[DnD] The Paladin Upgrade

[reaverta]

And this week we have another perennial favourite of the melee classes tweaked to enhance high-level play - perhaps a slightly surprising one, as the class chosen was Paladins... but rather than sheer firepower, what they've gained is instead ... more flexibility. You might be noticing a pattern, here. ;)

(If you're wondering why I'm doing this,

Comments

Liking it

[anonymous]

I have always looked as the paladin as say, a hand of its deity or the leader of a cause. Someone powerful and, above all obvious notes, charismatic. Yet, I always felt they lacked a punch. Late spell gains and abilities that become useless in later adventures. The improvements here don't make the Paladin greatly better, but just expand on other abilities. Making the move Paladin Mercy was a great idea. Why should they be only able to remove a disease? In most senses, a poison is a weaker disease? Why can't they remove a poison? Why isn't there a resurrect in their spell list? Why should they not be able to remove a disability? Instead of making them god-like, they were simply made more potent with this. I give it a two thumbs up. Getting a flying mount also helps later on. Epic quests start to get more involved with varying surroundings. Such as the Favored Soul in the Miniature's Handbook from 3.5, the class gets wings at 17. I am not asking for a winged paladin as cool as it sounds, but improving their companion was a great idea.

Re: Liking it

[reaverta]

... well thank you very much.

You're quite right - my intention was not to make them God-like - their Smites, Turn Undead, Lay on Hands, spellcasting and Special Mount were already scaling with level, so one had to be careful not to make the levels too godlike.

Rather, what they needed was a bit extra versatility - granting their mount (Which by late levels was starting to fall behind, especially when faced with a horde of minions with crossbows!) extra oompf was a useful boost that indirectly aided the Paladin, while the Paladins Mercy means that that Remove Disease ability is now worth taking for its sheer versatility.

May I ask who you are?

Re: Liking it

[anonymous]

A very enthusiastic DnD fan and avid Paladin player. Don't really have an account but I was searching for something online as a way to upgrade the paladin to a degree, and I thank you quite a lot for posting this.

Paladin Upgrade - Spells

[anonymous]

I am not sure on this, but I have always wanted the Paladin to be able to cast, say, a ranged touch attack of holy damage. Its only spells really include healing and buffing. No resurrection or damaging spells. True its main form of combat is basically buffed melee or ranged, or even a secondary healer, but I'd like to see it have a special holy attack. This could be a special damage designed to fend off undead more or destroy an evil being. Just thinking maybe a little more spell potency for the poor hybrid...

Re: Paladin Upgrade - Spells

[reaverta]

Interesting thought.

... And I know just the thing: How's Holy Smite sound? Good-only attack spell only otherwise found in the Good domain... yeah, I see no harm in it. (Yeah, it's fairly weak, but a Paladin could still probably have a lot of fun nuking a minion horde with it...)

Re: Paladin Upgrade - Spells

[reaverta]

Oh, and something I forgot to mention: Paladins are not really a 'poor hybrid' at all - rather, they're a full-blown meleeist who also happens to get a degree of (rather useful!) spellcasting ability. While it's mostly buffs and the like, it can nonetheless be very handy to be able to pull out restorative magic, and the odd booster to boot.

Still, I see nothing wrong with the idea of them having Holy Smite either, and it would be rather thematic to call down Holy Light apon ones foes...