I'm going to be playing in a COS campaign in the near future and was considering playing an oath of redemption paladin. I've got a build and backstory that I'm really into. My only concern is weather or not the module will allow enough opportunities to explore (from a roleplaying perspective) my character's desire to avoid unnecessary violence and to help misguided souls find redemption, as he did.
I know oath of redemption paladins aren't true pacifists and that there will almost certainly be plenty of unavoidable violence in the campaign, but are there many villages or factions of NPC's that aren't inherently evil in COS? I suppose what I'm asking is will I just be enjoying the mechanical benefits of the class/sub class, or will I have opportunities to flex some social skills as well? I'm trying to decide if this character is best saved for a different campaign.
Thank you in advance and please no major spoilers! 😊
This would be a question better posed to your DM, as only they can say how they intend to run the adventure (and also what information they can give you that won't constitute a spoiler)
Very good point. I suppose I'm wondering if, as the module is written, it offers many opportunities for this kind of roleplay? However, as you mentioned, it would ultimately come down to how our DM chose to run it. Thanks for your input!
I'd say, as written, the question of whether a lot of these people can be redeemed is kind of the point. Even without an Oath of Redemption Paladin, you'd be asking the question a lot. I'm not gonna answer it for any of them. I think you'll have fun. ;)
I have run CoS 4x times and I would welcome this character at my table. It would add a very welcome dynamic. There is a lot of self interested and well intended NPCs. The abbot will be particularly interesting for you and the Mayor of Vallaki. My last game had a player running a similar type of Paladin. It wasn't long before he was committing good intended evil deeds. I would keep the page for Oath Breaker Paladin book marked in the DMG if I were you.
I also recommend your DM read up on the Shadowborn family in Ravenloft. They are an order of Paladins that came to Ravenloft to redeem people, only to find themselves carrying out heinous tortures, and persecutions against innocent people because the Dark Powers warped their detect evil ability.
I would refrain from creating a backstory though. Curse of Strahd is a self-contained realm, and there isn't much opportunity to explore a backstory and you may just pigeonhole yourself with a lot of pre-conceived restrictions.
I'd say, as written, the question of whether a lot of these people can be redeemed is kind of the point. Even without an Oath of Redemption Paladin, you'd be asking the question a lot. I'm not gonna answer it for any of them. I think you'll have fun. ;)
I have run CoS 4x times and I would welcome this character at my table. It would add a very welcome dynamic. There is a lot of self interested and well intended NPCs. The abbot will be particularly interesting for you and the Mayor of Vallaki. My last game had a player running a similar type of Paladin. It wasn't long before he was committing good intended evil deeds. I would keep the page for Oath Breaker Paladin book marked in the DMG if I were you.
I also recommend your DM read up on the Shadowborn family in Ravenloft. They are an order of Paladins that came to Ravenloft to redeem people, only to find themselves carrying out heinous tortures, and persecutions against innocent people because the Dark Powers warped their detect evil ability.
I would refrain from creating a backstory though. Curse of Strahd is a self-contained realm, and there isn't much opportunity to explore a backstory and you may just pigeonhole yourself with a lot of pre-conceived restrictions.
Thank you both for the great insight! I'm really excited for this campaign. I think I'll give this character a try.
I have run CoS 4x times and I would welcome this character at my table. It would add a very welcome dynamic. There is a lot of self interested and well intended NPCs. The abbot will be particularly interesting for you and the Mayor of Vallaki. My last game had a player running a similar type of Paladin. It wasn't long before he was committing good intended evil deeds. I would keep the page for Oath Breaker Paladin book marked in the DMG if I were you.
I also recommend your DM read up on the Shadowborn family in Ravenloft. They are an order of Paladins that came to Ravenloft to redeem people, only to find themselves carrying out heinous tortures, and persecutions against innocent people because the Dark Powers warped their detect evil ability.
I would refrain from creating a backstory though. Curse of Strahd is a self-contained realm, and there isn't much opportunity to explore a backstory and you may just pigeonhole yourself with a lot of pre-conceived restrictions.
I will just offer a counterpoint here to that last section. A backstory can be explored. I am in a strand game now and we have 6 characters who all have robust backstories outside of the realm which have all been relevant. The stories just need to be designed to work and have an impact in this realm.
I would say a redemption paladin is a fine character for the game. But how effective it is would be dm dependant. There are some characters who are redeemable as written, some that could swing either way, and some that are implied to be just too far gone. But a dm could easily play any of them anywhere on the spectrum. This is a good one to just check tone wise with your dm on THEIR strahd.
I will just offer a counterpoint here to that last section. A backstory can be explored. I am in a strand game now and we have 6 characters who all have robust backstories outside of the realm which have all been relevant. The stories just need to be designed to work and have an impact in this realm.
I would say a redemption paladin is a fine character for the game. But how effective it is would be dm dependant. There are some characters who are redeemable as written, some that could swing either way, and some that are implied to be just too far gone. But a dm could easily play any of them anywhere on the spectrum. This is a good one to just check tone wise with your dm on THEIR strahd.
Another great point. I'll definitely be working with my DM to make the best use of this character within the module as he intends to present it.
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I'm going to be playing in a COS campaign in the near future and was considering playing an oath of redemption paladin. I've got a build and backstory that I'm really into. My only concern is weather or not the module will allow enough opportunities to explore (from a roleplaying perspective) my character's desire to avoid unnecessary violence and to help misguided souls find redemption, as he did.
I know oath of redemption paladins aren't true pacifists and that there will almost certainly be plenty of unavoidable violence in the campaign, but are there many villages or factions of NPC's that aren't inherently evil in COS? I suppose what I'm asking is will I just be enjoying the mechanical benefits of the class/sub class, or will I have opportunities to flex some social skills as well? I'm trying to decide if this character is best saved for a different campaign.
Thank you in advance and please no major spoilers! 😊
This would be a question better posed to your DM, as only they can say how they intend to run the adventure (and also what information they can give you that won't constitute a spoiler)
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Very good point. I suppose I'm wondering if, as the module is written, it offers many opportunities for this kind of roleplay? However, as you mentioned, it would ultimately come down to how our DM chose to run it. Thanks for your input!
I'd say, as written, the question of whether a lot of these people can be redeemed is kind of the point. Even without an Oath of Redemption Paladin, you'd be asking the question a lot. I'm not gonna answer it for any of them. I think you'll have fun. ;)
I have run CoS 4x times and I would welcome this character at my table. It would add a very welcome dynamic. There is a lot of self interested and well intended NPCs. The abbot will be particularly interesting for you and the Mayor of Vallaki. My last game had a player running a similar type of Paladin. It wasn't long before he was committing good intended evil deeds. I would keep the page for Oath Breaker Paladin book marked in the DMG if I were you.
I also recommend your DM read up on the Shadowborn family in Ravenloft. They are an order of Paladins that came to Ravenloft to redeem people, only to find themselves carrying out heinous tortures, and persecutions against innocent people because the Dark Powers warped their detect evil ability.
I would refrain from creating a backstory though. Curse of Strahd is a self-contained realm, and there isn't much opportunity to explore a backstory and you may just pigeonhole yourself with a lot of pre-conceived restrictions.
Thank you both for the great insight! I'm really excited for this campaign. I think I'll give this character a try.
I will just offer a counterpoint here to that last section. A backstory can be explored. I am in a strand game now and we have 6 characters who all have robust backstories outside of the realm which have all been relevant. The stories just need to be designed to work and have an impact in this realm.
I would say a redemption paladin is a fine character for the game. But how effective it is would be dm dependant. There are some characters who are redeemable as written, some that could swing either way, and some that are implied to be just too far gone. But a dm could easily play any of them anywhere on the spectrum. This is a good one to just check tone wise with your dm on THEIR strahd.
Another great point. I'll definitely be working with my DM to make the best use of this character within the module as he intends to present it.