Alternate Paladin - Official Release!
Added 2024-03-10 15:47:02 +0000 UTCHey all, today I’m excited to bring you the public release of the ALTERNATE PALADIN!
For those unfamiliar with my Alternate Classes, the goal is for the mechanics of the class to better match the fantasy (ie: expectations vs. reality of play), and bring the classes of 5e into better balance with each other. The goal for the Paladin has been no different!
Unlike a lot of the other classes I’ve worked on, the Paladin is pretty well balanced all things considered. With this Alternate version I’ve just smoothed off some of the rough edges (your Oath coming at 3rd level but also being the source of your Paladin power, etc).
As this is v1.0 I’m very interested in your feedback!
~laserllama
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ALTERNATE PALADIN BREAKDOWN
Fighting Styles:
The Paladin is a warrior and should get abilities to reflect that at 1st level. Fighters get Fighting Styles and Barbarians, Monks, and Rogues get Rage, Marital Arts, and Sneak Attack (respectively) which are basically hyper-specific Fighting Styles. The Paladin (and eventually Ranger) should get this benefit as well.
I’ve also included a few of my own original Fighting Styles here, and my own buffs, improvements, and tweaks to some of the existing Fighting Styles.
Sacred Oath:
The source of your power as a Paladin should be the first thing you get!
All Sacred Oaths now come with Sacred Tenets that you must abide by or risk breaking your Oath. I know that some people will not like this, but in my opinion the whole point of playing a Paladin is living by a code (whatever that may be).
To break a Tenet you must do so knowingly (ie: no trickery with illusions to get you to kill an innocent) and willingly (you can’t break your Oath while charmed, etc). As one uncle who perpetually gets murdered says “with great power comes great responsibility.
Spellcasting:
The Paladin is now a “Spells Known” spellcaster. To me, it never made sense that the Ranger (the Boy Scout of D&D) was “Spells Known” and the Paladin (the religious fanatic) was “Spells Prepared”. I realize this is a nerf, but I’ve significantly buffed many of the Paladins spells to help you out (see Paladin Spells further down).
Divine Smite:
Now actually scales up to your 5th-level spell slots. Benefits against certain creatures have been moved into the Sacred Oath specific Smites.
Harness Oath:
NEW feature to pseudo-replace Channel Divinity. This ability is fuel for your wondrous Oath-specific abilities. Each Sacred Oath starts out with two: a normal feature and an Oath-specific Divine Smite enhancement.
Divine Sense:
To me, this never made thematic sense at 1st level. So I moved it back to 5th level (when you’ll actually be fighting extraplanar creatures) and buffed it.
Aura of Protection:
~BRACE FOR IMPACT~ This no longer adds your Charisma modifier to everyone’s saving throws (gasp!). This ability was a very power outlier in a game that has “bonded accuracy” at its core. It has been reigned in, but it now scales more gradually, and more features build on its as a base.
Divine Health:
Moved back to 9th level and buffed significantly.
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SACRED OATH BREAKDOWN
Every Sacred Oath now gets a set of three Tenets, a flavorful 1st-level feature to make you feel like a Paladin of your specific Oath, two signature uses for Harness Oath, and improvement to Aura of Protection, and an Avatar Form at 20th level.
Ancients:
The guardian of nature gains new life with more thematic features! They are now a *true* champion of the elder wilderness, and also the most tanky of Paladin options!
Devotion:
The class white knight Paladin option! Lay of Hands migrated here, and at 20th level you transform into an angel of righteousness (you can fly)!
Vengeance:
Swear your Oath against your Sworn Foe! You gain bonuses against that Foe, but you can still mark others for vengeance with Vow of Enmity!
The Oathless:
An option for deadbeat Paladins that haven’t gone full Blackguard.
Righteous Fist (Patron Exclusive):
Channel your Oath through your fists with this divine fusion of the Monk and Paladin!
Find the Sacred Oath here!
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PALADIN SPELL BREAKDOWN
Smites:
Now have a casting time of “of hit” so they can be used just like Divine Smite
Purify:
A new spell that is a fusion of Detect Poison/Disease, Purify Food/Drink, Lesser Restoration.
Locate / Find Steed:
Merged versions of locate object/creature and find steed/greater steed respectively.
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CHANGE LOG: Official Paladin -> Alternate Paladin v1.0.0
BASE PALADIN CLASS
- Fighting Style // Moved down to 1st level. You can now change your Fighting Style when you gain a Paladin level (cannibalized TCoE Martial Versatility).
- Fighting Style // NEW // Added a few new options of my own - Classical Swordplay, Mounted Warrior, Shield Warrior, Strongbow, and Versatile Fighting.
- Fighting Style // Blind Warrior // Renamed (Blind Fighting). Now scales with your PB.
- Fighting Style // Defensive Fighting // Renamed (Defense). Also works with shields!
- Fighting Style // Great Weapon Fighting // Now grants a damage floor.
- Fighting Style // Protector // Merged Interception/Protection. Now a reaction on hit.
- Sacred Oath // Moved down to 1st level - your Oath is what makes you a Paladin!
- Sacred Oath // Sacred Tenets // Now includes guidelines for violating/breaking your Oath, how to make reparations, and what happens to fallen Paladins.
- Lay on Hands // Removed from base class (see Oath of Devotion).
- Divine Sense // Moved back to 5th level.
- Spellcasting // Paladin is now “Spells Known”. But many Paladin spells have been combined and buffed. See specific spells at the end of the change log.
- Spellcasting // Oath Spells // Now always known (instead of always prepared).
- Divine Smite // Now scales all the way up to your 5th-level spell slots (6d8). Removed abilities against fiends/undead (these are now part of your Sacred Oath).
- Harness Oath // NEW 3rd level feature.
- Channel Divinity // CUT (some of them are repurposed into subclass features).
- Harness Divine Power // CUT (not needed with Harness Oath).
- Divine Health // Moved back to 9th level.
- Ability Score Increase // You keep these if you break your Oath.
- Divine Sense // Now lasts for 10 minutes! Also senses Elementals and Fey creatures.
- Extra Attack // You keep this if you break your Oath.
- Aura of Protection // Now grants creatures in range proficiency in all saves (instead of adding your Charisma bonus). Now scales in 5-foot increments as you gain levels.
- Divine Health // Grants resistance to poison and immunity to the Poisoned condition.
- Aura of Courage // Scales with Aura of Protection, suspends frightened effects.
- Purifying Touch // Renamed (Cleansing Touch). 1/rest but fueled by Harness Oath.
SACRED OATHS
- All // Tenets // Consolidated down to three Tenets for each Oath.
- Ancients // Emissary of the Wilds // NEW thematic 1st level feature.
- Ancients // Oath Spells // Updated!
- Ancients // Verdant Smite // NEW custom Smite based on “Nature’s Wrath”.
- Ancients // Elder Shield // NEW feature. Scales with Aura of Warding.
- Ancients // Avatar of the Ancients // Renamed (Elder Champion). Cut bonus action spellcasting. At will Elder Shield. Aura of Protection becomes difficult terrain.
- Devotion // Lay on Hands // Moved here from the base class.
- Devotion // Oath Spells // Updated!
- Devotion // Righteous Smite // New custom Divine Smite enhancement!
- Devotion // Aura of Devotion // suspends charm effects.
- Devotion // Avatar of Devotion // Reworked. Grants flight speed. Light you emit is sunlight, but it doesn’t deal automatic damage. Sacred Weapons at-will.
- Vengeance // Sworn Foe // NEW 1st level feature!
- Vengeance // Oath Spells // Updated!
- Vengeance // Vow of Enmity // Debuffs Sworn Foes when used against them.
- Vengeance // Vengeful Smite // NEW custom Smite based on “Abjure Enemy”.
- Vengeance // Aura of Vengeance // NEW 7th level Aura of Protection buff.
- Vengeance // Relentless Avenger // Moved back to 15th level. Now reaction based.
- Vengeance // Avatar of Vengeance // Renamed (Avenging Angel) and reworked.
- Oathless // NEW “Sacred Oath” option!
Alt Paladin Spells
- Smite Spells // All // Casting time is “on hit” with a melee attack. Fixed/added scaling. They all have subsets of creatures that have disadvantage on their saving throws.
- 1st // NEW // Bane, Cure Wounds,
- 1st // Divine Favor // Can now be upcast to target more weapons.
- 1st // Ethereal Anchor // NEW spell.
- 2nd // Find Steed // Reworked how Steed works in combat. Upcast for Greater Steed.
- 2nd // Locate // NEW spell (merged Locate Object / Locate Creature).
- 2nd // Purify // NEW spell (merged Detect Poison/Disease, Purify Food/Drink, Lesser Restoration).
- 4th // NEW // Guardian of Faith
- 5th // NEW // Mass Cure Wounds
Comments
I will say while the Alternate Paladin is good as a whole as well as giving subclasses their own Smite. The one unfortunate flaw is something that made using it particularly useful. That is to apply subclasses outside of your own which is difficult with this alternate class which is unfortunate as we cannot enjoy the subclasses you have made. Additionally its the limitations of Lay on Hands for one particular Oath i cannot agree with.
Dracs
2024-05-07 10:38:30 +0000 UTCThose are meant to work with the PHB Paladin - everything I've designed for the Alternate Paladin is in that PDF.
laserllama
2024-03-31 11:56:51 +0000 UTCOnly a month later and you already need to update the previous Alternate Oaths, since they all function off of the '3rd level start'.
doubledamn
2024-03-31 09:17:49 +0000 UTCPurify: While I appreciate the expanded functionality of the Purify spell melding elements of Detect Poison and Disease with Purify Food and Drink, I think that it might be too much given that it also has the powers of Lesser Restoration. Lesser Restoration allows for a single target, touch, 2nd-level spell to remove a disease or a specific condition. Purify provides the same functionality, with the benefits of two other 1st-level spells, and has no costs to the heightened versatility. When I saw this spell I immediately fell in love with it! Combining what were situational and lackluster spells into a single, thematic package just makes so much sense and is elegant! I could definitely see justifying using one of my Spells Known for it now.
Geoneto
2024-03-11 21:19:36 +0000 UTCDivine Favor: The range is "Self", but instead of the spell targeting one's person it targets a weapon of your choice within range (which is 10 feet). I was wondering if the range should be 10 feet instead, which would allow for mechanics that increase a spell's range to synergize with Divine Favor. Purify: The spell states "As part of this action, you can instantly cure one creature in range of a disease or end the blinded, deafened, paralyzed, or poisoned condition for it, or remove all poison and disease from a 5-foot cube of food and drink within this range". However, the spell's range is Self, which would allow this mechanic to only remove a condition affecting the caster, and which would also have a conflict with the purifying food and drink portion. I believe that having the range of the spell be something other than Self, such as Touch or Self (10 feet), would work best if the spell is intended to affect other creatures besides the caster.
Geoneto
2024-03-11 20:37:49 +0000 UTCIdea: Either as part of Sword Foe feature stating this occurs at Level 5 or gained at Level 7: "When you activate your Divine Sense you can also detect the presence of any Sworn Foe according to the same rules as Divine Sense. If a Sworn Foe is not one of the creature types listed in the description of Divine Sense you still learn that it is a Sworn Foe but not it's creature type."
Kelly Mitchell
2024-03-11 15:39:39 +0000 UTCReally like this and as I have with your other classes this will become the standard rather than the alternate at the tables I play at. I very much appreciate the oath mechanics. It is clear that the 5e paladin is based on the Knights Radiant from Stormlight Archives. But the rules never took the oaths seriously, and to be fair this is sadly consistent across warlocks, clerics, and paladins. I think the main thing that makes TTRPGs shine is adaptive consequence. The best made video game cannot account for the number of branching stories that a TTRPG can generate. But those stories can only be made when the maximum number of consequences can be utilized. The idea of breaking your oath despite the consequences can be extremely compelling (see Jamie Lannister). I think putting these consequences in writing lets tables know it’s ok to utilize them and let the story go where it may.
Sean P Havern
2024-03-11 02:27:36 +0000 UTCThank you! I played a Paladin as my first long-term 5e character (levels 1-15), so I have a lot of direct experience with the class and its pain points. I think the whole draw of playing a Paladin is their Oath, and for the Oath to mean something there needs to be drawbacks if you break it. Good call on the text about breaking your Oath, I can probably sneak in a sidebar for the next update! Glad you like the class.
laserllama
2024-03-10 16:40:05 +0000 UTCidk how you keep doing it, but you made another banger of a class. It's exactly what I've been hoping for you to make, as I've had a paladin in my party and had a few issues with how that character fared. This rework seems to almost entirely fix all the problems I had with the class, while still keeping it recognizable as the class it once was. I also have to commend you for how ballsy it is to be that explicit about paladins maintain the tenets of their oath, and the consequences of not doing so (which should always have been a thing, but I am glad to see it now). I would probably add a sentence or paragraph or something that states that what constitutes as breaking a tenet is at the discretion of the DM, but that the DM has to clearly communicate to the player that an action they want to perform will break their oath. Mostly just to prevent an oversight on the players side that will lead to a real feels-bad moment.
Authority Kind, Beggar DYNAMIC
2024-03-10 16:16:02 +0000 UTCIn love with the oathless paladin concept
ZimTheFan
2024-03-10 15:59:26 +0000 UTC
