The (quintessential) paladin prestige class

[Sonofapreacherman]

...the CG code of conduct is different than the LG one, but it's no less strict.

Right away, this is where we differ in opinion. The essential code of any *chaotic* alignment is to never let anyone tell you who to be. You are an individual, defined by your own will and sense of decency/indecency, and not the stipulations of a culture, doctorate, or society (any institution that represents established laws). As codes of behavior go, the Lawful Good one is much more restrictive than the Chaotic Good one (hands down).

A Crusader will believe so strongly in Chaos that he'll actively try to "bring true freedom to the masses" (i.e., get rid of strict governments).

To buy into this I would also have to buy into Lawful Good paladins who are bent on bringing regulation and structure to any free-willed group of people, and... well, I don't.

Paladins are bent on opposing "oppression". Imposing laws on a free-willed group of people is just another form of oppression. Paladins are diplomatic enough to see the contradiction. A paladin might offer the protection of a law-abiding system to a group of free-willed people, but if those people reject it in favor of their own system (and continued their Chaotic Good ways), the paladin would have no problem accepting that (short of considering them misguided).

Look at Prestige Classes. In the DMG we have the Blackguard, which gives the special abilities of the Paladin to any Evil character.

To solve this problem I have restricted the blackguard prestige class to Chaotic Evil, and will be ramping up their powers to be comparable with my paladin prestige class.

I dislike adding tons of Prestige Classes in general, because people eventually find ways to munchkin their way through five or six of them to get all kinds of special abilities.

People say dungeon masters don't count in game balance issues. I say they do. If a dungeon master doesn't make gaining access to additional character classes and prestige classes difficult, requiring (at the very least) a planned/written back story leading up to it, then they aren't asserting the innate authority of their position. By creating your Barbarian/Bard/Ranger/Fighter/Psychic Warrior/Shadow Dancer/Blackguard/Assassin, you only encourage your characters to do the same.

You simply can't find a Blackguard with character level less than about 8, so in the core rules you don't have to worry about enemies with these abilities until you're high level, while they have to worry about Paladins from the start.

This is a nitpick, but a ranger could become a blackguard by 7th level. Secondly, with a paladin prestige class, while you wouldn't be worried about them from the start, if you did meet one at lower levels, you would KNOW that they were formidable and not to be trifled with. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. They would truly have presence, as I believe they should.

Oh well, I'm going on vacation so I won't be able to finish this debate. But hey, if you've got to this point and we still don't agree, then there's not much else to say.

Sure there is. Enjoy your vacation.