Good race for a paladin.

[dragonis111]

I need a good race for a paladin, except the race cant have a level adjustment higher than 1 or have more than 1 racial hit dice, because it is a second level campaign so the race needs to be able to take at least one level in paladin, those are the only guidelines, any book can be used. I am open for home-brew as well.

 

[Crothian]

I think all the races can make interesting paladins. Just pick what you like and have fun.

 

[dragonis111]

Would a dragonborn human paladin be good? Seeing as how the character would get a con bonus in addition to the human bonus feat, along with 2 levels of paladin since dragonborn has no LA or racial hitdice?

 

[Theroc]

Don't know about Dragonborn(don't have the proper book), but Aasimar have bonuses to both wisdom and charisma, and a few other racial bonuses, for a +1 LA.

 

[Runestar]

Player's guide to faerun has a LA+0 version of aasimar (where you keep the stat bonuses). If you have races of faerun, there is a feat you can take to grant you wings (aasimar/tiefling only).

Quite a number of races have their own paladin substitution features, though I am not entirely impressed by them. Warforged seems cool, and there are enough features to let you do away with wis and cha (reduces mad).

When in doubt, always go with human. Dragonborn doesn't seem too bad. Dragonborn warforged?

On the other hand, there is always the crusader (tome of battle) as a viable alternative to the paladin.

And I think a human dragonborn loses the bonus feat, so it is really the worst race to start with.

 

[dragonis111]

Human dragonborn don't lose the bonus feat, as you start out human and through adventuring you become reborn as a dragonborn retaining all abilities.

 

[Dragonwriter]

Human dragonborn don't lose the bonus feat, as you start out human and through adventuring you become reborn as a dragonborn retaining all abilities.

Actually, you do not keep the Human bonus feat if you become a Dragonborn. Look at the sidebar on page 10 of Races of the Dragon. It says quite plainly you lose bonus feats, specifically calling out the Human one and saying that it's gone.

That said, the best race for the job really depends on what kind of Paladin you're trying to make... Do you want a mounted warrior? A heavily armored sword-and-shield warrior?

Human is almost always a good race. Dwarf is nice, but the CHA hit can hurt a Paladin. You should try to stay Medium (stronger weapons) though the AC bonus for Small could be helpful.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Hellbred (FCII) is a very interesting race with good benefits for a paladin.

Half-orc paladins get some nice substitution levrls on RoD, and elves get some in RotW I think.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Most PHB race can make an interesting Paladin- Humans for the bonus feat, Dwarves for their ability to wear armor and their Weapon Familiarity, Elves get their immunities and a dex bonus (so they get initiative, AC and ranged combat bonuses), gnomes or halflings could be good mounted Paladins and/or ranged attack specialists, and Half-Orcs get that brute force and RP style points.

As mentioned before Aasimar make decent Paladins.

Tieflings, like Half-Orcs, make for interesting Paladins to roleplay.

Half-Giants get to use oversized weapons, making them combat powerhouses.

Neandertals from Races of Frost have Str & Con bonuses, and lose Dex and Int- make a heavily armored but wise Neandertal Paladin and you have some of the force of the Half-Orc and few of the mechanical drawbacks.

Uldra, from the same source, are small with a Wis bonus.

Warforged- especially ones with Adamantine body- make fine paladins.

There are countless +0 to +1LA races out there- check out Planar Handbook, the various "Races of" books, Monster Manuals (Hobgoblin Paladin?), and Campaign sourcebooks.

 

[dragonis111]

Thanks for correcting me on the bonus feat loss, I am thinking about playing as a half ogre and to become a heavy armor paladin, but while races of destiny and savage species provide the same racial traits, RoD says it has a +2 LA while savage species says only +1 LA which one is it?