I posted this originally in the General Discussion section under The Paladin, Glaring Failures and Glinting Successes thread and then realized it should be posted here instead.
As I have posted in the past I really don't like how Paladins where handled in 3e (initially too front loaded, now trying to cover too many bases with too few resources).
I know one of the commandments of the Pathfinder RPG process is "keep compatibility." However, I believe this class needs a rethinking.
Since we are not going to use Green Ronin's Holy Warrior Handbook (3.5 updated from The Book of the Righteous) I would propose the following:
SMITE EVIL:
Smite should be a Paladin's signature move. At low levels you have to ration it and high levels it only does so much. Here is an example of what I would do with the ability:
Smite Evil (Su): Once per combat, a paladin may attempt to smite evil with one normal melee attack. She adds her Charisma bonus (if any) to her attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per paladin level. If the paladin accidentally smites a creature that is not evil, the smite has no effect, but the ability is still used up for that day.
At 4th level, and at every three levels thereafter, the paladin's smite evil gains additional powers:
4th level - Treat the weapon used during the smite as good aligned for that attack.
7th level - Holy burst, if a smite attack confirms a critical against an evil creature, it deals 1d10 of holy damage per critical modifier (e.g. x2 does 2d10, x3 does 3d10, etc).
10th level - Treat the weapon used during the smite as undead bane or evil outsider bane, chosen at the time this ability is gained, for that attack.
13th level - Gain an extra smite per combat.
16th level - Blinding smite, an evil creature is overwhelmed by divine power. A successful smite against an evil target blinds that target until the start of its next round. A critical blinds the creature for additional round equal to its critical modifier (e.g. x2 is 3 rounds, x3 is 4 rounds).
19th - Gain an extra smite per combat.
These are just examples of what smite could be, the order or the powers themselves are in play. If you don't like them or they need to be rebalanced then by all means fiddle with it.
Thanks,
Bryan Blumklotz
AKA Saracenus
While I don't know about the abilities myself, I REALLY like the idea behind it.