Paladin Channel Energy Damage - Pal Lvl -3?


Rules Questions


Everything I have seen says a level 5 Paladin (the character I just happened to have just finished making) will do 3d6 damage with the Channel Energy ability. Except that the RULES say

...the supernatural ability to channel positive energy like a cleric. ... A paladin uses her level as her effective cleric level when channeling positive energy. ... and under Cleric: The amount of damage dealt or healed is equal to 1d6 points of damage plus 1d6 points of damage for every two cleric levels beyond 1st (2d6 at 3rd, 3d6 at 5th, and so on).

So if my level 5 Paladin's effective cleric level is 5 - 3 = 2, then am I not just doing 1d6 points of damage with Channel Energy until I hit 6th level (ECL of 3) ? ? ? ?

The Excel sheet I downloaded, and most of the posts I have been able to find on this forum, all state a level 5 Paladin does 3d6 damage but I don't see why? Please tell me why so I don't feel bad using it that way! :)


TKort wrote:

Everything I have seen says a level 5 Paladin (the character I just happened to have just finished making) will do 3d6 damage with the Channel Energy ability. Except that the RULES say

...the supernatural ability to channel positive energy like a cleric. ... A paladin uses her level as her effective cleric level when channeling positive energy. ... and under Cleric: The amount of damage dealt or healed is equal to 1d6 points of damage plus 1d6 points of damage for every two cleric levels beyond 1st (2d6 at 3rd, 3d6 at 5th, and so on).

So if my level 5 Paladin's effective cleric level is 5 - 3 = 2, then am I not just doing 1d6 points of damage with Channel Energy until I hit 6th level (ECL of 3) ? ? ? ?

The Excel sheet I downloaded, and most of the posts I have been able to find on this forum, all state a level 5 Paladin does 3d6 damage but I don't see why? Please tell me why so I don't feel bad using it that way! :)

That doesn't say level-3, that just says level. So you channel as a cleric of your level.


You write; "So if my level 5 Paladin's effective cleric level is 5 - 3 = 2", but in your own quote it clearly says; "A paladin uses her level as her effective cleric level when channeling positive energy."

So what is it that you think is wrong?


That level -3 thing was in DnD 3 and 3.5 but it was one thing that wasn't carried over into Pathfinder. A fifth level paladin channels energy as a fifth level cleric, who does 3d6 damage. Ergo; a fifth level paladin channels at 3d6.


Did you, by chance, look at the Spells entry?
Yes, your caster level for your spells equals your paladin level -3.
However, your effective level for channeling equals your full paladin level.

There's no 'turns undead like a cleric who is x levels lower' derived clause present in Pathfinder.


Oh wow. For some reason I could have sworn Paladin Channel was level minus 3. I've skimmed the ability multiple times while looking at Paladin stuff. I could have sworn I read it. And now I looked again just now, incredulous, and I've been wrong all this time... maybe I got that from looking at Hospitaler and then just generalized the -3 part of it.


chaoseffect wrote:
Oh wow. For some reason I could have sworn Paladin Channel was level minus 3. I've skimmed the ability multiple times while looking at Paladin stuff. I could have sworn I read it. And now I looked again just now, incredulous, and I've been wrong all this time... maybe I got that from looking at Hospitaler and then just generalized the -3 part of it.

A lot of classes have the option to gain channel energy but typically gain it at a reduced level, as you expected. In fact, because Paladins generally have more reasons to increase charisma, they are very often a stronger channeler then clerics (although usually with a reduced pool of available channels). The Sacred Servant can even use their Divine Bond to pump the channeling power even further, putting their individual channels well beyond what almost any typical cleric build would have.

It's an unappreciated feature of the Paladin, it's often more economical to use the two uses of Lay on Hands to recover after a fight or to spend the round to recover everyone's health after a large AOE (especially the favored tactic of all DMs of lighting off a fireball during an ambush).


Midnight_Angel wrote:
There's no 'turns undead like a cleric who is x levels lower' derived clause present in Pathfinder.

Actually, the Hospitaler archtype does channel at level -3 (Link)


Hey everyone, just wanted to say a quick "thanks" for your responses. I was misreading that one sentence (it was highlighted a couple of times in different responses) because I wasn't expecting two different rules, ie. "cast at effective caster level" vs. "channel at paladin level". It was made worse by the fact that instead of saying "channel at your paladin level" they say "channel at your effective caster level, which in this case is your paladin level". (Paraphrasing, of course). I bet lawyers do a great job at these games!!! :)

TK.

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