Paladin

Ability Requirements:
Strength 12

Constitution 9

Wisdom 13

Charisma 17
Prime Requisite:
Strength, Charisma
Allowed Races:
Human

The paladin is a noble and heroic warrior—often literally the knight in shining armor—a symbol of all that is right, good, and just in the world. Examples of paladins include Sir Lancelot, Sir Gawain, Sir Galahad of King Arthur’s Round Table, and Roland and the 12 Peers of Charlemagne. For more on these men, see Charlemagne‘s Paladins Historical Reference book for the AD&D game. Such a warrior has high ideals to maintain at all times.

Only humans can become paladins. A paladin must be lawful good in alignment. Any paladin who changes alignment loses all his special powers. This loss might be temporary or permanent, depending on the circumstances. A paladin who consciously commits a chaotic act must find a lawful good cleric of at least 7th level, confess the act, and seek penance. If a paladin knowingly commits an evil act, the character’s status as a paladin is forever lost. If such an act is committed by the paladin under duress (enchanted or controlled by magic), the loss of status remains in effect until the paladin completes a major quest for the cause of good. The paladin gains no experience points for this quest, but if successfully completed, he regains the status and powers of his paladinhood. All paladins have the following restrictions:

· Cannot possess more than 10 magical items. Further, these items must not exceed one set of armor, one shield, four weapons (magical arrows and bolts don’t count), and four other objects.

· Can never retain wealth. He can keep enough treasure to support himself, pay his henchmen, and so on, but all excess monies must be donated to worthy causes. Other characters do not qualify as worthy causes. In addition, 10% of all treasure garnered must be given to a lawful good religious institution of the paladin’s choice.

· Cannot attract a body of followers. However, he can hire soldiers and specialists—so long as those individuals are lawful good.

· Will not abide the company of those he knows to be evil. Those of other alignments will be tolerated as long as they behave themselves.

Paladins receive 60 character points with which to purchase class abilities. Each of the abilities below cost 5 to 10 character points. Any unspent points can be used to acquire nonweapon proficiencies or saved for use during the game. A standard paladin spends his character points to acquire the abilities of circle of power 5, curative 10, detection 5, faithful mount 5, healing 5, health 5, protection from evil 5, saving throw bonus 10, and turn undead 10.

Circle of power (5): If the paladin has a holy sword, he can project a circle of power 10' in diameter. This circle dispels hostile magic at a level equal to the experience level of the paladin

Curative (10): Cure diseases of all types once a week for every five experience levels. For example, a 10th level paladin can use his cure disease ability two times a week. (This ability is ineffective against lycanthropy.)

Detection (5): Detect evil monsters or creatures up to 60' away by concentrating. A paladin can do this as often as he wishes, but each use takes one round.

Faithful mount (5): The paladin can summon a special steed at 4th level. This faithful steed might not be a horse—it may be any creature the DM deems appropriate. This steed is bonded to the paladin. However, this steed does not simply appear when called. The paladin likely must find his mount in a memorable way, such as on a quest.

Healing (5): The ability to heal himself or another by the laying on of hands once a day. The paladin can restore two hit points per his experience level.

Health (5): Immunity to all forms of disease. (Paladins are not immune to lycanthropy and mummy rot.)

Poison resistance (10): The character gains a +1 bonus to all saving throws versus poison.

Priest spells (10): The Player’s Handbook states that at 9th level a paladin can cast priest spells from the following spheres: combat, divination, healing, and protection. However, by purchasing this ability, paladins can cast spells beginning at 4th level. Paladins do not gain extra spells for possessing high Intuition scores, nor can they cast spells from cleric or druid scrolls. The spell progression chart for paladins appears below.

Protection from evil (5): The paladin has a natural aura with a 10' radius. Within this aura, summoned or evil creatures suffer a –1 penalty to all attack rolls. Creatures affected by this aura know the paladin to be the source of their discomfort.

Resist charm (10): Paladins with this ability gain a +2 bonus to saving throws versus charm-like spells and abilities.

Saving Throw Bonus (10): Paladins with this ability gain a +2 bonus to all saving throws.

Turn undead (10): When the paladin attains 3rd level he can turn undead. This ability functions as if the paladin were a cleric two levels lower. For example, a 6th level paladin would turn undead as a 4th level cleric. See the Player’s Handbook for information on turning undead.

Weapon specialization (10): This paladin can specialize in a particular weapon. The character point cost must be met in addition.

Optional Restrictions

A paladin can gain bonus character points to spend on the above abilities by accepting voluntary restrictions on his warrior abilities. The restrictions are the same as those listed for Fighters.

Table 20: Paladin Spell Progression


Paladin
Casting

Spell level


Level
Level
1
2
3
4

4
1
1
—
—
—

5
1
1
—
—
—

6
2
2
—
—
—

7
2
2
1
—
—

8
3
2
1
—
—

9
3
2
2
—
—

10
4
2
2
1
—

11
4
2
2
2
—

12
5
3
2
2
—

13
5
3
2
2
—

14
6
3
2
2
1

15
7
3
3
2
1

16
8
3
3
3
1

17
9*
3
3
3
1

18
9*
3
3
3
2

19
9*
3
3
3
3

20
9*
4
3
3
3

* Maximum level of spell ability

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