What celebrities would make the best paladins?

Not one I played but I had this idea for a silverquill oath of glory paladin who defeated his enemies with the power of sass and slam poetry

Love the stuff about radiant = radiation, I've been saying that for a while! Paladin's probably my favorite class, which has led to a) a Kratos-esque Vengeance Paladin who was constantly forced to decide between dedication to Athena or Ares (and also died and returned for some Hades Warlock multiclassing) b) my current Glory Paladin pirate who thirsts for adventure and c) my Conquest Paladin Aasimar who is essentially an angel of death that returns every couple centuries or so to set things right. Anyways, love your stuff, can't wait to see what's next!

I had a Paladin for the God of War in a Pathfinder game that had been killed after coming across a Dragon that ambushed him. His soul was restless since he was pissed his God failed to protect him in battle over a "cheap trick." In the afterlife he came across the Goddess of Death and realised she was actually a much more powerful, lawful and fastidious entity than his previous patron ever was. She struck a deal and brought him back to the land of the living but would only release him from her service if he were to succeed in carrying out an investigation of a group of chaos necromancers that were doing a bunch of undead magic shenanigans and trying to open a dimensional rift to allow a Lovecraftian-level God of Chaos into the continent. Failure to comply or abandonment of his quest meant his soul would immediately be returned to the Void. He came back as a Lawful Neutral character that my DM and I dubbed a "Grey Paladin" and while not undead (since the Goddess pulled his soul from the Void back into his body) he was unable to cast more "holier" magic and his Smite worked on any alignment *so long* as the enemy was Undead. He was also unconcerned by morality or the Code of Law aside from the strict code of conduct of the Goddess: mainly to not harm children or the elderly under no circumstances and to always root out necromancy or any magic that interfered with the natural cycle of life no matter the cost. This was also the reason why he could not do any healing magic. Was a fun character.

I gotta say, I love these “Better…” videos! Ever since I’ve seen them, it’s been a onslaught of inspiration. Thank you for these and please keep them coming! 🤘🏻🔥

Ricky Matsui from Dimension 20: The Unsleeping City is my favorite example of a godless Paladin. He's a NYC firefighter who gains his power from being just a golden retriever of a man

Currently I’m brainstorming using Oath of Conquest to make a pirate captain. Chaotic neutral that uses fear and intimidation to get the treasure without a fight.

This video actually gave me an idea for an "avatar paladin", where the paladin and the god share a closer relationship kind of like warlock and their patron. For this archetype the relationship between god and paladin is either symbiotic or parasitic, where the god (or fey, lich, devil, whatever you want) themselves for some reason requires a champion/vessel (perhaps because they're a minor god who needs a famous follower to gain power , or they're dying or are simply bored) and upon finding their subject they offer them an oath in exchange for their body, the paladin and the god now inhabit the same body or perhaps the god constantly appears in visions or dreams of the paladin itself, offering the paladin it's skills by influencing them with knowledge or taking over in combat to achieve their godlike goals and slowly as the paladin levels up the god will also grow in power. I could also see this working for a cleric or warlock build.

Paladin is an awesome class and I'm so glad you've reflavored them like this. I've always been a fan of sci-fi concepts in dnd fantasy, so I'm probably gonna make the radiation paladin

The Bride & Groom idea got me thinking. That's a very interesting concept.

Bride and Groom is interesting, because you could hypothetically be a paladin with a vow to protect a caster who helped them at some point, think Minsc and Daineira or whatever her name was

Awesome video! Would you do a part two, specifically about different kinds of oaths? Like the radioactive one is cool, and it explains the kind of power, but it isn’t a different kind of path per say. Also, I will always ask for Bloodhunter!

Awesome video. Now i want to play one.

I had an idea to make a paladin who’s patron saint/god is Cthulhu. Was told it was dumb but i think an eldritch paladin is a great idea

Paladin is my favorite class! I played a paladin to That literally drank religiously.

i love the radiation bit. i was playing around with that idea a bit for a character of mine because i want him to take crown of stars, but radiant doesn't really fit his motif. he's supposed to be a villain. but yeah, the reason i want crown of stars is because of blade of disaster. i want them to be companion spells for my character. you know, 2 forms of the same power kind of thing (flavored as the stars merging to form the blade)

I got a couple for this one The first is more of a call back to the days of alignments, but Pathfinder 2e's tenet system for good or evil champions leave much to work with for a paladin, but the key take away for it is the reaction each tenet gives. For instance, the paladin (Lawful good) gains a strike of retribution where if an ally is hurt they gain an Attack of Opportunity against the offending person if they're in reach (works because champions in Pathfinder don't gain AoO until 6th level or not at all depending on your choice); but the redeemer (neutral good) has reaction to force the offender to make a choice, not attack or attack and take damage (think the reaction spell Hellish rebuke). If you speak with your dm about flavoring your AoO like this and removing your AoOs otherwise, you have a lot of flavor potential. Another one I've done in the past is put a spin on the Oath of Conquest. The Oath of Revolution is a paladin who is always about the fight for the lesser person. If there is someone calling out in oppression against their government, the Oath of Revolution is there to pick up the sword, or torch, to help them fight. They rally the people inside an aura of courage so powerful the other side trembles in fear. Bonus points if the paladin has the performance skill and knows how to sing "Do you hear the people sing" from Les Miserables.

The backstory to my paladin I'm about to play. He used to be a LG Crown Paladin and then he was betrayed and dishonored and begins the campaign now as a NG Vengeance Paladin as he learns that being too strict to rules stopped him from acting.

I just started a Reborn Paladin who's chaotic god will not let him die because "What will the other gods think of me if I don't have a paladin?!! No, get back up; I'm not done with you yet." So trying to keep up the good fight.... again?... still?... because you're one of the good guys. But it's starting to be really REALLY hard to keep this smile on my face.

Great video. Personally I love the mechanical aspect of paladins mix of fighter/magic but not a fan of the holier-than-thou trope. Gave me some good ideas

Currently playing a Glory Paladin. Using Captain America and Winter Soldier as inspiration. Picking interception fighting style to keep companions alive.

That Presidential Paladin idea was amazing! I imagine the Paladin as the head of a company, group, system or whatever. He gets his power from the people beneath him in the ladder. Directly beneath him is his "cabinet" of high-level Clerics who in tun share a portion of their power in short-term contracts of entry-level employees/followers: Warlocks.

good job on these ones. back with the great ideas i see :3 love ya stuff bro

I love the battle mage, simply because its called the battle mage. Fun fact - Mages are my favorite class in media and games

I made a paladin warlock, that swore his oaths of vengeance to helm after his adopted sister was killed and helm made her his warlock patron, restoring an eye he lost in a battle and placeing his sisters soul in it. Also sense helm is described as a practical or down to earth protector deity he is allowing this character to do questionable acts in order to protect the innocent and destroy evil.

For the demo paladin you could mix silver powder into your gunpowder to explain the extra damage to undead and fiends

Great video! Can you make a quick or stealthy paladin?

Many years ago, when the world was a simpler place, there existed The Second Edition. And in this Edition, the Paladins were viewed as "hard" to play because of their adherence to Lawful Good. I sought to break the connection between Lawful Good and Lawful Stupid by making a Hitman Paladin. The priest that ran his order was the "Don", and his fellow Paladins were the "Wise Guys". Once you got to "name level" (9th), you were a "Made Man". But to get there, you had to rub out a few marks for the "Godfather" (your deity). It was a great build to showcase how far afield a Paladin could go.

I love the idea of a Paladin cultist with a conviction to an idea being so strong that it gives them powers. Their goal would be to convert people, but failing to do so doesn't mean their prospects have to die. At least not yet. They can be as evil as need be, or as goofy and relatively pure as Jester or anything in-between. Another great one is that they're a failed Bloodhunter, one who survived the potion or whatever process is supposed to make them better at hunting Celestials, Fey, Fiends and Undead, but the mutation within them was incomplete. This leans on your idea of someone who is dying, but their conviction is holding their frail shell together until it's too late. The very same thing can fit Bloodhunters as well, them being failed and dying paladins who give in to the darkness to protect others, their powers being used speeding up their inevitable end.

Honestly the only thing id wanted to get from paladins is smite. Like i wanna use divine smite but force damage for rangers, bladesingers, int-bards and maybe artificers. That being said, id love to try out the exemplar. I found a nice homebrew for warlock that its patron is a chivalric order. I heard pallocks are cool but id like a pallock where the exemplar not only serves their oath but also serves their order who in return gives the exemplar magic power and support (something that in dnd 2e alludes to paladins getting little if they are not dead first).

7:04 you literally describe Ghost Rider by saying "deal guilt damage" which is his Penance Stare power

For battle mage the channel divinity could be runes enscribed on their armor that go dark after they are used and they have to re-enscribe(duno if thats the right spelling/word) them during their short or long rest.

This video reminded me of my Kenku, Paladin. Eventhough he's technically the "Oath Breaker" subclass I've reflavored it to the "Oath of the Hexed". In his homeland the kind of magic that Oath Breakers gain access to is reveared and seen as the most heroic type of magic one can weild. Where as "divine" magic (classic Cleric and Paladin spells) is looked down on as the lowest form of magic, and those who weild it are descriminated against by the caster(s) being ostracized.

I once let a player rework the radiant damage to necrotic, and fiend/undead bonus damage to celestial/aberration the player was playing paladin that was the result of a botched restriction and a deal with a deity of life and death.

My character is definitely using that intro when we fight the bbeg in the campaign I’m participating

Subject 75 was a NE Warforged Oath of Conquest Paladin. Originally an Alchemist's Homunculus in a previous game, they had slowly been "upgraded" over the years until they reached their present form. A mixture of alchemical flesh and warforged machinery, she was essentially a "Frankenstein's monster." After running away from her creator, she used her own self-confidence in order to get stronger. Her "Smites" were essentially her activating her "overdrive" mode. Her "healing" was her utilizing the alchemical juices inside of her. She pushed herself to be the "best damn hero" out there, leading her to seek out stronger and stronger foes.

I've been planning an oath of vengeance paladin that is from an organization basically like the Brotherhood from the Assassin's Creed series. Each person in his family line has been a part of it and he is trained from birth to follow their precepts. The most "advanced" warriors are also making pacts with some entity--haven't figured out who/what--and becoming hexadins. Since Vengeance paladins are more of a "at any cost" they really make sense to me as the kind of paladins who would also make a pact with some higher force or whatever to achieve their goals, even at the cost of their own purity.

Planning a undead beholder Paladin of Lolth ( Spider Demon Goddess ). He has spider venom/fangs/webs/legs, has a siren song ability that charms and curses foes who hear it ( this is because of Lolth singing through my character ). Can make webbed zombies that explode into baby spiders, summon magical spiders. Maybe at higher levels can summon a yochlol demon or 2. All this on top of the classic beholder abilities. He typically fights with mage hands made from webs, can summon waves of undead hands like the ones from legend of Zelda or the crawling claws of dnd. This character I’m playing in our pirate campaign that is in the style of paper Mario

a paladin themed on the spectre having been resurrected from the dead as a spirit of vengeance! im p sure this has been done several times before :')

demolition paladin or oath of the black powder needs to be a playable subclass, their aura works like a smokescreen whereas their channel divinity gives them a speed burst like speeding projectile finally their final level ability could turn them into a one-man battalion or tank that shoots bolts of force damage that deals piercing damage or a shrapnel ability. Same for a radiation paladin, which would work in a magitech game or even an urban fantasy game where they are a superhero

coming back to paladin after watching the blood hunter as i had an idea for a character recently, i found a homebrew gunslinger type subclass for paladin based on the misfire firearm system called gunslinger of gilead, and it gave me an idea for a paladin who is a bounty hunter for a diety, in my case helm from the forgotten realms and guns are reflavored to be volitile experimental crossbows, might share later on in the comments some of my concepts for how the crossbows work if i get free time

Surprised that with the GL oath in the opening they weren't brought up as a flavour option. I suppose most of what the Lantern Corp do could be considered Force damage, rather than Radiant, but a Paladin that manifests their own feelings / emotions such as Hate, Greed, Fear, Willpower, Hope, Compassion, Love or Death (though I suppose you tangentially mentioned some of those, i.e. Love with the Bride + Groom idea) channelling it through a ring or other holy symbol seems like an easy one! They need to pray / recharge their lantern as it gets drained, and repent if they don't follow their faith or channel the wrong emotion

Don’t like the gunpowder idea. However, I 100% agree on the smite point. I hate when the class flavor and attack flavor don’t match.

Oath of the Spiral - their power comes from their BURNING FIGHTING SPIRIT!!

The Don Quixote: A normal person who believes they are a legendary knight so much they just become one.

Louisa from Encanto is an Exemplar Paladin.

I would love an idea of how to make conquest a little less evil.

I've played a scourge assimar redemption paladin. He follows the redemption oath to force himself not to go down the path of "burn it all down", while his celestial guardian is constantly trying to get him down the conquest path.

The way he said aura made me think of an "aura of ora ora" paladin spell

I'm having the BBEG of my very first campaign that is based in St Augustine, FL be Juan Ponce de Leon, who will be an Oath of Conquest Paladin multiclassing as a Chronurgist Wizard, using a combination of time magic and water from the fountain of youth to maintain his immortality in order craft his own earthly abomination god, in a similar fashion to Jedah Dohma from Darkstalkers, and wipe the entire state of Florida clean of life and unlife (there are lots of ghost stories and hauntings in actual St Augustine, so ghosts and the undead play a big role in my campaign) so that he can build a golden utopia of a state in its place.

So I originally made a half-orc Warlock, who was in a romantic relationship with their patron. He briefly left the party as he felt that the other members were turning to evil methods. After some trauma happened with the BBEG from a previous game mind-controlling them, the Warlock fell into a completely different world with no memory of their previous life. They then trained as a paladin once their patron lover returned some of his memories and he felt awful about some of the stuff the old BBEG made him to do. So in a way, my paladin falls under the bride and groom source of power and I love playing every moment with it.

I wanted to play a twist on Paladin, as my friend wanted to see me try one out. While he has his usual Crit+smite+ moments, I’m loving the rp of this little bastard. Recently made a deal with a hag so to escape getting soul trapped, and now he has a new tool to exact his oath to vengeance >:) Edit: Oath got autocorrected

here's an idea: the unwilling champion they're just a mundane human with nothing special going on, but for whatever reason, some deity has taken favor with them and periodically intervenes by injecting smites/auras/heals to the unwilling champion who just wants to live a simple farm life

What about a Paladin that swore an oath to save someone they loved or to bring back a loved one from the dead. Someone prepared to go to any lenght to find the knowledge and the means to acomplish their quest.

The battle mage paladin would be a pally multiclassed into runic fighter

nice

Radiation paladin = oathbreaker paladin. The "Radiation" makes ghouls from fallout.

My problem isn't making up the oaths and stuff, it's trying to explain HOW it gives them magic and the boomy stick

Once had an idea for a Oath of Conquest paladin who instead of a god he worships the act of War itself.

Black powder paladin makes me think of Demoman from Team Fortress 2.

I feel like Paladins are screwed over when it comes to Cantrips. They are a 1/2 Caster and don't get any Cantrips, but Eldritch Knight which is a 1/3 Caster get 2 at level 3 then another at level 10. I know Paladins don't rely on them, but there are a few Cleric Cantrips that would come in handy for Paladins such as Light, Thaumaturgy, and Spare The Dying. Paladins should get 2 Cantrips at 2nd level, 3 at 7th, and 4 at 14th.

Isnt lightning damage just wiggly radiant damage?

Some Paladin Ideas: The Avenger: You are the physical embodiment of nature itself. Flavor your armor and weapons as being nature-based. Choose a nature-based race such as Firbolg, Treeant, or Custom Lineage. Now choose Oath of The Ancients. You are the great guardian of Mother Nature. The Companion: You are accompanied by a small creature. This creature provides magical energy that powers your spells, smites, auras, Channel Divinity, and Lay on Hands. Rather than coming from your Oath, your power comes from this magical pet that you have with you at all times. Have Handle Animal as a skill proficiency. Any subclass will do. The Exuberant: This person is so excited that radiant power glows through their body. Unable to contain the light for long periods of time, they have to expel it. Upon running out of spell slots, they become tired. This could be an Oath of Devotion Paladin who is busy loving life. The Lover: You are in love! This could be with an NPC or Player Character. You are so much in love with this character that they bring out the best in you. This is not an Oath but a profound feeling that you carry with you at all times. This feeling guides you and emboldens you. Devotion or Heroism subclasses could work with this build. The Reaper: If the game master allows you to use necrotic damage instead of radiant damage for smites this could make for a really grim character. This is a necromancer clad in plate mail and a scythe (re-flavored greatsword). Their calling is to find and slay those who have evaded Death's Embrace. Each spell could be flavored as expelling necrotic energy. The auras could have a necrotic flavor too.

I have a paladin that is devoted the the goddess of ice. I think I am going to ask for his smites to do ice damage.

The medieval equivalent of black powder is black powder

atomic light paladin. in darkest day...

The Radioactive idea that's presented here is something that I have actually done some work on for a homebrew world idea that I have for a post-apocalyptic scenario. Here's what I can reveal about this in-house idea: ------------------------------------------------------- Subclass name: "Oath of the Atom" "Oath of the Atom" sample tenets: 1. Dedication and devotion to the unbiased truth, through scientific research. 2. Dedication and Devotion to scientific principles. 3. Dedication and Devotion to the advancement of humanity (or any other specific racial form of life, as appropriate), through the advancement of science. Oath abilities could include: A. Radiant damage, due to smite, could/would take the form of nuclear/atomic radiation. Such damage could inflict Poison damage that bypasses resistance (and possibly immunity). As to the Poisoned condition itself, such radiation could also bypass immunity to the poisoned condition itself, due to the nature of said radiation. B. Eventually, the Paladin could also impose levels of exhaustion, based on a failed save of some sort, when dealing smite damage. C. Possibly include abilities related to alpha, beta, gamma, and neutron radiation, that stem from such radiation. D. Depending on the flavor and theme, the Paladin could also, at later levels, become a walking atomic bomb as well. Likewise, the Paladin would have a limited/reduced lifespan, similar to a Juicer in the Rifts gameworld.

Wouldn't the medieval version of Gunpowder just be Gunpowder.

I took the examplar idea, Made by a god of order, law, peace and victory An conquest paladin aasimar birthed into the world with the idea that the only way to actually achieve the peace it was sent out to achieve is to conquer all kingdoms and rule them in their gods name. For if all kingdoms are ruled by one person, war will end.

Sword wth gun attached hilt?? You mean Gunblade's from FF8?? Look emm up for some nice ass art work. 😎💪💯

I reflavoured the Conquest Paladin as an insecure overachiever. The Oaths are simply a guy trying way to hard to accomplish a goal because doesn't want to be seen as useless. "Defeat the Goblin" becomes "Annihilate every Goblin RIGHT NOW". "Could you get me a snack?" becomes "I will cook you the greatest 7-course meal that has ever blessed your tongue!" It opened the Conquest Paladin to be a dorky people-pleaser - the exact opposite of the stereotypical edgelord.

Scourge Aasimar Paladin, reflavoured for radiation, someone who is not celestial, but a battery for radiation? :P The Aasimar aura that damages those around and the paladin themself is then leaking radiation? :P

I might need to barrow that into prayer.

Nice image there from Zoom

My go-to Paladin is not linked to gods at all. I find the probe to be overdone. Most of my Paladin's tend to just manifest magic through their willpower. They are Kindred Spirits to warlocks, but instead of getting their power from someone else they chose to turn their own soul into magic power.

I was tired of the Lawful Stupid Two handed brute paladin. So I made a paladin based on a Cassisian Angle from pathfinder they are kind of the Quasit of the Angle being able to they can form a winged helm that flies, a winged helm you can wear or even a boy wearing an oversized winged helm with the powers of an aasimar. So I made him found by an out cast Orc priestess of Luthic who was abandoned by her tribe. As a gift after Cass was healed she gave him a suit of honey brown Bear Hide Armor to protect over him Luther is know as the Mother Bear. When looked at the first people would see a 14 year old human in Bear Hide Leather Armor. Being so young and even more so baby faced he would use this to leave the armor in the room to "go play with the kids". This is how he would find out about a town little ears hear a lot. May of the towns folk would call him the teddy bear paladin until they saw his dex gladiator style of fighting bashing them down with his shields and then a stab. To those who say were his the honor in using stealth and knocking people prone he points out If they are not paying enough attention or not strong enough to stand before me they deserve it

A riff off Scott Pilgrim: a paladin who gets his powers from veganism. And won't shut up about veganism. 🤣

I love your videos but dude... Spoiler alerts are a virtue.