Paladin

Holy - or unholy - warriors of the Cause, paladins are martial paragons of their kind. While few paladins agree on any given theory of what the Cause is or should be, all agree that it is of the utmost importance. A paladin may, depending on their Cause, either crush all in their path or bring honour and justice wherever they travel - or neither. Whatever the case, a paladin is a force to be reckoned with.

**Note:** This is a rework of the paladin and antipaladin class. The hit die, skills, attack and save bonuses, spells per day and weapon and armour proficiencies are identical to those of the standard paladin, therefore the table is not copied here.

**Role:** Paladins are powerful warriors who use their spellcasting power, as well as a choice of auras, to lead their allies to victory and crush their enemies under an iron heel.

**Alignment:** Any, though their alignment should be compatible with the paladin's Cause.

## Class Features

All the following are class features of the paladin.

#### Detect Enemy of the Cause (Sp)

At will, a paladin can use *detect enemy of the cause*, as the spell. A paladin can, as a move action, concentrate on a single item or individual within 60 feet and determine if it is an enemy of the cause, learning the strength of its aura as if having studied it for 3 rounds. While focusing on one individual or object, the paladin does not detect enmity towards the cause in any other object or individual within range.

This ability is also named "Detect Good" and "Detect Evil" when determining what archetypes the paladin can take.

#### Smite Enemy of the Cause (Su)

Once per day, a paladin can call out to the powers of the Cause to aid them in their struggle against its enemies. As a swift action, the paladin chooses one target within sight to smite. If this target is an enemy of the Cause, the paladin adds their Cha bonus (if any) to their attack rolls and adds their paladin level to all damage rolls made against the target of their smite. If the target of smite Enemy of the Cause is a personal enemy of the paladin, their faith or their nation, or is sworn to oppose the Cause, the bonus to damage on the first successful attack increases to 2 points of damage per level the paladin possesses. Regardless of the target, smite Enemy of the Cause attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess.

In addition, while smite evil is in effect, the paladin gains a deflection bonus equal to her Charisma modifier (if any) to her AC against attacks made by the target of the smite. If the paladin targets a creature that is not an enemy of the Cause, the smite is wasted with no effect.
The smite evil effect remains until the target of the smite is dead or the next time the paladin rests and regains her uses of this ability. At 4th level, and at every three levels thereafter, the paladin may smite Enemies of the Cause one additional time per day, to a maximum of seven times per day at 19th level.

This ability is also named "Smite Good" and "Smite Evil" when determining what archetypes the paladin can take.

#### Divine Grace (Su)

At 2nd level, a paladin gains a bonus equal to their Charisma bonus (if any) on all Saving Throws.

This ability is also named "Unholy Resilience" when determining what archetypes the paladin can take.

#### Twisted Paths

The paladin gains various standard paladin or antipaladin abilities, at the normal levels at their option:

Lay on Hands, Mercies and Channel Positive Energy OR Touch of Corruption, Cruelties and Channel Negative Energy

Aura of Courage OR Aura of Cowardice

Divine Health OR Plague Bringer

Divine Bond OR Fiendish Boon

Aura of Resolve OR Aura of Despair

Aura of Righteousness OR Aura of Depravity. Either way, change the type of DR to DR/aligned

All of these abilities may be swapped out as normal by archetypes.

#### Spells

A paladin casts just as an ordinary paladin does, except that they may draw spells freely from the paladin and antipaladin spell lists.

#### Aura of Fervour (Su)

At 11th level, a paladin can expend two uses of their smite Enemy of the Cause ability to grant the ability to smite enemies of the Cause to all allies within 10 feet, using their Charisma bonus and using their character level as their paladin level, but using the paladin's Cause. Allies must use this smite Enemy of the Cause ability by the start of the paladin’s next turn and the bonuses last for 1 minute. Using this ability is a free action. Enemies of the Cause gain no benefit from this ability.

This ability is also named "Aura of Justice" and "Aura of Vengeance" when determining what archetypes the paladin can take.

#### Aura of Zeal (Su)

At 14th level, a paladin’s weapons are always treated as aligned for the purposes of overcoming Damage Reduction. Any attack made against an enemy within 10 feet of them is treated as aligned for the purposes of overcoming Damage Reduction.

This ability functions only while the paladin is conscious, not if they are unconscious or dead.

This ability is also named "Aura of Faith" and "Aura of Sin" when determining what archetypes the paladin can take.

#### Paragon of the Cause (Su)

At 20th level, a paladin becomes a conduit for the power of the Cause. Their DR increases to 10/aligned. Whenever they use Smite Enemy of the Cause and successfully strikes an Enemy of the Cause who is not native to the plane, the outsider is also subject to a *banishment*, using the paladin's class level as the caster level (the paladin's weapon and holy symbol automatically count as objects that the subject hates). After the *banishment* effect and the damage from the attack is resolved, the smite immediately ends. In addition, whenever they channel positive energy or use lay on hands to heal a creature, they heal the maximum possible amount; whenever they channel negative energy or use touch of corruption to damage a creature, they deal the maximum possible amount.

This ability is also named "Holy Champion" and "Unholy Champion" when determining what archetypes the paladin can take.