A chaotic good Paladin

[LazerPointer]

I'm working on a class for a human character who was all set to become a paladin of the lawful god, when the god of the gnomes, traveller and trickster, spoke to him instead. This would mesh better with my party (almost all chaotic) and would help explain why he ventured into the wild with a bunch of gnomes and halflings.

I still want to have him follow a strict code, but not be snivellingly lawful.

I was thinking of keeping:

the Aura of Good

detect evil

smite evil-- but having this apply to any attack, even against non evil

divine grace

aura of courage

and
turn undead.

Lay on hands, divine health, and remove disease would be replaced by new class features. We'll see about the special mount; I won't scrap it if the player really likes it.

I will also be making a different spell list. Don't have too many definite ideas yet for this, but I know at 1st level I want to have the following quirk:

CLW and ILW must alternate usages; he cannot cure (or inflict) wounds twice in a row.


In terms of special abilities that would be appropriate for a Garl Glittergold- type paladin....

at 4th level or so, Longstride: adds +5 ft. to movement rate.

I'm open to taking this in many different directions, so any ideas are welcome.

 

[FireLance]

Someone's bound to mention the Unearthed Arcana Paladin of Freedom, so I might as well.

- Replace Diplomacy with Bluff as a class skill.

- Replace Aura of Courage with Aura of Resolve. Paladin is immune to compulsion effects, allies in 10 ft. gain +4 morale bonus to saves against compulsion effects. Otherwise the same as Aura of Courage.

- Remove the following spells from the spell list: Death Ward, Discern Lies, Dispel Chaos, Magic Circle against Chaos, Protection from Chaos; Add the following spells: 1st- Protection from Law, 3rd- Magic Circle against Law, Remove Curse, 4th- Dispel Law, Freedom of Movement.

- Code of Conduct: Must be chaotic good and loses all class abilities if he commits an evil act. Must respect individual liberty, help those in need provided they do not use the help for lawful or evil ends, punish those who threaten or curtail personal liberty.

- Associates: May not knowingly associate with evil characters, except on some sort of undercover mission, will not continue an association with someone who consistently offends his moral code, may accept only chaotic good henchmen, followers and cohorts.

Otherwise identical to the LG Paladin.

 

[Darklone]

Why do you delete Death Ward? I would keep it.

 

[FireLance]

Why do you delete Death Ward? I would keep it.

As a balancer for adding Freedom of Movement, I guess. I should add that this is the version in Unearthed Arcana, not something I came up with.

 

[Darmanicus]

Take a look at the Holy Warrior Paladin variant system in The Book of the Righteous, it has some really cool ideas about replacing the normal paladin powers.

 

[Halivar]

Monte Cook's Book of Hallowed Might also has great rules for CG and NG paladins. As a matter of fact, their LG paladin is a shade better than WotC's, as well.

NG paly's give up special mounts and aura of courage, but gain bless aura and a celestial ally.

CG paly's give up undead turning and aura of courage, but can share their divine grace ability (without giving up their own, like BoED's Gift of Grace feat) and gain an attack bonus when fighting multiple foes (it's called Stand Against the Tide).

All of Monte's paly's get a special weapon that progresses as they do (although, arguably, the Ancestral Relic feat from BoED is just as, if not more, powerful).

 

[LazerPointer]

That special weapon progression is an interesting idea; I've decided the diety's favored weapon is a quarterstaff with a spiked ball on one end....

Thanks for all the ideas. The game begins next wed, so I don't know if I'll be able to track down the books you guys recommended.

Could you describe Stand Against the Tide, the bonus, the level recieved, etc.?

 

[Halivar]

Could you describe Stand Against the Tide, the bonus, the level recieved, etc.?

Although Monte Cook explicity OGL's the class advencement and class features in chapter 1 of the BoHM, I can't post it without posting his copyright notices and the OGL itself. Since I have no clue how to legally post that information, I'll instead direct you to Monte Cook's website, where the BoHM can be downloaded for only $8 (softbound book is $14). It really is worth it, as it has many other cool classes/spells/crunchy bits.

Go. Now. Buy.

 

[LazerPointer]

Man, this is the most lawful good board I've ever been affiliated with!

 

[LazerPointer]

I should add that I've already blown my gaming budget for the season; I guess this'll have to be done from scratch.

I've come up with a rough spell list:

Lvl 0: Prestidigitation, Message, Resistance, Virtue.

Lvl 1: Shield of Faith, Silence, Endure Elements, Change Self, Doom, Bless, Detect Undead, Alarm, Lesser Restoration, CLW/ILW alternating, as in post above.

Lvl 2: Whispering Wind, Bull's Strength, Eagle's Splendor, Shield Other, Sound Burst, True Strike, Zone of Truth, Owl's Wisdom, Resist Energy, Remove Paralysis.

Lvl 3: Daylight, Dispel Magic, Prayer, Spiritual Weapon, Glitterdust, Spider Climb, Wind Wall, CMW/IMW alternating.

Lvl 4: Break Enchantment, Invisibility, Neutralize Poison, Restoration, Holy Sword, Freedom of Movement, Dimension Door, CSW/ISW alternating.

A bit more powerful, but that's what I'm going for.