We all know the core Paladin, for lack of a better term, sucks. I've decided, being the arrogant ass I am, to take it upon myself to redesign the class. I was going to playtest this version before posting it, but I wanted some paper approval from someone other than myself before expending an ungodly amount of time throwing it in roleplaying situations against Team NPC and combat situations against Team Monster. So here's my Paladin re-done.
The Paladin
"Yes, I realise that you're evil. No, I'm not going to kill you. Yes, I am a Paladin. Get it yet?"
- Invictus, Paladin of Mersurea
People believe Paladins to be stupid, arrogant, and prejudiced towards all things they decide are evil. This is greatly resultant of misunderstanding that destroying evil does not necessarily mean killing evil creatures. In fact, a true Paladin would not kill even the most terrible and horrific demon if he could find another way.
Paladins are agents of good, and that means giving evil a chance, quite possibly more than one, to redeem itself. Among Paladins, even drawing a blade is considered a last resort. Thus, a Paladin is often much more in favour of subduing and imprisoning an evil creature than killing it.
Game Statistics:
Hit Die: d10
Class Skills: Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (-), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str).
Skills/Level: 4 + Intelligence Bonus
BAB: Good
Saves: Fort: Good; Ref: Poor; Will: Good
Alignment: Lawful Good. A Paladin is an upholder of good in all its forms, and though he does not necessarily have a strict preference to Law and Chaos as ideals, he must follow a strict code of conduct, and therefore be lawful. This is alterable at the DM's option based on the Law-Chaos rules for their own universe.
Race: Obviously, races that are generally evil boast far less Paladins than races that are generally good or even neutral. Paladins also occur more often in the more orderly races, but all-in-all, a Paladin could be of any race, even a demon.
Level/Abilities
1. Adaptive Armour Training*, Aura of Good, Code of Conduct, Divine Insight, Non-Lethal Strike, Turn Undead
2. Divine Grace, Healing Touch, Stamina
3. Aura of Courage
4. Puretorch Blade (+1)
5. Honour Shield, Prayer
6. Puretorch Blade (Flaming), Healing Touch
7. Commanding Presence, Divine Health, Peace
8. Puretorch Blade (+2)
9. Purification
10. Puretorch Blade (Merciful), Healing Touch
11. Holy Strength
12. Puretorch Blade (+3)
13. Righteous Resilience
14. Puretorch Blade (Flaming Burst), Healing Touch
15. Holy Fire
16. Puretorch Blade (+4)
17. Awe
18. Puretorch Blade (Holy), Healing Touch
19. Miracle
20. Puretorch Blade (+5)
Weapon and Armour Proficiency: Paladins are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, all armour, shields, and great shields.
Code of Conduct: Paladins have a certain code of conduct that they must follow. This code is as follows.
• A Paladin must not lie.
• A Paladin must not steal.
• A Paladin must never use poisons.
• A Paladin must not willingly commit an evil act.
• A Paladin must not willingly associate with evil creatures.
• A Paladin must offer aid to any in need except evil creatures.
• A Paladin may only fight if absolutely necessary.
• A Paladin may use lethal force only as a last resort.
• A Paladin must offer surrender whenever possible.
Failure to follow this code will cause a Paladin to lose their social status, as well as all Paladin spells, and all Supernatural, Spell-Like, and Extraordinary Abilities gained from Paladin levels, until the Paladin atones. For any purposes regarding evil creatures, evil refers only to alignment, not subtypes.
The Code of Conduct is open to interpretation. It is highly suggested that the DM and anyone planning to play a Paladin discuss this in depth before the game starts.
Adaptive Armour Training* (Ex): For the purposes of gaining the special abilities granted by armour or shields, a Paladin is considered to always have full BAB or maximum ranks in the required skill to gain special abilities in that armour, whichever is necessary, after a day of wearing it. The Paladin gains no actual skill ranks or BAB.
*This ability is only usable in campaigns that use the rules from Races of War.
Aura of Good (Ex): Equal to that of a Cleric of a good deity.
Divine Insight (Su): A Paladin is gifted with the ability to see through enemy ruses. A Paladin has an insight bonus equal to 10 + Paladin’s level on Sense Motive checks to oppose Bluff checks and Spot checks to oppose Disguise checks.
Non-Lethal Strike: Paladins are trained to fight without killing, and therefore do not suffer any penalty when attempting to deal non-lethal damage with melee attacks.
Turn Undead (Su): A Paladin can Turn Undead as a Cleric of his level.
Spellcasting: Beginning at 2nd level, a Paladin gains the ability to cast a small number of divine spells, which are drawn from the Paladin spell-list (see below). A Paladin must choose and prepare her spells in advance.
To prepare or cast a spell, a Paladin must have a Charisma score of 10 + the spell level. The DC for a saving throw against a Paladin's spell is 10 + the spell level + the Paladin's Charisma modifier.
Like other spellcasters, a Paladin can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. The Paladin's base daily spell allotment is given below. In addition, a Paladin receives bonus spells for a high Charisma score (pg. 8 of the PHB, Table 1-1: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells). When the table below indicates that a Paladin receives 0 spells of a given level, the Paladin may only cast spells of that level if he has a sufficiently high Charisma score to gain bonus spells.
A Paladin's caster level is equal to his Paladin level.
Code: Select all
[br]Spells Per Day[br] 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th[br]2. 0 - - - - -[br]3. 1 - - - - -[br]4. 2 0 - - - -[br]5. 3 1 - - - -[br]6. 3 2 - - - -[br]7. 3 3 0 - - -[br]8. 3 3 1 - - -[br]9. 3 3 2 - - -[br]10. 3 3 2 0 - -[br]11. 3 3 3 1 - -[br]12. 3 3 3 2 - -[br]13. 3 3 3 2 0 -[br]14. 3 3 3 3 1 -[br]15. 4 3 3 3 2 -[br]16. 4 4 3 3 2 0[br]17. 4 4 4 3 3 1[br]18. 4 4 4 4 3 2[br]19. 4 4 4 4 4 3[br]20. 4 4 4 4 4 4[br]
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[br]Paladin Spell List[br]1st Level Paladin Spells:[br]Bless[br]Bless Water[br]Bless Weapon[br]Create Water[br]Cure Light Wounds[br]Detect Poison[br]Detect Undead[br]Divine Favour[br]Endure Elements[br]Magic Weapon[br]Protection from Evil[br]Resistance[br]Restoration, Lesser[br]Virtue[br][br]2nd Level Paladin Spells:[br]Bull's Strength[br]Bear's Endurance[br]Cure Moderate Wounds[br]Delay Poison[br]Eagle's Splendor[br]Owl's Wisdom[br]Remove Paralysis[br]Resist Energy[br]Shield Oter[br]Zone of Truth[br][br]3rd Level Paladin Spells:[br]Cure Serious Wounds[br]Daylight[br]Discern Lies[br]Dispel Magic[br]Magic Circle against Evil[br]Magic Weapon, Greater[br]Prayer[br]Protect Weapon*[br]Remove Blindness/Deafness[br]Remove Curse[br][br]4th Level Paladin Spells:[br]Break Enchantment[br]Cure Critical Wounds[br]Death Ward[br]Dispel Evil[br]Mark of Justice[br]Neutralise Poison[br]Restoration[br]Toungues[br][br]5th Level Paladin Spells:[br]Atonement[br]Cure Light Wounds, Mass[br]Geas, Lesser[br]Hallow[br]Holy Smite[br]Holy Sword[br]Righteous Might[br]Stoneskin[br]True Seeing[br][br]6th Level Paladin Spells:[br]Banishment[br]Bear's Endurance, Mass[br]Bull's Strength, Mass[br]Cure Moderate Wounds, Mass[br]Eagle's Splendor, Mass[br]Heroes' Feast[br]Owl's Wisdom, Mass[br][br]*New spell[br][br]*Protect Weapon[br]Abjuration[br]Level: Pal 3[br]Components: V[br]Casting Time: 1 standard action[br]Range: Touch[br]Target: Weapon touched[br]Duration: 1 round/level[br][br]Casting this spell upon a weapon makes it indestructable for the duration of the spell. For the purposes of this spell, the term 'weapon' only applies to manufactured weapons.[br]
Stamina: Starting at 2nd level, a Paladin gains a certain amount of use with special abilities, represented by Stamina points. A Paladin’s total Stamina point pool is equal to their Paladin level plus their Constitution modifier, whether positive or negative. Regardless of their Constitution modifier, however, a Paladin may never have fewer than two Stamina points. These points are refilled completely after eight hours rest. Any special ability requiring the use of Stamina points has a duration in rounds of 3 + the Paladin’s Charisma modifier (never less than one) unless otherwise stated in the ability’s description. Any special ability requiring the use of Stamina points requires a swift action to activate, unless otherwise noted in the ability's description.
Healing Touch (Su): Starting at 2nd level, a Paladin can heal wounds with a touch. The total amount of points healed is equal to 10 + the Paladin’s Charisma modifier. At 6th level, this amount increases by 10 points and the Paladin’s Charisma modifier for this purpose is doubled. This process is repeated every four levels there after (30 + 3x Charisma at 10th, 40 + 4x Charisma at 14th, and 50 + 5x Charisma at 18th). Regardless of the level of the Paladin, this ability always costs 1 Stamina point to use. This ability is activated as a move action and the effect is instantaneous.
Divine Grace (Su): Starting at 2nd level, as long as a Paladin still has points remaining in his Stamina pool, he gains a bonus equal to his Charisma modifier on all saving throws.
Aura of Courage (Su): Starting at 3rd level, a Paladin is immune to fear effects, and all allies within 30 feet gain a +2 morale bonus on saves against fear. The Paladin may spend 1 Stamina point to make all allies within this range immune to fear as well.
Puretorch Blade (Ex): Starting at 4th level, a Paladin gains the ability to undertake a twelve-hour ritual to create a Puretorch Blade. A Puretorch Blade must be a melee weapon, but otherwise can be any weapon the Paladin wishes. When the ritual is finished, the weapon becomes semi-intelligent (INT 2, WIS 12, CHA 6), is named by the Paladin, and is constantly enveloped in a blue, heatless flame. Because of this, it emits light equal to that of a torch. This flame is only emitted when the Puretorch Blade is within thirty feet of the Paladin who created it. Though semi-intelligent, the Puretorch Blade is only aware of itself, the Paladin who created it, and any creature touching it. The Puretorch Blade has an empathic link with the Paladin who created it, and the Paladin can always discern the direction of his Puretorch Blade. A Puretorch Blade has no ego score.
A Puretorch Blade has a +1 enhancement bonus for every four levels of the Paladin who created it and is considered a good-aligned weapon. At 6th level, the Puretorch Blade gains the Flaming ability. At 10th level, the Puretorch Blade gains the Merciful ability. At 14th level, the Puretorch Blade loses the Flaming ability and gains the Flaming Burst ability in its place. At 18th level, the Puretorch Blade gains the Holy ability. The enhancement bonuses and special properties are negated within an anti-magic field as normal. The blue flame and semi-intelligence, however, are not.
If the Paladin who created the Puretorch Blade is not wielding it, it loses its enhancement bonus and any special abilities, becoming indistinguishable from a normal Masterwork weapon; however, it still remains semi-intelligent and still emits the blue flame when in range of its Paladin creator.
Any evil creature making contact with a Puretorch Blade at any time, even when it is away from its Paladin creator, immediately takes 1d4 points of damage per 4 levels of the Paladin. If the Paladin is wielding it at the time, the damage may be lethal or non-lethal, at the Paladin’s option. If the Paladin is not wielding it, the damage is always lethal. The evil creature touching the Puretorch Blade takes this damage each round it maintains contact. If the evil creature is attempting to wield or otherwise hold the Puretorch Blade, it must make a Reflex save (DC = 10 + damage dealt that round) or immediately drop the weapon. Anyone wielding the Puretorch Blade may choose to make a melee touch attack against an evil creature and deal only this damage.
A Paladin may have only one Puretorch Blade at a time. A Puretorch Blade can not be dismissed. If a Puretorch Blade is destroyed, the Paladin who created it must wait a week until they can make another.
Prayer (Sp): Starting at 5th level, a Paladin may use 1 Stamina points to cast Prayer as a spell-like ability, with the normal duration of a Stamina ability. This ability requires a move action to activate.
Honour Shield (Su): Starting at 5th level, a Paladin may spend 4 Stamina points to gain a deflection modifier equal to his Charisma modifier (minimum 1) as a bonus to his Armour Class. As a move action, a Paladin may touch another character to grant them this bonus.
Commanding Presence (Ex): Starting at 7th level, a Paladin commands respect with his mere presence, taking no penalty for a rushed Diplomacy check. He also gains a competence bonus equal to his Paladin level on Diplomacy checks as long as he still has points remaining in his Stamina pool.
Divine Health (Ex): A Paladin who has reached 7th level gains full immunity to all diseases, including supernatural ones. A Paladin who has a disease upon attaining this level is instantly cured of all effects.
Peace (Su): Starting at 7th level, a Paladin may cause any unfriendly or hostile creature within 50ft to become indifferent. The creature must make a Will saving throw (DC = 10 + ½ Paladin’s level + Paladin’s Charisma modifier) or forget all reason for hostility or unfriendliness toward the Paladin. Any attack made on a creature by anyone immediately ends the effect for that creature; otherwise, it lasts as long as is normal. This ability costs 5 Stamina points to use.
Purification (Su): Starting at 9th level, a Paladin may touch someone and use 3 Stamina points to cure that person of all poisons, natural and supernatural diseases, and curses. This ability requires a move action to activate and the effect is instantaneous.
Holy Strength (Su): Starting at 11th level, a Paladin may use 8 Stamina points to gain a bonus to his Strength score equal to four times his Charisma modifier (minimum 4). Multiple uses of this ability do not stack. As a move action, a Paladin may touch another character to grant them this bonus.
Righteous Resilience (Su): Starting at 13th level, a Paladin may use 6 Stamina points to gain Damage Reduction X/-, where X is equal to the Paladin’s base attack bonus. Multiple uses of this ability do not stack. As a move action, a Paladin may touch another character to grant them this bonus.
Holy Fire (Su): At 15th level, a Paladin can cause an enemy struck by his Puretorch Blade to become enveloped in holy flames. The flames result directly from divine power, and so are not subject to any kind of energy resistance or immunity. The flames only damage evil creatures, and deal either lethal or non-lethal damage, at the Paladin’s option at the time of striking. The flames deal 1d6 damage per Paladin level each round until the effect wears off. A Paladin can activate this ability either with a normal successful melee attack or the melee touch attack of his Puretorch Blade. This ability costs 5 Stamina points to activate. Multiple Holy Fire effects do not stack.
Awe (Su): Starting at 17th level, a Paladin can invoke awe and fear simply by being seen. Any creature within view of the Paladin must make a Will saving throw (DC = 10 + ½ Paladin’s level + Charisma modifier) or flee in terror. This effect is permanent. Any creature who fails this saving throw must attempt another one whenever in view of the Paladin to avoid running again, even if the Paladin does not activate the ability again. Any creature who succeeds their saving throw the first time is still shaken for the normal duration of a Stamina ability, and does not need to make a saving throw if it encounters the Paladin again. Any creature who succeeds on a later saving throw against the after-effects of this ability is shaken for the duration of the encounter, and afterward is no longer affected. This is a fear effect, but not a mind-affecting effect (in other words, even mindless creatures not specifically immune to fear effects can still be affected). This ability costs 15 Stamina points to activate. The Paladin may choose to exclude any creature from the effects of this ability when activated.
Miracle (Sp): Starting at 19th level, a Paladin may use Miracle as a spell-like ability, with the following changes. The Paladin must spend 24-hours in meditation beforehand, and then may use the ability anytime thereafter. A Paladin may have only one Miracle stored this way. After using his Miracle, the Paladin must wait another twenty-four hours on that Plane before beginning his meditation again.
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So, there's my Paladin redo. You'll notice I pretty much sacked or heavily modded everything the PHB had for it in favour for what I find to be a more balanced and useful class in general. I'll even go through the specifics for you.
The Code of Conduct has suddenly become more specific and believable. Lay on Hands I replaced with Healing Touch. Smite Evil I removed entirely, because the Puretorch Blade alone makes up for its usefulness, which was questionable anyway. Remove Disease I ditched in favour of Purification. I was originally going to include a modification for the mount, or even just keep it there, but I got so worked up building the class from the ground up I forgot about it entirely, and when I had finished and remembered it, I realised the mount really didn't have a place left.
You'll also notice the Stamina point system I'm using. I got the idea from the Ninja (Complete Adventurer), who uses a ki point system. I had originally tried limiting his abilities in other ways (ie: uses per day, per week, spell slots, etc.), but nothing seemed to work right. Either it was too powerful or not powerful enough. I think this Stamina thing works, but I'm still not sure about how many points each ability should cost.
Finally, I was informed by one of my less-reasonable fellow players that the Puretorch Blade, by the end-game, is not a fully-optimised +10 weapon. Before anyone else informs me of this, allow me to explain something.
It's not supposed to be.
The idea is that it's the Paladin's general weapon-of-choice for fighting evil, not necessarily his best weapon. It really doesn't cost him anything except a little bit of time, and so he's free to buy and magically optimise other weapons as he normally would. It's not like the Puretorch Blade is going to be the only weapon you ever use. You don't even have to use it at all.
I've also been informed that my Paladin appears to be a pyro-maniac. I'd like to clarify why he has an appearance of a fire concept.
I needed an energy type. It seemed rather abstract and really, rather prejudiced of me to use positive energy or light. After all, one of the things I was trying to do with this class is throw-off the prejudism involved in the typical Paladin. I also decided, at some point in the future, I needed to make an evil equivalent of this class, because the anti-Paladin should not be a Prestige Class if the regular Paladin isn't. If I gave my Paladin a weapon made of light, my anti-Paladin would have a weapon made of... dark? That didn't seem right.
So instead, I chose fire. Both good and evil in a fair deal of mythologies use fire. It's often respected as a power that is neither good nor evil, and usable equally by both. Therefore, the fire is a representation that a Paladin has power, and his use of that fire shows that his power is used for good. Clear on that? Cool.
Anyway, I think that's it. Feel free to slag on me or otherwise insult me, just make sure you're telling me what I'm doing wrong when you do. I look forward to making this class worth-while.
EDIT!
I realised I didn't specify a few other changes. Detect Evil is gone. Divine Insight should mostly make up for that, and the Puretorch Blade seals it.
Also, for spellcasting. Paladin spellcasting was nice, but I noticed that, with the same spell levels, not wasting points on Charisma, and more skill points, the Ranger totally wastes his ass. So, it needed to be better. Still, it couldn't be good enough that he could be considered a primary spellcaster. And who do we know who has good spellcasting and is still not a primary spellcaster? That's right. The Bard.
So I decided to just give him Bard spell progression, minus the cantrips. To do that I also needed to give him a couple more spell levels, meaning I had to pick some more spells from the Cleric list. While doing so I noticed that some of his spells just didn't fit, and I also thought "Hey, it would make sense if the Paladin had Holy Smite", so I mixed and matched a couple, even outright removed one or two, and threw him a spell from the Druid list (Stoneskin), because it made sense for him to have it. I also added a new spell of my own making because I figured no Paladin wants his Puretorch Blade being smushed by a random Nightwalker.
Finally, to make him much less MAD (that's Multiple Attribute Dependant for those who don't know), I made his casting based off of Charisma. Maybe now he can keep up with his nature counterpart.
Yeah, I think that's everything this time.
EDIT!
Moved Holy Sword to fifth level spells. That's a little more balanced, I think.
EDIT!
Under good advice, I finally got past my initial reservations and moved Turn Undead to 1st level.
EDIT!
Added Adaptive Armour Training. Still working on the new version that doesn't use Stamina points. Don't bug me about it.
EDIT!
Touched up some stacking issues. Yes, I'm still working on the new version. Leave me alone.
EDIT!
Remembered to add the ability to use Honour Shield, Holy Strength, and Righteous Resilience on allies. Now he can actually contribute a little bit to a party.