so! this is my second dnd character i have ever created (the first one was a wizard, much more simple to create..), and i think i got a bit too ambitious. this character was an oc of mine before i decided to put him into the dnd universe, so i'm already very set on his personality, backstory, ambitions, etc.,
he's not a good guy. all of his goals revolve around defending himself and feeding his own ego, so i was wondering, would i be able to make him a paladin whose oath is basically "do whatever it takes for the sake of self preservation"? and would his powers be able to come from an evil god (he himself is neutral evil) that he worships?
(also sidenote, i would've loved to make him an oathbreaker, but that ? costs money on here??? the different oaths you can choose are generally confusing and i plan to look more into them... if the above is something that is possible, please let me know which oath would work best with that !!)
i might be making myself sound like a complete idiot, but as i said, i'm very new to dnd. i've been researching my little heart out, but there's so much information that's just insanely hard to digest. i'd rather take the chance by asking here to get a more case-specific answer. thank you!!
edit: thank you so much to everyone in the replies helping me out!!! gonna be straight to the point here and say, unless you have some like.. super groundbreaking unique ideas for how i do this, i dont think i need any more input. i have a clear idea of how i want to write and play him now, so again thank you for all of the recommendations! this community is so welcoming <3
The best is to ask your DM what Oath he would allow for an evil Paladin. Some DM limit Oath or alignment.
If theorycrafting, then i would suggest Oathbreaker or Oath of Vengence for an evil Paladin. I play an evil Human Paladin of Bane in a FORGOTTEN REALMS campaign and it really like it.
thank you!! this character is honestly a backup after a very close encounter where i nearly died, so i probably won’t be asking about this unless i end up actually using him. thank you so much!!
what about with the backstory making him the heir of an order of paladins following an evil god with the rule to keep the order alive against all costs, and the order is destroyed by other paladins
You can certainly make almost any Paladin Oath fit into an Evil Alignment Character. The thing about Paladins in 5e is that they are defined by the Tenets of their Oaths, and their interpretation of it. And with a little tweaking to the interpretations you, and your DM, can make a good fit (Redemption might be a tad difficult, but not impossible).
Off course, some Oaths are easier to fit into what an Evil character is: Vengeance (gone wrong), Oathbreaker (the "Evil" subclass in the DMG, that went against their oath) and Conquest, or even Glory for a selfish kind of character with Egos of Grandeur.
Think how your character would protect themselves what "by any means" would they use:
I think the three that fit best are:
Oathbreaker: via Necromancy, using undead to help them possibly with the untimate end of being immortal for example by becoming a lich
Conquest: Crush all opposition so none are able to stand against you (and kill you)
Glory: A vane character wanting to survive through history recording his epic acts (and twisting events to he gets all the credit)
Other paladins can be evil (especially vengence) though I don't think they fit your concept.
As others have said spek to your DM, it isn't just that some have ideas about paladins, having an evil character can cause issues, some will rule them out, if you do play an evil character you need to do so in a way they you can work with the rest of the group.
If you act in a way that harms the rest of the group (say you use your lay on hands to top up your hit points while another party member is making death saves) because it is "what my character would do" the characters you are adventuring not want to adventure with you and would leave you on your own (or kill you). Unless the rest of the group share your evil desires (or at least are willing to tolerate them) you will need to hide your true motives from them. In any case your actions need to be such that the rest of the group want ot stay with you.
A note about oathbreaker. It was published in the Dungeon Master Guide so its main use is for NPCs, although it is optional to be allowed for a player for whom "Whatever light burned in the paladin’s heart has been extinguished. Only darkness remains.". One feature in particular increases the damage of fiends and undead near you even if they are fighting you and your party, the rest of the players might not like this when it comes up.
Is this going to be an obviously despicable character the other PCs will hate or are you going to do the NE narcissist type (think Parker Posey's character from lost in space) who tries to hide evil acts (and keeps a tally of all the good things she does)? She actually will do good things if there is no risk to her and it may help her later like saving an unconscious injured engineer. There were a few characters like that in my current SJ game (one ran off with our smaller ship and quit the game, one died, and one is making pretend his is a good-aligned cleric (he was formerly the one who ran off). The one who ran off was selfish and miserly but the three of them didn't do overtly evil things.
he pretends to be a good, kind, social, etc. person for the sake of keeping up appearances and making people like him. the best character example i can think of would have to be alejandro from the total drama series, where he's friendly and almost seductive enough that people gloss over the questionable things he does.
i can also definitely see him eventually growing closer to the group and not wanting to betray them because my current character (the one he would replace if she dies) is his daughter/adoptive sister (very complicated, it's best if i don't elaborate).
the rest of the party will most definitely get the hint that he's not the greatest guy (backstory lore drops, the way he treats npcs, the way he speaks of my current character, his family, and especially himself, etc.), but i wouldn't plan on him being outwardly cruel and an inconvenience for them unless it's absolutely necessary
oh dont worry, i would rather quit dnd entirely than become one of those "b-but it's in-character!!!" people HAHA even tho my guy is an absolute jerk, i want to benefit the party and work towards our goal. thank you so much for the oath recommendations!!!
so! this is my second dnd character i have ever created (the first one was a wizard, much more simple to create..), and i think i got a bit too ambitious. this character was an oc of mine before i decided to put him into the dnd universe, so i'm already very set on his personality, backstory, ambitions, etc.,
he's not a good guy. all of his goals revolve around defending himself and feeding his own ego, so i was wondering, would i be able to make him a paladin whose oath is basically "do whatever it takes for the sake of self preservation"? and would his powers be able to come from an evil god (he himself is neutral evil) that he worships?
(also sidenote, i would've loved to make him an oathbreaker, but that ? costs money on here??? the different oaths you can choose are generally confusing and i plan to look more into them... if the above is something that is possible, please let me know which oath would work best with that !!)
i might be making myself sound like a complete idiot, but as i said, i'm very new to dnd. i've been researching my little heart out, but there's so much information that's just insanely hard to digest. i'd rather take the chance by asking here to get a more case-specific answer. thank you!!
edit: thank you so much to everyone in the replies helping me out!!! gonna be straight to the point here and say, unless you have some like.. super groundbreaking unique ideas for how i do this, i dont think i need any more input. i have a clear idea of how i want to write and play him now, so again thank you for all of the recommendations! this community is so welcoming <3
The best is to ask your DM what Oath he would allow for an evil Paladin. Some DM limit Oath or alignment.
If theorycrafting, then i would suggest Oathbreaker or Oath of Vengence for an evil Paladin. I play an evil Human Paladin of Bane in a FORGOTTEN REALMS campaign and it really like it.
thank you!! this character is honestly a backup after a very close encounter where i nearly died, so i probably won’t be asking about this unless i end up actually using him. thank you so much!!
ooo oath of vengeance could be interesting … thank you so much!
what about with the backstory making him the heir of an order of paladins following an evil god with the rule to keep the order alive against all costs, and the order is destroyed by other paladins
Whatever floats your boat as we say!
You can certainly make almost any Paladin Oath fit into an Evil Alignment Character. The thing about Paladins in 5e is that they are defined by the Tenets of their Oaths, and their interpretation of it. And with a little tweaking to the interpretations you, and your DM, can make a good fit (Redemption might be a tad difficult, but not impossible).
Off course, some Oaths are easier to fit into what an Evil character is: Vengeance (gone wrong), Oathbreaker (the "Evil" subclass in the DMG, that went against their oath) and Conquest, or even Glory for a selfish kind of character with Egos of Grandeur.
Think how your character would protect themselves what "by any means" would they use:
I think the three that fit best are:
Other paladins can be evil (especially vengence) though I don't think they fit your concept.
As others have said spek to your DM, it isn't just that some have ideas about paladins, having an evil character can cause issues, some will rule them out, if you do play an evil character you need to do so in a way they you can work with the rest of the group.
If you act in a way that harms the rest of the group (say you use your lay on hands to top up your hit points while another party member is making death saves) because it is "what my character would do" the characters you are adventuring not want to adventure with you and would leave you on your own (or kill you). Unless the rest of the group share your evil desires (or at least are willing to tolerate them) you will need to hide your true motives from them. In any case your actions need to be such that the rest of the group want ot stay with you.
A note about oathbreaker. It was published in the Dungeon Master Guide so its main use is for NPCs, although it is optional to be allowed for a player for whom "Whatever light burned in the paladin’s heart has been extinguished. Only darkness remains.". One feature in particular increases the damage of fiends and undead near you even if they are fighting you and your party, the rest of the players might not like this when it comes up.
This sounds like an oath of glory paladin with a particular emphasis of you and a de-emphasis of your companions.
Is this going to be an obviously despicable character the other PCs will hate or are you going to do the NE narcissist type (think Parker Posey's character from lost in space) who tries to hide evil acts (and keeps a tally of all the good things she does)? She actually will do good things if there is no risk to her and it may help her later like saving an unconscious injured engineer. There were a few characters like that in my current SJ game (one ran off with our smaller ship and quit the game, one died, and one is making pretend his is a good-aligned cleric (he was formerly the one who ran off). The one who ran off was selfish and miserly but the three of them didn't do overtly evil things.
Food, Scifi/fantasy, anime, DND 5E/RPG geek.
he pretends to be a good, kind, social, etc. person for the sake of keeping up appearances and making people like him. the best character example i can think of would have to be alejandro from the total drama series, where he's friendly and almost seductive enough that people gloss over the questionable things he does.
i can also definitely see him eventually growing closer to the group and not wanting to betray them because my current character (the one he would replace if she dies) is his daughter/adoptive sister (very complicated, it's best if i don't elaborate).
the rest of the party will most definitely get the hint that he's not the greatest guy (backstory lore drops, the way he treats npcs, the way he speaks of my current character, his family, and especially himself, etc.), but i wouldn't plan on him being outwardly cruel and an inconvenience for them unless it's absolutely necessary
oh dont worry, i would rather quit dnd entirely than become one of those "b-but it's in-character!!!" people HAHA even tho my guy is an absolute jerk, i want to benefit the party and work towards our goal. thank you so much for the oath recommendations!!!
Option 1: Warlock/Rogue dip
Option 2: Oath of vengeance/conquest/oathbraker
DM: “Who’s your patron?”
Warlock: “Ummm”
DM: “Hurry Up”
Warlock: “yOu”
*All other players look at each other with utter fear*
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