Revision as of 05:12, 4 November 2010

Paladin

Ionatan, iconic paladin

"I may not be a Saint, but I live by their example."

To be deemed a Saint, an individual must find themselves worthy of what is effectively "hero worship," gaining respect and adoration from sufficient mortals to allow them to ascend as a Saint. For some, Saints are more than individuals worthy of such accolades - they deserve imitation. Their belief in a particular Saint leads them to take up arms and train in combat, to better fight for the ideals of their patron.

A paladin devotes himself to the ideologies of a particular Saint, who - in turn - empowers the paladin with Divine strength, granting them aspects of their own abilities as well. As a paladin becomes more familiar with the religious aspects of a Saint, he gains the ability to channel his patron's power in prayer.

Unlike priests, who merely worship a Saint, the paladin seeks to become more and more like the Saint. As such, paladins have much stricter codes of conduct. However, in return, paladins gain greater access to their patron's domain powers, as well as additional domain powers that are reserved explicitly for paladins.

It is important to note that paladins in Trinity are almost a complete departure from standard d20 paladins.

Despite what their name would suggest, antipaladins are not a direct mirror to paladins.

Game Rule Information

Paladins have the following game statistics.

Force Alignment: Divine.

Force Resistances: NI 5 + level, VI 5 + level.

Abilities: Physical ability scores are important to a paladin, as he focuses on combat and the ability to protect the ideals of his patron. Charisma is also important, however, as it fuels his prayers as well as a number of his special abilities.

Hit Die: d10.

Class Skills: The paladin’s class skills are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), and Sense Motive (Wis).

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int.

Alignment: Must match patron's alignment exactly.

Ethos: Must be within two steps of patron's listed ethoi.

Starting Age: Moderate.

Starting Gold: 6d4 x 10gp.

Favored By: None.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the paladin.

Weapons and Armor Proficiency: Paladins are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor (heavy, medium, and light), and with shields (except tower shields). A paladin is also proficient with his patron's favored weapon.

Domain (Di): When you take your first level in paladin, you must select a Saint as your patron. You gain access to your patron's domain, which grants you an additional paladin class skill, an additional weapon or armor proficiency, and a number of additional powers (dependent upon the domain). In addition, your patron's domain automatically adds new prayers to your prayers known upon gaining access to the appropriate prayer level.

As a paladin, your domain also grants you additional abilities as you gain levels, as indicated in the domain's description.

Know Thyself: Upon taking your first level in paladin, you gain knowledge of your own truename.

Channel Divine (Di): As a paladin, you are able to tap into the power of the Divine, though diluted by the separation between the Divine itself and the world. You gain a number of channel divine uses per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.

For purposes of Divine feats from other sources, channel divine uses count as turn undead attempts (and so you can use them to fuel Divine feats that require their expenditure).

Most patron's domains grant a power that allows you to expend a channel divine use for a purpose relevant to the patron.

In addition, all paladins can use channel divine uses to smite foes of their patron. When you make an attack or full-attack action, you can expend a channel divine use to add your Charisma modifier to your attack rolls and your paladin level to your damage rolls for that action. You can only use this ability on creatures whose alignments are opposed to your patron's on at least one axis; if your patron is neutral, you can only use this ability on creatures with "extremist" alignments (LG, LE, CG, or CE).

You can always use this ability on a Lucavi, Daemon, or Fiend, regardless of its alignment.

Ethos: You can only use this ability on creatures whose ethoi differ from your patron's by at least three steps.

If you use this ability on a creature that does meet the requirements, this ability does nothing (but you still expend the channel divine use).