What do you do if you make a paladin and you roll, say, a 4.

[reanjr]

Seems like the obvious choice is Int. It's the only ability score that Paladins don't really utilize all that much. The skill hit sucks, but it's not really THAT big of a deal. You still have enough points to max out Ride and that's what's important.

Contrary to what you say, I think Dex is another possibility. The -3 to AC is bad, but Paladins tend to have high ACs anyway. As long as you keep the high Con, you should be able to handle it without too much difficulty.

Wis is right out. If you don't expect the campaign to last very long, perhaps, but in the long run, having that low Wisdom would be terrible. Paladins get some pretty good spells.

Role-playing wise, I think it would be quite fun to play a dullard or extremely clumsy paladin.

 

[Particle_Man]

Int, definitely. You as a human paladin get 2 skill points/level because of the human bonus, so you can max out diplomacy and ride (or max out ride and split up diplomacy and knowledge (religion).

Since your wisdom would be ok, you would at least *know* you are dumb. Roleplay that you are willing to listen to your party and take their advice (this works especially well if a cleric of your deity is in the party). With charisma and diplomacy, you can do this all in a friendly manner.

Mechanically, it is the only safe choice. And it can be a fun roleplaying experience if you run with it. You don't get to come up with the brilliant tactical plans, but you can obey others in that, like a good soldier.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

For me, there are 2 options.

Option #1: Put the 4 in Intelligence. There's already a great archetype for this- Dudley Doright of the RCMP. I've played PCs only marginally smarter than this- it can be quite fun.

And you can still outsmart your dog if its an Irish Setter. OTOH, if you get a Border Collie, he'll call the shots- possibly for the better!

Option #2: Put the 4 in Dexterity. He's FAT. I mean, can't see his belt-dagger when in armor, his horse hates him, he has his own pew in the Church, 450lbs naked fat...just don't tell him that to his face while he's doing his oversized (& Monkey-Gripped) Maul practice.

 

[darthkilmor]

Put it in Str, Play a Gully Dwarf , use a sewer grate as a shield, and wield a kitchen knife.

Then when you get killed by a housecat, roll up a new character

 

[wayne62682]

Honestly? I'd scrap the character completely and re-roll again if the DM won't let me re-roll or whatever. Then I would explain the virtues of point buy and how it avoids situations like this.

Seriously.. I scrap any character with a stat (even one!) less than 8, and I usually try to beg/plead/con my way into a re-roll if I have anything less than a 10. But then again I prefer to use point buy (either as per the DMG or using a 1-for-1 base) so that situation rarely, if ever, comes up IME

 

[Arnwyn]

If you are rolling you have a weird way of rolling.

How so?

 

[LostSoul]

Int.

Then describe the guy as some kind of half-human, half-monster hybrid thing. Don't worry about the game effects of that, it's just for description. (Or another way of looking at it: whatever your stats are, that's what the stats of this half-human monster thing is.)

 

[Lamoni]

How so?

Well, anyone who is smart will roll 3 dice and lay the 4th die down as a 6. Voila! Your minimum score is now an 8. Problem solved.

 

[Quartz]

Int's the best choice. Remember that as a human you get a minimum of 2 skill points per level. Pick Ride and one other.

But Str runs it close, if your GM will let you multiclass to Rogue. Pick Weapon Finesse, so you use Dex instead of Str then take 2 levels of Rogue to get Evasion, then back to Paladin.

 

[airwalkrr]

Replying to OP...

I wouldn't make the foregone conclusion that Str and Dex are out. Unfortunately, Con is tied so closely to survival in D&D that it is virtually impossible to get along without at least a 10. If you choose Dex, as some have pointed out, it really isn't that bad. Your AC will be a few points lower than most, but eventually, you will be able to afford gloves of Dex +6 and it won't be a problem, especially if you go for heavy armor like stone plate that doesn't let you benefit from a Dex mod.

Even Str is doable. If you choose weapon finesse, then opt to go with a weapon like the rapier, then you will still hit fairly regularly. And once you are capable of casting divine sacrifice (I believe that is the name) you can boost your damage to compensate for the negative Str modifier.

Don't listen to those who say paladin spells aren't worth much. However there is an alternative if you really can't fathom ditching Str, Dex, or Int. See if your DM will allow you to use the variant paladin from the Complete Warrior which gives you special abilities instead of spells. Then you can dump Wisdom without worrying about the spells.