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View Full Version : Ninja's PALADIN Fix. PEACH Please!



Ninjadeadbeard
2013-01-07, 12:44 AM
The Paladin

What's what:
So I'm one of those people who sees something, and I try to fix it without checking to see if I know what I'm doing. And unfortunately I read a few Paladin "Fixes" a bit ago, so here we are.

This isn't too comprehensive, just a few tweaks here and there. LOTS of PEACH, if you can. Can't improve unless I get feedback.

Change log

Good Will Saves added. Why didn't Paladins have that before?
Added Search and Intimidate to skills. Flavor, mostly. Should I bump them to 4 skill points?
Hopefully boosted Smite Evil slightly. Essentially: Smite as Full Attack, with extra damage added on every hit.
Lay on Hands HP increased to Paladin level X 10. Also made Swift or Immediate action.
Aura of courage increased to 40ft
Divine Health adds Cha mod to HP per paladin level
Reduced the "Turn as Cleric 3-levels lower" to "as Cleric 2-levels lower". Also now uses Charisma modifier
Spells: Switched to Spontaneous Charisma Casting. Added Domain spells
Special Mount: Added "Can be any Animal that is appropriate". Let me know if unclear language. Also, Bonus Mounted Feats while riding Special Mount (see description), and the Paladin uses Charisma for Ride with her Special Mount.
Remove Disease now a Charisma +X/day ability. Specifically targets magical and supernatural diseases. Added "Auto-Succeed", but worried too good.
Greater Divine Grace - double Charisma bonus to saves, grants a single ally benefits of regular Divine Grace using Paladin's Charisma.
My own interpretation of the Paladin's Conduct Code.
Removed stupid Multiclassing penalty.
Altered Mount's Abilities slightly (easier Share Spell/Share Save, better Imp Speed, Command and Spell Resistance)


The Paladin
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special |1st|2nd|3rd|4th

1st|+1|+2|+0|+2|Smite Evil +1/day, Aura of Good, Detect Evil|—|—|—|—

2nd|+2|+3|+0|+2|Divine Grace, Lay on Hands|—|—|—|—

3rd|+3|+3|+1|+3|Aura of Courage, Divine Health|—|—|—|—

4th|+4|+4|+1|+4|Turn Undead|0|—|—|—

5th|+5|+4|+1|+4|Smite Evil +2/day, Special Mount|0|—|—|—

6th|+6/+1|+5|+2|+5|Remove Disease +1/day|1|—|—|—

7th|+7/+2|+5|+2|+5|Greater Divine Grace|1|—|—|—

8th|+8/+3|+6|+2|+6||1|0|—|—

9th|+9/+4|+6|+3|+6|Remove Disease +2/day|1|0|—|—

10th|+10/+5|+7|+3|+7|Smite Evil +3/day|1|1|—|—

11th|+11/+6/+1|+7|+3|+8||1|1|0|—

12th|+12/+7/+2|+8|+4|+8|Remove Disease +3/day|1|1|1|—

13th|+13/+8/+3|+8|+4|+8||1|1|1|—

14th|+14/+9/+4|+9|+4|+9||2|1|1|0

15th|+15/+10/+5|+9|+5|+9|Remove Disease +4/day, Smite Evil +4/day|2|1|1|1

16th|+16/+11/+6/+1|+10|+5|+10||2|2|1|1

17th|+17/+12/+7/+2|+10|+5|+10||2|2|2|1

18th|+18/+13/+8/+3|+11|+6|+11|Remove Disease +5/day|3|2|2|1

19th|+19/+14/+9/+4|+11|+6|+11||3|3|3|2

20th|+20/+15/+10/+5|+12|+6|+12|Smite Evil +5/day|3|3|3|3

[/table]
Alignment: Lawful Good
Hit Die: 1d10

Class Skills:
Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge(nobility and royalty) (Int), Knowledge(religion) (Int), Search (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex),and Sense Motive (Wis).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) × 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Paladins are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor (heavy, medium, and light), and with shields (except tower shields).

Aura of Good (Ex): The power of a paladin’s aura of good (see the detect good spell) is equal to her paladin level.

Detect Evil (Sp): At will, a paladin can use detect evil, as the spell.

Smite Evil (Su): A number of times per day equal to her Charisma Modifier plus one additional time at levels 1, 5, 10, 15 and 20, a paladin may attempt to smite evil with one Full Attack. She adds her Charisma bonus (if any) to her attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per paladin level per successful attack. If the paladin accidentally smites a creature that is not evil, the smite has no effect, but the ability is still used up for that day.

Divine Grace (Su): At 2nd level, a paladin gains a bonus equal to her Charisma bonus (if any) on all saving throws.

Lay on Hands (Su): Beginning at 2nd level, a paladin can heal wounds (her own or those of others) by touch. Each day she can heal a total number of hit points of damage equal to her paladin level x 10. A paladin may choose to divide her healing among multiple recipients, and she doesn’t have to use it all at once. Using lay on hands is a swift or immediate action.

Alternatively, a paladin can use any or all of this healing power to deal damage to undead creatures. Using lay on hands in this way requires a successful melee touch attack and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity. The paladin decides how many of her daily allotment of points to use as damage after successfully touching an undead creature.

Aura of Courage (Su): Beginning at 3rd level, a paladin is immune to fear (magical or otherwise). Each ally within 40 feet of her gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects. This ability functions while the paladin is conscious, but not if she is unconscious or dead.

Divine Health (Ex): At 3rd level, a paladin gains immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases. Additionally, she adds her Charisma Bonus to her total Hit Points per paladin level. This is retroactive with previous levels.

Turn Undead (Su): When a paladin reaches 4th level, she gains the supernatural ability to turn undead. She may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier. She turns undead as a cleric of two levels lower would.

Spells: Beginning at 4th level, a paladin gains the ability to cast a small number of divine spells, which are drawn from the paladin spell list. She can cast any spell she knows without preparing it ahead of time, the way a wizard or a cleric must.

To cast a spell, a paladin must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class 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. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Paladin. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Charisma score. A Paladin also gains access to a single Cleric Domain from the following list:

{table=head]Paladin Domains
Community
Glory
Good
Healing
Law
Nobility
Protection
Strength
War[/table]

When Table: The Paladin indicates that the paladin gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, she gains only the bonus spells she would be entitled to based on her Charisma score for that spell level.

The Paladin's Spells known are as follows:

Paladin Spells Known
{table=head]Level | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th
1st | - | - | - | -
2nd | - | - | - | -
3rd | - | - | - | -
4th | 1 | - | - | -
5th | 1 | - | - | -
6th | 2 | - | - | -
7th | 2 | - | - | -
8th | 2 | 1 | - | -
9th | 3 | 1 | - | -
10th | 3 | 2 | - | -
11th | 3 | 2 | 1 | -
12th | 4 | 2 | 1 | -
13th | 4 | 3 | 2 | -
14th | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1
15th | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1
16th | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2
17th | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2
18th | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3
19th | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3
20th | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4
[/table]

Through 3rd level, a paladin has no caster level. At 4th level and higher, her caster level is one-half her paladin level.

Special Mount (Sp): Upon reaching 5th level, a paladin gains the service of an unusually intelligent, strong, and loyal steed to serve her in her crusade against evil (see below). This mount is usually a heavy warhorse (for a Medium paladin) or a warpony (for a Small paladin), but it can be any creature of the Animal type that is capable of carrying a rider (as per DM approval/Setting Appropriateness).

Once per day, as a full-round action, a paladin may magically call her mount from the celestial realms in which it resides. The mount immediately appears adjacent to the paladin and remains until dismissed; it may be dismissed at any time as a free action. The mount is the same creature each time it is summoned, though the paladin may release a particular mount from service.

Each time the mount is called, it appears in full health, regardless of any damage it may have taken previously. The mount also appears wearing or carrying any gear it had when it was last dismissed. Calling a mount is a conjuration (calling) effect.

Should the paladin’s mount die, it immediately disappears, leaving behind any equipment it was carrying. The paladin may not summon another mount for thirty days or until she gains a paladin level, whichever comes first, unless the mount is somehow returned from the dead.

The paladin is granted the benefits of the following feats: Mounted Combat, Ride-by-Attack, Spirited Charge and Trample. The paladin only gains these feats' benefits while riding her Special Mount. In addition, the Paladin uses Charisma instead of Dexterity for Ride Checks made with the Special Mount.

Remove Disease (Sp): At 6th level, a paladin can produce a remove disease effect a number of times per day equal to her Charisma bonus. This effect removes a single Disease from a target or herself. She can use this ability one additional time per day for every three levels after 6th (two additional times per day at 9th, three additional times at 12th, and so forth). This Remove Disease effect also removes Supernatural or Magical disease, and requires no Caster Level Check. It automatically succeeds.

Greater Divine Grace (Su): At 7th level, a paladin adds their Charisma bonus (if any), multiplied by 2 to all saves. They may, as a swift or immediate action, once per day grant a single ally within 60ft the paladin's Charisma Bonus to the ally's Saves for a number of rounds equal to the Paladin's level.

Code of Conduct: A Paladin must:

Be of Lawful Good Alignment
Respect legitimate and fair authority so long as the authority promotes the health and well-being of sentient beings
Act with honor (do not attack fleeing/helpless opponents if they do not pose a grievous future risk, do not use poison, do not cheat/lie without just cause)
Help those in need (giving alms to the poor, protecting innocents from unjust laws, defend those without the skills to defend themselves)
Not associate with anyone who is truly, unrepentantly, irredeemably Evil. Traveling with such an associate should be to mitigate their villainy and to hopefully one day help them to reach true redemption, if at all possible
Not accept Henchmen, Followers or Cohorts who are not Lawful Good

Ex-Paladins
A paladin who grossly violates the code of conduct loses all paladin spells and abilities (including the service of the paladin’s mount, but not weapon, armor, and shield proficiencies). She may not progress any farther in levels as a paladin. She regains her abilities and advancement potential if she atones for her violations (see the atonement spell description), as appropriate.

Like a member of any other class, a paladin may be a multiclass character, and suffers no special penalties when multiclassing.

THE PALADIN’S MOUNT

The paladin’s mount is superior to a normal mount of its kind and has special powers, as described below. The standard mount for a Medium paladin is a heavy warhorse, and the standard mount for a Small paladin is a warpony. Another kind of mount may be allowed as well so long as it is an animal and can bear the weight of the paladin. A paladin’s mount is treated as a magical beast, not an animal, for the purpose of all effects that depend on its type (though it retains an animal’s HD, base attack bonus, saves, skill points, and feats).

{table=head]Paladin Level|Bonus HD|Natural Armor Adj.|Str Adj.|Int|Special

5th–7th|+2|+4|+1|6|Empathic link, improved evasion, share spells, share saving throws

8th–10th|+4|+6|+2|7|Improved speed

11th–14th|+6|+8|+3|8|Command creatures of its kind

15th–20th|+8|+10|+4|9|Spell resistance

[/table]

Paladin’s Mount Basics: Use the base statistics for a creature of the mount’s kind, but make changes to take into account the attributes and characteristics summarized on the table and described below.

Bonus HD: Extra eight-sided (d8) Hit Dice, each of which gains a Constitution modifier, as normal. Extra Hit Dice improve the mount’s base attack and base save bonuses. A special mount’s base attack bonus is equal to that of a cleric of a level equal to the mount’s HD. A mount has good Fortitude and Reflex saves (treat it as a character whose level equals the animal’s HD). The mount gains additional skill points or feats for bonus HD as normal for advancing a monster’s Hit Dice.

Natural Armor Adj.: The number on the table is an improvement to the mount’s existing natural armor bonus.

Str Adj.: Add this figure to the mount’s Strength score.

Int: The mount’s Intelligence score.

Empathic Link (Su): The paladin has an empathic link with her mount out to a distance of up to 1 mile. The paladin cannot see through the mount’s eyes, but they can communicate empathically. Note that even intelligent mounts see the world differently from humans, so misunderstandings are always possible.

Because of this empathic link, the paladin has the same connection to an item or place that her mount does, just as with a master and his familiar (see Familiars).

Improved Evasion (Ex): When subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, a mount takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw and half damage if the saving throw fails.

Share Spells: At the paladin’s option, she may have any spell (but not any spell-like ability) she casts on herself also affect her mount. The mount must be within 5 feet at the time of casting to receive the benefit. Additionally, the paladin may cast a spell with a target of “You” on her mount (as a touch range spell) instead of on herself. A paladin and her mount can share spells even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the mount’s type (magical beast).

Share Saving Throws: For each of its saving throws, the mount uses its own base save bonus or the paladin’s, whichever is higher.

Improved Speed (Ex): The mount’s speed increases by 10 feet per every three Paladin levels it's rider possesses.

Command (Sp): Once per day per two paladin levels of its master, a mount can use this ability to command other any normal animal of approximately the same kind as itself (for warhorses and warponies, this category includes donkeys, mules, and ponies), as long as the target creature has fewer Hit Dice than the mount. This ability functions like the command spell, but the mount must make a DC 15 Concentration check to succeed if it’s being ridden at the time. If the check fails, the ability does not work that time, but it still counts against the mount’s daily uses. Each target may attempt a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 paladin’s level + paladin’s Cha modifier) to negate the effect.

Spell Resistance (Ex): A mount’s spell resistance equals its master’s paladin level + 11. To affect the mount with a spell, a spellcaster must get a result on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) that equals or exceeds the mount’s spell resistance.

toapat
2013-01-07, 12:54 AM
Smite: Applying the smite bonuses to all attacks made in a round is more elegant, i typically give that at level 6-7 though. Changing it from a Standard to Itteratives in a Full attack action is not good.

Greater Grace: No, maybe the bonus of Divine Grace as an aura, but as is? no

Lay on Hands: The advice of "Go loot pathfinder" is still as sound as ever

Spellcasting: Caster Level is still weak, Battle Blessing should be a class feature. If the spell list was reworked like im about to do, id agree with the spells known table, but as is it is just needlessly gimping paladin

Remove Disease: is still terribad, go read the Handbook for ideas. (http://dictummortuum.blogspot.com/2011/08/paladins-handbook.html)

Id point you at my most recent paladin brew, but that is about to get a spell list rebuild

Yitzi
2013-01-07, 01:35 AM
-As written, Smite Evil can only be used on a full attack, not a single attack; I'd advise changing it to "attack action or full attack action".
-As written, Smite Evil can be used for ranged attacks as well; I fully support this change.

Other than that, it looks like a definite improvement, though it still suffers from a serious case of MAD*.
I'd also consider giving Smite Evil some advantages other than a weak-to-moderate (for a limited-use ability) attack and damage bonus. "Considered a Good-aligned effect to penetrate DR/ignore regeneration" seems a good idea, and it could be further strengthened by allowing it to even ignore DR/Good and something else (so a Smite Evil could bypass a Balor's DR even if the weapon is not cold iron.) Doubling the damage against creatures of the evil subtype also seems thematically appropriate, and would further help to make it useful.
Oh, and I'd 100% agree about giving him Battle Blessing.

*This is a case, though, where I feel the remainder of the fix should be not a paladin-specific fix but rather a general change that makes MAD less of a downside.