Comments on: Pathfinder Paladins don’t fear the reaper

By: greentiger

greentiger — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:56:21 +0000

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I didn’t mention this in the initial post but there was more to the fight than just the skeleton boss. He had 4 normal skeletal cronies with him and the party monk ran interference on them while the paladin took care of the big guy. Much to the monk’s chagrin, he proceeded to die as a result of his efforts. One of the skeletons landed a critical on him with nearly max damage. Fortunately the druid was able to stabilize him quickly.

@Norman Harmon, I like the bait-and-switch idea. I’ll have to see what I can do there. The party does think quickly on their feet so I think they can handle it. It will still be fun though.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:07:31 +0000

We’ve noticed the same thing with the paladin in our party. But we’ve grown to appreciate it. Whenever facing something evil our battle cry is “Go get him, Ray!” OK, that not the characters name but you get the idea.

By: Norman Harman

Norman Harman — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:28:19 +0000

It’s also totally fine that a character “is the star” / “steals the show”. If it happens occasionally and is roughly distributed so each player has a moment to shine.

When I plan “story path” adventures I purposefully try to build this in. It’s a lot of fun to be “The Dude” once in a while.

This is also perfect for setting up the Paladin. Get her overconfident with a series of undead encounters. Then throw something for which the smite/other abilities doesn’t work out. Now other player(s) have to step up and be “The Dude” to save her.
.-= Norman Harman´s last blog ..Lamp of Recent Sight =-.

By: Stuart

Stuart — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 04:40:09 +0000

…remember that the Paladin only gets the AC bonus against the target of the smite. If there are other enemies, they will still be attacking the paladin’s old AC.

By: wrathofzombie

wrathofzombie — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:43:57 +0000

Another thing to do would be to give something the other characters could help with and/or do. Having priest who keep the skeleton completely invulnerable will give the party something to do while the paladin soaks damage from the skeleton.