#i know a lot of these are skewed towards ancients but i'm indecisive as to what i want my ancients paladin to be

[red-dragon-archfiend]

Alright, got some snacks on me, now for some Paladinposting.

Choosing an Oath is different from choosing subclasses for other classes. This does not just define your playstyle, what abilities you have access to, and your character's overall aesthetic; this defines their mission, their worldview, what's most important to them. I think every class and subclass choice should have some weight to it, but for the Paladin it's especially so. I can't just choose based on which has the features I like most; it's about what kind of character I aim to roleplay as well. I'm considering the following:

- Devotion is the archetypal Paladin, the one with the most iconic aesthetic and tenets. This is your knight in shining armor, your champion of good. This for me represents leaning the most strongly into the themes of the class, which is a good thing.

- Ancients is the Oath that resonates with me most in what it represents. This is, ultimately, an Oath about love, taking up arms to defend what matters to you most. There are a lot of different stories you could tell with this, like acquiring the egg of a chromatic dragon and attempting to raise it to be a guardian of nature and goodness. Aesthetically there's a lot of different directions to take, with all the different elements of nature I love, but a possible, more unorthodox choice would be a "witch knight" aesthetic, especially if I take Magic Initiate (Warlock).

- Vengeance is the Oath I like most in terms of subclass features. The spells and Channel Divinity options are excellent, and I've always been fond of the "dark knight" aesthetic. However, the roleplay implications of this Oath imply a brooding character, someone whose life has been ruined and couldn't think of a better calling than to punish those responsible. You could perhaps find a more gentle character in this, but knowing the sheer conviction and passion required for an Oath, I'd need to seriously consider what kind of hero this would be.

Choice of race, meanwhile, isn't quite as important from a roleplay perspective, but it works in concert with the Oath to define the feel of your character. For a Paladin, I'm considering the following:

Dragonborn: Preferably Red, either one who rejects the evil in their ancestry by becoming a champion of good and love, or one who inherits the vengeful nature of their ancestors, and this pushes them towards the path of a dark knight. Works for any Oath, but I'm leaning towards Vengeance to add fiery breath to the Oath's many powerful offensive options.

Aasimar: Protector or Scourge, someone who was destined to be a Paladin. Works for any Oath, though Devotion is the obvious choice. Blessed Warrior, taking Sacred Flame and Thaumaturgy, would work well for embracing the holy knight theme.

Tiefling: Default or Zariel. One of the other ways of adding a bit of fire to the Paladin, and goes the opposite direction as the Aasimar, while allowing for similar themes of evil ancestry as the Red Dragonborn. Works very well with the "witch knight" aesthetic, as well as Vengeance.

Fire Genasi: The most obvious "fire" choice, but the weakest mechanically. Works best for Ancients if we want a similar aesthetic to the Wildfire Druid, and Vengeance because that favors two-handed weapons, giving us a free hand for Produce Flame.

Halfling: Perhaps an odd choice, but for a dex-based build it could be interesting. Bountiful Luck could be helpful, especially on an Ancients Paladin, which put together would make an odd combination of a tank and a support character, akin to a Cleric.

Forest Gnome: Similar to a Halfling, but with Minor Illusion combined with Magic Initiate, we could have a decent amount of utility cantrips to play with, especially if we take Blessed Warrior as our fighting style.

Half-Elf: Even without customizing our ability score increases, this is an excellent choice, with the ability spread and two skills allowing us to do all the important things a Paladin does without stretching ourselves too thin.

Dhampir, Hexblood, or Reborn: The Gothic Lineages offered in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft all have compelling choices. Each includes two skills like the Half-Elf, which we want, but the rest of their features are also interesting; the Dhampir gives us a bite we can Smite with and works wonderfully for the dark knight aesthetic of Vengeance, Hexblood gives us some tricky spellcasting, which when combined with Magic Initiate could make this the best choice for the "witch knight" concept, and Reborn is flexible in its nature and aestheitc, allowing for numerous kinds of undead to be represented; I like the idea of a Reborn who is a former Death Knight, remembering their Oath of Devotion, but not the fall that made them a Death Knight before, nor the evils they committed as an undead. Each of these could work well, especially in a Ravenloft campaign.

Centaur: A fun choice for the Oath of Ancients, though the Find Steed spell would go to waste; we're the knight, AND the steed!

Satyr: Another fey-oriented choice for Oath of Ancients, except this one offers an unarmed weapon and Magic Resistance, which combined with the Aura of Warding makes the Paladin virtually impervious to magic.

Am I forgetting something? Probably. Am I posting this anyway? Yes!

I'm been having Paladin thoughts today that I might share when I'm less sleepy