Using it in conjunction with your channel divinity will allow you to chase enemies down and cause psychic damage to them, get an extra attack, and also take your normal attack. Invincible Conqueror: For 1 minute per day you become an absolute wrecking ball. Paladins do not get cantrips in 5E. See Spells Rules for the general rules of spellcasting and the Spells Listing for the paladin spell list. Cloistered ScholarSCAG: History, and your choice of another knowledge skill. Skilled: You don’t need a ton of skills, so make sure you’re covered by your background and class selections. This is by far the best class magic and melee abilities combined perfectly. Do as much good as possible while causing the least amount of harm. See the Sacred Oath class feature for how oath spells work. If the weapon is not already magical, it becomes magical for the duration. All your abilities, smites specifically, can be used in a greater area around you. Charisma: Your Paladin abilities are all tied to Charisma. Beyond that, the paladin is hearty enough to sustain itself in combat. Paladins boast two skill trees of auras, and a tree full of combat skills to use in their battles against the darkness. Class Skills. At least it’s thematic. The world is filled with much mystery. Spirit Guardians a strong effect, but useless on ranged foes unless you spend your time chasing them around. Protective Spirit: This makes Aura of the Guardian safer to use and helps keep you alive. At 20th level, you learn to channel the spirits of historic sea captains to briefly become a paragon of heroic adventure. Tiefling: +2 base Charisma is a great starting point for Paladins. The fear aura will hold lesser foes at bay while you take on the big bad, preventing you from being swarmed. To that end, the paladin’s ability to drive fear into the heart of their enemy is something worth your divine faith. As an action you can channel the sea to create a thick cloud of fog that surrounds you and heavily obscures the area for 20 feet in all directions, following you as you move. However, they have additional abilities to make up for it. 17th-Level: Hold Monster is a strictly better Hold Person. DND-spells.com may use the trademarks and other intellectual property of Wizards of the Coast LLC, which is permitted under Wizards' Fan Site Policy. Abjure Enemy: Why you’d want one enemy to run away from you as a melee character is beyond me. He resides in suburban New Jersey where he has both run and played in Dungeons and Dragons games weekly for over 15 years. Marine Layer. HellfireSCAG: Hellish rebuke is something you don’t want to miss out on. Aura of Hate: Once you get this, you’ll want to make sure you have a fiend familiar (take Arcane Initiate to gain the find familiar spell and beg your DM for a quasit or an imp) and an undead from animate dead at all times. Channel Divinity: Two useful options that feel very…paladin-y. Athletics: Strength is one of your main stats. Cleansing Touch: A great way to un-curse your allies without using a spell slot. Protection From Energy is a mandatory spell for any adventurer going after dragons, elementals, or any higher level caster. Darkness isn’t ideal, as you can’t see in it and aren’t exactly a stealthy character who can make good use of it. Journey before Destination” – The first oath of the Knights Radiant, from The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson. Scrying is situational. Image source. Criminals are evil. Constitution:- All martial artists, especially Paladins, need Constitution. Take this handy list to heart the next time you want your Paladin to be OP. Would the Oathbreaker's, Aura of Hate affect enemy undead as well? They aren’t officially part of the Dungeons & Dragons game and aren’t permitted in D&D Adventurers League events unless otherwise stated. EEPC      Elemental Evil Player’s Companion You know the type (celestial, fiend, or undead) of any being whose presence you sense, but not its identity (the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich, for instance). // ]]>, ©2020 D&D Beyond | All Rights Reserved | Powered by Fandom Games. WoodSCAG: The bonus speed is nice, but otherwise the standard version is better. Earth: Strength and Constitution, plus some additional abilities. 1d10 per paladin level Hit Points at 1st level. Different paladins focus on various aspects of the cause of righteousness, but all are bound by the oaths that grant them power to do their sacred work. Noble: History is less useful than religion for you specifically, but persuasion is your main skill. KoboldVGtM: Pack Tactics is a useful ability, but generally this race isn’t ideal. Paladins are required to be Lawful, which means you need to role play specific ideals. Paladins train for years to learn the skills of combat, mastering a variety of weapons and armor. Bonus HD: Extra eight-sided (d8) Hit Dice, each of which gains a Constitution modifier, as normal. You are welcome!Glacial Smite. ShifterERLW: Darkvision is always welcome, and because Paladins don’t have many uses for bonus actions, the Shifting trait is more easily used. //param[str](optional) css selector(s) to ignore When I think of dwarves, I think … Intimidation (Cha): Important for any Face. Adventuring paladins take their work seriously. Fighting with a longsword and a shield is best to have high AC and make use of the duelist fighting style. Starting at 10th level, you and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you can’t be frightened while you are conscious. Exalted Champion: Unlike most other Paladin Oath capstone abilities, this one lasts for 1 hour instead of 1 minute. Warlock: Another Charisma-based casting class that affords you the best cantrip in the game, and spell slots that recharge after a short rest, further fueling your smites. They require saves, so make sure you’ve got a good high DC. Divine Allegiance: Another way to redirect damage to yourself, giving your healing a single target. This only works on minor threats, however, as any serious undead threat is going to be too powerful for you to control. The damage bonus will stack considerably. Code of conduct. First, Strength should be your highest ability score, followed by Charisma. After a rite of confession and forgiveness, the paladin starts fresh. A paladin who has broken a vow typically seeks absolution from a cleric who shares his or her faith or from another paladin of the same order. Cookies enable you to enjoy certain features, social sharing functionality, and tailor message and display ads to your interests on our site and others. Folk Hero: An Oath of the Ancients Paladin might find this flavorful, though not functional. Whatever their origin and their mission, paladins are united by their oaths to stand against the forces of evil. Persuasion: This is your most important skill. Your job as a paladin is to stand between the weak and any danger that presents itself. Roll20 uses cookies to improve your experience on our site. You can make a paladin quickly by following these suggestions. Once per turn for the duration, when you hit a creature with weapon attack, you can choose to push the target 10 feet away from you. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. As long as you have the materials prepared ahead of time, your reinforcements can arrive when you most need them. DrowSCAG: Trading the two skills for some spells isn’t a good choice. CentaurGGTR: Not a lot for Paladins in general, but the speed and charge attack make for a powerful build. Up to this time you have been in a preparatory stage, committed to the path but not yet sworn to it. Tree Stride is extremely situational and completely useless if you’re not in a forest. Hit Dice: 1d10 Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + your Constitution modifier Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per Paladin level after 1st Proficiencies. Extra Hit Dice improve the mount’s base attack and base save bonuses. Guild Artisan: Insight and Persuasion are good skills for a paladin to have, but the tool isn’t relevant. When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll. For 1 minute, bright light shines from you in a 30-foot radius, and dim light shines 30 feet beyond that. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest. 5. Protection from Evil and Good is a very strong buff, especially when used to prevent or control possession and charm effects at low levels, when your party is particularly susceptible to them. 3rd-Level: Speak With Animals is extremely situational, but Ensnaring Strike is a very strong option to add to your attacks, locking up an enemy. Divine radiance shines from her hands, the man’s wounds knit closed, and his eyes open wide with amazement. Deception: Paladins are straight-talking Lawful Good guys, but they do have Charisma as a main stat…. Get the whole scoop with our Paladin Cantrips 5E Guide! Roleplaying a paladin in DnD always meant that you were someone who was a pain. Dragonborn are prime territory for a strength build, with bonuses to strength and charisma, resistance to one element of choice, and an innate breath weapon; the same goes for aasimar and tritons, which both get charisma bonuses and, in the triton's case, additional bonuses to strength and constitution. 9th-Level: both of these options require a save by the creatures affected, so high Charisma is mandatory for them to have any meaningful impact. City WatchSCAG: Athletics and Insight are both great skills for you to have, and extra languages are nice. Unless a lasting injury has taken him or her away from adventuring for a time, every paladin lives on the front lines of the cosmic struggle against evil. Aura of Courage: It’s nice to know your allies won’t abandon you at the sight of danger. Half-Elf: The best overall choice for Paladin, and a great choice for any class at all. Two great skills off your list, vehicle proficiency, and a feature that helps advance the plot if your DM is clever about it. Insight: The one Wisdom skill you should concern yourself with. He is a melee-oriented character, with any auras and abilites to augment his own abilities and stats or crippling his enemies. Nature’s Wrath: You basically get a weaker Ensnaring Strike. I do have a question. This illustration of a half-elf by William O'Connor introduced the paladin in the Player's Handbook. It does well in tandem with another melee character to grans flanking bonuses, or a battlefield control caster to funnel enemies towards the pointy end. At 18th level, the range of your auras increase to 30 feet. 3. Did another paladin sense the potential within you and decide to train you as a squire? These knights are charged with protecting the weak, defending the ideals of law and peace, and hunting down evil wherever it rears its ugly head, and destroying it. The Paladin Spells has a shield and a mace in his hands. Aid others, protect the weak, and punish those who threaten them. The Redemption Paladin focuses on de-escalation of violence. I am currently playing a white Dragonborn paladin and this fits really well with him. Hit Points. InheritorSCAG: Good for an Oath of the Ancients Paladin. Hold Person will be unreliable unless you have a really strong Charisma. They hold themselves to the highest standards of conduct, and some, for better or worse, hold the rest of the world to the same standards. This discipline is very powerful. A decent wisdom will give you decent Insight, which helps when you’re trying to ferret out evil hiding in plain sight. If a paladin willfully violates his or her oath and shows no sign of repentance, the consequences can be more serious. Sentinel: An excellent combination with Polearm Master. Whether sworn before a god’s altar and the witness of a priest, in a sacred glade before nature spirits and fey beings, or in a moment of desperation and grief with the dead as the only witness, a paladin’s oath is a powerful bond. Hermit: Medicine and Religion are your two most useful class skills. The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. * Protection: Avenger's Shield. Linguist: Take the time to get tongues on an item or lean on other party members. . I'm making an Oath of the Open Sea paladin, and I feel like going oath breaker at some point would be a cool part of her character. Soldier: Athletics and Intimidation are both in your wheelhouse, and land vehicle proficiency will help on your travels.