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I got a new player in my Forgotten Realms campaign. I'm always open for players to do whatever they want, but this player created a Neutral Evil Paladin from Bhaal, and I'm confused in some aspects:

  • What would be an example of Role play as this kind of Paladin?
  • Do the paladin skills work normally?
  • Is there anything in the Player's Hand Book that says this can or cannot be done?
  • Should I change it to anti-paladin?
  • Will it have problems with the rest of the party? 2 chaotic goods and 1 chaotic neutral.
LupaShiva - Roll for Treasure
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    This could probably benefit from being split into multiple questions. At the very minimum, the roleplaying aspects and the mechanical aspects should be asked separately. – T.J.L. Apr 13 '17 at 13:53
  • Please try to narrow the question. "Should I change it to anti-paladin" is unclear and might be opinion-based. – enkryptor Apr 13 '17 at 13:53
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    Your second and third question can be answered (and I think already have been). The 5th is completely subjective; it might work or not, but that has nothing to do with alignment. I'm not sure if question 1 is answerable, although asking for examples of evil Paladins within D&D lore is definitely on-topic. – Erik Apr 13 '17 at 13:54
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    @T.J.L. Given that this person is new to the edition, a comprehensive answer may actually fit their problem (understanding 5e paladins) but you may also be right, that a split is a good idea. – KorvinStarmast Apr 13 '17 at 13:54
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    Not sure opinion based is the best reason to hold this question. Too broad would be more understandable I think. This question could easily be reopened, assuming there aren't any duplicates, by narrowing the scope down to something like "Is this possible and is there any mechanical change to the paladin in the rules?" And then asking about roleplay or party dynamic in its own question. – Adam Apr 13 '17 at 14:31
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    @Adam It might be a dupe of the question I linked to about Lawful evil paladins, and it is certainly related. I do NOT think this question is opinion based, because it (taken as a whole) it is a question about what makes the Paladin in 5e different that the Paladin in previous editions. For a new player, they won't know that up front, hence the question. With players just rolling up chars, the question is "will this work?" because previous edition experience may suggest that it cannot. – KorvinStarmast Apr 13 '17 at 15:19
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    [Related] Is there anything preventing a Lawful Evil Paladin? • is it possible to have a chaotic evil paladin? – SevenSidedDie Apr 13 '17 at 17:04
  • @SevenSidedDie I'd already linked to the first one, in comments and in answer, but that second link is useful at least as a point of reference. – KorvinStarmast Apr 13 '17 at 19:13

1 Answers1

5

Evil Paladins can be played in Dungeons and Dragons 5e

There is already a question and answer here for a Lawful Evil Paladin that you may find of interest, but to answer you concerns in order:

  • What would be an example of Role play as this kind of Paladin?

    Like any other Paladin. The key role playing issue is the Paladin's Oath, per the Player's Handbook, and how well the Paladin adheres to it. The other matter is that the text of the PHB describes the Paladin as one who fights evil. To resolve that matter, evil fighting evil, there needs to be more than one kind of "evil" in the world, or evil in varying degrees. A challenge for the DM and the player, but not insurmountable.

    In Xanathar's Guide to Everything, the Oath of Conquest Paladin would fit your idea of an Evil Paladin very well. Depending on how the campaign is built by your DM, the Oath of the Crown paladin may (depending on the king being a good or evil king) also fit into the role as an Evil aligned paladin.

  • Does the paladin skills work normally?

    Yes. Nothing in the book says the Paladin's alignment mechanically changes how the skills work.

  • There's nothing in the Players Handbook that says it cannot be done- or is there?

    No, there isn't. See the linked answer about Lawful Evil Paladins.

  • Should I change it to anti-paladin?

    I'd recommend against that, since

    • "anti-Paladin" is not a class in the game (at present). As mentioned above, the Oath of Conquest is close enough to that to fit.
    • the DMG provides the option for a Paladin who breaks his / her oath to become an Oathbreaker Paladin. Details of that sub class are in the DMG, p. 97.

    The paladin replaces the features specific to his or her Sacred Oath with the Oathbreaker features.

    If your player adheres to their Oath, though, it would be inappropriate to DM-rule an Oathbreaker change has occurred.

  • Will it have problems with the rest of the party? 2 chaotic goods and 1 chaotic neutral.

    That depends entirely on your players and how they interact as a party. Alignment in 5th edition D&D is not as restrictive as in some previous editions, so it is really up to the players and the DM to address how alignments influence play, and how much alignment influences play. There's a lot of room to work.

KorvinStarmast
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    Why is this answer getting down votes? It's a correct answer. –  Apr 13 '17 at 14:05
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    @markovchain (my reason for downvoting at least): it's answering a problematic question in that it (the question) is too broad by asking multiple questions in one post, and some of the questions are very subjective or at least asked in a very subjective way. Answering such questions is discouraged because it can disincentivize the asker from learning the site's policies or from making the necessary improvements to their question because they 'got an answer' and can potentially encourage the user to continue such behavior since it has been 'allowed' previously. (Sorry Korvin). – Purple Monkey Apr 13 '17 at 14:22
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    @PurpleMonkey Understand, my motive for answering was based entirely on (1) New player, (2) and that the other answer (could be a dupe) was Lawful Evil and this was Neutral Evil. New user also won't know our site phobia regarding alignment questions. Tried to head off a closed alignment question if this was split. I understand the policy/site guidelines, and appreciate your reminding us all in that regard, but believe one stop shopping would solve the problem. – KorvinStarmast Apr 13 '17 at 15:13
  • @LupaShiva If you found the answer helpful, good. If you have questions about alignment in D&D 5e, please tread carefully. Here is a meta topic discussing our phobia on that class of question on this site, and what kind of alignment questions are on topic here, and which are not. – KorvinStarmast Apr 13 '17 at 15:16