Marty1000's page

I've had some difficulty figuring out how to express how I view the paladin. That said, I will try to do it justice here.

I perceive the paladin in a different light than what I feel it has become in 3/3.5/PF/4E. The paladin to me is a shining knight whose skill at arms is to be respected by his allies and feared by his evil foes. His true heart, faith, and adherence to the Code grant him divine abilities to augment his role at the front in the battle against evil and chaos. I find in 3/3.5/4/PF that the emphasis on the "divine" side of the paladin, a channeller of divine power, has diminished the role of the paladin as a capable combatant in the thick of the battle. If you were to take away the paladin's divine abilities, you should still have a feared combatant. Honing and improving their fighting prowess is a Paladin's duty and not doing so is a violation of the code and an insult to their deity.

I have read at various forums of the two paths for Paladins - Palaldins of Strength and Paladins of Charisma. I think that there should be a balance of the two and right now, the paladin is much more focused on the Charisma side of things.

I would like to see the Paladin's role as an elite combatant be emphasized. He does not need to be brought up to the level of the Fighter in this regard but I think paladins should receive some combat feats ala the fighter, including access to weapon specialization, to help them in the role of a holy warrior. A paladin of equal level to a character of the NPC warrior class should be a better combatant before ever taking into account his divine abilities. Right now that is not the case.

In the end a paladin with simply having a good BAB and access to the various weapon and armour proficiencies is nothing special. They need more than what they have now.

I suggest the following:

Bonus combat feats: Paladins receive a new combat feat at 1st level and then every 4th level (i.e. 4th, 8th, 12th, etc.). These would be from the same list as the fighter.

Weapon Specialization: Paladins are eligible to select weapon specialization with their feats.

Armour Training: The use of armour is a hallmark of the paladin. It is part and parcel with the concept of the shining knight and it is unrealistic to think that they too would not improve in their skill of wearing armour. They should receive this ability equivalent to the fighter class. As a compromise it could be reduced to a fighter half the paladin's level.

These martial abilities that I have provided here should be in addition to all of the divine powers that a paladin now receives. I also think that the enhanced abilities suggested in these forums by Vult, RobertB and LastKnight should also be implemented. The divine powers are the reward for the role-playing side of the paladin. They also need some capability to help on the roll side. This may seem like alot, but in my opinion, I don't think so and I don't think that a paladin build should have to rely on taking so many levels of fighter first. It fits that with paladin as a core class, their fighting abilities should be there within the class design.

I appreciate your thoughts.

One of the current problems that I have with PF (and 4E) is the increase in hit die size for the arcane spell casting classes (Wizard and Sorceror) from a d4 to d6 and the skill classes (Rogue and Bard) from d6 to d8. (I think the Ranger's increase to d10 from d8 is OK).

The increase in hit dice for these classes marks a significant power creep and increase in general toughness relative to the martial classes. Wizards, sorcerers, now have on average (barring Con bonuses) only 2 hp less per level than a fighter and onlu 1 hp less per level for rogues and bards. Characters of these classes have less need now for the martial classes to absorb the damage "up front". The hit points are too close to those of the fighters and paladins. A gap that I believe should not have been closed. I think this is one cause underlying the perception (and I think reality) that Fighters and Paladins are underpowered.

I recommend that Wizards and Sorcerers be returned to d4 hit dice and that Rogues and Bards be returned to d6. This will force players of these class types to take more care and rely on their martial class party members and it will improve the perceived physical toughness of the fighters and pallys and remind the arcane and skill types that they need help. This won't necessarily help with perceived imbalance in relative power at high levels but I think that this is a good choice to help improve general game balance between the classes.

Thanks for reading.

PS my apologies if there are other threads discussing this point. I searched 3 times (different ways) and did not find anything discussing this topic.