Paladin

**Paladins** are holy crusaders united by their oaths to stand against the forces of evil. Whether sworn before a god’s altar, in a sacred glade before nature spirits and fey beings, or in a moment of desperation and grief with the dead as the only witness, a paladin is granted ability to wield divine power so long as a paladin stay true to their paragons of beliefs.

## Class Feature

### Level 2

Fighting Style, Spellcasting, Divine Smite

### Profiencies

* **Armor:** Light, Medium, Heavy, Shield
* **Weapon:** Simple, Martial
* **Skills:** Choose two from Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Persuasion, and Religion
* **Tool:** None

### Equipment and Wealth

Cleric start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

* (a) a martial weapon or (b) two simple weapons

* (a) a large shield or (b) a holy symbol
* (a) ring mail, (b) breastplate
* a backpack has 50 ft. of hempen rope strapped to the side of it, a bedroll, a blanket, a mess kit, a tinderbox, 5 candles, 5 days of rations, and a waterskin

Alternatively, you can start with 5d4 × 10 gold pieces.

You decide how your character came by this starting equipment or wealth. It might have been an inheritance, or goods that the character purchased or stole during his or her upbringing.

## Feature

### **Divine Sense**

The presence of strong evil registers on your senses like a noxious odor, and powerful good rings like heavenly music in your ears. As an action, you can open your awareness to detect such forces. Until the end of your next turn, you know the location of any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 ft. of you that is not behind total cover. You know the type (celestial, fiend, or undead) of any being whose presence you sense, but not its identity. Within the same radius, you also detect the presence of any place or object that has been consecrated or desecrated, as with the hallow spell.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to 1 + your CHA modifier. When you finish a long rest, you regain all expended uses.

### **Lay on Hands**

Your blessed touch can heal wounds. You have a pool of healing power that replenishes when you take a long rest. With that pool, you can restore a total number of HP equal to your paladin level × 5.

As an action, you can touch a creature and draw power from the pool to restore a number of HP to that creature, up to the maximum amount remaining in your pool.

Alternatively, you can expend 5 HP from your pool of healing to cure the target of one disease or neutralize one poison affecting it. You can cure multiple diseases and neutralize multiple poisons with a single use of Lay on Hands, expending HP separately for each one.

This feature has no effect on undead and constructs.

### **Fighting Style**

You adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can’t take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.

 Dueling
 Great Weapon Fighting
 Protection

### **Spellcasting**

By 2nd level, you have learned to draw on divine magic through meditation and prayer to cast spells.

#### Spell Slots

To cast a spell, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

#### Spells Preparing

You prepare the list of paladin spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from the paladin spell list. When you do so, choose a number of paladin spells equal to your CHA modifier + half your paladin level, rounded down (minimum of one spell).

Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

Casting the spell doesn’t remove it from your list of prepared spells.

You can change your list of prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new list of paladin spells requires time spent in prayer and meditation: at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell on your list.

#### Spellcasting Ability

Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your paladin spells, since their power derives from the strength of your convictions. You use your CHA whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your CHA modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a paladin spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

 Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your CHA modifier

#### Spellcasting Focus

You can use a holy symbol as a spellcasting focus for your cleric spells.

### **Divine Smite**

Starting at 2nd level, when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to deal radiant damage to the target, in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 5d8. The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is an undead or a fiend, to a maximum of 6d8.

### **Divine Health**

By 3rd level, the divine magic flowing through you makes you immune to disease.

### **Sacred Oath (Archetype)**

When you reach 3rd level, you swear the oath that binds you as a paladin forever. Up to this time you have been in a preparatory stage, committed to the path but not yet sworn to it.

Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 15th, and 20th level.

#### Breaking the Oath

A paladin tries to hold to the highest standards of conduct, but even the most virtuous paladin is fallible. Sometimes the right path proves too demanding, sometimes a situation calls for the lesser of two evils, and sometimes the heat of emotion causes a paladin to transgress his or her oath.

* **Atonement**
	+ Using the god's tenets as the measure for their convictions, three tenet violations breaks a vow. After commit such a action, a paladin loses all Sacred oath features.
	+ A paladin who has broken a vow typically seeks absolution from a cleric who shares his or her faith or from another paladin of the same order. Or a paladin might spend an all-night vigil in prayer as a sign of penitence, or undertake a fast or similar act of self-denial. After a rite of confession and forgiveness, a paladin regain features specific to the sacred oath.
	+ A paladin who breaks his or her sacred oath a second time can not atone. The only choice is to become an Oathbreaker (archetype).
* **Life-changing Event**
	+ If a paladin wishes to change sacred oath because of a life-changing event, he or she must first demonstrate through words and deeds (choose new sacred oath). Having done so, a paladin loses all previous Sacred oath features. However, the paladin doesn't gain new features until he or she completes a trial or some kind of dangerous quest. This counts as an oathbreaking time.
	+ If a paladin willfully violates his or her oath and shows no sign of repentance, the consequences can be more serious. All his or her divine powers are taken. Then he or she can become an Oathbreaker (archetype) or start fresh as a new adventurer.

### **Ability Score Improvement**

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

### **Extra Attack**

Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

### **Aura of Protection**

Starting at 6th level, whenever you or a friendly creature within 10 ft. of you must make a saving throw, the creature gains a bonus to the saving throw equal to your CHA modifier (with a minimum bonus of +1). You must be conscious to grant this bonus.

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 ft.

### **Aura of Courage**

Starting at 10th level, you and friendly creatures within 10 ft. of you can’t be frightened while you are conscious.

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 ft.

### **Improved Divine Smite**

By 11th level, you are so suffused with righteous might that all your melee weapon strikes carry divine power with them. Whenever you hit a creature with a melee weapon, the creature takes an extra 1d8 radiant damage.

### **Cleansing Touch**

Beginning at 14th level, you can use your action to end one spell on yourself or on one willing creature that you touch.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your CHA modifier (a minimum of once). You regain expended uses when you finish a long rest.

## Archetype

Becoming a paladin involves taking vows that commit the paladin to the cause of righteousness, an active path of fighting wickedness, a particular ethos or set of beliefs that would guide their actions. Some don’t consider themselves true paladins until they made this oath as the final capstone to all their prior preparations. For others, the actual swearing of the oath is a formality, an official stamp on what has always been true in the paladin’s heart.

### Oath of Devotion

The Oath of Devotion binds a paladin to the loftiest ideals of justice, virtue, and order. Sometimes called cavaliers, white knights, or holy warriors, these paladins meet the ideal of the knight in shining armor, acting with honor in pursuit of justice and the greater good. They hold themselves to the highest standards of conduct, and some, for better or worse, hold the rest of the world to the same standards. Many who swear this oath are devoted to gods of law and good and use their gods' tenets as the measure of their devotion. They hold angels — the perfect servants of good — as their ideals, and incorporate images of angelic wings into their helmets or coats of arms.

#### **Tenet of Devotion**

Though the exact words and strictures of the Oath of Devotion vary, paladins of this oath share these tenets.

* Honesty. Don’t lie or cheat. Let your word be your promise.
* Courage. Never fear to act, though caution is wise.
* Compassion. Aid others, protect the weak, and punish those who threaten them. Show mercy to your foes, but temper it with wisdom.
* Honor. Treat others with fairness, and let your honorable deeds be an example to them. Do as much good as possible while causing the least amount of harm.
* Duty. Be responsible for your actions and their consequences, protect those entrusted to your care, and obey those who have just authority over you.

#### **Oath Spells**

Once you gain access to an oath spell at the level specified, you always have it prepared. Oath spells don’t count against the number of spells you can prepare each day.

If you gain an oath spell that doesn’t appear on the paladin spell list, the spell is nonetheless a paladin spell for you.

 5th
 9th
 13th
 17th

#### **Channel Divinity**

When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the ability to channel divine energy to fuel magical effects. You choose which Channel Divinity option to use. You must then finish a short or long rest to use your Channel Divinity again.

Some Channel Divinity effects require saving throws. When you use such an effect from this class, the DC equals your paladin spell save DC.

 Turn the Unholy
* A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can’t willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. It also can’t take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there’s nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action

#### **Aura of Devotion**

Starting at 7th level, you and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you can’t be charmed while you are conscious.

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.

#### **Purity of Spirit**

Beginning at 15th level, you are always under the effects of a Protection from evil and good spell.

#### **Holy Nimbus**

At 20th level, as an action, you can emanate an aura of sunlight. For 1 minute, bright light shines from you in a 30-foot radius, and dim light shines 30 feet beyond that.

Whenever an enemy creature starts its turn in the bright light, the creature takes 10 radiant damage.

In addition, for the duration, you have advantage on saving throws against spells cast by fiends or undead.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.