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Paladin

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Paladins take their adventures seriously, and even a mundane mission is, in the heart of the paladin, a personal test—an opportunity to demonstrate bravery, to learn tactics, and to find ways to do good. Divine power protects these warriors of virtue, warding off harm, protecting from disease, healing, and guarding against fear. The paladin can also direct this power to help others, healing wounds or curing diseases, and also use it to destroy evil. Experienced paladins can smite evil foes and turn away undead. A paladin's Wisdom score should be high, as this determines the maximum spell level that they can cast. Many of the paladin's special abilities also benefit from a high Charisma score.

Very few players can play a good Paladin as they are written. It is very difficult to play a character that is Good with a capital 'G'. This makes playing a Paladin one the toughest to do- but not impossible. You will find that sticking to Lawful Good in a world where it is easier to hit first and loot the body is demanding. For those who can play a Paladin well, they are a formidable class with many, many benefits. This does not mean that players must play all Paladins according to the stereotype- ultra-conservative, inflexible, close-minded, do-gooder. There is nothing in the rules about what sort of personality (you don't have be nice to do the right thing), what sort of clothing (ever heard of a Paladin in multi-colored armor?), what sort of habits are even state of mind you have to have. Make the character your own.

A Paladin is not just a fighter with 'lots of stuff'. A better way to see the Paladin is as a war-like Cleric. They are designed to be warriors with the added bonus of some magic that is focused on battling evil. As a result, when you are crafting your Paladin you must take to consideration a great number of things.

Making the Best Paladin

To really gain the full benefits of being a Paladin one has to be above average in several abilities. Cha is what Paladins are known for- they are leaders, they are an inspiration to troops and they should be physical embodiments of lies directly opposite to the dark and foul world of evil. Cha is used to determine the strength of Lay on Hands, saving throw bonuses, turn undead ability and the power of Smite Evil. Wis is used to determine what level of Clerical spells are available (a players needs 14 Wis to gain access to all the spell levels a Paladin is granted- 4^th level is the highest spell level they get). Finally, Dex, Str and Con are all elements of being a warrior that need to be considered as well. Selecting what you want to take is a difficult process and must be prepared to make sacrifices in other areas in order to gain the full benefits of this class.

A benefit of the divine nature of the spells cast is that Paladins can wear any sort of armor without a penalty for spell casting. Paladins do a lot of fighting so the ability to wear any sort of armor is very important.

Paladins, like Monks, are restricted in their multiclassing abilities. Once you leave the path of Paladinhood to pursue another class, you may never return to it.

• Alignment Restrictions: Lawful Good only
• Hit Die: d10
• Proficiencies: All simple and martial weapons, all armor, and shields
• Skill Points (x4 at 1st level): 2 + Int Modifier
• Spellcasting: Paladin Spells. Divine (Wisdom based, armor-related chance of spell failure is ignored)
• Ex-Paladins: A paladin that is no longer lawful good cannot gain leaves until their alignment is lawful good again.

Skills

Given the enormous amount of extra abilities granted with the Paladin class they are given fewer skills to develop. Each one of them is essential however to supporting the Paladin in his or her divine call.

The type of Paladin you wish to play comes into consideration when selecting which skills to develop. While it is hard not to take Parry as a basic class skill what other skills will you take? Does Heal matter to you when you can Lay on Hands? Do you want to use your Cha to influence others with Persuade? Are you well versed in Lore from books or adventures?

Paladins are given very few skills points to spend and so one must choose wisely and not waste points.

Class Skills (skill descriptions):

• Concentration
• Diplomacy: Persuade
• Diplomacy: Taunt
• Heal
• Lore*
• Parry*

*Notes:

Lore can be considered a subset of the Dungeons & Dragons® Knowledge skill.

Parry is a Neverwinter Nights skill. It is not a part of the Dungeons & Dragons® game experience but is a necessary part of the Aurora Engine technology.

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