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The variant Paladins in the APG seem flavorful (indeed, the flavor throughout the APG is absolutely firt rate) but I don’t think any of them is particularly atractive. The exception to this general ovservation is the Undead Scourge Paladin variant. However, the 11th level variant ability of this class variant, Undead Anihilation is redundant almost to the point of being useless:
Undead Annihilation (Su): At 11th level, an undead scourge can expend one use of her smite evil ability as a standard action and make a single melee attack against an undead creature. If this attack hits, the undead creature must make a Will save or be destroyed. The save DC is equal to 10 + 1/2 the undead scourge’s level + the undead scourge’s Charisma modifier. Undead with twice as many Hit Dice as the undead scourge are unaffected by this ability. If the attack misses, the smite evil is wasted without effect. This ability replaces aura of justice.Sounds cool, until you realize that this is an ability which the Paladin already has, in a better form, at 8th level.
Assuming the Paladin took Divine Bond for his or her weapon (and really, what Paladin chooses a mount for their divine bond instead of a weapon?), then the Paladin can already add Disruption to his bonded mace. Disruption has a Will Save DC 14 or be destroyed, essentially the same Will save for a 20th level Paladin with an 18 Charisma using Undead Annihilation. And Disruption lasts for 8 minutes -- not as a one shot like Undead Annihilation that you have to burn off a Smite Evil in exchange.
A better mechanic for Undead Annihilation is for it to operate as the 8th level Aura of Life, except that the undead has -4 to Will Saves for all purposes (read: -4 Will save to Disruption effects). Remember, this Undead Annihilation ability replaces Aura of Justice, which is probably the most powerful class ability of any class that is not a 20th level end-game “summit”...
Umm your just wrong. Disruption is DC 14 always. Undead annilation for a level 20 paladin is 24 if s/he has 18 charisma. At level 11, it's DC 15+charisma. DC 24 is MUCH more useful then 14.
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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Not only that, but undead annilation works on any weapon, while disruption only works on blunt weapons. Plus, if you really wanted, you could use both effects and force 2 saves (though since the UA save is so much tougher than the disruption save, it's probably not a wise use of your divine bond - better to go with holy or something).
I like to add I enjoy seeing Aura of Justice replaced, while powerful I think the ability is just pure cheesiness.
The ability does not just replace it, it is part of a package that gets replaced. Some abilities might be more attractive, some less it is the package as a whole that counts.
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Umm your just wrong. Disruption is DC 14 always. Undead annilation for a level 20 paladin is 24 if s/he has 18 charisma. At level 11, it's DC 15+charisma. DC 24 is MUCH more useful then 14.
Yes, I know. I left out the "Ten" part of "10 + 1/2 your level + Charisma bonus" when I was adding up the DC of Undead Annihilation.
Leave out the Ten You get DC 14.
After posting this for all of 90 seconds -- I realized my mistake in my math and deleted the post. But not, evidently, before you hit the reply key :)
It's what's called a "active" community... ;) ;) ;)
AJC