Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Stormbrand 09-02-07, 12:13 PM	How would a paladin experience divine grace? For example, when protected by a fireball, does divine grace help him move faster, slow the blast against him for that split second needed to avoid the brunt of it, direct some of the force away from him? Generally, how does Divine Grace put those improved saving throws into practice? What makes a smite more likely to hit? Does it just swing harder and presumably smash through armour? Does the blade move faster? What causes the extra damage - more force of the blow or holy energy exploding from the blade?
CrimsonDeath 09-02-07, 09:08 PM	Divine Grace on Will saves seems to me like a moment of serene enlightenment. On Fort saves, it may be a brief sensation of purity. On Reflex saves, a split-second premonition may work. A Smite may be empowered by a brief sense of clarity, regarding the precisely correct moment to strike, accompanied by a zealous surge of supernatural strength.
Terjon of the Blue Rose 09-02-07, 11:36 PM	I always thought of these as a sense of empowerment. A certainty in yourself that allows you to move (or resist) with such confidence that their is no distracting thought of possable failure. That's why divine grace is a constant effect. Your always certain of yourself and therefore never suffer the same fear of failure that others do. Smite is much the same. The guidance is from your own certainty in your ability to destroy this monstrous evil. The weakness is that at some, unconscious level you are aware of it if the creature is not evil and so that certainty will disappear if you attempt to use this on a non-evil creature.
Need_A_Life 09-06-07, 03:52 PM	How about them being miraculous in nature? Fortitude Save: "Without batting an eye-lit Theira took the ray of deadly green directly in the chest, never slowing her charge even in the face of a spell that would've left a lesser person ashes." Reflex Save: "As the pinpoint of fire impacted on the paladins breastplate it grew and enveloped her form in hungry flames. The wizard lowered his wand and turned to his companion, "All to easy," he said but halted as the fires disappeared revealing the paladins unscathed form." Will saves are hard to describe, but a paladin should always seemingly have an iron will. Smite: "Thiera lifted her sword in a last act of desperation, invoking the power of the Silver Flame. With her last strength she thrust her sword at her elusive enemy with a desperate strength shattering his parries. As the sword struck his chest he opened his mouth and the purifying fires of the Silver Flame poured out. It was over." Or that's the way I see it, anyway
Stormbrand 09-07-07, 03:14 PM	Interesting. I'll certainly use elements of these in PBP. I'd like to explore the miraculous protection more - any consistant patterns? Currently I am having the blow from Smite Evil resound like a thunderclap, the impact of the blow overwhelming normal parries (explaining the attack bonus). Still working on Divine Grace, though those ideas interest me.