Templar (3.5e Class)

This article is about TG Cid's Paladin. You may be looking for SRD:Paladin.

Author: ThunderGod Cid (talk) Date Created: September 27, 2010 Status: Open to suggestions Editing: Post suggestions on talk page.

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"Divine Spellcasting, Prepared Spellcasting, Other" is not in the list (Prepared Arcane Spellcasting, Spontaneous Arcane Spellcasting, Prepared Divine Spellcasting, Spontaneous Divine Spellcasting, Arcane Spellcasting, Divine Spellcasting, Prepared Spellcasting, Spontaneous Spellcasting, Alternate Magic, Psionics, ...) of allowed values for the "Class Ability" property.

File:Knight by redpeggy.jpg

The enemy foolishly wastes his time and resources sending these foul creations against us. One day he will learn.

Paladin

“

The fates themselves guide my sword.

”

Paladins are exemplars of a particular ideology of life, zealots willing to throw away their own lives for the preservation of their cause. Most traditional paladins are of good alignment, while those who embrace evil are often known as blackguards and those who serve neutrality are called gray wardens. Paladins who have disgraced themselves and forsaken their service, whatever their alignment, are called anti-paladins, although this term is often mistakenly applied to those who change alignments and oaths.

Making a Paladin

In order to deserve his reputation as a virtuous slayer of evil (or as a powerful and tyrannical conqueror), the paladin needs to kill things. Preferably things that follow the exact opposite ethical guidelines that he does. This means that while he is inextricably tied to a certain alignment, this alignment is not completely inflexible.

A paladin is a charger, first and foremost. It’s the only class that gets its own mount as a class feature; how much bigger of a clue is there? While this may normally limit his usefulness, he is a powerful enough melee combatant to be worth his salt in any party.

Abilities: A paladin's job is to be in the thick of battle; while he does not disregard defense as the barbarian might, his high-risk tactic of charging headlong into the enemy line requires that Constitution be relatively high if he expects to survive. After that, his Charisma can basically handle everything, although as a primary melee combatant Strength and Dexterity still have their uses.

Races: Any.

Alignment: Any, since the whole point of this paladin is to not restrict the alignment. That said, all paladins have some semblance of honor regardless of alignment, even if it's only restricted to upholding the values that they have sworn to exemplify.

Starting Gold: 1d6×10 gp (25 gp).

Starting Age: Simple.

Table: The Paladin

Hit Die: d10

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Spells per Day
		Fort	Ref	Will		0	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
1st	+1	+2	+0	+2	Earthly Vow, First Aid, Inquisitor	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+3	Divine Grace, Knight Errant	3	0	—	—	—	—	—
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+3	Divine Health, Smite (×2)	3	1	—	—	—	—	—
4th	+4	+4	+1	+4	Earthly Vow, First Aid (move action)	3	2	0	—	—	—	—
5th	+5	+4	+1	+4	Cavalier	3	3	1	—	—	—	—
6th	+6/+1	+5	+2	+5	Cataphract	3	3	2	—	—	—	—
7th	+7/+2	+5	+2	+5	Earthly Vow, First Aid (swift action)	3	3	2	0	—	—	—
8th	+8/+3	+6	+2	+6	Knight Templar	3	3	3	1	—	—	—
9th	+9/+4	+6	+3	+6	Smite (×3)	3	3	3	2	—	—	—
10th	+10/+5	+7	+3	+7	Earthly Vow	3	3	3	2	0	—	—
11th	+11/+6/+6	+7	+3	+7	Bastion of the Five Pillars, First Aid (immediate action)	3	3	3	3	1	—	—
12th	+12/+7/+7	+8	+4	+8	Champion of the Joust	3	3	3	3	2	—	—
13th	+13/+8/+8	+8	+4	+8	Earthly Vow	3	3	3	3	2	0	—
14th	+14/+9/+9	+9	+4	+9	Knight Marshal	4	3	3	3	3	1	—
15th	+15/+10/+10	+9	+5	+9	Smite (×4)	4	4	3	3	3	2	—
16th	+16/+11/+11/+11	+10	+5	+10	Earthly Vow	4	4	4	3	3	2	0
17th	+17/+12/+12/+12	+10	+5	+10	Divine Radiance	4	4	4	4	3	3	1
18th	+18/+13/+13/+13	+11	+6	+11	I Believe in Miracles	4	4	4	4	4	3	2
19th	+19/+14/+14/+14	+11	+6	+11	Earthly Vow	4	4	4	4	4	4	3
20th	+20/+15/+15/+15	+12	+6	+12	Messiah	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Jump (Str), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (n/a), Swim (Str).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the paladin.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A paladin is automatically proficient with simple and martial weapons, all forms of armor, and all shields.

Spells: Like a cleric, a paladin casts divine spells, which are drawn from the paladin spell list (see below). He also gains bonus spells accordingly based on his Charisma score, and prepares his spells in the same manner as a cleric does. A paladin’s spells are more for utility than combat efficacy, either allowing him to better solve problems through non-violent means or enhancing his combat abilities past even their already formidable limits.

0— create water, detect magic, detect poison, guidance, light, purify food and drink, resistance, virtue

1st— bane, bless, command, comprehend languages, deathwatch, divine favor, endure elements, entropic shield, remove fear, rhino’s rush, shield of faith

2nd— aid, align weapon, augury, calm emotions, delay poison, hold person, remove paralysis, resist energy, lesser restoration, shield other, spiritual weapon, status

3rd— continual flame, dispel magic, glyph of warding, heal mount, invisibility purge, magic vestment, prayer, protection from energy, remove blindness/deafness, remove curse, remove disease, speak with dead

4th— death ward, dimensional anchor, discern lies, dismissal, divination, divine power, freedom of movement, holy sword (or unholy sword), neutralize poison, restoration, sending, spell immunity, tongues

5th— atonement, break enchantment, greater command, commune, disrupting weapon, mark of justice, raise dead, righteous might, scrying

6th— banishment, blade barrier, forbiddance, greater glyph of warding, heal, heroes’ feast

Code of Conduct: Like any other character, a paladin does what he must to uphold the duties given to him by an organization of which he is a part, even if that organization is as loose as his alignment group. But let’s face it; sometimes even the good and honorable knight has to lie about his identity or consort with unscrupulous characters in order to root out the evil, demonic cult. A paladin is not specifically prohibited from even acts of questionable morality such as lying, stealing, or use of poison. That said, even paladins of chaotic or evil persuasion are obsessed with battle, honor, and battling with honor. So long as he truly acts towards the fulfillment of his personal code (subject to the discretion of player and DM), he gains immunity to fear effects and cannot be forced by any effect to unwillingly commit a violent act against someone who shares his alignment.

A paladin’s code is subjective to its maker; he takes vows as a representation of his code (see the section on earthly vows below), which grant him extraordinary powers (the nature of which vary based on the vows he takes). The more power he acquires, the more responsibilities he takes on, granting him the effects of two vows of his choosing at 1st level and then another every three class levels thereafter. At the same time, more powers for each oath are unlocked as he gains levels.

First Aid (Su): A paladin may heal 1d6 points of damage per character level at will with a touch. This does not change based on his alignment; even evil people need healing sometimes. This is not a positive energy effect, but rather a manifestation of the paladin’s raw divine might; it thusly affects undead and the living equally.

At 4th level, the paladin may now use his first aid as a move-equivalent action, allowing him to use it multiple times per turn if he wishes. At 7th level, he can administer first aid as a swift action, and he can use it as an immediate action at 11th level. If he has already used his swift action for the current turn, he may use it as a move action. If a creature is fully healed by this ability, no temporary hit points are gained.

Inquisitor (Ex): A paladin continuously detects the alignments of all creatures that he can see. He does not need to expend any effort to determine any particular creature’s alignment, and instantly gains all information about their alignment as if he had spent three rounds concentrating on them. This ability may even penetrate any protection against divination that has a caster level less than the paladin‘s character level.

In addition, all the paladin’s attacks are automatically considered aligned (good or evil, lawful or chaotic, etc. based on his alignment) for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.

Divine Grace (Ex): A second level paladin adds his Charisma modifier (if positive) to all saving throws. This bonus does not stack with any other effect that adds his Charisma modifier to saving throws.

Knight Errant (Ex): By 2nd level, the paladin is accustomed to the bulky armor that is so often part of his attire. He no longer suffers penalties to his base speed from wearing medium or heavy armor.

Divine Health (Ex): A 3rd level paladin gains immunity to all poisons and diseases (even those of magical nature).

Smite (Su): By the time he reaches 3rd level, the paladin gains the ability to channel his holy power through his weapon, adding his Charisma modifier to all attack and damage rolls if he wishes to do so. A number of times per day equal to 2 + one half his paladin level, the paladin may also declare an attack that he just hit with to be a smite attack as a free action, causing it to deal double damage. While this damage stacks with a critical hit and other damage multipliers (increase the damage multiplier by the weapon’s additional multiplier and subtract 1), it is not a critical hit and affects even creatures who are immune to critical hits. The paladin cannot declare a smite attack on an attack of opportunity, and any form of damage that cannot be multiplied by a critical hit can also not be multiplied by this ability.

At 9th and 15th level, the damage multiplier for the paladin’s smite attack is increased to triple damage and quadruple damage, respectively.

Cavalier (Ex): Starting at 5th level, the paladin gains a mount that is treated as a cohort that cannot gain XP and always has a maximum Challenge Rating of his character level minus two. This mount cannot have an alignment more than two steps away from the paladin’s. The mount can be any creature, except the paladin must be able to ride it into battle normally.

A paladin and his mount share an empathic link out to 1 mile; depending on the mount's background, the paladin shares any empathic link to a particular item or place just as the mount does. If he wishes, the paladin may also have any spell that he casts on himself to also affect his mount so long as the mount is within 5 feet. In addition, he may cast any spell with a target of "You" on his mount. Spell-like abilities and spells not cast by the paladin cannot affect the mount in this fashion.

Should the paladin ever lose his mount through death or dismissal, he must rest for 8 hours before a new mount of his choice comes to his side.

Cataphract (Ex): When a 6th level paladin charges, he gains a +4 bonus to his attack roll instead of the normal +2, and can make a full attack on a charge. He also now may charge up to three times his normal base speed when he makes a charge as a full-round action and twice his base speed even if he can only charge as a standard action. [Note: These and all future charging bonuses acquired from paladin class features apply whether or not the paladin is mounted.]

Knight Templar (Ex): The charge of a 8th level paladin is now capable of piercing even the most powerful of magical defenses. Any active magical effect standing alone (such as a wall of force) or a defensive effect on the person of an attacked opponent must now make a caster level check against the paladin‘s attack roll. If the paladin wins against an area effect, the nearest he dispels an area of the effect equal to the size of a creature one size larger than himself. If used to attack an opponent, this occurs after the attack roll is determined to be successful or not but before damage is resolved.

Bastion of the Five Pillars (Ex): At 11th level, the paladin has learned that it always helps to be the one who strikes first. He gains 5 feet of extra reach.

Champion of the Joust (Ex): A 12th level paladin responds quickly to the threat of a charge. If a charge attack is ever declared against him, he may also declare a charge against that opponent who targeted him as an immediate action. The two meet at the midpoint of their charges regardless of their respective speeds.

Knight Marshal (Ex): A 14th level paladin now tramples over those who fall before his charge, continuing to seek more blood. If he destroys an effect or slays an opponent with a charge attack, his charge continues in the same path (following all normal restrictions as they apply), allowing him to continue charging and attacking each target in the same manner.

Divine Radiance (Ex): At 17th level, the paladin may now use his smite ability on attacks of opportunity.

I Believe in Miracles (Sp): Once per day, a paladin of 18th level can use miracle as a spell-like ability that never requires any XP cost. This ability otherwise follows all normal limits of the spell.

Messiah (Ex): Everyone around a 20th level paladin will literally throw their lives away for his sake. When they first see the paladin, any NPC around him with a normal attitude of anything better than “Hostile” must succeed on a Will save (DC 10 + ½ his paladin level + his Charisma modifier) or automatically gain an NPC attitude of "Fanatic". Anyone with an NPC attitude of “Friendly” or better do not receive a saving throw. This is a mind-affecting compulsion effect.

Ex-Paladins

A paladin whose alignment changes on the axis of good to evil forsakes his current set of vows, although he may freely renew any vows for which he is still an allowed alignment (unaligned vows can always be taken). He may also take new vows in accordance with his new alignment, so long as he only takes up to the maximum number of vows allowed by his class level. He does not lose any other class features when changing alignments.

Earthly Vows

“

When we joined the Covenant, we took an oath. Loyal to our station, all without exception. On the blood of our fathers, on the blood of our sons, we swore to uphold the Covenant even to our dying breath. Those who would break this oath are heretics, worthy of neither pity nor mercy. We shall grind them into dust, and continue our march to glorious salvation!

”

A paladin formulates his personal code of conduct around a set of oaths that he makes and bind himself to in the everlasting covenant between himself and whatever power to which he swears allegiance. Of course, since no one is perfect, breaking these vows does not result in the loss of class features. These vows give him tremendous power, and also serve to differentiate one paladin from another, while not necessarily limiting him to one form of play.

Even so, a paladin cannot take a vow that is directly contrary to his nature; thus, a good paladin cannot take an evil vow and vice versa. Because nature always maintains equilibrium, most good vows are intentionally opposite of corresponding evil vows. So while neutral paladins enjoy the flexibility of being able to choose from both good and evil vows, they cannot choose a vow that directly opposes another that they already possess.

The paladin unlocks additional powers of each vow based on the number of vows he has taken. Unless otherwise noted, the default saving throw for any effects related to the paladin's earthly vows is 10 + ½ the paladin's class level + his Charisma modifier.

Good Vows

Vow of Peace: You strive to accomplish your goals through non-violent means.

• 1: Anyone who makes a hostile act against you must make a Will save or have their attack cancelled in the same manner as a sanctuary spell. Unlike the spell, however, this effect operates on a turn-by-turn basis, forcing a save for each potential attacker every round regardless of previous successes or failures. If the paladin takes any aggressive action during a round, this barrier is dispelled until the beginning of his next turn. He may still take non-aggressive actions (i.e. healing, movement, etc.) normally without jeopardizing the barrier.

• 2: You have the ability to punish those who would attempt and fail to break your barrier, dealing damage to them equal ot half the damage they would have dealt you on their attack.

• 2: Even when someone saves successfully in order to attack through your barrier, you are still shielded from harm, gaining all the benefits of a holy aura spell. The save DC for this effect, however, is the default for vow effects.

Vow of Diligence: You work tirelessly towards your every goal, no matter what personal sacrifice it takes to accomplish.

• 1: You are immune to fatigue and exhaustion.

• 2: You gain an extra swift or immediate action per round.

• 3: You gain a standard action at the beginning of every combat round in addition to your normal actions.

Vow of Chastity: You are the epitome of purity; your health and soul is yours to keep. Clean freaks only wish they could look as good as you.

• 1: Your equipment always remains polished to a mirror sheen, and cannot be disjoined or destroyed by any means.

• 2: You are immune to energy drain and ability drain or damage.

• 3: You are immune to any and all death effects, death by massive damage and any effect that can be removed by 'SRD:Bestow Curse (including the effects of cursed items).

Vow of Clemency: You are one merciful SOB, and your opponents never forget it.

• 1: At your option, you may elect to make any lethal damage you deal nonlethal or vice versa. You also do not incur penalties for attempting to deal nonlethal damage with a normally lethal weapon.

• 2: All of your melee attacks forced the opponent to make a Fortitude save or be stunned for one round.

• 3: You are an expert in the quick and clean finishing strike, offering you enemies peace in catatonia. As a standard action, you can force your enemy to make a Fortitude save or be instantly knocked unconcious.

Vow of Humility: You are way too modest, but everyone loves you for it.

• 1: You refuse to succumb to despair, becoming immune to negative morale effects.

• 2: You gain the ability to humbly request assistance from powers greater than yourself, replicating the effects of a planar ally spell with a caster level equal to your class level. Because of your impeccable congeniality, you do not need to pay for this service. This ability is a full-round action that is usable at will, although you may only have one casting's worth of such allies present at any one time.

• 3: Your pleas for assistance now draw the attention of the highest authorities in the cosmos, allowing you to now replicate the effects of greater planar ally.

Vow of Charity: You are a very selfless and benevolent person.

• 1: Heal is a class skill for you, and you confer a +4 bonus to your ally when you use the aid another action instead of the usual +2.

• 2: You may take an immediate action to intercept an attack made against an ally whom you threaten in melee. This attack is now considered for all intents and purposes to have been initally directed at you. You may also use this action to grant your ally all the benefits of cover from a burst effect.

• 3: You automatically confer fast healing equal to your class level on all allies within 5 feet per class level (including yourself). This ability is always active.

Neutral Vows

Vow of Balance: You have elected to be the equalizing force in the world. When good or evil get too powerful, you see that they are reduced to the status quo.

• 1: Diplomacy is now a class skill for you. Your weapon may also now count as any alignment you wish for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.

• 2: You fight best against the extremes of all alignments, gaining a +1 bonus to attack rolls for every alignment step your opponent's alignment is away from true neutral.

• 3: You are totally neutral. Any offensive effect that corresponds to or against a specific alignment does not affect you.

Evil Vows

Vow of Sloth: You exert the minimum effort possible to uphold your ideals and achieve your goals. If there's an easy way to do something, you must do it in that way.

• 1: You are too lazy to do what is commanded of you, rendering you immune to any effects (magical or otherwise) that would compel you to act against your will).

• 2: It's tough to tell the difference between preparation and laziness. You can delay an action until your next round without changing your place in the initiative count.

• 3: You may use any full-round action ability as a standard action.

Vow of Taint: You are a sick bastard.

• 1: Your long exposure to all manner of nasty things has made you extremely resilient. If you succeed on a Foritude or Will save for an effect that would normally be reduced, you instead suffer no ill effects.

• 2: Someone struck by your melee attack must succeed on a Fortitude save or contract a disease of your choice,as the contagion spell.

• 3: As a full-round action, you may make a single melee attack that causes objects to decay and creatures to rot, forcing them to make a Fortitude save or be take 10 points of damage per class level.

Vow of Wrath: You are a very id-dominated person, prone to kicking ass before taking names. It makes you even better at your job.

• 1: You are always angry and hotblooded, becoming immune to calm emotions. Your anger also inspires to to greater feats of martial prowess, granting to a +1 bonus to all attack rolls and a +2 bonus to all damage rolls.

• 2: You may Power Attack with any one-handed weapon as if were a two-handed weapon, and any two-handed weapon adds three times the number subtracted from your attack roll.

• 3: You may make a coup de grace on an opponent who is stunned, dazed, staggered, or prone.

Vow of Pride: You are better than everyone else, and you know it. You know it so well that you reject their reality and replace it with your own.

• 1: You gain spell resistance equal to 10 + your class level.

• 2: You may force your an opponent within close range to reroll a die roll. This roll must be somehow related to you (such as an attack on you, a caster level check against you, etc.), but the opponent is forced to take the worst result of the two rolls. Alternatively, you may allow yourself to reroll one of your die rolls and automatically take the superior result. Neither effect requires any action to perform, but you may only use one or the other once per round.

• 3: You are immune to any effect with an effective caster level of one half your character level or less.

Vow of Greed: Everything in the world that you desire is rightfully yours. Period.

• 1: You are much less scrupulous than other paladins, willing to hustle and steal to get your way. You gain a competence bonus to Disable Device, Forgery, Open Lock, and Search, which are now considered class skills for you.

• 2: As a standard action, you may strike an opponent with a melee attack that also carries the effect of a vampiric touch spell.

• 3: As a full-round action, you may drain the life of those around you, dealing 1 point of damage per class level to everyone within 5 feet per class level. All of these drained hit points are then used to heal you, and any extra hit points are bestowed as temporary hit points. You may only gain up to 1/3 your normal hit point total in temporary hit points with this ability, but these temporary hit points stack with other abilities that grant temporary hit points.

Vow of Gluttony: If you do it, you do it BIG.

• 1: You gain Powerful Build.

• 2: You are permanently under the effect of an enlarge person spell; this is an extraordinary ability that cannot be suppressed or expelled by outside sources, but if you wish you may suppress it at will. Normally, this effect supercedes your powerful build and does not stack with it, but if you revert to your normal size you still retain the benefits of powerful build. Changing sizes is a swift action.

• 3: The two previous effects granted by this vow now stack with each other, and changing size is now an immediate action.

Non-Aligned Vows

Vow of Destruction: You have sworn yourself to the ultimate annihilation of your foes. The thought of doing so makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

• 1: Your sword is like a wrecking ball, ignoring hardness values on objects if they are less than your character level.

• 2: Your defeated opponents' remains are reduced to smithereens by your attacks. No raising effect that requires remains can now revive someone agaisnt whom your strike the killing blow.

• 3: When you kill someone, their soul is now held inside your own self; this functions in the same manner as trap the soul, except that no material component is required.

Vow of Poverty: You have forsaken material possessions; you don't need them to kill things.

• 1: If you do not wear any armor, you gain a +4 armor bonus to your AC that increases by +1 every two character levels thereafter. This does not stack with any similar ability. If you wield no weapons of any kind, you gain a slam attack that deals damage based on your size (1d8 for a Medium creature) and allows iterative attacks based on BAB and has an effective enhancment bonus equal to your class level divided by three.

• 2: Not being burdened by all the weight of unnecessary wealth has made you quick to the punch. You may make a slam attack as an immediate action.

• 3: You may force others to know what it's like to live in poverty. As a full-round action, you may make a slam attack against an opponent and force them to make a Fortitude save or have all of their equipment disappear for 1 round. Any effects created by the lost equipment are suppressed.

Vow of Truth: You are an enforcer of honesty in the world. You try your best to keep shady people from having their way.

• 1: You permanently radiate a zone of truth out to a maximum distance of 5 feet per class level.

• 2: You never fall victim to the tricks of those who rely on deception for victory. You can no longer be flanked, surprised, or caught flat-footed.

• 3: You are constantly under the effects of a true seeing spell.

Vow of Expertise: You have been enlightened by the miracles of technology, and have devoted yourself to bringing that same sight to all others, even by force if necessary.

• 1: You are automatically proficient in the use a firearm that you choose. If your campaign does not use firearms, you instead gain proficiency with an exotic ranged weapon of your choice.

• 2: If you use your smite ability with a ranged weapon, you have the option to create a beam of divine energy that is 5 feet wide and 5 feet high, and extends out to one range increment for your weapon. If an opponent is caught in this beam that take the damage of your weapon as it is augmented by your smite, but a successful Reflex save halves the damage dealt.

• 3: Any alchemical equipment you use is automatically enhanced as though it were made with the Augmented Alchemy feat, and all ranged weapons you use deal damage as though they are one size category larger than normal. This only applies when you use them.