Paladin

Whether sworn before a god's altar and the witness of a priest, 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's oath is a powerful bond. Paladins are often champions of Pantheonic gods, the Kaevarian Church, and many have found a home inside one of the Orders of the Dragon. Others are sworn to a calling, or to themselves, bound to a purpose that a rare few can understand. Not all paladins serve purity and light--some see darkness as the only true salvation, or have simply embraced the darkness within. What is true of all paladins is their zeal and devotion to their cause, whatever it may be.

You must have a Charisma score and a Strength score of 13 or higher in order to multiclass in or out of this class.

Level Proficiency Bonus 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Features
1st +2 - - - - - Divine Sense, Lay on Hands
2nd +2 2 - - - - Fighting Style, Spellcasting, Divine Smite
3rd +2 3 - - - - Divine Health, Sacred Oath
4th +2 3 - - - - Ability Score Improvement
5th +3 4 2 - - - Extra Attack
6th +3 4 2 - - - Aura of Protection
7th +3 4 3 - - - Sacred Oath feature
8th +3 4 3 - - - Ability Score Improvement
9th +4 4 3 2 - -
10th +4 4 3 2 - - Aura of Courage
11th +4 4 3 3 - - Improved Divine Smite
12th +4 4 3 3 - - Ability Score Improvement
13th +5 4 3 3 1 -
14th +5 4 3 3 1 - Cleansing Touch
15th +5 4 3 3 2 - Sacred Oath feature
16th +5 4 3 3 2 - Ability Score Improvement
17th +6 4 3 3 3 1
18th +6 4 3 3 3 1 Aura improvements
19th +6 4 3 3 3 2 Ability Score Improvement
20th +6 4 3 3 3 2 Sacred Oath feature

As a paladin, you gain the following class features.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d10 per paladin level

Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + your Constitution modifier

Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per paladin level after 1st

Proficiencies

Armor: All armor, shields

Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons

Tools: None

Saving Throws: Wisdom, Charisma

Skills: Choose two from Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Persuasion, and Religion

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background: * (a) a martial weapon and a shield or (b) two martial weapons * (a) five javelins or (b) any simple melee weapon * (a) a priest's pack or (b) an explorer's pack * Chain mail and a holy symbol

Divine Sense

1st-level paladin feature

The presence of strong ethos (evil or good) 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 feet 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 (the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich, for instance). 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 Charisma modifier. When you finish a long rest, you regain all expended uses.

Lay on Hands

1st-level paladin feature

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 hit points equal to your paladin level x 5.

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

Alternatively, you can expend 5 hit points 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 hit points separately for each one.

This feature has no effect on undead and constructs.

Fighting Style

2nd-level paladin feature

You adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the available styles. You can't take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again. In addition, Paladins also have the following styles available to them:

  • Blessed Warrior You learn two cantrips of your choice from the cleric spell list. They count as paladin spells for you, and Charisma is your spellcasting ability for them. Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of these cantrips with another cantrip from the cleric spell list.

Whenever you gain a level, you can replace a fighting style you know with another style available to your class. This change represents a shift of focus in your martial training and practice, causing you to lose the benefits of one style and gain the benefits of another style.

Spellcasting

2nd-level paladin feature

You have learned to draw on divine magic through meditation and prayer to cast spells as a cleric does.

Preparing and Casting Spells

The Paladin table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells. To cast one of your paladin spells of 1st level or higher, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

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 Charisma modifier + half your paladin level, rounded down (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

For example, if you are a 5th-level paladin, you have four 1st-level and two 2nd-level spell slots. With a Charisma of 14, your list of prepared spells can include four spells of 1st or 2nd level, in any combination. If you prepare the 1st-level spell Cure Wounds, you can cast it using a 1st-level or a 2nd-level slot. 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 Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a paladin spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier

Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier

Spellcasting Focus

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

Divine Smite

2nd-level paladin feature

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

3rd-level paladin feature

The divine magic flowing through you makes you immune to disease.

Sacred Oath

3rd-level paladin feature

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. Now you choose one of the following oaths: * Abyss * Ancients * Conquest * Crown * Devotion * Dragon * Glory * Heroism * Inquisition * Redemption * Shadows * Stalker * Vengeance * Watchers * Weave

.. or, you are an "anti-paladin", and you have sworn one of the following oaths: * Grief * Oathbreaker * Treachery

Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 15th, and 20th level. Those features include oath spells and the Channel Divinity feature.

Oath Spells

Each oath has a list of associated spells. You gain access to these spells at the levels specified in the oath description. Once you gain access to an oath spell, 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.

Channel Divinity

3rd-level paladin feature

Your oath allows you to channel divine energy to fuel magical effects. Each Channel Divinity option provided by your oath explains how to use it.

When you use your Channel Divinity, you choose which 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.

Channel Divinity: Harness Divine Power

3rd-level paladin feature

You can expend a use of your Channel Divinity to fuel your spells. As a bonus action, you touch your holy symbol, utter a prayer, and regain one expended spell slot, the level of which can be no higher than half your proficiency bonus (rounded up). The number of times you can use this feature is based on the level you've reached in this class: 3rd level, once; 7th level, twice; and 15th level, thrice. You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

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

5th-level paladin feature

You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Aura of Protection

6th-level paladin feature

Whenever you or a friendly creature within 10 feet of you must make a saving throw, the creature gains a bonus to the saving throw equal to your Charisma 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 feet.

Aura of Courage

10th-level paladin feature

You and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you can't be frightened while you are conscious.

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

Improved Divine Smite

11th-level paladin feature

You are so suffused with divine 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

14th-level paladin feature

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 Charisma modifier (a minimum of once). You regain expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Paladin Spells

The following spells listed are known (but not necessarily accessible, depending on the domain chosen) to all paladins throughout Azgaarnoth; this is not the complete list of all paladin spells, however. Certain oaths may have additional spells that are only known to their members. Paladins can learn new spells by visiting foreign orders, uncovering new oath books in ancient ruins, and so on. (In other words, DM's choice about adding new paladin spells to the "known" list for a paladin, and the paladin may need to do some in-game activity or adventure to obtain them.)

1st Level

2nd Level

3rd Level

4th Level

5th Level