My first thought was a Knight of the Skull, who will become a DeathKnight due to a dying curse (I know, kinda stereotype).
Now I thought about also giving him a few Lvls in Blackguard/Fallen Paladin.
Do you think that would be too overpowered?
Actually the main focus in my campaign won't be on him, since it's a campaign that deals with a secret YuanTi (hate that name)-cult that's trying to take over the world and the introduction of psionics due to a fragment of the graygem (thanks again to the guy here who posted that idea).
So the Big bad Knight will just show up occassionally to distract the characters, which is why I was initially wondering if I should make him that powerful at all (although I might use him in later campaigns, I'm not quite sure about that yet).
Please tell me what you think of that idea...
Personally, I'd recommend either of these two choices over the Blackguard. If the Paladin isn't in the world, thereotically, shouldn't the Anti-Paladin not exist as well? And if the Paladin of this world is a Knight of Solamnia, then wouldn't the Rogue Knight be more appropriate for the 'fallen paladin'? The non-Blackguard isn't set in stone, however I'd highly recommend the Rogue Knight, with possibly the Knight of Neraka, as a good alternative for the setting.
Originally posted by Karui_Kage
Well, I know that in Dragonlance, paladins do not exist. This is said in the DLCS
Wrong buddy, it says they are rare, but they do exist.
Now, the Blackguard is a fallen Paladin, meaning he has lost Lawful Good in some way.
Wrong again, that would be the Fallen Paladin PrCl, which is a slightly altered Blackguard, but Blackguard is a PrCl almost any evil Fighter can take.
That said, I think I'll go with Dragonhelms idea of "only" making him Knight of the Skull, which will turn into a DeathKnight.
For a less "knightly" option, how about something I have been toying around with.
League officer Bratak was a psychic warrior that was betrayed by his subordinates in a particularly bloody & personal manner ... The minotaur gasped a curse in his dying breaths, was heard by Sargas, and allowed un-life as a Death Knight to seek vengeance and reak havoc across Ansalon.
For low to mid-level levels:
Lord Bratak, male minotaur death knight
Level 6 Psychic Warrior (ECL 11, CR 9)
For higher levels:
Lord Bratak, etc
Level 16 Psychic Warrior (ECL 21, CR 20)
I drafted a version of this NPC up a couple of days ago, rolled stats etc if you are interested in *borrowing*.
IMO, fits in well with a "psionics are new to DL" campaign.
Cheers,
Zeb
Originally posted by LordAshram
Wrong buddy, it says they are rare, but they do exist.
On page 52, under Other Classes.
"Some classes from the Player's Handbook do not appear in the main listings for this chapter. Here are ways to include or substitute such characters in a Dragonlance campaign."
"Paladins: The Knights of Solamnia take the place of knightly champions of good in a Dragonlance campaign, so normally paladin characters are unavailable. Paladins may be allowed at the DM's discretion, however, as rare champions of one of the good deities (such as Kiri-Jolith). A blackguard in such a campaign would be a champion of an evil deity."
When I made my first statement of Paladin's not existing, I was going as per the norm. Of course, any DM can change anything they want in any of their campaigns, but to allow for those changes in a form of debate would make said debate nearly impossible to perform ("Well, to account for all possible variables on this rule, I will begin by listing the first million possibilities and various house rules that could be performed. Number one, etc."). As it stands, I was offering up information as to what the 'normal' Dragonlance campaign setting would be without changes. As it said above, paladins are normally unavailable, but as per the "DM's discretion", can be allowed. I was assuming the same with Blackguards.
Originally posted by LordAshram
Wrong again, that would be the Fallen Paladin PrCl, which is a slightly altered Blackguard, but Blackguard is a PrCl almost any evil Fighter can take.
That said, I think I'll go with Dragonhelms idea of "only" making him Knight of the Skull, which will turn into a DeathKnight.
Up until this point, I had never heard of the Fallen Paladin prestige class, so this is new to me.
Edit: My other belief for the blackguard being a fallen paladin, despite his availability to any fighter, were the bonuses for being a paladin previous and falling to darkness. It just seemed more desirable as a fallen-paladin than a fighter class, to me at least.
As it stands, I was only giving information based on what I know for the 'normal' campaign setting. Baring the "DM's discretion", the paladin is nonexistant, replaced by the Knights of Solamnia, as is the blackguard (not as sure on this, as it never says the blackguard is nonexistant, but implies it in the statement with the paladin). A more appropriate prestige class for a fallen paladin would then be the Rogue Knight, as the paladin is a Knight and the rogue knight is a fallen knight, etc.
To put further emphasis, Im only offering information on the standard Dragonlance campaign. Anything can be changed to do whatever you want of course, but don't expect me to know it.
Originally posted by pddisc
Why introduce psionics at all? Because you like the rules? But the rules make much better sorcery! Introduce psionics by all means, but call it sorcery - retain DL flavour!
DL flavor can be maintained using psionics without having to change the name. The original poster referenced someone else's idea of tying psionics in with the Greygem.
Originally posted by Karui_Kage
As it stands, I was only giving information based on what I know for the 'normal' campaign setting. Baring the "DM's discretion", the paladin is nonexistant, replaced by the Knights of Solamnia, as is the blackguard (not as sure on this, as it never says the blackguard is nonexistant, but implies it in the statement with the paladin). A more appropriate prestige class for a fallen paladin would then be the Rogue Knight, as the paladin is a Knight and the rogue knight is a fallen knight, etc.
To put further emphasis, Im only offering information on the standard Dragonlance campaign. Anything can be changed to do whatever you want of course, but don't expect me to know it.
Right, the paladin is technically "non-standard", rather than "non-existent". The reason behind this is that the paladin is often perceived as a "holy knight". What many people don't consider is that the paladin is really a "holy champion", and does not have to be knightly.
I've mentioned in other threads my idea of the kagonesti paladin who is able to summon his spirit-horse.
As a side note, the favored class for Lightning Draconians in the Bestiary of Krynn is paladin. Another great example of a non-knightly paladin type.
I think the main reason I always compared Paladins to the Knights is that their ideals and codes of conduct are very similar. Though the Paladins are probably not as hardcore on their code as the Solamnics are.
Originally posted by cnposner
The Legend of Huma mentions "Black Guards."
The Black Guard are the elite troops of the army of Galan Dracos and Crynus. They never really demonstrated any abilities associated with the blackguard prestige class.