Antipaladin

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Antipaladin
Urgraz, iconic hryngar antipaladin.
(Class)

Region
Any
Races
Any
Alignment
Iconic character
Source: Advanced Player's Guide, pg(s). 118ff.
I.svg

This article covers a topic relevant to Pathfinder First Edition. For the Pathfinder Second Edition equivalent, see Champion.

Where the fighter represents the pinnacle of martial combat, and the paladin blends martial skill with devotion to a righteous deity, cause, or organization, the antipaladin seeks to bring ruin to the holy and tyranny to the weak. They are villains who actively seek to bring death and destruction to ordered society, caring nothing for anyone or anything but themselves. They embody corruption, disease, and cruelty.13

Origins

Antipaladins are extraordinary individuals who embrace evil, hate, and corruption to a degree few mortals can match. They are either the product of a paladin who has fallen from grace, or else are trained from a young age to take up this mantle.1

Fallen paladins

All paladins follow a strict moral and behavioral code dedicated to upholding the power of just rulers, while championing good and honor, and protecting the weak. Those who willfully commit an evil act or who violate their code of conduct lose access to their divinely-granted powers, and must seek atonement, either through the appropriate spell or via another means, in order to regain them.4 Most do so, but there are a few who fully embrace the wicked path they have already begun, and turn their back on all they once held dear; only these corrupted individuals become antipaladins. They become the opposite of what they once were, consorting and drawing power from fiends, killing the innocent, and putting themselves and their desires before all else. This fall from grace is very rare, and many are lured or tricked into following it. Once the moral transformation is complete (often after a complex ritual that involves blood sacrifice), the new antipaladin finds that she has the same level of divine power she once held as a servant of good.1

Trained antipaladins

Not all antipaladins achieve their position through conversion. Some are trained in the martial skills from a very young age, and are taught to embrace hatred and cruelty, generally through mistreatment and pain. They grow to become living examples of evil, to disavow compassion and loyalty, and spread their gospel through pain and suffering.1

Code of conduct

An antipaladin is required to follow a debased moral code and risks the loss of all of his divine powers should he ever willingly commit a good act. This code requires him to consider his own needs before anyone else's, to take advantage of others when possible, to punish the right and the just, and the impose tyranny on the helpless. He is not allowed to ally with good creatures, unless it is to undermine them from within their ranks, but even that is extremely rare.1

If an antipaladin ceases to adhere to the causes of chaos and evil, commits a truly selfless act, or otherwise violates his personal code of conduct, his blasphemous gifts cease to function. He may only regain his powers by having an atonement spell cast on him, or otherwise regain the respect of his chosen cause.5 Even more rarely than paladins, antipaladins may shift entirely to the cause of good, gaining holy powers.[citation needed]

Religions

An empyrean antipaladin.

Much like the paladin, the antipaladin gains their power from their twisted and evil personal code and do not necessarily need to worship a single deity. But those who do typically choose evil gods who match their beliefs and actions, but there are antipaladins who worship a few non-evil deities, presumably because of their more destructive, vengeful and anti-authoritarian tendencies. Some antipaladins may even be recruited by demon lords.[citation needed]

Evil deities with antipaladins

Non-evil deities with antipaladins

Demon lords with antipaladins

Known antipaladins

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Paizo Inc., et al. “Chapter 2: Classes” in Advanced Player's Guide, 118–123. Paizo Inc., 2010
  2. Jason Bulmahn, et al. “Chapter 1: Classes” in Ultimate Intrigue, 64. Paizo Inc., 2016
  3. In Pathfinder First Edition, antipaladins were a standalone class. In Pathfinder Second Edition, antipaladins are a subclass of the champion class.
  4. Jason Bulmahn, et al. “Chapter 3: Classes” in Core Rulebook, 60–61. Paizo Inc., 2009
  5. Paizo Inc., et al. “Chapter 2: Classes” in Advanced Player's Guide, 123. Paizo Inc., 2010
  6. Sean K Reynolds, et al. Inner Sea Gods, 95. Paizo Inc., 2014
  7. Brian Duckwitz, et al. “Leader of the Faith” in Cohorts and Companions, 25. Paizo Inc., 2015
  8. 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 Paizo Inc., et al. “Chapter 3: Fiendish Influences” in Book of the Damned, 175. Paizo Inc., 2017
  9. Sean K Reynolds, et al. Inner Sea Gods, 112. Paizo Inc., 2014
  10. Sean K Reynolds, et al. Inner Sea Gods, 126. Paizo Inc., 2014
  11. Sean K Reynolds, et al. Inner Sea Gods, 158. Paizo Inc., 2014
  12. Robert Brookes, et al. Dahak” in Inner Sea Faiths, 36. Paizo Inc., 2016
  13. Robert Brookes, et al. Zyphus” in Inner Sea Faiths, 90. Paizo Inc., 2016
  14. Sean K Reynolds, et al. Inner Sea Gods, 30. Paizo Inc., 2014
  15. Sean K Reynolds. Besmara” in The Wormwood Mutiny, 70. Paizo Inc., 2012
  16. Robert Brookes, et al. Hanspur” in Inner Sea Faiths, 60. Paizo Inc., 2016
  17. Kate Baker, et al. Hei Feng” in Faiths of Golarion, 26. Paizo Inc., 2018
  18. 18.0 18.1 Owen K.C. Stephens. (April 7, 2016). Meet the Villains—Urgraz, Paizo Blog.
  19. Paizo Inc., et al. Bestiary 4, 51. Paizo Inc., 2013
  20. James Jacobs. Demons Revisited, 43. Paizo Inc., 2013
  21. Tyler Beck, et al. “Adventuring in Belkzen” in Belkzen, Hold of the Orc Hordes, 34. Paizo Inc., 2015
  22. Colin McComb. “Faiths of Corruption” in Faiths of Corruption, 13. Paizo Inc., 2011
  23. Tim Hitchcock & Alyssa Faden. Castle Kronquist” in Castles of the Inner Sea, 18. Paizo Inc., 2013
  24. Steven Helt, et al. “Chapter 3: The House without Hope” in Tears at Bitter Manor, 39. Paizo Inc., 2014
  25. Urgraz is illustrated in the infobox above.