#antipaladin

[lich-loved]

your pal, the antipaladin

[dailycharacteroption]

Class Feature Friday: Antipaladin/Iniquity Cause (Pathfinder Second Edition Champion Cause)

(art by DanielClasquin on DeviantArt)

It’s time for our second to last champion cause, and the last one that had a presence pre-remaster.

Originally called Antipaladins given their chaotic evil nature as a direct opposite of paladins, champions of this cause are meant to be everything a paladin is not. In fact this option is worth noting for the fact that is was in part the First Edition alternate class that shared the same name with this option that paved the way for the champion to evolve out of the paladin, creating powerful divinely-empowered knights that were not all good and just.

But with the remaster came the end of alignment, and with it, the baggage of such holy warriors being divided along that strict system of morality. Instead, champions are now divided based on what they value and what they vow to uphold. And in the case of today’s archetype, these warriors values Iniquity.

Champions of Iniquity are selfish, impulsive, indulgent, and independent. They do exactly what they want when they want, answering only to the divine power that gave them this power in the first place. Even without an alignment system, it’s clear that these figures are the polar opposite of Justice champions (formerly paladins), since they reject any concept of accountability for their actions.

These unholy warriors are not necessarily insane murder-hobos, but their impulses are their guide. If they ever do anything that helps another it is because it also benefits them in some way, most usually in the form of payment, but any agreement they make only holds as long as these iniquitous champions find the benefits outweighing any inconvenience they experience.

At their best, they are pitiless and cruel mercenaries, at their worst, they are petty tyrants with a cosmic benefactor that will do nothing to reign them in because setting them loose is the entire point.

Indeed, unlike other causes, the powers that grant the path of iniquity do not choose someone for their dedication to the concepts, but because of a lack of discipline. They choose their champions because they know that setting them loose will bring about more violence and iniquity as a consequence of their actions, and if any antipaladin expresses any sort of fervor for the cause, it is because they have the brains at least to see that they are making the world more like what they want to see: might making right, whims being indulged, and power seized by those unfettered by the weakness of mercy or hesitation. If the powers granting this might ever tug on the leash, it is when they have a very specific interest in the situation, and then the champion might find their collar much too tight for their liking.

So let’s see what they get!

Like all causes, these champions get a reaction ability, theirs being a punishing aspect of their aura that rewards violence against them with more violence. Foes that strike them within their aura risk their very spirit being shredded by feedback damage. Additionally, the champion’s own reprisal against the offending party becomes more lethal as well. As they grow in power, the damaging effect lingers on such assailants, and even bystanders are not safe as they also take feedback damage.

There is also a feat specifically for this cause. Vicious Vengeance improves the damage caused by their aura, making them all the deadlier to even stand near.

Meanwhile, other feats fit with the tenets of evil and otherwise are just useful for them, such as Conceited Mindset, Aura of Despair, Cruelty, Corrupted Shield, Expand Aura, Smite, Greater Cruelty, Litany of Self-Interest, Gruesome Strike, Pale Horse, Divine Reflexes, Litany of Depravity, Instrument of Slaughter, Fiendish Form, Swift Retribution, and others that fit your build.

This cause loves getting into the thick of things and butchering foes, not just because it’s where a melee class thrives, but also because their reaction makes hitting them back a painful process. With that in mind, this option is begging for a tanky build that can absorb a lot of punishment.

There is no denying that these champions are evil, but with alignments out of the way, replaced by edicts and personal values, it can be less of a headache to justify playing one of these in a non-villain campaign. After all, a champion of iniquity is entirely self-motivated, so being motivated by the prospect of treasure and payment is perfectly viable even if they tend to leave a mess and things worse than they left. It could be the setup for an interesting foil for the rest of the party or a possible redemption arch, especially if the champion doesn’t mind waiting a bit ot achieve their selfish goals on occasion.

Doreji the Blightblooded refuses to hide like the rest of his kin, the vishkanya seeing the tendency of his people to hide their true nature as a weakness and act of supplication. After all, humans cannot punish attackers with the lethal toxicity of their blood. Why should they rule? And who cares if the rest of his kind shun them. They’ve already proven themselves too weak.

To most, Ulrich the Slayer is as he always has been, a cruel man and leader of an especially savage warband. However, in truth he has been dead for some time, his body being now ridden by a xoarian, also known as a corpse rider or intellect devourer. The creature has evaded detection fairly easily since the host was known for drunken forgetfulness and a complete lack of loyalty anyway. Worse still, the horrible aberration has pleased the dark god Ulrich worshipped, transferring his power to the creature.

The party happens upon a mysterious girl clutching an amulet, who begs them to help her escape. The reason or her distress becomes clear when a figure clad in sinister black armor appears with a coterie of similarly-dressed troops. Though the figure claims something has been stolen from him, it’s clear that the amulet is not his to keep and his intentions for the girl are not motivated by justice.

[coffeewithacold]

Cale said “I can fix him” and did it. Keep Sarenrae clerics away from Nocticula's antipaladins in despair after her ascension

By the way, this is actually a much funnier play on words, but it is almost impossible to adapt it into English. Ende said "Cleric of the Goddess of Redemption (Искупления)? Then bathe me (искупай) completely."

[valentineinferno]

Full-body reference drawing for my beloved Pathfinder 1e character.

[link-sharegender]

Antipaladin

[ ID - An uneven horizontal 7-stripe flag in a repeating pattern of large then small stripes, with an icon in the center that overlaps all stripes except the outermost. The outermost stripes are a desaturated violet, then dark grey, then deep dark grey, with the innermost stripe being bright red. The central icon is of a dark violet shield with feather-like protrusions and a hole in the center, outlined in lilac. - END ]

A gender under the genderpaladin system which has the antihero archetype. Like the antihero, an antipaladin is a paladin which doesn't have the typical traits of a paladin. For example, it may not be courageous, take up a protective role, follow a strict code, or be a paragon of morality. In the same way an antihero is not necessarily a villain, neither is an antipaladin.

The term "antipaladin" and the flag are free to be used for things other than gender, if a representation of the archetype is wanted.

[pathfinderunlocked]

Umbral Half-Dragon Necroknight - CR16 Dragon

When a dragon and a lich love each other very very much...

Artwork by JinZe_72 on Pixiv.

Umbral dragons are extraplanar dragons torn between the material and shadow planes.  They devour incorporeal undead by tearing at the essence of their undead souls.  However, because of their negative energy breath, they’re also sometimes tamed by extremely powerful undead such as liches or vampires.  And “tamed” can have more than one meaning.  The result of such a union might result in a half-dragon, half-undead, half-shadow offspring.

A sorcerer might not be your first thought when you see artwork of a character with heavy armor and a large shield, but bear with me here.  The five levels of antipaladin, with the very fitting knight of the sepulcher archetype, are doing a lot of work.

Normally a multiclassed creature that splits its levels between full-casting classes and martial classes has a lowered challenge rating, because normally that’s a garbage build, but this creature uses its spellcasting in a way that makes up for what it loses, and also has about 30% more gear than normal, so it doesn’t have the typical penalty.  It uses Still Spell to cast its sorcerer spells in combat, but when not in combat it can transform its armor into a brooch to cast normally.

I did end up giving the necroknight full plate instead of the half-plate depicted in the artwork, partially because half-plate in Pathfinder is somehow actually heavier and more restrictive than full plate, and partially so I could use the Folding Plate as written instead of making a homebrew version of it.

This creature can cast Animate Dead, so it’s reasonable that it would have several undead creatures under its control, possibly buffed with heroism or other spells.  Its unseen servant picks up anything dropped in battle (including weapons dropped by enemies) and carries the loot to its master, using its own actions to put the items in its master’s bag.

The necroknight can see in deeper darkness, so it should pre-cast Deeper Darkness on its shield if alone.  Combats where none of the players can see are no fun though, so consider putting this encounter in a location with some Firefleas.

Umbral Half-Dragon Necroknight - CR16 Dragon 

The fashionably armored woman’s dark gaze meets you, her reptilian eyes casting a shadow upon you.  A black, scaled tail swings behind her, emerging from her back, and she carries a blackened shield.  Scarf-like silk strands swing from her shoulders, forming a kind of cape behind her, and the images of glowing yellow eyes sewn into the ends of the strands match her own piercing eyes.

XP 76,800 Half-umbral dragon, fetchling, sorcerer 10 / knight of the sepulcher antipaladin 5 CE Medium dragon (augmented outsider, native) Init +5 Senses see in darkness, see invisibility, sense fear; Perception +17

DEFENSE

AC 28, touch 11, flat-footed 27 (+10 armor, +1 Dex, +4 natural, +3 shield); +6 deflection vs. firearms hp 157 (10d6+5d10+90) plus 15 temp hp Fort +17, Ref +7, Will +13; +2 vs. death, fear, mind-affecting, and poison Defensive Abilities deep shadow explorer, shadow blending, touch of the crypt, unholy resilience DR 10/adamantine (100 total damage) and DR 10/— vs. nonlethal damage Resist acid 20, cold 20, elec 20, fire 20, positive energy 10 Immune disease, negative energy, paralysis, sleep

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft., fly 40 ft. (average) Melee +3 grayflame gandasa +23/+18 (2d4+10/×3) Special Attacks breath weapon (30-foot cone, 6d8 negative energy, DC 23, 1/day)

Fetchling Spell-like Abilities (CL 15th; concentration +23)    1/day—alter self, shadow walk (self only), plane shift (self only, shadow plane or material plane only)

Antipaladin Spells Known (CL 2nd; concentration +10)    1st (8/day)—death knell (DC 19), barbed chains (2 chains, attack/trip +20), sense fear (already cast)

Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 10th; concentration +18)     5th (4/day)—mage’s faithful hound     4th (6/day)—animate dead, shadowform (DC 22), stoneskin (already cast)     3rd (8/day)—haste, heroism, vampiric touch (touch +19)     2nd (8/day)—bullet shield (already cast), deeper darkness, false life (already cast), resist energy (already cast x4), see invisibility (already cast)     1st (8/day)—chill touch (touch +19, DC 19), darkness, endure elements, magic missile, protection from good, unseen servant (already cast)     0th (at will)—arcane mark, bleed (DC 18), detect magic, message, mending, penumbra (already cast), read magic, resistance, touch of fatigue (DC 19)

Bloodline undead

BASE STATISTICS

Without bullet shield, false life, heroism, penumbra, resist energy, see invisibility, sense fear, and stoneskin, the umbral half-dragon necroknight’s statistics are Senses see in darkness; Weaknesses light blindness; AC 28, touch 11, flat-footed 27; Resist cold 5, elec 5, positive energy 10; hp 157; DR 10/— vs. nonlethal damage; Melee +3 grayflame gandasa +21/+16 (2d4+10/×3); CMB +19; Skills Fly +11, Intimidate +15, Knowledge (planes) +5, Knowledge (religion) +10, Linguistics +5, Perception +15, Spellcraft +11, Stealth -4

STATISTICS

Str 24, Dex 12, Con 22, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 26 Base Atk +10; CMB +19; CMD 28 Feats Combat Casting, Dark Sight, Eschew Materials, Gloom Sight, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Improved Dark Sight, Power Attack, Still Spell, Weapon Focus (gandasa) Skills Fly +13, Intimidate +17, Knowledge (planes) +7, Knowledge (religion) +12, Linguistics +7, Perception +17, Spellcraft +13, Stealth -2 Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, D’ziriak (cannot speak), Infernal, Necril SQ undead bloodline arcana Gear wand of inflict serious wounds (30 charges), +3 grayflame gandasa, folding plate (+1 full plate), +1 warding channeling (negative) heavy steel shield, cloak of resistance +2, headband of alluring charisma +2, belt of physical might +2 (strength, constitution), ring of feather falling, diamond dust (worth 500 gp), onyx (worth 800 gp), 150 gp

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Aura of Cowardice (Su) While an umbral half-dragon necroknight is conscious, creatures within 10 feet take a –4 penalty on saving throws against fear effects.  Creatures that are normally immune to fear lose that immunity while within the radius.

Breath Weapon (Su) Although it deals negative energy damage, an umbral half-dragon necroknight's breath weapon does not heal undead creatures.  It affects a 30-foot cone and deals 6d8 points of negative energy damage to non-undead creatures in the area.  A DC 23 Reflex save halves the damage.  The save DC is Constitution-based.

Channel Energy (Su) By expending two uses of Touch of Corruption, an umbral half-dragon necroknight can channel 3d6 negative energy as a cleric, either healing undead or harming living creatures within a 30 foot radius.  A DC 20 Will save halves the damage.  The save DC is Charisma-based.

3 times per day, the necroknight can increase its channeled energy to 4d6.

Detect Good (Sp) At will, an umbral half-dragon necroknight can use detect good, as the spell. It can, as a move action, concentrate on a single item or individual within 60 feet and determine if it is good, learning the strength of its aura as if having studied it for 3 rounds. While focusing on one individual or object, it does not detect good in any other object or individual within range.

Grasp of the Dead (Sp) An umbral half-dragon necroknight can cause a swarm of skeletal arms to burst from the ground to rip and tear at its foes.  The skeletal arms erupt from the ground in a 20-foot-radius burst.  Anyone in this area takes 10d6 points of slashing damage; a DC 23 Reflex save halves the damage.  The save DC is Charisma-based.  The skeletal arms disappear after 1 round. The arms must burst up from a solid surface.  This power has a range of 60 feet.

Grave Touch (Su) The umbral half-dragon necroknight can make a melee touch attack as a standard action that causes a living creature to become shaken for 5 rounds.  If it touches a shaken creature with this ability, it becomes frightened for 1 round if it has fewer than 10 Hit Dice.

Shadow Blending (Su) Attacks against an umbral half-dragon necroknight in dim light have a 50% miss chance instead of the normal 20% miss chance.  This ability does not grant total concealment; it just increases the miss chance.

Smite Good (Su) Twice per day, as a swift action, an umbral half-dragon necroknight can choose one target within sight to smite.  If this target is not good, the smite is wasted with no effect.  Otherwise, the necroknight adds its Charisma bonus (typically +8) on its attack rolls and adds +5 on all damage rolls made against the target of his smite.  If the target of smite good is an outsider with the good subtype, a good-aligned dragon, or a good creature with levels of cleric or paladin, the bonus to damage on the first successful attack increases to +10.  Regardless of the target, smite good attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess.

In addition, while smite good is in effect, the umbral half-dragon necroknight gains a deflection bonus equal to his Charisma modifier (typically +8) to its AC against attacks made by the target of the smite.

The smite good effect remains until the target of the smite is dead or the next time the umbral half-dragon necroknight rests and regains it uses of this ability.

Touch of Corruption (Su) 10 times per day, an umbral half-dragon necroknight can surround its hand with a fiendish flame, causing terrible wounds to open on those he touches.  This is a touch attach which deals 2d6 negative energy damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 20 Fortitude save or be sickened for 5 rounds.  Using this ability is a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.  The save DC is Charisma-based.

Alternatively, an umbral half-dragon necroknight can use this power to heal an undead creature, restoring 2d6 hit points.

Touch of the Crypt (Su) An umbral half-dragon necroknight is harmed by positive energy effects and healed by negative energy effects as though it were undead.  It has a 25% chance of ignoring critical hits and the bonus damage from sneak attacks.

Undead Bloodline Arcana (Su) When an umbral half-dragon necroknight casts spells on corporeal undead that were once humanoids, they are treated as humanoids for the purposes of determining which spells affect them, and their immunity to mind-affecting abilities is bypassed.

Warding Shield Once per day as an immediate action, the wearer of a warding shield can activate it to end all active challenge, judgment, and smite abilities affecting it.  This does not prevent opponents from selecting the wearer as a target for these abilities in the future.  As a swift action, the wearer can expend one of its own challenge, judgment, or smite abilities to refresh the armor’s ability to end these attacks.

[cryptidkingcreations]

Y'all like tieflings? Do ya like oathbreaking tieflings? Well do I have a character for you!

[knight-of-black]

Infernal Templar by  Carlo Arellano

“I protect the souls of the living so they have an opportunity to fall, Lucifer does not want innocent unbaptized children, he wants betrayers “ “The vainglorious dead, murderous men that their lessers call great and noble” “There aren’t seven deadly sins, only seven temptations, there is but one sin: betrayal”