Yet Another Paladin

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Lokathor
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Yet Another Paladin

Post by Lokathor »

Paladin
"And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers!"

Paladins are warriors that are filled with far too much faith, and an endless drive to strike against Evil whenever they can. In some sense this makes them assholes, because they can't actually compromise on that point. Then again, since the forces of Evil are usually themselves looking to strike wherever they can, most people are happy to have paladins protecting them. Paladins are well liked because the paladin will always be first to the fight, and it's a lot easier to feel brave when someone else is taking the initiative.

Playing a Paladin

Paladins are all about smiting Evil. If you're not playing in the sort of game where the group is going to try hunting down Evil things, you should probably not play a paladin. If you are out to hunt Evil, then a paladin will be a great asset to the group.

Alignment: Though alignment is pretty dumb, paladins are inextricably linked to the idea of "Lawful Good". Paladins detect as Good with an aura strength equal to their own level.
Hit Die: d10
Class Skills: Balance, Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Jump, Knowlege (Any), Listen, Profession, Ride, Sense Motive, Spot, Swim, and Tumble.
Skill Points Per Level: 6 + Intelligence Modifier
BAB: Full
Saves: All Good

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Paladins are proficient with simple weapons, martial weapons, all armor, shields, and great shields.
Detect Evil (Su): The paladin can use Detect Evil, as the spell, at any time.
Smite Evil (Su): As a Swift action, a paladin can activate a smite. This lasts until the end of their turn. While smiting, a paladin adds their Charisma modifier to their attack and their level to damage whenever they attack an Evil creature. This ability can be used once per minute.
Lay On Hands (Su): A paladin can heal with the slightest touch. Each day the paladin can heal a number of points of damage equal to twice their level times their Charisma Modifier.
Spells: A paladin can cast divine spells, using their Charisma modifier for all spell related effects. They get a number of spells per day as shown on the chart below. Levels that show 0 spells per day allow bonus spells of that level, should the paladin's charisma modifier be high enough. A paladin can cast any spell off the cleric spell list, as well as any spell listed as being for paladins. If a spell has a level for both paladins and clerics, use the level given for paladins. Naturally, paladins cannot cast any spells with the Evil or Chaotic descriptors.

(This is supposed to be the Bard chart if you want, but I fiddled with it to make it more regular, so I reproduced it here for you and stuff. Also I'm assuming pathfinder-style "0th level spells at will", but you can add a column for that yourself if your group doesn't do that)
Level1st2nd3rd4th5th6th
1st0-----
2nd1-----
3rd2-----
4th20----
5th31----
6th32----
7th320---
8th331---
9th332---
10th3320--
11th3311--
12th3332--
13th33320-
14th33331-
15th43332-
16th443320
17th444331
18th444432
19th444443
20th444444

Divine Grace (Su): A 2nd level paladin adds their Charisma Modifier as a bonus on all saves.
Armor of Faith (Su): A 2nd level paladin always has a deflection bonus to AC (one third their level, rounded up). They also ignore any harmful planar effects from being on an Evil plane.
Divine Health (Su): A 3rd level paladin is powered more by faith than by body. Anything a Paladin would use their Constitution or Constitution Modifier for, they can use their Charisma or Charisma Modifier for instead if that would be better for them. They also have Immunity to Disease.
Aura of Courage (Su): A 3rd level paladin has become slightly dissociated from reality, and is Immune to Fear. Any ally that can see the paladin gets a +4 Morale bonus against fear effects.
Turn Undead (Su): A 4th level Paladin can turn undead. This is exactly like the cleric ability.
Battle The Horde (Su): Every time a 4th level paladin drops an Evil opponent, they heal a number of hit points equal to the opponent's hit dice.
Divine Mount (Su): A 5th level paladin is blessed with a mighty steed from the divine realms. This can be any creature with a CR 2 less than the paladin's level that the paladin can ride. The paladin's mount counts as their Cohort. When a paladin's mount dies that's really sad but they get a new one the next day. Justice waits for no one. The Paladin's mount gets the following special abilities:
[*]Celestial Template
[*]Improved Evasion (Ex): as normal.
[*]Share Spells (Su): Any spell the paladin casts on themselves can affect their mount as long as it's within 5ft at the time. If the spell has a duration the mount must stay within 5ft of the paladin or the spell will stop affecting them.
[*]Improved Speed (Ex): For every 5 full paladin levels the paladin's mount gets +5ft to all movement modes.
Greater Smiting (Su): A 6th level paladin can use their Smite Evil as often as they want.
Guided by God (Su): A 7th level paladin can use their Charisma or Charisma Modifier in place of their Dexterity or Dexterity Modifier if that would be better for them.
Fueled By Faith (Su): A 8th level paladin is Immune to Fatigue and Exhaustion, and also never needs food or water.
Unending Battle (Su): When a 9th level Paladin dies, they are resurrected the next day as long as their soul is free. They also don't age.
Greater Detect Evil (Su): A 10th level paladin has a Detect Evil effect active on them at all times, without needing to concentrate.
Inquisitor's Strike (Su): When a 11th level paladin hits an Evil target with a smite, they also automatically get a Dispel Check against the target, as if using a Targeted Dispel from Greater Dispel Magic.
Anchor the Sinful (Su): Evil creatures struck by a 12th level paladin can't use dimensional travel for 1 minute per point of Charisma Modifier (as if by Dimensional Anchor).
Visions of Glory (Su): An 13th level paladin is, in some sense, really starting to lose it, and uses their Charisma and Charisma Modifier in place of their Wisdom and Wisdom Modifier at all times even if this would be worse for them for whatever reason. They can also use Commune once per day as a swift action.
Leap of Faith (Sp): A 14th level Paladin can use Plane Shift once per day. This doesn't always take the paladin where they want to go, but it always takes them where they need to be.
Never Out Of The Fight (Su): When a 15th level Paladin fails a save and falls under a condition for more than 1 round, they can make another save as a free action at the start of their next turn. If they make their save, the condition is undone and the Paladin can take their turn normally. Even a failed save against instant death can be reversed by this ability.
Faith Unswerving (Su): A 16th level Paladin is affected by Mind Blank at all times.
Divine Fortification (Su): A 17th level Paladin is immune to critical hits.
Heaven's Blessing (Sp): An 18th level Paladin can cast Miracle once per day (0xp effects only).
Faith Apotheosis (Su): A 19th level Paladin uses their Charisma or Charisma Modifier in place of their Strength or Strength Modifier whenever it would be better for them to do so.
Heaven's True Champion (Su): A 20th Paladin wins the game every time they bring up the subject of Justice in a conversation. It's actually pretty annoying.

Code of Conduct

Though paladins are Lawful Good, they aren't actually literal "champions of Law and Good", because that's an Archon or something. Still, paladins do have a Code of Conduct that they must adhere to as part of their mystical cause. It's important to emphasize that following this code of conduct is not what makes a paladin Good. It's what they must do in addition to being Good.
[*]Can't Use Poison: Using poison isn't Evil or anything. Scorpions and snakes do it all the time. Park rangers use tranq darts to safely move animals. Nothing about poison is Evil. Paladins just can't use poison is all. From the paladin's perspective, public safety demands that all weapons in use actually appear to be weapons.
[*]Can't Lie: Lying is Good or Evil depending on who you're telling the lie to, but a paladin won't lie either way. That means that if the Nazis come to the door and demand to know if the Paladin is hiding any Jews (and she is), she can't glibly say "No". That does not mean that she has to say "Yes, they're right under the stairs!", it means that she has to tell the Nazis point blank "I'm not going to participate in your genocidal campaign, it's wrong." This will start a fight, and may get everyone killed, so the Paladin is well within her code to eliminate the middle man and just stab the Gestapo right there before answering. That's harsh, but the Paladin's code isn't about doing what's easy, or even what's best. It's about doing what you said you were going to.
[*]Can't Cheat: Paladins don't cheat. They don't need to keep playing if they discover someone else cheating, but they can't cheat themselves. Sometimes it's Good to cheat at dice to rescue slaves or whatever, but paladins just don't cheat.
[*]Association Restrictions: Paladins are not allowed to team up with Evil people. They aren't allowed to offer assistance to Evil people, and they aren't allowed to receive assistance from Evil people. Intolerance of this sort isn't Evil, but it isn't Good either. It's just another thing that Paladins have to do. If a paladin violates their code of conduct, they lose access to all their magical abilities until they atone for their misconduct. A paladin who doesn't want to atone for their actions can spend a week of intense training to trade in their paladin levels for fighter levels on a 1 for 1 basis.
Last edited by Lokathor on Tue Mar 15, 2016 7:47 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Kaelik
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Post by Kaelik »

So basically you took the dumbest Part of Soulborn and then made it worse?

Because now you Just be a Magic Blooded Spellscale Unseelie Fey with an 18 in Cha, and you get Cha x2 to all saves, Cha mod in place of Con mod for HP, and Cha mod to attack rolls and damage, and Cha mod for like 50% of all skill checks, and Cha mod to AC, in case you cared.
Last edited by Kaelik on Tue Mar 15, 2016 2:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
DSMatticus wrote:Kaelik gonna kaelik. Whatcha gonna do?
The U.S. isn't a democracy and if you think it is, you are a rube.

That's libertarians for you - anarchists who want police protection from their slaves.
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Post by Lokathor »

You know I realized today at work that I forgot Intelligence off the list, so I should probably add it into Faith Apotheosis just so that all of your stats can run off of Charisma, cause level 19 yolo it's funnier that way.

But sure, Charisma for everything.
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Kaelik
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Post by Kaelik »

Lokathor wrote:You know I realized today at work that I forgot Intelligence off the list, so I should probably add it into Faith Apotheosis just so that all of your stats can run off of Charisma, cause level 19 yolo it's funnier that way.

But sure, Charisma for everything.
Your class is garbage and you should throw it away.
DSMatticus wrote:Kaelik gonna kaelik. Whatcha gonna do?
The U.S. isn't a democracy and if you think it is, you are a rube.

That's libertarians for you - anarchists who want police protection from their slaves.
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Prak
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Post by Prak »

Lokathor wrote:You know I realized today at work that I forgot Intelligence off the list, so I should probably add it into Faith Apotheosis just so that all of your stats can run off of Charisma, cause level 19 yolo it's funnier that way.

But sure, Charisma for everything.
Clearly level 19 should just be "Mary Sue: You're so pretty and smart and awesome that you win D&D"
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.

You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
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Lokathor
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Post by Lokathor »

Kaelik: I've never seen you happy with anything so I'm pretty much going to just ignore you.

Prak: Well, "you win dnd" is always the 20th level power. But sure, I can have Mary Sue as the 20th level power. 17th plus is all wild nonsense anyway.
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Kaelik
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Post by Kaelik »

Lokathor wrote:Kaelik: I've never seen you happy with anything so I'm pretty much going to just ignore you.
Just because I don't post praise for things that don't suck doesn't mean your "Fuck the stat system, Charisma for everything! Charisma twice for everything! FUCK THE RNG" class isn't shit.
DSMatticus wrote:Kaelik gonna kaelik. Whatcha gonna do?
The U.S. isn't a democracy and if you think it is, you are a rube.

That's libertarians for you - anarchists who want police protection from their slaves.
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Prak
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Post by Prak »

Image
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.

You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
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Lokathor
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Post by Lokathor »

Prak wrote:Image
I don't follow.
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Prak
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Post by Prak »

Hamilton, the song Your Obedient Servant-
Even if I said what you think I said
You would need to cite a more specific grievance
Here’s an itemized list of thirty years of disagreements
I've been waiting to use it when Kaelik was Kaeliking.
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.

You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
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