My gaggle is wrapping up the current campaign (DM'd by me) and will start a new campaign in late summer (DM'd by someone else). As I've gotten into playing this game – thanks Stranger Things and Critical Role/naddpod – I've begun feeling more creative and experimental in character-creation. So for this upcoming campaign I'm thinking about a finesse-build Yuan-ti paladin, basically scraping by as a bounty hunter for coin while pursuing the objectives of the paladin oath. I don't envision them to be inherently evil though also not lawfully good; basically, something between the Witcher and Zuko from Avatar. You know, the cliche "emotional barriers to keep me safe but all I really want is a friend" type!
Ideas and input on what could make for some fun RP for this type of PC? Not brushed up on the lore or whatnot, so not 100% certain which gods would fit the character or even which oaths might work well for the story and build. But we have some months left to figure it out, and in that time I'll develop the threads for this a few other interesting characters to ultimately select my PC from.
The thing about paladins is that they're driven by their oath. Whatever it is, that's gonna be a huge thing for your character. Vengeance paladins think about their target all the time. Devotion paladins are obsessed with being the good guy. Conquest is hellbent on making everyone bend to their will. And so forth, you get the gist.
But a dude who's a bounty hunter, not because they think it's the best way to improve society or because they hate criminals with a passion, but for coin? A devotion paladin would bounty hunt to get criminals off the street, glory would do it to spread their name, and vengeance does it cause they're traumatized by criminals from watching their parents being killed at gunpoint after watching The Mask of Zorro. But whatever it is, a paladin's supposed to be determined to live their way and earn their keep by appeasing their oath first and foremost.
Witchers don't necessarily hunt monsters because they're oath-driven. They slay monsters for a living, without letting things like pride or ideals get in the way, and that's about it. Zuko hunted Aang not because of anything Aang did to him. He just wanted to go back home. There's nothing wrong with these things, I love them too. But I don't think it's suitable for paladin. A fighter or ranger sounds more appropriate.
I don’t think it’s as difficult as the above poster. Just make sure your primary drive is from your oath, and if you make some coin along the way, well, a snake person has to eat, don’t they. A bounty hunter who only agrees to certain jobs because they fulfill their oath could be pretty cool. And if you’re starting at level 1, you won’t even have an oath yet. By the time you do, you’ll be neck deep in the campaign and probably not bounty hunting anymore.
I’d suggest talking with your DM about the yuan-ti part. See how they are thought of in this world. In some they are not well-regarded. That may be fun for you or not, just you should realize what you’re getting yourself into. This goes double now the monsters of the multiverse is out.
I should give credit to whomever put up the question "Paladin Bounty Hunter?" that when I was googling around came up - maybe on reddit or the like. So it wasn't exactly novel, and it seemed to me like a really interesting pairing given conventional thoughts about paladins. It'd be *easier* as a fighter, or rogue, or ranger...but, complexity and challenge make for fun characters in my view.
The Oath is really the issue and seeing how that'd work into this person's story, though perhaps having it come after some sessions vs at the start will make it easier. I figure, both for the antihero kind of idea and for a Yuan-ti particularly, Vengeance or the UA Treachery could set up this person as a fallen paladin or an outcast for some reason, setting up a backstory for why they're grubbing for gold even and maybe rejecting their past. An easy in for "why bounty hunter-ing" could also be this person is hunting down people who wronged them in some way, though I haven't developed that idea out too deeply as the next DM is thinking to go with RotFM as the story basis. So as far as I've gotten is 1) outcasted and jaded Yuan-ti paladin 2) kinda just trying to survive in the world, so makes for somewhere far away to lay low, 3) doing the one thing they were trained to do - hunting down people maybe, like apostates or other targets - to make food and rent money as they sort out their life. That might create an irony, too - they themselves being an outcast, even apostate, means they're now what they hunted and are themselves probably being hunted.
I guess some of this may turn on how RP-y the DM wants to make our next campaign. If it's a bit more by-the-book, I may just shelf this character and go with a more by-the-book kind of character.
The yuan-ti are/were primarily "better than you human scum" humanoids. You could have them be from a colony that is out of the way (Chult, Spelljammer) and their job was tracking down escaped slaves. They were very good at it but they had an enemy in the ruling class that wanted them gone for "reasons". They were then sent on a mission to retrieve X with some others that were less desirable. Your PC was abandoned/Left for dead/Lost/ Lone survivor and now needs to integrate into this foreign land to survive. They still worship the god of their land even though no one knows about it. They're doing the bounty hunter thing until they get a better idea of how this new society fits in for them. They party up for survival and start to understand what it takes to get along. That may mean disguises or lies or open hostility.
You could play them like an evangelical, trying to spread the word of their religion (to lizardmen) or play them like a Drizzt, fighting his bad heritage or something else entirely.
Not a bad set of ideas for backstory, and allows for some easy play at low level and some character growth if that's what the DM allows for. The idea that the guy was sent on a mission to fail/would be easy to be offed could fit some of the anything-for-power tropes that Yuan-ti lore suggests is germaine.
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My gaggle is wrapping up the current campaign (DM'd by me) and will start a new campaign in late summer (DM'd by someone else). As I've gotten into playing this game – thanks Stranger Things and Critical Role/naddpod – I've begun feeling more creative and experimental in character-creation. So for this upcoming campaign I'm thinking about a finesse-build Yuan-ti paladin, basically scraping by as a bounty hunter for coin while pursuing the objectives of the paladin oath. I don't envision them to be inherently evil though also not lawfully good; basically, something between the Witcher and Zuko from Avatar. You know, the cliche "emotional barriers to keep me safe but all I really want is a friend" type!
Ideas and input on what could make for some fun RP for this type of PC? Not brushed up on the lore or whatnot, so not 100% certain which gods would fit the character or even which oaths might work well for the story and build. But we have some months left to figure it out, and in that time I'll develop the threads for this a few other interesting characters to ultimately select my PC from.
The thing about paladins is that they're driven by their oath. Whatever it is, that's gonna be a huge thing for your character. Vengeance paladins think about their target all the time. Devotion paladins are obsessed with being the good guy. Conquest is hellbent on making everyone bend to their will. And so forth, you get the gist.
But a dude who's a bounty hunter, not because they think it's the best way to improve society or because they hate criminals with a passion, but for coin? A devotion paladin would bounty hunt to get criminals off the street, glory would do it to spread their name, and vengeance does it cause they're traumatized by criminals from watching their parents being killed at gunpoint after watching The Mask of Zorro. But whatever it is, a paladin's supposed to be determined to live their way and earn their keep by appeasing their oath first and foremost.
Witchers don't necessarily hunt monsters because they're oath-driven. They slay monsters for a living, without letting things like pride or ideals get in the way, and that's about it. Zuko hunted Aang not because of anything Aang did to him. He just wanted to go back home. There's nothing wrong with these things, I love them too. But I don't think it's suitable for paladin. A fighter or ranger sounds more appropriate.
I don’t think it’s as difficult as the above poster. Just make sure your primary drive is from your oath, and if you make some coin along the way, well, a snake person has to eat, don’t they. A bounty hunter who only agrees to certain jobs because they fulfill their oath could be pretty cool. And if you’re starting at level 1, you won’t even have an oath yet. By the time you do, you’ll be neck deep in the campaign and probably not bounty hunting anymore.
I’d suggest talking with your DM about the yuan-ti part. See how they are thought of in this world. In some they are not well-regarded. That may be fun for you or not, just you should realize what you’re getting yourself into. This goes double now the monsters of the multiverse is out.
I should give credit to whomever put up the question "Paladin Bounty Hunter?" that when I was googling around came up - maybe on reddit or the like. So it wasn't exactly novel, and it seemed to me like a really interesting pairing given conventional thoughts about paladins. It'd be *easier* as a fighter, or rogue, or ranger...but, complexity and challenge make for fun characters in my view.
The Oath is really the issue and seeing how that'd work into this person's story, though perhaps having it come after some sessions vs at the start will make it easier. I figure, both for the antihero kind of idea and for a Yuan-ti particularly, Vengeance or the UA Treachery could set up this person as a fallen paladin or an outcast for some reason, setting up a backstory for why they're grubbing for gold even and maybe rejecting their past. An easy in for "why bounty hunter-ing" could also be this person is hunting down people who wronged them in some way, though I haven't developed that idea out too deeply as the next DM is thinking to go with RotFM as the story basis. So as far as I've gotten is 1) outcasted and jaded Yuan-ti paladin 2) kinda just trying to survive in the world, so makes for somewhere far away to lay low, 3) doing the one thing they were trained to do - hunting down people maybe, like apostates or other targets - to make food and rent money as they sort out their life. That might create an irony, too - they themselves being an outcast, even apostate, means they're now what they hunted and are themselves probably being hunted.
I guess some of this may turn on how RP-y the DM wants to make our next campaign. If it's a bit more by-the-book, I may just shelf this character and go with a more by-the-book kind of character.
Ok how about this...
The yuan-ti are/were primarily "better than you human scum" humanoids. You could have them be from a colony that is out of the way (Chult, Spelljammer) and their job was tracking down escaped slaves. They were very good at it but they had an enemy in the ruling class that wanted them gone for "reasons". They were then sent on a mission to retrieve X with some others that were less desirable. Your PC was abandoned/Left for dead/Lost/ Lone survivor and now needs to integrate into this foreign land to survive. They still worship the god of their land even though no one knows about it. They're doing the bounty hunter thing until they get a better idea of how this new society fits in for them. They party up for survival and start to understand what it takes to get along. That may mean disguises or lies or open hostility.
You could play them like an evangelical, trying to spread the word of their religion (to lizardmen) or play them like a Drizzt, fighting his bad heritage or something else entirely.
Just a thought.
Not a bad set of ideas for backstory, and allows for some easy play at low level and some character growth if that's what the DM allows for. The idea that the guy was sent on a mission to fail/would be easy to be offed could fit some of the anything-for-power tropes that Yuan-ti lore suggests is germaine.