Admiral Squish
2017-05-26, 04:41 PM
So, it's been a while. I just recently joined up with a new pathfinder group, playing core only, and started playing a paladin because I had a concept I liked, but I was rather forcefully reminded why I don't generally play core only. There's a lot of things about the paladin class that bug me. I don't like vancian casting, I don't like arbitrary /day limits, and I don't like how rigid the 'lawful good only' part of a paladin is, and I don't like that you have to wait 'till 5th to get a proper mount. So, here's something I threw together in the last couple hours to illustrate my ideal version of the paladin.
Champion
Skill Points: 2+ Int modifier
Class Skills: Acrobatics, Bluff, Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (religion, plus any one other), Perception, Ride, Sense Motive, Swim.
LevelBABFortRefWillSpecial
1st+1+2+0+2Divine Agent, Smite, Miracle
2nd+2+3+0+3Divine Grace, Damage Reduction 1
3rd+3+3+1+3Miracle
4th+4+4+1+4Divine Courage, Damage Reduction 2
5th+5+4+1+4Miracle
6th+6+5+2+5Divine Health, Damage Reduction 3
7th+7+5+2+5Miracle
8th+8+6+2+6Divine Resolve, Damage Reduction 4
9th+9+6+3+6Miracle
10th+10+7+3+7Divine Purity, Damage Reduction 5
11th+11+7+3+7Miracle
12th+12+8+4+8Divine Resistance, Damage Reduction 6
13th+13+8+4+8Miracle
14th+14+9+4+9Damage Reduction 7
15th+15+9+5+9Miracle
16th+16+10+5+10Damage Reduction 8
17th+17+10+5+10Miracle
18th+18+11+6+11Damage Reduction 9
19th+19+11+6+11Miracle
20th+20+12+6+12Ascension, Damage Reduction 10
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Champions are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light, medium, and heavy armor, and shields (except tower shields)
Divine Agent (Su): You have sworn yourself wholly to the service of your god, and in return, they have made you one of their champions on the mortal plane. Choose a patron deity. Your alignment must be within one step of your chosen deity’s. You must swear to follow your deity’s moral code (if they have one). A champion of a chaotic, evil, good, or lawful deity has a particularly powerful aura, corresponding to the deity’s alignment, as a cleric.
Your connection with the divine allows you to perform great feats in your deity’s name, but your power is borrowed. Your deity will be watching your actions closely, and may take their power back should you fail to live up to their standards. If you knowingly violate your deity’s moral code, abuse your champion powers for personal gain, or try to use your champion abilities against their fellow servants, you will lose your deity’s favor, and they will take back the power they granted you. If you lose your deity’s favor, you immediately lose all supernatural abilities granted by your champion levels, and cannot take further levels in champion. You may attempt to regain your deity’s favor by spending 24 hours praying and repenting for your transgression, or by receiving an atonement spell from a cleric.
Smite (Su): As a swift action, the champion can channel their god’s power into an attack. The next melee attack the champion makes gains a morale bonus to attack equal to their charisma modifier, and deals an additional 1d6 points of damage per level of champion they possess. If the champion does not make a melee attack before the end of their turn, or misses their attack, the smite is wasted.
Miracle (Su): The champion gains the ability to perform some form of divine miracle, chosen from the list of miracles below. The champion must meet all prerequisites for a miracle in order to select it.
Divine Grace (Su): The champion gains a morale bonus to all saving throws equal to their charisma modifier.
Damage Reduction (Su): At 2nd level, the champion gains damage reduction 1, which is is overcome by their deity’s opposed alignments (a neutral good deity would grant DR 1/evil, a lawful evil deity would grant DR 1/good or chaos, etc.). This damage reduction increases by 1 at 4th level and every even-numbered level thereafter.
Divine Courage (Su): The champion gains immunity to fear effects.
Divine Health (Su): The champion gains immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases.
Divine Resolve (Su): The champion gains immunity to charm spells and spell-like abilities.
Divine Purity (Su): The champion gains immunity to poisons of all kinds.
Divine Resistance (Su): The champion gains spell resistance equal to 10+ their champion level.
Ascension (Ex): The champion’s service is rewarded by their deity, and they ascend beyond their former mortality. The champion’s creature type changes to Outsider, and they gain the (native) subtype and any alignment subtypes their deity possesses. They retain the traits of their former creature type, such as low-light vision, and gain darkvision 60. If the champion has racial hit die of their former type, they change to outsider hit die, and recalculate their HP, base attack bonus, saves, and skills accordingly. The champion becomes timeless and ageless, and cannot be magically aged. They lose any ability score penalties for aging but retain any bonuses they have accrued. The champion is now permanently bound to their deity, and their powers may no longer be revoked if they lose their deity’s favor.
Aura of Light:
The champion glows with holy power. This glow illuminates a 10-foot radius centered on themselves with bright light, and shadowy illumination out to 20 feet. All allies within the radius of bright light gain a +1 morale bonus to saves charm, fear and compulsion effects. This bonus increases by 1 for every four class levels the champion possesses. The champion can suppress or resume this glow as free action once per round.
-Aura of Brilliance:
Prerequisites: Aura of Light
The champion’s aura of light is particularly bright and pure. The radius of bright light provided by their aura increases to 20 feet, and the radius of shadowy illumination increases to 40 feet. The area of bright light is treated as a daylight spell by creatures vulnerable to light.
-Aura of Healing:
Prerequisites: Aura of Light
All allies in the radius of bright light produced by the champion’s aura of light (including the champion) whose whose hit points are lower than ½ their maximum value gain fast healing 1. This fast healing increases by 1 for every four class levels the champion possesses.
-Aura of Might:
Prerequisites: Aura of Light
All allies in the radius of bright light produced by the champion’s aura of light (including the champion) gain a +1 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls. This bonus increases by 1 for every four class levels the champion possesses.
-Aura of Protection:
Prerequisites: Aura of Light
All allies in the radius of bright light produced by the champion’s aura of light (including the champion) gain a +1 morale bonus to armor class and all saving throws. This bonus increases by 1 for every four class levels the champion possesses.
Blessed Weapon:
The champion’s weapon always finds its mark. Any weapon the champion wields gains a +1 enhancement bonus. If the weapon leaves the champion’s possession for any reason, such as being disarmed, dropped, or thrown, the weapon loses the enhancement bonus at the end of the champion's turn. The enhancement bonus increases by +1 for every four champion levels they possess. These bonuses can be added to the weapon, stacking with existing enhancement bonuses to a maximum of +5, or they can be used to add any of the following weapon properties: Bane, Brilliant Energy, Defending, Disruption, Flaming, Flaming Burst, Frost, Ghost Touch, Icy Burst, Keen, Merciful, Mighty Cleaving, Returning, Seeking, Shock, Shocking Burst, Speed, Thundering, Throwing, Vorpal, or Wounding. Adding these abilities consumes an amount of bonus equal to the property's cost. These bonuses are added to any properties the weapon already has, but duplicate abilities do not stack. If the weapon is not magical, at least a +1 enhancement bonus must be added before any other properties can be added. These bonuses apply to only one end of a double weapon. The champion can change which properties they grant to a weapon by spending one hour in meditation and prayer.
-Divine Blade:
Prerequisites: Blessed Weapon.
In addition to the enhancement bonus, any weapon the champion wields gains an appropriately-aligned enchantment. If the champion serves a good deity, any weapon they wield gain the holy property, if they serve an evil diety, their weapons gain the unholy property, if they serve a chaotic deity, their weapons gain the anarchic property, and if they serve a lawful deity, their weapons gain the axiomatic property. If their deity would qualify for more than one property, the champion must choose one to apply when they select this miracle.
-Bless Weapons:
Prerequisites: Blessed Weapon
As a standard action, the champion can touch a weapon and bless it, granting it bonuses as though they were wielding it for one round per level of champion.
Bonded Companion:
The champion gains the service of an unusually strong, intelligent creature. This companion functions as a druid’s animal companion, using the champion’s class level as their druid level. Bonded companions also have an intelligence of at least 6.
-Call Companion:
Prerequisite: Bonded Companion
As a full-round action, usable at will, the champion can call their companion to their side, summoning them from anywhere on the same plane. The companion appears adjacent to the champion at the start of their next turn.
-Blessed Companion:
Prerequisite: Bonded Companion, Champion level 13.
The champion’s bonded companion gains the celestial simple creature template, and spell resistance equal to 10+ the champion’s class level.
Devastating Smite:
The champion’s smite damage increases by 1/2 champion’s class level. This miracle can be selected multiple times. Its effects stack.
Healing Hands:
The champion’s touch closes wounds and heals the sick. As a standard action, the champion can touch a creature to heal it. If the creature is dying, they automatically stabilize. In addition, the champion has a pool of points equal to 2 x their class level x their charisma modifier. They can spend any number of these points to heal the creature they touch an equal number of hit points. Temporary increases to charisma, such as from eagle’s splendor, do not increase the size of this pool. Each day, the champion must spend one hour in meditation and prayer in order to refill this pool. The champion can use this ability to heal themself as a swift action.
-Divine Touch:
Prerequisites: Healing Hands
The multiplier for the champion's healing hands pool increases by one. This miracle can be selected multiple times, and its effects stack. (3 x their class level x their charisma modifier the first time, then 4 x their class level x their charisma modifier, then 5 x their class level x their charisma modifier, etc...)
-Merciful Touch:
Prerequisites: Healing Hands
The champion’s healing hands can do more than simply heal wounds. When using their healing hands ability, the champion can spend additional points from their pool to heal serious damage or conditions. For every 5 points they spend, they can cure one point of ability damage, or remove the fatigued, shaken or sickened condition from the target. At 6th level, they can spend 10 points to remove the dazed or staggered condition, or cure a disease as with the cure disease spell (caster level equal to champion’s class level). At 9th level, they can spend 15 points to remove the confused, exhausted, frightened, or nauseated conditions, remove a curse as with the remove curse spell (caster level equal to champion’s class level), or remove poison as with a neutralize poison spell (caster level equal to champion’s class level). At 12th level, they can spend 20 points to remove the blinded, deafened, paralyzed, petrified, or stunned condition
-Revive:
Prerequisites: Healing Hands, Champion level 13
If the champion uses their healing hands ability on a creature that has died within one round per champion level, they can bring them back to life. A revived creature has negative hit points equal to their constitution score-1, and the touch automatically stabilizes them. Restoring them from there requires further healing.
-Savior’s Reach:
Prerequisites: Healing Hands
The champion can use their healing hands ability on any creature within 30 feet, as long as they have a line of effect to the target.
Sense Morality:
The champion can detect strong alignments. They can use Detect Chaos, Detect Evil, Detect Good, and Detect Law as spell-like abilities at will. As a move action, the champion can focus on a single object within 60 feet and determine if it’s chaotic, evil, good, or lawful, and learn the strength of its aura as if having studied it for three rounds.
Smiting Arrow:
The champion’s smite can apply to either a melee or ranged attack, at their option.
Smiting Bolt:
As a standard action, the champion can make a ranged touch attack against a target within 60 feet to deal 1/2 their smite bonus damage to the target directly.
Champion
Skill Points: 2+ Int modifier
Class Skills: Acrobatics, Bluff, Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (religion, plus any one other), Perception, Ride, Sense Motive, Swim.
LevelBABFortRefWillSpecial
1st+1+2+0+2Divine Agent, Smite, Miracle
2nd+2+3+0+3Divine Grace, Damage Reduction 1
3rd+3+3+1+3Miracle
4th+4+4+1+4Divine Courage, Damage Reduction 2
5th+5+4+1+4Miracle
6th+6+5+2+5Divine Health, Damage Reduction 3
7th+7+5+2+5Miracle
8th+8+6+2+6Divine Resolve, Damage Reduction 4
9th+9+6+3+6Miracle
10th+10+7+3+7Divine Purity, Damage Reduction 5
11th+11+7+3+7Miracle
12th+12+8+4+8Divine Resistance, Damage Reduction 6
13th+13+8+4+8Miracle
14th+14+9+4+9Damage Reduction 7
15th+15+9+5+9Miracle
16th+16+10+5+10Damage Reduction 8
17th+17+10+5+10Miracle
18th+18+11+6+11Damage Reduction 9
19th+19+11+6+11Miracle
20th+20+12+6+12Ascension, Damage Reduction 10
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Champions are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light, medium, and heavy armor, and shields (except tower shields)
Divine Agent (Su): You have sworn yourself wholly to the service of your god, and in return, they have made you one of their champions on the mortal plane. Choose a patron deity. Your alignment must be within one step of your chosen deity’s. You must swear to follow your deity’s moral code (if they have one). A champion of a chaotic, evil, good, or lawful deity has a particularly powerful aura, corresponding to the deity’s alignment, as a cleric.
Your connection with the divine allows you to perform great feats in your deity’s name, but your power is borrowed. Your deity will be watching your actions closely, and may take their power back should you fail to live up to their standards. If you knowingly violate your deity’s moral code, abuse your champion powers for personal gain, or try to use your champion abilities against their fellow servants, you will lose your deity’s favor, and they will take back the power they granted you. If you lose your deity’s favor, you immediately lose all supernatural abilities granted by your champion levels, and cannot take further levels in champion. You may attempt to regain your deity’s favor by spending 24 hours praying and repenting for your transgression, or by receiving an atonement spell from a cleric.
Smite (Su): As a swift action, the champion can channel their god’s power into an attack. The next melee attack the champion makes gains a morale bonus to attack equal to their charisma modifier, and deals an additional 1d6 points of damage per level of champion they possess. If the champion does not make a melee attack before the end of their turn, or misses their attack, the smite is wasted.
Miracle (Su): The champion gains the ability to perform some form of divine miracle, chosen from the list of miracles below. The champion must meet all prerequisites for a miracle in order to select it.
Divine Grace (Su): The champion gains a morale bonus to all saving throws equal to their charisma modifier.
Damage Reduction (Su): At 2nd level, the champion gains damage reduction 1, which is is overcome by their deity’s opposed alignments (a neutral good deity would grant DR 1/evil, a lawful evil deity would grant DR 1/good or chaos, etc.). This damage reduction increases by 1 at 4th level and every even-numbered level thereafter.
Divine Courage (Su): The champion gains immunity to fear effects.
Divine Health (Su): The champion gains immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases.
Divine Resolve (Su): The champion gains immunity to charm spells and spell-like abilities.
Divine Purity (Su): The champion gains immunity to poisons of all kinds.
Divine Resistance (Su): The champion gains spell resistance equal to 10+ their champion level.
Ascension (Ex): The champion’s service is rewarded by their deity, and they ascend beyond their former mortality. The champion’s creature type changes to Outsider, and they gain the (native) subtype and any alignment subtypes their deity possesses. They retain the traits of their former creature type, such as low-light vision, and gain darkvision 60. If the champion has racial hit die of their former type, they change to outsider hit die, and recalculate their HP, base attack bonus, saves, and skills accordingly. The champion becomes timeless and ageless, and cannot be magically aged. They lose any ability score penalties for aging but retain any bonuses they have accrued. The champion is now permanently bound to their deity, and their powers may no longer be revoked if they lose their deity’s favor.
Aura of Light:
The champion glows with holy power. This glow illuminates a 10-foot radius centered on themselves with bright light, and shadowy illumination out to 20 feet. All allies within the radius of bright light gain a +1 morale bonus to saves charm, fear and compulsion effects. This bonus increases by 1 for every four class levels the champion possesses. The champion can suppress or resume this glow as free action once per round.
-Aura of Brilliance:
Prerequisites: Aura of Light
The champion’s aura of light is particularly bright and pure. The radius of bright light provided by their aura increases to 20 feet, and the radius of shadowy illumination increases to 40 feet. The area of bright light is treated as a daylight spell by creatures vulnerable to light.
-Aura of Healing:
Prerequisites: Aura of Light
All allies in the radius of bright light produced by the champion’s aura of light (including the champion) whose whose hit points are lower than ½ their maximum value gain fast healing 1. This fast healing increases by 1 for every four class levels the champion possesses.
-Aura of Might:
Prerequisites: Aura of Light
All allies in the radius of bright light produced by the champion’s aura of light (including the champion) gain a +1 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls. This bonus increases by 1 for every four class levels the champion possesses.
-Aura of Protection:
Prerequisites: Aura of Light
All allies in the radius of bright light produced by the champion’s aura of light (including the champion) gain a +1 morale bonus to armor class and all saving throws. This bonus increases by 1 for every four class levels the champion possesses.
Blessed Weapon:
The champion’s weapon always finds its mark. Any weapon the champion wields gains a +1 enhancement bonus. If the weapon leaves the champion’s possession for any reason, such as being disarmed, dropped, or thrown, the weapon loses the enhancement bonus at the end of the champion's turn. The enhancement bonus increases by +1 for every four champion levels they possess. These bonuses can be added to the weapon, stacking with existing enhancement bonuses to a maximum of +5, or they can be used to add any of the following weapon properties: Bane, Brilliant Energy, Defending, Disruption, Flaming, Flaming Burst, Frost, Ghost Touch, Icy Burst, Keen, Merciful, Mighty Cleaving, Returning, Seeking, Shock, Shocking Burst, Speed, Thundering, Throwing, Vorpal, or Wounding. Adding these abilities consumes an amount of bonus equal to the property's cost. These bonuses are added to any properties the weapon already has, but duplicate abilities do not stack. If the weapon is not magical, at least a +1 enhancement bonus must be added before any other properties can be added. These bonuses apply to only one end of a double weapon. The champion can change which properties they grant to a weapon by spending one hour in meditation and prayer.
-Divine Blade:
Prerequisites: Blessed Weapon.
In addition to the enhancement bonus, any weapon the champion wields gains an appropriately-aligned enchantment. If the champion serves a good deity, any weapon they wield gain the holy property, if they serve an evil diety, their weapons gain the unholy property, if they serve a chaotic deity, their weapons gain the anarchic property, and if they serve a lawful deity, their weapons gain the axiomatic property. If their deity would qualify for more than one property, the champion must choose one to apply when they select this miracle.
-Bless Weapons:
Prerequisites: Blessed Weapon
As a standard action, the champion can touch a weapon and bless it, granting it bonuses as though they were wielding it for one round per level of champion.
Bonded Companion:
The champion gains the service of an unusually strong, intelligent creature. This companion functions as a druid’s animal companion, using the champion’s class level as their druid level. Bonded companions also have an intelligence of at least 6.
-Call Companion:
Prerequisite: Bonded Companion
As a full-round action, usable at will, the champion can call their companion to their side, summoning them from anywhere on the same plane. The companion appears adjacent to the champion at the start of their next turn.
-Blessed Companion:
Prerequisite: Bonded Companion, Champion level 13.
The champion’s bonded companion gains the celestial simple creature template, and spell resistance equal to 10+ the champion’s class level.
Devastating Smite:
The champion’s smite damage increases by 1/2 champion’s class level. This miracle can be selected multiple times. Its effects stack.
Healing Hands:
The champion’s touch closes wounds and heals the sick. As a standard action, the champion can touch a creature to heal it. If the creature is dying, they automatically stabilize. In addition, the champion has a pool of points equal to 2 x their class level x their charisma modifier. They can spend any number of these points to heal the creature they touch an equal number of hit points. Temporary increases to charisma, such as from eagle’s splendor, do not increase the size of this pool. Each day, the champion must spend one hour in meditation and prayer in order to refill this pool. The champion can use this ability to heal themself as a swift action.
-Divine Touch:
Prerequisites: Healing Hands
The multiplier for the champion's healing hands pool increases by one. This miracle can be selected multiple times, and its effects stack. (3 x their class level x their charisma modifier the first time, then 4 x their class level x their charisma modifier, then 5 x their class level x their charisma modifier, etc...)
-Merciful Touch:
Prerequisites: Healing Hands
The champion’s healing hands can do more than simply heal wounds. When using their healing hands ability, the champion can spend additional points from their pool to heal serious damage or conditions. For every 5 points they spend, they can cure one point of ability damage, or remove the fatigued, shaken or sickened condition from the target. At 6th level, they can spend 10 points to remove the dazed or staggered condition, or cure a disease as with the cure disease spell (caster level equal to champion’s class level). At 9th level, they can spend 15 points to remove the confused, exhausted, frightened, or nauseated conditions, remove a curse as with the remove curse spell (caster level equal to champion’s class level), or remove poison as with a neutralize poison spell (caster level equal to champion’s class level). At 12th level, they can spend 20 points to remove the blinded, deafened, paralyzed, petrified, or stunned condition
-Revive:
Prerequisites: Healing Hands, Champion level 13
If the champion uses their healing hands ability on a creature that has died within one round per champion level, they can bring them back to life. A revived creature has negative hit points equal to their constitution score-1, and the touch automatically stabilizes them. Restoring them from there requires further healing.
-Savior’s Reach:
Prerequisites: Healing Hands
The champion can use their healing hands ability on any creature within 30 feet, as long as they have a line of effect to the target.
Sense Morality:
The champion can detect strong alignments. They can use Detect Chaos, Detect Evil, Detect Good, and Detect Law as spell-like abilities at will. As a move action, the champion can focus on a single object within 60 feet and determine if it’s chaotic, evil, good, or lawful, and learn the strength of its aura as if having studied it for three rounds.
Smiting Arrow:
The champion’s smite can apply to either a melee or ranged attack, at their option.
Smiting Bolt:
As a standard action, the champion can make a ranged touch attack against a target within 60 feet to deal 1/2 their smite bonus damage to the target directly.