Oath of the Righteous Fist
Added 2024-03-10 16:00:47 +0000 UTCHey all!
Attached below is the Oath of the Righteous Fist, the first Patron-exclusive Sacred Oath for my Alternate Paladin class. Moving the Sacred Oath to 1st level allows for some fun things - like giving a Paladin their own special version of Unarmored Defense and Martial Arts!
I hope you like the subclass, let me know what you think.
As always, thank you for your support!
~laserllama
Comments
Shouldn't Blessed Physique also give 1d10 damage unarmed strikes?
Enaluxeme
2024-03-11 22:35:26 +0000 UTCWhile you (Laserllama) are right, there is another concern for an unarmed strike build. The Alternate Divine Smite feature can be used on unarmed strikes -- that interaction is perfectly legal. However, for the Alternate Smite spells, it is not as clear. These spells universally require "a melee weapon worth at least 1 sp," as the material component, which an unarmed strike can't satisfy (assigning values to fists and legs is a bit gruesome!). If one were pedantic, you could technically hold a melee weapon worth at least 1 sp in one hand (such as a dagger), and then use the Alternate Smite spell and apply it to a "a melee weapon attack," such as your unarmed strike. However, I would personally find such a reading as trying to circumvent the intention that the weapon used as the material component for the spell is also the weapon that is being used for the attack and that is affected by the spell. With these interactions, the Alternate Smite spells may not fulfill the fantasy of being an unarmed Paladin nearly as equitably as for other Paladins, and it could be a rather unintuitive process to satisfy the material component for the spell.
Geoneto
2024-03-11 20:52:21 +0000 UTCunarmed strikes are considered melee weapon attacks. The PHB Paladin specifies "an attack with a melee weapon" (which an unarmed strike is not), but my Alt Paladin has no such rule.
laserllama
2024-03-10 23:36:00 +0000 UTCI love the Fist Paladin and it's mostly perfect, though there is a major oversight on how smites and spells interact with it. Until 20th level, the punch based Paladin literally can't use any of it's powers when punching someone because they all only trigger on a Melee Weapon Attack, and the Oath gets no special ability to count unarmed strikes as melee weapons at any point. Keep up the great work!
Austin G
2024-03-10 23:04:34 +0000 UTC
