Zariel Tiefling paladin

[Spacehamster]

Is it me or would a sword and board zariel Tiefling be pretty neat? Starting ability scores with racials: 16/10/13/8/12/16, level 1 feat(we threw out v-human and give everyone a feat xcpt gwm and sharpshooter which is locked behind lvl 4 and further) Infernal constitution, paladin subclass ancients, fighting style defensive. With this you have good saves, resistance to fire, cold, poison damage and adv vs getting poisoned, good armor with defensive, heavy armor and shield, take half magical damage from level 7 ancients feature.

Can still deal decent enough damage from core paladin abilities plus get two “free” smite spells per day from race.

ASI/feats in order would prob be: 2STR, 2STR, Thoughness, 2CHA, 2CHA.

Skills: perception, athletics from background, insight and intimidation from class.

Thoughts on feasibility of build? Friend wanted to play an intimidating and resilient paladin without the knight in shining armor feel(not interested in conquest pala fear spam). :)

[ProsecutorGodot]

I was kind of expecting you to have included the Thief subclass, having called the Tiefling a Thiefling twice.

Yea, I'm sure it works just fine. It's pretty difficult to make a bad Paladin as long as your racial traits bump one of your primary stats. I'm going to have the be the one to say it though, Ancients is a poor fit for Zariel and Conquest is absolutely the more thematic choice. You've got to ignore just about every aspect of what a typical Oath of Ancients Paladin believes in to serve Zariel.

That's only important if you're a stickler for character theming like I am.

[Spacehamster]

I was kind of expecting you to have included the Thief subclass, having called the Tiefling a Thiefling twice.

Yea, I'm sure it works just fine. It's pretty difficult to make a bad Paladin as long as your racial traits bump one of your primary stats. I'm going to have the be the one to say it though, Ancients is a poor fit for Zariel and Conquest is absolutely the more thematic choice. You've got to ignore just about every aspect of what a typical Oath of Ancients Paladin believes in to serve Zariel.

That's only important if you're a stickler for character theming like I am.

He does not serve zariel, it’s just the bloodline he is descended from just like all the different Tiefling sub races?

[ProsecutorGodot]

He does not serve zariel, it’s just the bloodline he is descended from just like all the different Thiefling sub races?

Right, silly mistake for me to make.

[Spacehamster]

Right, silly mistake for me to make.

No problem, easy to mix them up with the warlock patrons. :)

[SaigonTimeMD]

Looks pretty neat to me; I was thinking about writing up a Tiefling character myself, and you've inspired me - although she'll probably be Oath of Conquest because 2spooky.

[LudicSavant]

Is it me or would a sword and board zariel Tiefling be pretty neat? Starting ability scores with racials: 16/10/13/8/12/16, level 1 feat(we threw out v-human and give everyone a feat xcpt gwm and sharpshooter which is locked behind lvl 4 and further) Infernal constitution, paladin subclass ancients, fighting style defensive. With this you have good saves, resistance to fire, cold, poison damage and adv vs getting poisoned, good armor with defensive, heavy armor and shield, take half magical damage from level 7 ancients feature.

Can still deal decent enough damage from core paladin abilities plus get two “free” smite spells per day from race.

ASI/feats in order would prob be: 2STR, 2STR, Thoughness, 2CHA, 2CHA.

Skills: perception, athletics from background, insight and intimidation from class.

Thoughts on feasibility of build? Friend wanted to play an intimidating and resilient paladin without the knight in shining armor feel(not interested in conquest pala fear spam). :)

1) Personally I would boost Charisma before taking Toughness. Boosting your +saves aura is very strong on its own.

2) I'm iffy on Infernal Constitution with Ancients Paladin because A) it's got competition from Resilient (Constitution) in the "Con half-feat" niche, and B) because Resistance from multiple sources doesn't stack.

[TyGuy]

With three resistances there's a little redundancy with Aura of Warding. Granted that's only a fraction of spell damage types, though they're the most common.

Ancients would work well, but if it was me I'd double down on the Infernal Knight theme and skip the nature themed ancients. If conquest is out, then I'd go vengeance. But that's just personal taste.

[Grimmnist]

2) I'm iffy on Infernal Constitution with Ancients Paladin because A) it's got competition from Resilient (Constitution) in the "Con half-feat" niche, and B) because Resistance from multiple sources doesn't stack.

I agree Resilient Con would be FANTASTIC on this build because of the non-stacking resistances. That would give you a +8 to your Con saves at level 6, which means with Bless up you are almost guaranteed never lose concentration (unless you're taking more than 20 damage in an attack).

[GrifterofTales]

I have a level 8 Zariel Teifling Paladin of Vengeance thats pretty awesome.

[AH0098]

I have a female Tiefling Paladin, Oath of Devotion from the bloodline Zariel who is pretty awesome. Not as thematic, but it does make sense with her backstory. You don't always have to be thematic, sometimes things can be a-typical and still awesome story wise.

[Spacehamster]

With three resistances there's a little redundancy with Aura of Warding. Granted that's only a fraction of spell damage types, though they're the most common.

Ancients would work well, but if it was me I'd double down on the Infernal Knight theme and skip the nature themed ancients. If conquest is out, then I'd go vengeance. But that's just personal taste.

Oathbreaker would be pretty baller too?

[Sception]

Zariel Tiefling's one of the best Paladin races mechanically, simply on the based of the stat bonuses alone, with a useful damage resistance and a relatively strong thematic fit. As a paladin race, they're about equivalent to Dragonborn in that way - not on the same level as Vumans, Half Elves, or Aasimar, but still really good. So yeah, you can make this work.

But I agree with the criticism of your feat selection and/or stat distribution. Not a huge fan of infernal constitution or toughness on this character. Instead look to Warcaster and/or Resilient Constitution, Sentinel, Inspiring Leader, or Alert. Maybe Heavy Armor Master if you don't think the game's going to make it much past level 10, as few campaigns honestly do ime.

Personally, for an Zariel Ancients paladin, I'd probably go 16 10 14 8 10 16 with Sentinel as your freebie level 1 feat, ASIs +2 Str, +2 Cha, Warcaster, +2 Str, +2 Cha in that order. Sentinel is pretty essential to playing up a tanky role, which is where I'd usually go with an Ancients Paladin.

Alternally, I personally am a big Conquest fan. Fear based lockdown tanking really fits with a character cursed with the powers of an infernal champion, whether they're trying to bend those powers towards good or not. In that case I'd still take Sentinel as your bonus feat for tanking before level 7 or against fearless foes, then progress with +2 cha, Warcaster, +2 cha, +2 str, +2 str. Maybe swap one or more of those late progression strength boosts for inspiring leader and/or alert if your DM takes pity on your MADness and hands you one of the strength boosting magic items.