"I once saw the world in black and white, secure in my purpose and my training. I had my mission, and my…..fatih……..to guide me. How easy it was to look upon the world with different eyes once my ideals were challenged and defeated. Since he abandoned me, I have found a new faith, and within its shroud I see only black."
——Alexander Valcrest, a Corrupted Paladin
The forces of evil are relentless and voracious, forever seeking to do harm, poison and corrupt. It is therefore, the sweetest pleasure, to turn a champion of pure goodness into a tainted and revolting mirror image of their former self. The Corrupted Paladin was once a holy knight who has been tempted to the side of darkness by a superior evil force. This force can be any evil being of great power with a supernatural will or overwhelming magical influence. Once the master has weakened the Paladin’s resolve, or convinced them of the lies of their holy path, the being will make a pact with the champion, granting them dark powers and the promise of forbidden pleasures in exchange for abandoning their divine calling.
Most corrupted paladins were young and impressionable when they first turned to the ways of evil, their minds less capable of resisting the temptations a superior force for darkness can offer. On occasion, however, even powerful holy warriors have been turned, and this is perhaps the greatest and most satisfying achievement a force for evil could wish for, as not only do they gain an extremely dangerous ally, but the ripples of devastation and angst felt by the community their champion has left behind have an exquisite taste, one to be savored for centuries by the corruptor.
Corrupted Paladin
The Paladin’s holy powers become a twisted mockery of their original purpose. They change to an evil alignment of their choosing (usually to match the alignment of their new master). They lose their holy powers and gains access to the unholy. The former hero can now only heal themselves with their divine touch, their damaging powers are now evil in nature, even their ability to Smite evil is perverted, now capable of smiting any creature that gets in their way. Rather than turning undead, they can now force them to cower before their superior will, or even enslave them completely.
Prerequisites
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Paladin Class
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Any Evil Alignment
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A Dark Pact with a powerful creature of great evil (such as a Dragon, Devil, Demon, or similar creature)
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Cost: 1 Destiny Point.
Features
♦ Alignment Change
The Paladin's requirement of Lawful Good alignment is removed. You may now be of any Evil alignment.
♦ Discipline Shift
You gain the
Unholy Discipline and lose access to the
Holy Discipline. Additionally, if you are of a Chaotic Evil alignment, you gain the
Anarchy Discipline and lose access to the
Order Discipline (if you are Lawful Evil your access does not change. If you are neutral evil you may choose to keep Order or switch to Anarchy). Any powers or abilities from these disciplines may be switched out for powers of equivalent Caliber and Rank.
♦ Selfishness of Corruption
Your Paladin's
Lay on Hands ability now targets only yourself and cannot target other creatures.
♦ Sense Good
Your Paladin's
Sense Evil ability now targets Good auras instead of Evil ones. You lose the ability to sense Evil auras.
♦ Turning
You gain the
Rebuke Undead ability and lose access to the
Turn Undead ability. At 4th level, you gain access to the Turn Heavenly Servant ability and lose access to the
Turn Hellspawn ability.
Turn Heavenly Servant
Magic Resistance: No
Corrupted Paladin Class Feature [
Evil,
Turn]
Standard Action [REC 7]
Cost: 4 Resolve
Requirement: You must be wielding a Divine Symbol
Effect: You invoke the powers of corruption to render Heavenly servants powerless. Make an attack:
Range: 10ft per Divine Rank
Target: Up to three Angels, Archons, or other Heavenly Servants within range.
Attack: Devotion vs. Will
Hit: 2d8 + Divine Might
Vile damage and the target
Flees [5 x ChaP]ft. If the target's Celestial Rank is strictly less than your Divine Rank, the target does not flee and is instead
Paralyzed [SE, ST 4d10 vs CHA].
Special: You may target a heavenly creature that is possessing another creature. If you hit the target, it is ejected and is no longer possessing the creature.
Master Augment, Destroy Heavenly Servant
[Divine Rank 5]
Requirement: The target must be Paralyzed, resulting from a previous use of Turn Heavenly Servant.
Cost: 2 Resolve
Effect: If the target's Celestial Rank is equal to or less than your [Divine Rank - 4], the target is destroyed on a hit.
Augment, Stronger Turn
[Divine Rank 6, Stacking]
Stacking [Divine 6, 8, 10, etc]: This augment may be applied multiple times and is limited by your divine rank.
Effect: Increase the damage dealt by 1d8.
Augment, Greater Turn
[Divine Rank 6, Stacking]
Stacking [Divine 6, 8, 10, etc]: This augment may be applied multiple times and is limited by your divine rank.
Cost: 1 Resolve
Effect: You may affect an additional target.
Master Augment, Tenacious Turn
[Divine Rank 7]
Cost: 1 Resolve
Effect: Increase the saving throw by one die [STP 1d10].