The paladin class as portrayed in D&D 3rd Edition and 3.5 has long held one of the key class features as the Special Mount. Campaigns, both that I have GMed and have played in, have rarely made use of mounted combat, and this feature has been largely wasted/ignored by paladins in our group. Now that we play in Eberron, where elemental carriages, lightning rails and soarwood ships whisk our adventuring companies need to go, we’ve found it even more difficult to make use of this class feature.
I designed this Paladin class variant to replace the Special Mount ability with additional spellcasting power. This was inspired by how many paladins in fantasy CRPGS such as Warcraft and Final Fantasy show the Paladin’s ultimate ability as being able to raise recently fallen comrades. This is something the current paladin spell list won’t permit, so the idea struck me to add one extra level to the spell list, and adjust the spells per day accordingly. This gives the paladin a boost to her spellcasting ability, and gives access to a few better spells at high levels of play. It also allows the paladin to better handle the role of Backup Healer, without overpowering and invalidating the need for solo- and multi-class Clerics.
[b]The Differences Between the Standard and Variant Paladin Class[b]
-removed Special Mount class feature
-added 5th Level Paladin Spell List
-adjusted Spells per Day Chart to add 5th level spells, as well as to allow spell access as early as 2nd level, depending on bonus spells due to a high Wisdom score
Game Rule Information
Abilities: Wisdom for spellcasting, Charisma for healing power and turning undead, Strength and Constitution for fighting ability.
Alignment: Lawful Good
Hit Dice: d10
Class Skills
Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Heal, Knowledge (nobility & royalty), Knowledge (religion), Profession, Ride, Sense Motive
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int Mod) * 4
Skill Points at each Additional Level: 2 + Int Mod
Class Abilities
See Player’s Handbook, pages 42-45
They also seem to be as lax as always... Don't even require properly formatted code.
Ah well. In any case, my own paladin variant enhances the spell list, as well as provides alternative options to the Special Mount.
[Code fixed. Regdar reviews in Word and doesn't usually look at code blocks since they are misaligned in non-fixed width fonts.
Also, this class was allowed because it was prepended with an argument for why this class was better/needed.]
There's only one problem: Apart from the send away/summon feature, your mount is easily replaced with the Wild Cohort feat - unless I am mistaken in considering WotC-website material official, of course.
Also, you'd have to consider PrCs like the Fist of Raziel that would gain more & give away less with this progression. (Though FoR mostly show up in cleric caster builds - but that was not what they were supposed to be in first place, as to my humble understanding)
I tend to forget about mounts as well. Most adventures (dungeon crawls, urban adventures with investigation and such, etc) allow very little use of mounts. Mounts only really help in wilderness adventures. What really annoys me about Mounts is people expect paladins to learn the mounted combat abilities so we end up basing characters around the bonded mount which is only occasionally useful.
Truthfully, I think the paladin class needs a power boost so I would let them keep their mount as well, perhaps with Mounted Combat for free.
One thing I did for paladins in a Warcraft based campaign was create Divine Feats for paladins - including one which revived recently fallen comrades en masse. I think more versatile use of channeling positive energy for paladins would be welcome.
A good question is how much do you think this counters the "front-loaded"-ness of paladins? I think you certainly improve the class, but do you think the extra spells would justify sticking with the class to high levels?
BoED: Crown of Flame, Sacred Guardian
Planar Handbook: Radiance, Invest Heavy Protection
[Code fixed. Regdar reviews in Word and doesn't usually look at code blocks since they are misaligned in non-fixed width fonts.
Also, this class was allowed because it was prepended with an argument for why this class was better/needed.]
Aha, that explains it.
How about putting "Divine Might" on the fifth level list? A self combat buff like Righteous Fury or Holy Sword seems conspicuously missing from the new level.
While the ability, Special Mount is spun as being something that the Paladin rides into battle, there's nothing in the description that requires this to be the case. (If you rebrand it as "Sacred Companion" or some such thing, then the change may be more apparent.)
The obvious alternative is the Riding Dog (easy to get past your DM because it's listed as an option in the PHB
). Despite the name, you don't have to ride it; back in 3.0, I played a human Paladin with a faithful hound. At medium size, the dog isn't going to have the mobility restrictions of the warhorse, and will be well-suited to getting around in a dungeon.Extending from the Riding Dog, you could ask your DM for a creature on the Druid companion list. "If it's balanced for a Druid or Paladin to have a Riding Dog with special powers, then surely the other creatures on the Druid list are fine for a Paladin?" The birds of prey have an obvious appeal, and slightly feral paladins would look good next to a wolf.
I'm not passing any judgment on the variant presented; I just believe that the complaints about the PHB version don't entirely support the endeavor.