Holy Barbarian?

[WatersLethe]

I was thinking on my drive to work today that I miss the sheer damage potential of the PF1 Paladin, and their two-handed weapon "obliterate this specific enemy" playstyle. Barbarians have high damage potential, are pretty tough, and have tacked on bonus damage types that might make it a nice little baseline to get something similar going.

If you were making a "Paladin" barbarian instinct or class archetype, how would you go about it?

Ideally it'll be someone who dives into the fray, can dish out Barbarian style chunky damage, can be Holy or Unholy, deals spirit damage, wears heavy armor, and can use charisma offensively somehow. Bonus points for resistance to disease and fear, and a heal option like Lay on Hands.

I could also see a ranger doing something in that vein.

[Teridax]

For the Ranger, I feel the Vindicator was the attempt at the exact playstyle being mentioned here for the class. Unfortunately, the class archetype isn't very good, so it could certainly do with a glow-up.

As for a Paladin-esque Barbarian, here's how I'd go about their subclass:

* You gain the Invulnerable Rager and Shield Block feats as free feats. Choose a deity, and become bound by its edicts and anathema. You gain access to that deity's favored weapon if it's uncommon. If the weapon is a simple weapon, increase its damage die by one step, and if it's advanced, treat it as a martial weapon for the purposes of proficiency. If the weapon is agile, your bonus damage from Rage isn't halved when Striking with that weapon. You also gain your deity's sanctification; if you choose holy or unholy, you gain weakness to the other trait equal to half your level (minimum 1).

* For your instinct ability, change Rage's damage type to spirit. If you're holy or unholy, add your sanctification's trait to your Strikes when Striking with your deity's favored weapon.

* For your specialization ability, increase the damage from Rage from 2 to 5 when Striking with your deity's favored weapon. If you have greater weapon specialization, instead increase the damage from 5 to 12 when Striking with your deity's favored weapon.

* For raging resistance, you resist spirit damage. While raging, you gain a +2 status bonus to saves against fear effects, and if you roll a success on a save against a fear effect, you get a critical success instead. If you have the indomitable will class feature, when you roll a critical failure on a save against a fear effect, you get a failure instead.

This ought to cover the basics of a) wearing heavy armor and wielding shields well from the outset, b) hitting those opposed to your sanctification really hard, and c) being resistant to fear. You could increase Rage's damage here, but I think that might be too much for the starting utility provided, and resistance to disease is something the Barbarian's amazing Constitution ought to be able to help with naturally as well.

As for the other things mentioned, you could also give the subclass some exclusive feats:

* You could have a class feat that lets you Demoralize creatures with the trait opposed to your sanctification even while raging, and without taking a penalty for not speaking their language. If, while raging, you critically succeed on your Intimidation check against a target that's not on its home plane, the target must make a Will save against your Intimidation DC. On a critical failure, the creature is banished, as banishment; this is an incapacitation effect.

* As another feat, you could end your rage as a single action to apply a Lay on Hands-like effect based on your deity's font, healing either the living or undead and dealing your font's damage to the other.

* If you really wanted to, you could have a Divine Health-like feat where you gain a status bonus and better saves against disease or poison, which could turn into full-on immunity when you get the greater juggernaut feature.