Building a fun support focused paladin in a more backline/caster heavy party?

[AlchemistPit]

I've recently been thinking about retiring my swords bard for a new character and so far I've been thinking a paladin might be a great fit, thing is I want to go with supporty spells like crusader's mantle but I'm not sure how good something like crusader's mantle is in my current party

party build right now excluding me is:
-Eladrin Valor Bard who focused on archery,
-Human shadow sorcerer who right now is using shadowblade a lot but plans on focusing cantrips with different spells once we hit 5 (we're currently 4)
-Tiefling fiend warlock who's the typical hex + eldritch blast warlock
-Human Sword and Board Champion Fighter, player considering retiring for a Bugbear Two-Hander Champion Fighter at some point though

I do have 2 others for Crusader's Mantle (once we hit 5 and the shadow sorcerer ignores shadowblade) so I may still run it since it's not awful, but I'm interested in some other suggestions aswell for AoE support spells that may be better for the whole party, specifically buffs rather than debuffs so I can focus strength/con more than charisma

So far for race I think I'm either going Warforged or Aasimaar, both have features I really like, open to other suggestions and may change my mind if I like them enough

Multiclassed or Pure classed is fine just as long as long as the flavour isn't too wacky and you keep in mind multiclassing minimums (point buy/standard array for stats, no dex in place of strength for paladin multiclassing either)

This character will obviously still be attacking most turns but the focus will probably be on support (defense fighting style for the extra bulk for example, rather than dueling for the extra damage) offensive support is still welcome though I just want party/group buffs rather than self buffs in most situations

DM allows most official non-playtest content, with the few exceptions being the ban on the Aarakocra and Yuan-Ti Pureblood races

Sorry if the formatting of this post is not that great, new to the forums but always would find posts from google when lurking when looking for character building tips for 5e and 3.5, decided to finally check it out

[CheddarChampion]

When you next play pay attention to how close the archer stays to the fighter, then think about where you could be as a paladin that would be within 30 feet of both of them and still adjacent to an enemy (so you can melee).

Numbers-wise Crusader's Mantle isn't great for a "typical" 3 round battle. At level 9 you use your action to give a +1d4 damage buff to allies using weapons.
Round 1: 0-2 allies before you attack, you cast, 0-2 allies after you attack with buffs
Round 2: 2 allies and yourself attack with the buff unless you lose concentration
Round 3: 2 allies and yourself attack with the buff unless you lose concentration

Assuming extra attack but no bonus action stuff, you get 16d4 damage extra at best. That's if all attacks hit and you beat your allies in initiative and they're always attacking from within 30 feet of you and you don't lose concentration.

I imagine you get at most 50% of that in practice, so 8d4 or 20 damage. Compare that to attacking twice with a longsword 1d8+5 and using a 3rd level spell slot to smite: 37 if both hit, 27.5 if one hits, 0 if both miss but you keep your spell slot.

Build wise, you want high Cha as a support paladin. You also want a subclass that's good for it.
Oath of the Ancients is good for magic damage resist and restraining effects.
Oath of Redemption is okay for defensive buffs and tanking, but the RP can be difficult to work out.
Oath of Conquest is good for lockdown. I have had good experiences with it but it might not suit the idea of "support."

If I were you I'd go Scourge Aasimar Oath of Conquest or Ancients, 15/10/14/8/10/17, Str+1 & Cha +1 at level 4. Sword and Board, dueling fighting style. Cha+2 at level 8.

Later on, Shield Master can be good to pair with good Dex saves and knocking prone for your fighter/bugbear buddy. Inspiring Leader can pump out a lot of THP. Warcaster or Resilient (Constitution) are good for keeping concentration going. Mounted Combatant (+lance) is good for advantage while riding your summoned mount and to keep it alive. Str+2 is good for better accuracy and damage on melee attacks.

[Talionis]

Idea, take it if it helps. Paladin can use Magic Stones for ranged attacks, by getting it off Warlock with the feat. Devotion can add Charisma to hit so that’s twice, which offsets sharpshooter. Haste is on the Vengeance Oath and the advantages on attacks also work at range. Two of the Smite spells work at range... branding smite and the other is fifth level.

I think it would be handy to have decent ranged attacks if you are hanging on the back line.

[T.G. Oskar]

Gonna add my support for Oath of the Crown. Yeah, bear with me in this one:

Oath of the Crown has some pretty interesting support skills, even if its subclass features are somewhat lacking. For one, it has an AoE emergency heal in Turn the Tide, something the others lack. It also has Warding Bond as one of its Oath spells; one of the key traits of this spell is that it's not based on concentration, and it offers a long-lasting buff (like, 8 hours worth) to a single ally you want protected, which will most likely be the Sorc or Fiendlock. You'll also have access to Spirit Guardians and Guardian of Faith, the latter which is also non-concentration and helps set up a dangerous obstacle. Between the best single-target tanking spell in the game, one of the most annoying lockdown/DoT spells around, an emergency AoE heal and a CC wide-area spell, you should provide a ton of support to the party while still being able to fight on your own and (provided you don't use SG instead) still keep that Crusader's Mantle active. And, if you feel you need healing, you can always switch to Aura of Vitality and start providing bonus action heals while laying the smackdown on the enemy.

It also opens the door to a very, VERY annoying lockdown combo: Scourge Aasimar + Spirit Guardians + Sentinel or Magic Initiate - Sorcerer or Warlock (kudos if your DM allows Tunnel Fighter as your Fighting Style). It's mostly for difficult battles, but if you activate SG on turn 1, then the Scourge Aasimar's nova effect on turn 2, you can either have one opponent (or many, if the DM allows Tunnel Fighter) taking large amounts of damage (3d6 or half that amount, plus half your level, worth of radiant damage every turn) without being able to move, or have one opponent take an obscene amount of damage (Booming Blade + the Scourge Aasimar's extra radiant damage, since it applies on "each of your turns", the same wording as per Sneak Attack, and then either force it to stay still and take SG's radiant damage, or move and take Booming Blade's radiant damage). Heck, you can even drop SG and use Crusader's Mantle and just have fun keeping every opponent still. That said, it all depends on whether you're interested on lockdown or just main support (and, quite frankly, you could do both).

One last bit: does your Bard has Inspiring Leader? If not, starting every long or short rest with a ton of temporary HP is the best support you can grant the party.

[TheUser]

I do have 2 others for Crusader's Mantle (once we hit 5-

Hol' up.
You don't get crusader's mantle until level 9.

Btw if you want to "support" then you need to prioritize Charisma. Your spells and Aura of protection are what support your team.

Wrathful Smite in particular is a gigantic pain in the ass to get rid of; failing the initial save means being frightened for 1 minute, only by spending an action can you attempt to free yourself and the check required is a straight wisdom check (no proficiency bonus) which is made at disadvantage thanks to the target being Frightened. Having a high DC for that is very nice.

Honestly if you just use Bless a bunch combined with Aura of protection you and your team will be unstoppable early-mid tier 2.

[Honk]

Right now I am playing a very „fun to RP“ Fallen Aasimar Conquest Paladin 8 / Divine Sorcerer 2 pledged to Kelemvor as Neutral Good.
(16/8/14/10/10/20)
Had a nice talk with my DM beforehand, just to hammer out the backstory and all the interesting details

He is the total shiny Knight, protecting the weak, spending money and Lay on Hands freely on street urchins... unless he stumbles upon undead abominations or other things on his KoS-List. Then he kinda looses it, which fe ended in him maniacally laughing and punching an undead monkey thing which got locked in his fear aura, trying to beat his 22AC (plate+1; animated shield; defensive fighting style) with disadvantage.
Watching two Zhentarim merchants who openly wore Cyric devotionals and we’re giving him their attitude slowly dying within his fear aura, till my ranger towed him away, asking: what is/went wrong in your head.
He kinda secretly serves the totally made up „Brotherhood of Adon“, a group of Kelemvor servants, who are not so proud of their god damming Adon after Cyric cursed him with madness and he renounced Mystra. Groups like the six-fingered hand, Pazuzu followers etc. who try to mislead people in their worship and thus interfere with Kelemvors Judgement are on his „without regard for collateral“ KoS-List.

But not only the RP side can be funny, also the stats leave not much do desire. With the dip in Divine Sorcerer I have cantrips, all the versatility and spells to choose from and a bunch of extra spellslots to smite away all my pala slots. The dip will cost me my lvl18 extended aura, because I‘ll grab the metamagic feat in the near future. but till then, I can “hasten“ a „hold person“ and then auto-Crit with a max. smite screaming „the judgment of Kelemvor is at hand!!!“. Just to not op him I took a bunch of strange spells, like mending cause his dex is only 8 and he breaks a lot of things. Comprehend language, zone of truth and even the more or less useless „Ceremony“. He is a wandering caretaker of souls after all... got yelled at for not having feather fall or some ranged attack but „Kelemvor protects“.

He plays like a leatherman tool on steroids, all the charms and good looks for handling social encounters, healing and protection for the group and all nine hells break loose, if wrongdoers are spotted. Solid damage output with a greatsword, massiv AC and the option to go full nova with smites. The spell lists provide fun for every situation: command, wrathful smite and shield work very well with the fear aura which will allow you to defend your backline casters simply by standing around.
And if your opponents are immun to fear, you’ll just smite them harder.

Since the race, class and stats are kinda min-maxed, my char can go full RP without bothering too much about the repercussions... beware of dragon breaths and heights though.

[Corran]

If the bard or (more likely) the sorcerer uses animate objects, then that' the time to pop up a crusader's mantle (even if you have to ready an action so that the summons get the bonus damage from their first turns). Ideally, you want to do this against low AC opponents, but there are other parameters about whether a casting of animate objects would be a good idea, so yeah, just use this spell to follow up on the (bard's AND!/or sorcerer's) animate objects and hope that they'll use it when they should.

Otherwise, just bless your party's highest damage dealers (GWM's, SS's) and the spellcasters who concentrate on something important (a warlock hex canon is a compromise between the two for example). Use your judgement to see who needs the buff most (before level 6, include your character so that you don't lose concentration too), but generally include anyone using the -5/+10 feats cause it will translate to a very nice damage boost. Bless and crusader's mantle are slightly opposites as far as damage output goes. Generally you want to use bless against high AC enemies, and crusader's mantle against low AC enemies. This is just a generalization (cause you might just want to use a bless against enemies that threaten saves with nasty effects, and you want to use CM when someone uses summons), but keep it in mind if you think it helps.

Aid will be a very good use of your 2nd level slots. Use it. Don't overdo it though. Use it on your melee allies (yourself included). Don't spend another slot to buff those allies that rarely take any damage, cause you need the slots for other things too (eg smites).

Take inspiring leader. Absolutely. In a group of 5 pc's you want this feat. There are many other feats that can be useful, and you still want to boost your charisma (for the aura among a few other things), so consider variant human for the extra feat.

Aura of vitality will be your group's best out of combat healing option (unless the bard spends one of their magical secrets for healing spirit, but with you getting access to aura of vitality this wouldn't be worth it). Use it to heal in between combats when you can't take a short rest. Such spells also become very important if players keep track of their HD (aside for the time element of course).

If the bard does not get raise dead (IMO they should), consider picking an oath that does not rely too much on 3rd level oath spells (eg crown), cause you'll need to keep some slots open for if you need to revivify someone. Either way, even if the bard gets raise dead, do prepare revivify. Slots may run empty, so you and the bard need to keep each other's backs when it comes to bringing someone from the dead (not to mention that each of you having access to resurrection spells covers the case where one of you dies).

If you are not planning on multiclassing (not multiclassing might be your best option given the size and the set up of the group), and if you are also not planning on taking sentinel (which is a good feat for paladins, especially post lvl 11, but you might or might not be pressed for feats, especially if you go non-vhuman inspiring leader), then take protection as your fighting style.

All of the oaths have some good synergy to offer with what your group is playing. Devotion will take care of charms and will allow your casters to spam party-friendly hypnotic pattern (which is a big deal). Ancients will give you plant growth and it's channel divinity increases in value given the (potential) number of your allies, etc etc. I don't see any significant advantage of one oath over another in this party set up. Well, maybe avoid vengeance. Maybe that one would fall slightly behind as it relies a less on charisma (which you'll want to favor over strength) and what mainly gives you (single target dpr increase), you already have plenty of in this party). Just pick the oath that sounds cooler and don't worry too much about it.

Take a look at the guides if you already have not. Your question is general enough so you'll easily find the answers you want in the guides' descriptions.