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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 3128613" data-attributes="member: 3146">It looks like there are two questions in the intro:What role to fill in the party?andHow to build your paladin to fill it?For the first, it looks like your party is short on two things:1. There is no dedicated healer (though I think Shugenja get some healing spells--the earth shugenja in the minis game gets cure moderate wounds).2. There is only one other stand up fighter and at least three other characters who need someone to keep the bad guys off their backs.So, it looks like the best role to fill in the group is a blocker/backstop to keep the bad guys off the casters and the archer and to give the rogue a second flanking buddy and, at the same time be prepared to step in with healing when needed (which will be fairly often).Now, on to question 2:The limited healing in your group suggests a defensively oriented build that makes sure to pack enough of a punch that your enemies can't ignore you and go after the squishies in the back. Sword and shield is a good way to go this.So, stats. Others have pointed out that paladins need quite a few stats and I think correctly identified the priorities: strength and charisma, con, then wisdom, then dex, and finally int. If you're on 28 point buy, I would recommend:Str 14, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 15Ordinarily, I would probably focus on strength rather than charisma, but you need to be able to crank out the lay on hands, so I left charisma with the odd point to boost.Now, equipment. You are going to cover your relatively low dexterity with the heaviest armor you can afford. Splint mail when you start, moving on to fullplate as soon as you can afford it. You'll also want a heavy shield. For a weapon, you've got four solid choices:A. LongswordB. Battle AxeC. WarhammerD. ScimitarThe first three are mechanically similar. D8 damage and a crit that adds 10% to your damage total (assuming a 100% confirmation rate). The scimitar is also a solid choice though. As a paladin, you should be getting a lot of bonuses on your damage--strength, divine might, smite evil, etc, so the extra damage increase from criticals can really add up.Eventually, you'll want to get a cloak of charisma, vest of resistance, magic weapon, armor, and shield, an amulet of health, an ioun stone for wisdom, possibly gloves of dexterity (+6 if you get mithral fullplate); if you have the opportunity, armbands of might would be a great choice too.Finally, the feats. There are quite a few solid lineups, but this is what I would probably do:1. Power Attack, St. Cuthbert's Smite*3. Extra Smiting6. Divine Might9. Extra Smiting (or improved critical if you went with the scimitar)*From Dragon Magazine--changes smite evil to smite evil or chaos and gives one extra smite per day.I like the smite evil ability <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Another solid lineup:1. Shield Specialization, Power Attack3. Extra Smiting6. Divine Might9. Shield WardOne that is good but probably won't work too well for you since it depends upon moving and your party will need you to stand still (and between them and the bad guys)1. Power Attack, Mounted Combat3. Ride By Attack6. Spirited Charge9. Divine MightNow, on to skills, odds are good you'll only be getting three skill points per level, so what should you spend them on.1. You'll want some ride. Ideally, you should be able to get a DC 10 ride check on a roll of a 1 so you can always fight with your mount when you get one. Even if you don't have the mounted combat feats, the added mobility and firepower provided by a mount will come in handy and even double damage lance charges are sweet (especially with smite and divine might).2. Sense Motive. You do want to stay a paladin right? <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> It's also a very useful skill. If people have difficulty lying to you, then you can better weigh your options. Plus, 5 ranks give you a synergy with diplomacy3. Diplomacy. Making friends and influencing people is useful since you won't be going behind their back all the time. Talking the owner into letting you investigate his shop beats breaking in the back door... if you're a paladin.4. Knowledge: Religion. You should know at least the basics of your faith. This is probably a good skill to split with ride if you don't plan on focussing your character on mounted combat.</blockquote>

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