Pathfinder 1E Making my Pathfinder Paladin interesting.

[AtomicGamer]

Howdy folks.

I'm gonna be making my first paladin for a Pathfinder game, probably set in the FR setting of third edition. It's gonna be my first pathfinder game, so even though I'm pretty comfortable with 3.5 and it's cousins (Saga edition, d20 modern, etc.), I wouldn't mind some helpful input.

I rolled pretty high for stats, 16, 15, 15, 15, 12 and 11. I wanted to do something like, half-elf paladin, female, going for the fullplate+greatsword style. Visually I'd be going for a Xena Warrior princess in fullplate, or something to that effect.

My thought was that she grew up as a noble, even minor royal, among the elvish part of her family, I wanted to introduce plenty of drama though, so I'd want to first of all say that she was a bit of an embarrassment being a half-blood and all. (though not to the point of being outcast or truly excluded from her family, just constantly awkward).

I'd like for her family to have some designs for her, either that she was supposed to be married away for an alliance (probably to a human noble house), or for her to be a priestess of their god. (Corellon Larethian for example) but her becoming a paladin following a vision put a wrench in all that. (I've yet to decide which God would be cool, I'd rather not it be Tyr, but Torm, Lathander, Helm or Kelemvor are all possibilities.)

Her stats are high enough that me and the GM agree that she'd probably be a sort of wunderkind, and the fact that she's half human and also excelling in many fields over her contemporaries would add to the tension.

I'm probably gonna arrange the stats so that she'd have str.16, dex.12, con.15, int.15, wis 11 and charisma 17 (using half-elf bonus).

I'm considering weapon focus, power attack, dazzling display, shatter defenses and persuasive as feats (over time)

Any suggestions? Would it be better for the drama if she were at a human court? If the Gods of her family were more opposed to the one she chose to follow (either CG or LE).

Basically just looking for some input.

 

[ComradeGnull]

Elves tending towards Chaotic in the standard take, it would probably create the most conflict for the paladin to follow something that was particularly rigid in its beliefs- a LN or LG deity dedicated to justice and laws, or something like that (not super familiar with all the FR deities anymore- I may be describing either Tyr or Torm, but I don't recall the details).

If she grew up among the elves, then it would probably be good to flesh out a little more the human side of her background- who her human parent was, if they have living family, what the families attitudes towards elves are. It could be a potential dramatic source (and a little bit of a reversal from the half-elf norm) if her human family was strongly opposed to elves for some reason.

Also, once you've settled on a deity I think it is always a good idea to spell out an explicit code of conduct for a paladin. Beyond general LG-ness, the paladin's deity should have some influence on what they see as proper conduct.

 

[ComradeGnull]

Double post. Yar.

 

[AtomicGamer]

Good thought. Still, I was thinking more along the lines of her obligations being somewhat rigid and going off to be a paladin, while commendable in itself, would put her families plans in jeopardy. (probably because they planned to marry her to a human noble line where a full-blood would be 'wasted') I wouldn't want to overshadow that conflict with the conflict of 'but why THAT deity?'

The society would perhaps be NG to CG, but the ruling class, and her family would be more LG to LN.

A code of conduct would be an excellent idea. I've also been considering some of the more 'out there' deities to follow. Sune is the only CG god to have LG paladins, for example. That has some potential for fun.

 

[gamerprinter]

Perhaps look at d20pfsrd.com to look at the many Paladin archetypes available including those from 3pps - check out the Oathbound Paladins. I like the Crusader Paladin too. There are many ways of making your paladins interesting...

 

[EUBanana]

Good thought. Still, I was thinking more along the lines of her obligations being somewhat rigid and going off to be a paladin, while commendable in itself, would put her families plans in jeopardy. (probably because they planned to marry her to a human noble line where a full-blood would be 'wasted') I wouldn't want to overshadow that conflict with the conflict of 'but why THAT deity?'

The society would perhaps be NG to CG, but the ruling class, and her family would be more LG to LN.

A code of conduct would be an excellent idea. I've also been considering some of the more 'out there' deities to follow. Sune is the only CG god to have LG paladins, for example. That has some potential for fun.

Sounds fun. Conflicting obligations or temptation is pretty much the cornerstone of most paladin stories I think.