So, I am a level 5 rogue/thief Aarakocra with the criminal background and I wanna multiclass paladin. I think it would be more interesting playing a rogue/paladin (also the sneak attack plus smite) but i dont know how to roleplay me becoming a paladin. Any advice?
Nobody here can really give you any insight into this because we do not know anything about your character's actual history. This may be a discussion to have with your DM, and perhaps the two of you can come up with something that makes sense.
You come from a criminal background, and you have chosen to learn the ways of the Paladin class so you roleplay yourself finding a temple that teaches people how to be Paladins, and you learn how. Now you set out to do all the neat things that Paladins can do, combined with our own Rogue talents. As long as you follow your Oath, all is well. The only problem with such a character is that they will either need to give up their Criminal Contact, or play as a Spy. In any case, ask the DM first, because you're going to get in trouble with the people you were committing crimes with in the first place and the DM might not want to deal with that.
Conquest - this is all about law and order, but a bit on the evil side. I don't really see a Rogue going this way
Devotion - your classic Paladin. Honesty is your prime virtue, so no lying, stealing or sneaking. Next...
Glory - now here's something... you're destined to achieve glory. You want to be a big damn hero... what happened to get you out of the shadows?
Redemption - another tough one for a Rogue. I don't see it.
Ancients - Are you an elf? Into nature?
Crown - Now this could work... but you'd need to come up with a reason to support the city you were a criminal in, or a royal family, or something like that. Again, what made you change from a parasite on the back of a nation to someone using what you know to save it?
Open Sea - feel like being a pirate? This could work easily if the city you grew up in was a port city, but your dm needs to be doing a nautical themed campaign for it to really shine...
Watchers - did you run into an issue with an aberration, celestial, elemental, fey, or fiend? Maybe a Mind Flayer incursion took out your one true love, and you've sworn to destroy them all and protect the world to ensure it doesn't happen again...
Which leads to...
Vengeance. Way to go... combine this with Rogue, and you're Batman. This is most likely the way I would go, but that's me. Vow of Enmity and Sneak Attack were made for each other. You should always be yourself, unless you can be Batman.
Just remember you can’t smite with ranged attacks, and you need a finesse weapon to sneak attack. So I’d say make sure you enjoy your rapier if you want to do both.
So, I am a level 5 rogue/thief Aarakocra with the criminal background and I wanna multiclass paladin. I think it would be more interesting playing a rogue/paladin (also the sneak attack plus smite) but i dont know how to roleplay me becoming a paladin. Any advice?
I can only speak for myself as a DM, but if a player came to me asking to do this and was serious about the RP aspect of it, here's what we'd talk about:
1) Why does your character want to become a paladin?
- "sneak attack plus smite would be cool" is not a valid answer for your character. A paladin is, at its core, someone who has dedicated themselves completely to a cause. You're (eventually) taking an oath, not just pinky-swearing you'll be good from now on. So what would happen to your character to make them take that drastic a step in their lives? Perhaps they made a decision that went really badly for them/the party, so they think becoming a paladin will take that responsibility off their hands -- just so long as they stick to that oath, it's not their fault if Bad Things Happen Again. Perhaps they were always a believer in that god or cause, but something happens to stoke the fervor of that belief. Have they just had enough of the roguish life/made a huge enemy in the Thieves Guild and are looking for new allies and sanctuary?
2) Why would the paladin order take you?
This is coming at the first question from another angle. OK, so you want to be a paladin -- why would the paladins trust a thief, and take them in? zone of truth is a paladin spell, and in that circumstance you best believe they'd be using it on the new wannabe recruit knocking at their door. Even if you're honest with your answers, your past actions might brand you as unworthy or unsuitable. That alone might guide which Oath you could even take, if you get to that third level. Also, would they put additional conditions/penalties on you if you break your oath, as insurance? The days of "oops, you violated your alignment, lose all your paladin powers until you complete Epic Redemption Quest VI: The Pirates of Penance" are gone, but if you do fall back into your old ways and break your new oaths, will you suddenly have a bunch of pissed-off paladins after you?
For that matter, what is your alignment (if your campaign uses alignment)? Does it fit with the idea of being bound by an oath?
3) How committed are you to the new class?
Some multi-classes fit well together. A fighter taking a dip into wizard or sorcerer doesn't radically change their role in the party, it just gives them a few new tricks in battle. A monk adding some cleric or druid levels to their resume might only involve a slight tweak in their outlook on life. Rogue to paladin? It's pretty much the opposite end of that spectrum. Are you going to start wearing armor that give you disadvantage on stealth checks? If not, what sort of paladin are you? You probably won't be on the front lines of battle, proudly proving the righteousness of your cause with your steel -- and if you're planning to just continue playing a rogue style, with a few new tricks, I would refer you back to question 2. There's no reason for a paladin order to teach you those tricks.... unless you're putting them to extremely good use, or the situation is extremely dire.
4) The time factor
Some classes are seemingly made for multiclassing. A sorcerer's power can just kind of appear one day. A warlock just needs to sign on the dotted line, metaphorical or otherwise, and boom -- you get warlock powers. You could finesse a druid's powers as coming from being Favored of Nature or something, especially if Circles in the campaign world aren't tightly organized. With a paladin, it can be a little trickier to manage that kind of quick flip (although there is one Critically famous example of a character just becoming a paladin overnight with some divine assistance -- even then though, there was a lot of RP leading them down that path first). Especially if there's an actual Order involved, and not just a collection of aphorisms you came up with yourself to make an Order of One, you will probably need a big stretch of downtime in which to be tested and trained before you could come back as a paladin.
That's just off the top of my head. Other things would probably occur to me as the conversation progressed.
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Agreed you need to concentrate on why your character will become a paladin.
One possibility is they have a" I saw the light" Moment. They see the errors of their ways and repent of their criminality. The thief sub class fits very well for those who sneak around for any purpose, you could want to recover stolen items to return them to their rightful owners, or at least prevent them being used for evil. This could fit most subclasses but redemption and devotion are the most obvious ones.
If you're doing it to get Smites, then just sticking with Rogue will give you more overall damage output over a lengthy period of time than Smiting will, as you'll get your higher damage Sneak Attacks earlier. 2d8 damage on a smite is 9 (2d8) damage, an extra die on Sneak attack is 1d6 (3) damage. It takes 3 higher level Sneak attacks to equal 1 Smite, so if you expect to make more than 6 attack rolls between long rests, getting to better Sneak Attack faster is consistently more damage in the long run.
But if you're doing it because you want to become a Paladin, then Bishop69 has the right of it: what oath are you going to swear? What is your drive? Paladins are basically fanatics who believe in one ideal so strongly that it manifests as divine power. I wouldn't advise going into Paladin if your character doesn't have an obsessive commitment.
So, I am a level 5 rogue/thief Aarakocra with the criminal background and I wanna multiclass paladin. I think it would be more interesting playing a rogue/paladin (also the sneak attack plus smite) but i dont know how to roleplay me becoming a paladin. Any advice?
Nobody here can really give you any insight into this because we do not know anything about your character's actual history. This may be a discussion to have with your DM, and perhaps the two of you can come up with something that makes sense.
You come from a criminal background, and you have chosen to learn the ways of the Paladin class so you roleplay yourself finding a temple that teaches people how to be Paladins, and you learn how. Now you set out to do all the neat things that Paladins can do, combined with our own Rogue talents. As long as you follow your Oath, all is well. The only problem with such a character is that they will either need to give up their Criminal Contact, or play as a Spy. In any case, ask the DM first, because you're going to get in trouble with the people you were committing crimes with in the first place and the DM might not want to deal with that.
<Insert clever signature here>
Honestly, it's going to be all about your Oath -
Conquest - this is all about law and order, but a bit on the evil side. I don't really see a Rogue going this way
Devotion - your classic Paladin. Honesty is your prime virtue, so no lying, stealing or sneaking. Next...
Glory - now here's something... you're destined to achieve glory. You want to be a big damn hero... what happened to get you out of the shadows?
Redemption - another tough one for a Rogue. I don't see it.
Ancients - Are you an elf? Into nature?
Crown - Now this could work... but you'd need to come up with a reason to support the city you were a criminal in, or a royal family, or something like that. Again, what made you change from a parasite on the back of a nation to someone using what you know to save it?
Open Sea - feel like being a pirate? This could work easily if the city you grew up in was a port city, but your dm needs to be doing a nautical themed campaign for it to really shine...
Watchers - did you run into an issue with an aberration, celestial, elemental, fey, or fiend? Maybe a Mind Flayer incursion took out your one true love, and you've sworn to destroy them all and protect the world to ensure it doesn't happen again...
Which leads to...
Vengeance. Way to go... combine this with Rogue, and you're Batman. This is most likely the way I would go, but that's me. Vow of Enmity and Sneak Attack were made for each other. You should always be yourself, unless you can be Batman.
Just remember you can’t smite with ranged attacks, and you need a finesse weapon to sneak attack. So I’d say make sure you enjoy your rapier if you want to do both.
I can only speak for myself as a DM, but if a player came to me asking to do this and was serious about the RP aspect of it, here's what we'd talk about:
1) Why does your character want to become a paladin?
- "sneak attack plus smite would be cool" is not a valid answer for your character. A paladin is, at its core, someone who has dedicated themselves completely to a cause. You're (eventually) taking an oath, not just pinky-swearing you'll be good from now on. So what would happen to your character to make them take that drastic a step in their lives? Perhaps they made a decision that went really badly for them/the party, so they think becoming a paladin will take that responsibility off their hands -- just so long as they stick to that oath, it's not their fault if Bad Things Happen Again. Perhaps they were always a believer in that god or cause, but something happens to stoke the fervor of that belief. Have they just had enough of the roguish life/made a huge enemy in the Thieves Guild and are looking for new allies and sanctuary?
2) Why would the paladin order take you?
This is coming at the first question from another angle. OK, so you want to be a paladin -- why would the paladins trust a thief, and take them in? zone of truth is a paladin spell, and in that circumstance you best believe they'd be using it on the new wannabe recruit knocking at their door. Even if you're honest with your answers, your past actions might brand you as unworthy or unsuitable. That alone might guide which Oath you could even take, if you get to that third level. Also, would they put additional conditions/penalties on you if you break your oath, as insurance? The days of "oops, you violated your alignment, lose all your paladin powers until you complete Epic Redemption Quest VI: The Pirates of Penance" are gone, but if you do fall back into your old ways and break your new oaths, will you suddenly have a bunch of pissed-off paladins after you?
For that matter, what is your alignment (if your campaign uses alignment)? Does it fit with the idea of being bound by an oath?
3) How committed are you to the new class?
Some multi-classes fit well together. A fighter taking a dip into wizard or sorcerer doesn't radically change their role in the party, it just gives them a few new tricks in battle. A monk adding some cleric or druid levels to their resume might only involve a slight tweak in their outlook on life. Rogue to paladin? It's pretty much the opposite end of that spectrum. Are you going to start wearing armor that give you disadvantage on stealth checks? If not, what sort of paladin are you? You probably won't be on the front lines of battle, proudly proving the righteousness of your cause with your steel -- and if you're planning to just continue playing a rogue style, with a few new tricks, I would refer you back to question 2. There's no reason for a paladin order to teach you those tricks.... unless you're putting them to extremely good use, or the situation is extremely dire.
4) The time factor
Some classes are seemingly made for multiclassing. A sorcerer's power can just kind of appear one day. A warlock just needs to sign on the dotted line, metaphorical or otherwise, and boom -- you get warlock powers. You could finesse a druid's powers as coming from being Favored of Nature or something, especially if Circles in the campaign world aren't tightly organized. With a paladin, it can be a little trickier to manage that kind of quick flip (although there is one Critically famous example of a character just becoming a paladin overnight with some divine assistance -- even then though, there was a lot of RP leading them down that path first). Especially if there's an actual Order involved, and not just a collection of aphorisms you came up with yourself to make an Order of One, you will probably need a big stretch of downtime in which to be tested and trained before you could come back as a paladin.
That's just off the top of my head. Other things would probably occur to me as the conversation progressed.
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Agreed you need to concentrate on why your character will become a paladin.
One possibility is they have a" I saw the light" Moment. They see the errors of their ways and repent of their criminality. The thief sub class fits very well for those who sneak around for any purpose, you could want to recover stolen items to return them to their rightful owners, or at least prevent them being used for evil. This could fit most subclasses but redemption and devotion are the most obvious ones.
If you're doing it to get Smites, then just sticking with Rogue will give you more overall damage output over a lengthy period of time than Smiting will, as you'll get your higher damage Sneak Attacks earlier. 2d8 damage on a smite is 9 (2d8) damage, an extra die on Sneak attack is 1d6 (3) damage. It takes 3 higher level Sneak attacks to equal 1 Smite, so if you expect to make more than 6 attack rolls between long rests, getting to better Sneak Attack faster is consistently more damage in the long run.
But if you're doing it because you want to become a Paladin, then Bishop69 has the right of it: what oath are you going to swear? What is your drive? Paladins are basically fanatics who believe in one ideal so strongly that it manifests as divine power. I wouldn't advise going into Paladin if your character doesn't have an obsessive commitment.
Paladin of Mask, God of thieves. You have deepened your connection with your god, and you wish to prove to the world just how awesome he is.
Only spilt the party if you see something shiny.
Ariendela Sneakerson, Half-elf Rogue (8); Harmony Wolfsbane, Tiefling Bard (10); Agnomally, Gnomish Sorcerer (3); Breeze, Tabaxi Monk (8); Grace, Dragonborn Barbarian (7); DM, Homebrew- The Sequestered Lands/Underwater Explorers; Candlekeep