decide your character moving towards an unexpected direction). Try to present that character growth as something organic and have it related to in story events/decisions and not on character leveling, though use character power (both from a character level and character's status/allies/influence perspective) as an upper bound to how edgy/special/awesome you show off your character as.

Now, it is logical to assume that in the rebels you will find people from all walks of life. There might be former members of the knight organization your character belonged to, there are also rebels that used to be classified as criminals by the previous regime that now is no more, there might be hired blades, etc. Meaning, that there are certainly some alliances of convenience going on, meaning that even inside the rebellion there might be several factions, and each of these factions will probably have a very different idea of how the kingdom should be ruled, once Truth is deal with of course. It's easy to assume that the do-gooders will want something very different than going back to a king ruling with an iron fist situation. That's sth you can slightly touch on with your roleplaying. Meaning, while it would be non sensical to argue the theoretical state of government of the kingdom before you are even close to liberating it, you could add some rp touches (a hint of distrust or uneasy compromise) when your character is interacting with certain senior rebel figures that don't belong to the tyranny camp.

Being evil, can also mean that you could be the sort of person that believes in ''the end justify the means'' thingy. Classic example, your party is handed a mission, the execution of which presents the following opportunity: We can increase the odds of succeeding in the mission, but at the same time we increase the chances of causing collateral damage. The do-gooders will probably choose not to endanger civilian lives for a better chance at a positive outcome. You on the other hand, might be the sort of person that would be advocating risking lives for the cause, because the cause (victory over the conquerors) is what matters the most. You can have your character be as unempathetic as you want. For example, this might not be an easy decision for her and she might struggle, but in the end she would probably make it. Or she might not feel even a trace of sympathy for civilians, because they are to blame too since they are not actively fighting back the conquerors. As with everything else, better to start with the former approach and escalate your character's views as the story progresses and as your character's personality grows (or in this case, shrinks). Otherwise your character might just feel like an evil emotionless robot (meaning if you have your 1st level character's views be so cruel and fixed from the start). As with everything else, apply moderation. Have your character be wise enough to accept it if the other PC's go with the 'safe and good' plan. Because your character is wise enough to realize that she needs allies and that it is necessary for people with different beliefs to band together if Truth is to be defeated. Because in the end, you are all fighting for the same reasons, so no matter how wrong your PC allies seem to you, it's the allies you have for good or for bad, and thus you have to make the best out of what you've got (and that might mean going along with other people's plans sometimes; experiencing dialogue and in a sense, democracy, could sure be a painful or refreshing, certainly a new, experience, for your lawful evil, soldiery mentality, tyranny advocate character.

Edgy/evil characters can be amusing a breath of fresh air in a party. It's hard to pull off, and it's difficult to set any good guidelines, because in the end what may work for one party might not work for another. So it is just a matter of taste to a good degree. But even if you manage to run a very successful (in term of how the play really profited from one) edgy character, you still may come across a point in the campaign, where it will just be better for everyone if that character was kindly taken out of the picture. Even if you didn't do any mistakes, it might be just how the story unfolds that would push this character to become non compatible with the rest of the PCs. So my best advice, is that before even starting to play your character, make peace with the idea that it may eventually come to a point where you will have to give this character up. That imo is the real price when choosing to play an edgy character.

Well our starting level is 5, so I’m unsure if your first point still applies or not.

As for everything else, and most of everything that people have said, it’s a huge help. Thanks

[Unoriginal]

"Edgy" does not mean "undefeatable".

Edgy PCs can fail and get beaten to death like any other. So what?

[Dr.Samurai]

So I’m playing a Conquest Paladin for a campaign, and I’m looking for some tips as to how to play her.

To give some story to both the world and her, her name is Noire Constance, and she’s a member of the now dissolved “Knights of the Black Rose,” (a totally original name that I totally didn’t steal from Matthew Colville). Basically a lawful evil group of Paladins, clerics, and fighters who directly served the king. How did this group dissolve you may ask?

Well, a tyrannical organization known simply as “Truth” suddenly appeared in the southern region of the continent (a Pangea sized continent btw), and began a worldwide blitzkrieg. They conquered everything in their path, and eventually got to the homeland of Noire. Truth utterly decimated the Knights of the Black Rose, and left Noire as the only one left alive (as far as she knows). Years later, she joined a rebellion and became a part of a party, more than half of which are do-gooders, though she does have a kindred spirit.

Other details include a mother dead through an unknown illness that no one could identify, and a missing father and wife, both of whom disappeared upon Truth’s incursion. She’s also a fallen Aasimar

So what are ways I can really bring out the character in roleplay, without coming off as too edgy?
I don't think there is enough to go on here in your OP as far as how to roleplay this character. We know her alignment and her backstory, but nothing really about her personality or character. How did these events impact her, how did she respond to them, what is her outlook on life, etc.

With answers to questions like those we can help describe how you might roleplay those particular traits. But as is, we'd basically be making the character up for you. Is that what you're asking? Maybe it is and I missed it.

[Waifu Collector]

I don't think there is enough to go on here in your OP as far as how to roleplay this character. We know her alignment and her backstory, but nothing really about her personality or character. How did these events impact her, how did she respond to them, what is her outlook on life, etc.

With answers to questions like those we can help describe how you might roleplay those particular traits. But as is, we'd basically be making the character up for you. Is that what you're asking? Maybe it is and I missed it.

That’s basically what I was asking for yeah. So far I’ve played as a cold and calculated character, a “no nonsense” kind of woman if you would. I made the post because I want to enhance what I have and make it deeper, since the campaign I’m in is going to be very story driven.

[Man_Over_Game]

That’s basically what I was asking for yeah. So far I’ve played as a cold and calculated character, a “no nonsense” kind of woman if you would. I made the post because I want to enhance what I have and make it deeper, since the campaign I’m in is going to be very story driven.

"No-Nonsense" is fine, but that's a pretty shallow personality. Make sure to flesh out the other things around that concept rather than trying to dig your heels into it. Nobody likes a stick in the mud, unless that stick is getting them out of it.

Consider having your edgelord be very protective of those under her command. Perhaps she has her own opinions over strategy and control and is constantly talking getting into arguments over authority. Maybe she's a hypocrite that gets frustrated over certain decisions from others over power, but refuses to acknowledge those same flaws in herself.

See, the ideal edgelord is someone that can AFFORD to be edgy. Flaws need to be built into the character, and you need to come up with some hard flaws, ones that your allies can actively take advantage of in social environments. Because in the end, DnD is about interacting with people, and nobody wants to be around someone who just hates everything and everyone.

And if your character isn't someone that just hates everything and everyone, then what are they?

[GlenSmash!]

What does she love? Hate? What is she willing to sacrifice in order to obtain her goals? What isn't she willing to sacrifice? What does she fear?

In short what are her Personality Traits, Ideal, Bond, and Flaw?