Paladin Ultimate Mercy: Casting raise dead at 7th level or lower?


Rules Questions


Ultimate Magic wrote:
Ultimate Mercy - You can expend 10 uses of lay on hands to bring a single dead creature you touch back to life as a raise dead spell with a caster level equal to your paladin level.

A paladin can take this feat and meet the pre-requsites sometime before level 7. That would give a caster level of 7 or lower. Is this possible?

Core Rulebook wrote:
You can cast a spell at a lower caster level than normal, but the caster level you choose must be high enough for you to cast the spell in question

This is a 5th level spell and therefore off the list for a Paladin. There's no Paladin caster level for it.

Use the Cleric? Minimum for Cleric would be 9th level. Paladin must be 9th level to use this?

Paladin can get around this rule?


Hmm. Well, Paladin's lay-on-hands per day is 1/2 level plus charisma. Assuming the prerequisite 19 charisma (which itself would be very difficult to have early on, unless you're blowing that many points on charisma), you'd have +4 cha bonus, requiring you to have 6 additional uses per day of lay on hands. So that's 12th level.

If we assume you have Extra Lay on Hands, which lets you use it two extra times, that drops it to 10th level.

Unless you spend more than one feat on ELoH and/or your charisma is ludicrously high for a lower level, you probably wouldn't be able to take it, or if you take it, probably wouldn't be able to use it until past 10th level.


CriticalQuit wrote:
Unless you spend more than one feat on ELoH and/or your charisma is ludicrously high for a lower level, you probably wouldn't be able to take it, or if you take it, probably wouldn't be able to use it until past 10th level.

You can do it at 7th level with feats and pumping CHA. It's a full healing build with low STR and WIS (since they use CHA for spells). It just runs about touching people and pretending to be a divine wizard.


The paladin is not casting the spell. He is using his lay on hands to revive someone as if the spell had been cast.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Ultimate Mercy is not a spell, and thus the 'reduced caster level' text does not apply.


It's a Spell-Like ability at best.

RAW is even Extraordinary because abilities from Feats are Extraordinary unless explicitly state otherwise by the feat itself.

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