Paladin

You radiate your alignment as an almost tangible aura. The power of your aura of good, as a good paladin, or evil, as an evil paladin, is equal to your paladin level (see the detect evil and detect good spells).

At will, you can use detect evil, as the spell. An evil paladin can instead use detect good.

A paladin’s zeal for her cause fills her with power, which can used to activate many of the paladin’s class abilities. At the start of each day, you gain a number of points of zeal equal to 1/2 your paladin level plus your Charisma bonus (minimum 1).

Whenever you roll initiative, you regain 1 point of zeal, up to your daily maximum.

By spending a point of zeal as a free action, you may attempt to smite evil as part of an attack with a melee weapon, granting you a bonus on the attack roll equal to your Charisma bonus (minimum 1) and a bonus on the damage roll equal to your paladin level. If you accidentally smite a creature that is not evil, the attack deals no damage, but the point of zeal is still used up for the day.

In addition, after successfully smiting an evil creature, you gain a deflection bonus to your AC against attacks made by that creature equal to your Charisma bonus (minimum 1). This bonus lasts until the end of the encounter or that creature dies or otherwise leaves the encounter.

An evil paladin instead smites good and deals no damage to non-good creatures with their smite.

A paladin’s smite attack gains the Good (or Evil) descriptor, overcoming damage reduction of the appropriate type.

At 2nd level, you gain a bonus equal to your Charisma bonus (if any) on all saving throws.

Beginning at 2nd level, you can heal wounds by touch. Each day you can heal a total number of hit points of damage equal to your paladin level × your Charisma bonus (minimum equal to your paladin level). You may choose to divide your healing among multiple recipients, and you don’t have to use it all at once. Using lay on hands is a swift action.

Alternatively, you can use any or all of this healing power to deal damage to undead creatures. Using lay on hands in this way is a standard action, requires a successful melee touch attack, and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity. You decide how many of your daily allotment of points to use as damage after successfully touching an undead creature.

Evil paladins can instead inflict wounds against the living with a touch and heal the undead. However, an evil paladin can heal himself with this ability, even if he isn’t undead.

Beginning at 3rd level, you are immune to fear (magical or otherwise). Each ally within 10 feet of you gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects. This ability functions while you are conscious, but not if you are unconscious or dead.

At 3rd level, you gain immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases.

At 3rd level, and every three levels thereafter, you can select one mercy. Each mercy adds an effect to your lay on hands ability. Whenever you use lay on hands to heal damage to one target, you may spend 1 point of zeal to apply the effect of one of your mercies to the target. You can apply multiple mercies by spending additional points of zeal, but you cannot apply the same mercy more than once to a single use of lay on hands.

A mercy can remove a condition caused by a curse, disease, or poison without curing the affliction. Such conditions return after 1 hour unless the mercy actually removes the affliction that causes the condition.

There are four tiers of mercy, each of which requires a minimum paladin level.

Mercies (3rd-Level Paladin)

• Empower: You heal 1 additional point of damage for every 2 points of lay on hands spent, rounded down.
• Fatigued: The target’s exhaustion level is reduced by one step.
• Shaken: The target’s fear level is reduced by one step.
• Sickened: The target is no longer sickened.

Mercies (6th-Level Paladin)

• Dazed: The target is no longer dazed.
• Diseased: Your touch also acts as remove disease, using your paladin level as the caster level.
• Distant: You may use lay on hands on any ally within 20 feet.
• Staggered: The target is no longer staggered, unless the target is at exactly 0 hit points.

Mercies (9th-Level Paladin)

• Cursed: Your touch also acts as remove curse, using your paladin level as the caster level.
• Immediate: You may use lay on hands as an immediate action, allowing you to heal even when it’s not your turn. You may not use this mercy to make attacks against undead.
• Nauseated: The target is no longer nauseated. You must have the Sickened mercy before selecting this mercy.
• Poisoned: Your touch also acts as neutralize poison, using your paladin level as the caster level.

Mercies (12th-Level Paladin)

• Blinded: The target is no longer blinded.
• Deafened: The target is no longer deafened.
• Paralyzed: The target is no longer paralyzed.
• Stunned: The target is no longer stunned.

An evil paladin calls this ability “Cruelty” and can instead inflict these status effects rather than curing them; however, the target can resist a cruelty with a successful Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 your paladin level + your Charisma modifier).

A few cruelties require special note:

• Fatigued cannot cannot advance exhaustion beyond level 4.
• Diseased affects the target as if you had cast the contagion spell.
• Empower and Immediate can only be used for healing yourself or undead, not for making attacks.
• Cursed affects the target as if you had cast the bestow curse spell.
• Poisoned affects the target as if you had cast the poison spell.

Beginning at 4th level, you gain the ability to cast a small number of divine spells which are drawn from the paladin spell list. However, his alignment may restrict him from casting certain spells opposed to his moral or ethical beliefs. You must choose and prepare your spells in advance.

To prepare or cast a spell, you must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against your spell is 10 + the spell level + your Charisma modifier.

You can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Your base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Paladin. In addition, you receive bonus spells per day if you have a high Charisma score. When the table indicates that you get 0 spells per day of a given spell level, you gain only the bonus spells you would be entitled to based on your Charisma score for that spell level.

You must spend 1 hour each day in quiet prayer and meditation to regain your daily allotment of spells. You may prepare and cast any spell on the paladin spell list that you have accessed, provided that you can cast spells of that level, but you must choose which spells to prepare during your daily meditation.

Through 3rd level, you have no caster level. At 4th level and higher, your caster level is equal to your paladin level – 3.

Spell Access

A paladin’s access to divine spells is limited. At 4th level, you gain access to two 1st-level spells of your choice from the paladin spell list. At each new paladin level, you gain one or more new spells, as indicated on the Table: Paladin Spell Access. When preparing spells for the day, you may choose to prepare any spell to which you have access.

Once per week, you may conduct a ritual during your daily meditation to replace one of your accessed paladin spells with a new paladin spell. In effect, you “lose” the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged. You may swap only a single spell in any given week and must wait a full week between rituals to change spell access.

Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells

A paladin can’t access, prepare, or cast spells of an alignment opposed to her own or her deity’s (if she has one). Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions.

At 4th level, you gain the channel divinity ability to turn undead using positive energy. You use your paladin as your effective cleric level.

An evil paladin instead gains the ability to rebuke undead.

You may channel divinity a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.

Upon reaching 5th level, you gain the service of an unusually intelligent, strong, and loyal steed to serve you in you crusade. This mount is usually a heavy warhorse (for a Medium paladin) or a warpony (for a Small paladin).

Once per day, as a full-round action, you may magically call your mount from the outer plane in which it resides. This ability is the equivalent of a spell of a level equal to one-third your paladin level. The mount immediately appears adjacent to you and remains for 2 hours per paladin level; it may be dismissed at any time as a free action. The mount is the same creature each time it is summoned, though you may release a particular mount from service.

You may summon your mount additional times per day, but each additional summons costs you 1 point of zeal.

Each time the mount is called, it appears in full health, regardless of any damage it may have taken previously. The mount also appears wearing or carrying any gear it had when it was last dismissed. Calling a mount is a conjuration (calling) effect.

Should your mount die, it immediately disappears, leaving behind any equipment it was carrying. You may not summon another mount for thirty days or until you gain a paladin level, whichever comes first, even if the mount is somehow returned from the dead. During this thirty-day period, you take a -1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls.

At 7th level and every four levels thereafter, you gain a bonus feat. You must meet all prerequisites of the feat you select. You may choose any feat from the following list: any Combat Feat, any Divine Feat, any Zealous Feat, or any other feat specifically noted as a Paladin bonus feat.

At 8th level, you become immune to charm spells and spell-like abilities. Each ally within 10 feet of you gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against charm effects. This ability functions only while you are conscious, not if you are unconscious or dead.

At 10th level, you are willing to sacrifice your own health in zealous pursuit of your cause. As a swift action, you willingly deal 2 points of Constitution damage to yourself (which cannot be reduced or prevented) and immediately regain a number of points of zeal equal to your Charisma modifier. You cannot gain more than your maximum zeal in this way.

At 13th level, you can expend two points of zeal to grant the smite evil (or smite good) ability to all allies within 10 feet, using your bonuses. Allies must use this smite ability by the start of your next turn. Using this ability is a free action.

Allies the same alignment as that targeted by the smite gain no benefit from this ability. In other words, evil creatures do not benefit from smite evil and good creatures do not benefit from smite good.

At 14th level, you gain damage reduction 10/evil if you are good-aligned or damage reduction 10/good if you are evil aligned.

You also gain immunity to compulsion spells and spell-like abilities. Each ally within 10 feet of you gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against compulsion effects.

This ability functions only while you are conscious, not if you are unconscious or dead.

At 20th level, you become a conduit for the power of your god. Your damage reduction from Aura of the Zealous increases to 20.

Whenever you use smite evil or smite good and successfully strike an outsider with the same subtype, the outsider is also subject to a banishment effect, using your paladin level as the caster level (your weapon and holy symbol automatically count as objects that the subject hates).

When using lay on hands, each point you spend heals an ally or yourself for 2 hit points of damage or deals 2 points of damage to an undead. In addition, the first mercy you apply does not cost a point of zeal; however, additional mercies applied to the same use still cost zeal as normal. An evil paladin similarly doubles healing and damage when using lay on hands and does not pay zeal for the first cruelty applied.

In addition, you gain zeal points each day based on your total paladin level rather than only half.

As a good paladin, you must maintain a Good alignment, and you lose all class features except proficiencies if you ever willingly and maliciously commit an evil act. This does not mean that you cannot take actions someone else might qualify as evil, only that your actions must always be in service of the greater good. Additionally, your paladin’s code requires that you respect legitimate authority, act with honor (not lying, not cheating, not using poison, and so forth), help those in need (provided they do not use the help for evil or chaotic ends), and punish those who harm or threaten innocents.

Similarly, as an evil paladin, you must maintain an Evil alignment and lose all class features except proficiencies if you willingly and altruistically commits good acts. This does not mean that you cannot take actions someone else might qualify as good, only that such actions must always be in service of your own dark ends or those of your deity. Your paladin’s code requires that you place your personal interests and desires above all else, as well as impose tyranny, take advantage whenever possible, and punish the morally good, provided such actions don’t interfere with your ultimate goals.

Associates

While a paladin may adventure with allies of varied alignment, a paladin avoids working with anyone who possesses an opposing alignment or consistently offends her moral code. Under exceptional circumstances, a paladin can ally with opposing associates, but only to defeat what she believes to be a greater threat. A paladin might need to seek an atonement spell periodically during such an unusual alliance, and should end the alliance immediately should she feel it is doing more harm than benefit. A paladin may accept only henchmen, followers, or cohorts who match her alignment.

A paladin whose alignment strays from Good or Evil, who willfully commits a forbidden act, or who violates the code of conduct loses all paladin spells and class features (including the service of the paladin’s mount, but not weapon, armor, and shield proficiencies). She may not progress any further in levels as a paladin. She regains her abilities and advancement potential if she atones for her violations (see atonement), as appropriate.