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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Class Paladin (Divine Soldier)



liquidformat
2020-04-14, 09:27 AM
Hi all,

I have been working on my own rework of Paladin (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e4ab17su_rojoA4XyQiQz1oLzVx28tyL6JtkdllXQ74/edit?usp=sharing)and wanted to get people's thoughts on it. The base thematic idea was to make it more of a divine soldier of its specific god so there isn't as much overlap with Soulborn and Crusader.

Anyways let me know what you think, it is always useful to get feedback!

aimlessPolymath
2020-04-14, 12:55 PM
The Blessings document is not available to me.
This is a truly massive number of Smites- past level 10 or so, I think it's functionally unlimited, and you shouldn't bother tracking it.
Spells starting at level 1 are good, but possibly unneeded- +2 skill points and a martial chassis are reasonably strong on their own.
Not clear that the listed spells are in addition to the previous spell list- needs some words mentioning it.

Divine Guidance is excellent- good opportunity to supplement the base list.

Cleaving Smite is an over-fancy way of giving Cleave as a bonus feat; Great Cleave plus the 5 ft step at 9 is okay, maybe? I think those features should probably just give the feat.

Curse Breaker feels like it should be linked in to Lay on Hands, personally.

NigelWalmsley
2020-04-14, 09:20 PM
1. Please don't create another partial caster progression that is slightly different from all the existing ones. My preference would be to synchronize on Bard progression, but at the very least match up with what the Duskblade is doing (which it looks like you almost do, but slightly reduced?).
2. I think you should write up the full list of (at least core) Paladin spells, and have the alignment-related ones in their own sections (similar to the Wu Jen).
3. Requiring all Paladins to devote themselves to gods seems like a miss. Having a character who's tirelessly devoted to an ideology, or his own code of ethics, seems like a natural fit if you're expanding the class.
4. I would change the text of the aura ability to say "a Cleric of her Paladin level", because as written (and, yes, I know the actual class has it this way too), it doesn't match up. More a pet peeve than anything.
5. If I'm a Lawful Evil Paladin, can I detect Chaos, Good, both, or my choice? The text is not clear.
6. I suspect you should just make Smite at-will or 1/X rounds. As-is, I think you'll have enough uses you won't usually need to track, which leads to issues when you do. Also, how is it supposed to interact with things like Rapid Shot and TWF?
7. The blessing seem basically reasonable (I have not read them all). However, I think if you're going to do this, you should consider beefing up the role of blessings and having the Paladin rely on them instead of spells.
8. Should all Paladins radiate an Aura of Courage? IIRC the Unearthed Arcana variants don't.
9. "Once per day, as a full-round action, a paladin may magically call her mount from the celestial realms in which it resides." I think that should say "extraplanar realms" if you're supporting non-Good Paladins by default. Calling my Hell Horse from the "celestial realms" feels like a flavor fail. On a related note, you should allow the other alignment templates (at least Fiendish) as well as Celestial.
10. Is there a reason Cleaving Smite punishes mounted Paladins?
11. Reactive Smite seems kind of underwhelming for a 14th level ability. The Sorcerer just got Finger of Death and you can ... be slightly better at AoOs. As a class that has no particular reason to build for AoOs to this point.

I have not read through all the variant material. Did you mention Sword of the Arcane Order and/or Battle Blessing at all? Those seem like things to be aware of when tweaking the Paladin's spell progression.