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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spatzimaus" data-source="post: 281756" data-attributes="member: 3051">Sonofapreacherman, I had run into the same situation as you; people became Paladins for the cool abilities but never really came close to following the codes of conduct.Ironically I did the exact opposite as a solution.  Here's what my friends and I came up with.  Feel free to use whatever you want.Instead of making Paladin a Prestige Class, make it a more open core class and in the process remove a few of the Prestige Classes made for them.  Effectively this involves making four separate subclasses.PALADIN> A Paladin is a special type of holy warrior: the epitome of an extreme philosophy, granted divine power by a deity who exemplifies that extreme.  Paladins can have one of four alignments, and their title will reflect which one they choose: Guardian (LG), Blackguard (LE), Crusader (CG), or Shadow Knight (CE).  Each has a code of conduct related to this alignment.  Any rules for ?Paladins? apply to all four variants, unless specified otherwise.> Paladins are no longer immune to disease, can remove disease, etc.  Instead, they choose one Domain of their patron deity and gain the Granted Power of that Domain.  (I added the Purification domain that gave them the disease abilities back if they want them)> Class abilities are as appropriate: the good ones get Smite Evil, the evil ones get Smite Good.  Lawful ones get Aura of Courage, Chaotic ones get Aura of Despair (see Blackguard in DMG).  Instead of Lay Hands, the evil ones get the negative-energy Harm Touch.> When you reach the appropriate level you may choose to summon a Companion or Mount (two separate tables of abilities); these are magical creatures that take on a mundane appearance.  In general, Mounts are big and can carry you, while Companions are smaller but have more special abilities.  By default the LG and CE Paladins take a Mount while the CG and LE take a Companion.> The spell list completes all the usual sets; good Paladins can get Bless, Holy Sword, etc. while evil get Bane, Unholy Sword, etc.  "Heal Mount" works whether you're good or evil, and works on Mounts or Companions despite the name.> Good Paladins can use positive energy, casting Cure spells, turning undead, etc., while Evil Paladins use negative energy (Inflict spells, rebuke undead).End result, if you want to be an Evil divine warrior you don't need to do the "Fallen Paladin Blackguard" route or try to compensate with a Fighter/Cleric hybrid.  If you want to follow a more chaotic code of conduct, you could do that too.</blockquote>

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