All-Paladin Party

Tieflings were generally evil before they became a core race.

But okay sure, what's a better example of a race that, if they strolled into a town, everyone would assume they were a horrible monster?

Lawfull Evil is truly the best alignment, i personally enjoy charismatic lawfull evil, not just charismatic but also not clearly evil from the outside.

You could probably run the same concept easier with something like Burning Wheel or Pendragon which can put more emphasis on the characters' personalities. Helps make sure that characters who are superficially similar are still mechanically distinct.

>Maybe one of the group is from a traditionally evil race, like tieflings?

This is canon in 4e PoL.

There's a tiefling paladin organization called the Crimson Legion, who are trying to take back their legacy from the devils. Mechanically, they have some feats that support Paladin/Warlock multiclassing, to represent stealing power and using it against their enemies.

Some really fun and diverse builds you can do there too. Paladin is a very leader-y defender, and warlock is a controller-y striker, so you basically got all roles covered.

Warcraft 3 my dude.

True they are in 3 but it was more of the poster child of 4e. Regardless. I would say 2e or 3.x

From a rp point. You could have them argue
>over script
>how zealous they are
>organization of the religion
>maybe diffrent LG gods

I would look at the history of the church and look at the internal conflicts they had.

I think a cool dynamic could be between a young and idealistic Paladin on his first mission together with an old jaded veteran who's doubting that their work is actually doing anything on the grand scale of things

youtube.com/watch?v=cj2HvGPv0XM

I bet your characters are also intelligent, nihilistic, and with a wicked sense of humor just like you.

It would basically be
youtube.com/watch?v=A8yjNbcKkNY

>implying edgy atheists dont play chaotic neutral

I simply enjoy playing badguys that are actually likeable characters and dont come off as obnoxious idiots that ruin the chemistry of the party.
When im playing an evil character i will roll lawfull evil and try to advance civilization, be a generaly nice guy and encourage the party.

It's the same question you tend to ask of every class, and I think if it can work with those, it can work with paladins.

Let's ignore for a moment that 5e has Oaths that allow different alignments. Even with a just LG party, you can have characters focusing on different aspects of a traditional paladin - one is more law aligned, the other is about great justice, a third cares most about what is overall good, a fourth really only cares about the heresy of undeath, and so on.

>and i usually hate his work
Why? Because some of his plots are simplistic? He writes kids' books, man. Damn good ones.

Read The Losers if you haven't yet.

I did a one shot consisting of a group of 4 level 13 paladins of different deities/archetypes assaulting Strahd's castle. Since Barovia is shrouded by a mist that prevents anyone unwanted from teleporting in, the party decided to enter an Apparatus of Kwalish, have their alchemist friend put runes of durability on it, and have a mage teleport the Apparatus (with the paladins in it) two kilometers above Castle Ravenloft. Above the influence of the mist, they just let gravity do the work.

They crash landed and purged the Castle one room at a time. It was hard since Strahd is a sneaky fuck and the castle is a deathtrap, but it's fun seeing my players wade through hordes of zombies with righteous fury.

The party ended up fighting Strahd, his mother (a lich) and his father (a death knight) among an army of lesser vampires and undead.
Strahd was cast down by the only (barely) conscious paladin using his last attack and dealing a crit with a level 5 divine smite.

The moral of the story is that Curse of Strahd is a fun module to play with overpowered paladins, since you turn the table on the hunters. And my players ended up playing as Grey Knights without even knowing anything about 40k.

Just go full Deus Vult and never stop

I don't have an imagination and would like some examples so my brain can pick up on some of the concepts or templates present in fiction brought about by someone elses instruction to teach me how to make this interesting.

Just run a tale like something from Authorian legend.

Role-play wise you have different interpretations of the religion, different backgrounds, different races.
Mechanically you can have one that uses mace and shield, one that uses a spear, and one that uses a longbow.
You can even bull-shit up some useful spells that require multiple paladins working together to do.

It would definitely be more interesting than paladin arguing with thief for the billionth time.

I think the problem user might have is that every story is basically the same. Not on a surface level, but in an Eragon is starwars level. Its basically always party forms around godlike being (normally hiding their power), looks for magical artefact, wins some unwinnable war via trickery, then uses artefact to win. Althalus, Belgariad, elenium, Tamuli, it is a little obvious. But I like the format so hey.

Pretty much all of the variations of the grail legend are this. Like, all of Arthur's knights are pretty upstanding guys (Lancelot notwithstanding) but there's a lot of clashing egos and fuckery going on. Plenty of dudes end up being tricked into fighting each other, or their chivalric ideals don't line up so they end up fighting

Plus, there's always a hierarchy of goodness - not all paladins are going to be as worthy of their title. Not everyone can be Galahad or Percival.

Why the fuck wouldn't it be possible? Do you think a party of four characters of some other class couldn't be interesting? If so, what the fuck makes paladins so different?

I think it's just because traditionally paladins are very locked into having to follow a very strict moral code, which I guess you could see as limiting. Like, a wizard or a fighter could be any alignment, so you'd have more interesting interactions I guess

In 4e at least it wouldn't be as bad as you'd think; paladins have strong enough secondaries roles that you could squeeze out a decent striker, vaguely competent controllers, and collectively you may have enough healing and support to equal one leader. I managed it in 4e game once, albeit most of the party were hybrid pallys. One straight paladin, a paladin|bard, paladin|ranger and paladin|warlock. It's also the one instance I've seen where a whole party recovered from a TPK with consecutive 20's on death saves. No one ever believes me, but I will never forget the day luck was on the side of the righteous.

It's paladin, cleric, avenger and invoker.

An all paladin party is called a crusade.

Oh it's possible even with traditional paladins. The problem is that a lost of people who played traditional paladins had this perceived idea that the early paladin moral code has to function in one specific way and that's the only way it works. Unfortunately that mentality has passed to every succeeding generation of players.

>Knight in Shining Armor Paladin.
>Human Male, Appearance and Charisma are main focus.
>Spends morning prep-time like a mage, preparing detail makeup, physical workout to stay fit, buys food from weird niche shops whenever available to maintain diet despite traveling around.
>Half his cut of the adventuring income budget goes right back out the door on armor polish, cosmetics, and high quality valet service for his Official Paladin Horse. Even if he's the sort to summon it magically he's got a deal with some good aligned nature spirits that take good care of it for him.
>Team is torn between knowing that he's on the level as a follower of the deity of Love and Beauty, but also thinks it may be a chicken/egg situation of whether his vanity pushed him toward the order or if the habits have made him too conscious of his appearance.
>Generous with his teachings, himself, and his amorous inclinations, but favors an ideal of love along the lines of Chaste and Pure, much to the chagrin of the single population in most towns he passes through.
>Likely to ask beg the party politely for money to give to more charities than would be sensible, is probably giving to less reputable causes at times out of faith that it will at least do some good.
>Always the first to charge into a situation, but usually the last one to charge into the muck and mire of adventuring messes if it can be avoided at all.
>Helps the local theater as a stage artist and makeup specialist.

>Smite and Cleave Paladin.
>Human Male, favors strength and fortitude.
>Eager to be in the field rather than handling delicate matters in civilized places. Never an outright loose canon, dedicated to law and order but favoring the simplicity of the laws outside the borders.
>Has an alarming wardrobe full of nothing but the same outfit of utilitarian, bland garb save for his holy symbols and arms and armor. Team always has to rent him an outfit for fancy occasions like not looking like a hired killer.
>Team acknowledges that he's always trying to do the right thing but is concerned about how quickly he resorts to violence when the situation has any call for it.
>Merciful to the disarmed, honorable to the code, but relentless to any who haven't surrendered or been clearly rendered "helpless" in conflict situations.
>Probably going to jump out the window if a fight starts in town. Just a thing he does. Will run outside, call mount and ride in to make sure he gets at least one.
>Will take any of the party members at their word, and is always willing to do a favor without holding back, even if he's uncomfortable with it personally as long as it doesn't conflict with The Code.
>The Life of the Party at the local guardsman watering hole, loves sharing stories with the local constabulary and keeps in touch with the Sharif whenever they're in town.

>Duty and Honor Paladin
>Silverbrow Human Female, Emphasis on cooperative efforts and teamwork.
>Technically an officer of the local Lord.
>Works with the Party for the most part to handle threats and dangers too great for many of the warriors at her command, sends them to act as protectors, patrols, messengers and informants as needs be.
>Team appreciates the resources she brings to the table, but even as a follower of the deity of Honor and Nobility, she comes across as a hard-ass. Everything by the book as much as possible, and if you don't like it you shouldn't have taken up the oath.
>Gives great advice in numerous fields. Is not always thanked for it and is slightly salty for this perceived slight when said advice was unasked for.
>Genuinely wants to help everyone with everything, likely to risk exhaustion via over extension. Warriors at her call have left service at times for being unable to cope with strenuous scheduling.
>Married to the job, no-fun allowed, KoSAP trying in vain to play wing-man at any official or noble social gatherings they're obliged to go to.

>Humble Sage Paladin
>Minotaur Male, remarkably perceptive and agile for his size.
>Made an oath to a diety of travelers in the middle of a storm he didn't expect to survive out at sea; if he should make port safely with the crew unharmed, he would watch over and protect others as he himself had clearly been mercifully protected.
>Does get the honor code of the other Paladins, though he's not as inundated with it as the others in his party. Much more down-to-earth; respects ideals without being an idealist.
>Pays special attention to waward vagabonds and lost travellers, gives the benefit of the doubt, but rarely caught off guard when his trust is proven wrong.
>Quick to lend a hand with the little things, best bro for a hand on a domestic project from house repairs to gardening.
>Knows maps and trade routes with astute accuracy, including seasonal variations and travel paths.
>Due to his size, he doesn't call on a normal mount very often, but if the party needs to go to sea several ships know his history and will give them free passage.

It is a party of 5 Paladins all under the same church. They all worshiping the god of Truth. BUT 2 of the Paladins are from a church group in the east, who have a "cure lies with the hammer" thing going, then another 2 are brothers from the western church of the same religion who try to preach honesty and help people repent through prayer, while the 5th one has some secret like being gay or having demon blood, but he lies about it really well.

I think you could do it in 4e. 1 Blackguard (Despite the name, you don't have to be evil. It's the striker variant of the Paladin), 1 Baladin (Str/Cha) for a pure defender and a Hospitaler (Cha/Wis. Really nice healing) covered 3/4 roles pretty well. The main thing would be coordinating your challenges/divine sanctions so you don't overule each other by accident.

Tiefling Paladins have some great mechanical support. Get them a flaming sword and you've got some real good divine vengeance going.

Goblin, Orc, Lizardfolk, Gnome, etc.

>The Paladin That The Party Needs to Vouch For.
>Tiefling Female, Favors quick response and judgement.
>Set to the straight and narrow after an early career of attempted brigand ended on account of a paladin of the deity of Justice.
>Relearned to sympathize with strangers to help motivate her in pursuit of villains and criminals, takes most "bounty" and extradition prospects very personally.
>S&CPal agrees with this idea, and the other three keep an eye out on the missions where in the adversary either needs to be taken alive or doesn't deserve the righteous wrath that might turn their way.
>Great at comforting the wounded and mourning folks they deal with; not a public face, but when the civies can deal with the horns and fangs or has worked with the party before, she's probably the best at inquiries and assurances.

Sword and board frontline
Reach vanguard
Party support buff/tank.
Agile damage dealer, high mobility in enclosed places (Party has mount mobility in open spaces).
Ranged javelin rear-line.

Each multiple fields, some overlap, some characterization, and with a decent party synergy result.

Why SHOULD their personalities clash?

They are practically all on the same page as far as motivation and belief so they were clearly brought together for a reason. Unlike the rag-tag team of misfits you have yourself a unit, a squadron, a platoon of elite warriors of god all seeking the same goal. Sure it might seem like a more linear story to have a unifying motivation rather than going off and finding the rogue's dead parents' grave then dealing with whatever wacky mischief the bard gets into then off to kill the BBEG, but that doesn't mean that there it would necessarily be more fun to do a bunch of sorta connected stuff rather than work towards a single goal from beginning to end (dealing with all the roadblocks that get in the way).

Basically you have a bunch of fighters that can bro out (in a religious way) and heal each other and purge evil and shit. If you do feel it is important to give everyone something to set them apart from each other then they were all given a particular holy weapon/armor/trinket that helps them heal/protect/fight better and sets them apart from the others and sets them up to fill a role in the party. Doing this also helps establish why Balendor was given the holy sword of xxx when the party was sent off on their special mission by the church/god.

Think Lyon's pride in Fallout 3, all members of the brotherhood of steel, same goals, elite squad that took on special missions to clear out evil in their land and eventually play a crucial role in saving the day.

I think trying to get through a typical adventure with only one character class would get pretty "interesting".

I've never actually played a paladin before, I've got a friend who's setting up a pathfinder game and I kind of want to give it a shot. The idea is to have a young paladin who comes from a long lineage of Bahamut worshippers, general personality is someone who is trying very hard to stay lawful good but is instinctively chaotic. Any tips on how to make them interesting?

First, if they are Paladins of different faiths, then yes. If they are all of the same faith then you need to have them face things that would challenge their faith. But if they are of different faiths you have to push role play harder, as the different gods usually are not of the same mind, even if they are all LG gods, some have views of varying spectrums. Some gods are ok with the mistreatment of women and children, as long as it serves the greater good, while a goddess that is seen as the protector of women and Paladin of her faith will be opposed to this so if a line is crossed it's inter party struggling, which if you and the players can handle can be fun.

you know where this ends up

That sounds really fun.