The compassion to pursue good, the will to uphold law and the power to defeat evil -- these are the three weapons of the paladin. Few have the purity and devotion that it takes to walk the paladin's path, but those few are rewarded with the power to protect, to heal and to smite. In a land of scheming wizards, unholy priests, bloodthirsty dragons and infernal fiends, the paladin is the final hope that cannot be extinguished.

Characteristics: Divine power protects the paladin and gives her special powers. It wards off harm, protects her from disease, lets her heal herself and heal others, as well. A paladin can use this power to destroy evil.

Alignment: Paladins must be lawful good. They lose their divine powers if they deviate from that alignment.

Other Classes: Paladins work well with other classes, particularly when members of the group are committed to good. Their only conflicts arise in regards to evil characters or evil acts.

Role: The paladin's chief role is as a melee combatant, but they also work well as a secondary healer within a group, or as a charismatic party leader.

Abilities: Charisma enhances a paladin's healing power, self-protective capabilities and undead turning ability. Strength is important for her because of its role in combat. A Wisdom score of 14 or higher is required to get access to the most powerful paladin spells and a score of 11 or higher is required to cast any paladin spells at all.

Hit Die: d10

Class Skills

• Concentration, Diplomacy, Heal and Sense Motive.

• Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4.

• Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier.

The Paladin
Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Refx Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+1	+2	0	0	Aura of Good, Detect Evil, Smite evil 1 time/day
2nd	+2	+3	0	0	Divine Grace, Lay on Hands
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+1	Aura of Courage, Divine Health
4th	+4	+4	+1	+1	Turn Undead
5th	+5	+4	+1	+1	Smite evil 2 times/day
6th	+6/+1	+5	+2	+2	Remove Disease 1 time/wk
7th	+7/+2	+5	+2	+2	---
8th	+8/+3	+6	+2	+2	---
9th	+9/+4	+6	+3	+3	Remove Disease 2 times/wk
10th	+10/+5	+7	+3	+3	Smite evil 3 times/day

Class Features

• Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Paladins are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor (heavy, medium and light) and with shields. Aura of Good: The power of a paladin's aura of good (see the Detect Good spell) is equal to her paladin level, just like the aura of a cleric of a good deity.

• Detect Evil: At will, a paladin can use Detect Evil, as the spell.

• Smite Evil: Once per day, a paladin may attempt to smite evil with one normal melee attack. She adds her Charisma bonus (if any) to her attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per paladin level. If the paladin accidentally smites a creature that is not evil, the smite has no effect, but the ability is still used up for that day.

At 5th level and 10th level, the paladin may smite evil one additional time per day.

• Divine Grace: At 2nd level, a paladin gains a bonus equal to her Charisma bonus (if any) on all saving throws.

• Lay-on Hands: Beginning at 2nd level, a paladin with a Charisma score of 12 or higher can heal wounds (her own or those of others) by touch. Each day she can heal a total number of hit points of damage equal to her paladin level . her Charisma bonus. For example, a 7th-level paladin with a 16 Charisma (+3 bonus) can heal 21 points of damage per day. A paladin may choose to divide her healing among multiple recipients and she doesn't have to use it all at once. Using lay on hands is a standard action.

Alternatively, a paladin can use any or all of this healing power to deal damage to undead creatures. Using lay-on hands in this way requires a successful melee touch attack and doesn't provide an attack of opportunity. The paladin decides how many of her daily allotment of points to use as damage after successfully touching an undead creature.

• Aura of Courage: Beginning at 3rd level, a paladin is immune to fear (magical or otherwise). Each ally within 10 feet of her gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects. This ability functions only while the paladin is conscious.

• Divine Health: At 3rd level, a paladin gains immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases.

Turn Undead: When a paladin reaches 4th level, she gains the supernatural ability to turn undead. She may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier. She turns undead as a cleric of three levels lower would.

• Spells: Beginning at 4th level, a paladin gains the ability to cast a small number of divine spells (the same type of spells available to the cleric, druid and ranger). A paladin must choose and prepare her spells in advance. To prepare or cast a spell, a paladin must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level (Wis 11 for 1st-level spells, Wis 12 for 2nd-level spells and so forth). The DC for a saving throw against a paladin's spell is 10 + the spell level + the paladin's Wisdom modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a paladin can cast only a certain number of spells each spell level per day. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Wisdom score.

Paladin Spells Per Day
Spell Level	1	2
Caster Level	---	---
1st	---	---
2nd	---	---
3rd	---	---
4th	0	---
5th	0	---
6th	1	---
7th	1	---
8th	1	0
9th	1	0
10th	1	1

• Remove Disease: At 6th level, a paladin can produce a Remove Disease effect, as the spell, once per week, and twice per week at 9th level.

Fallen Paladins

Some party actions and reputations will cause any paladins in the party to fall from grace and lose all of their special abilities and spells. Furthermore, a fallen paladin may not gain a level in his class until he atones for his violation. To do so, he must find a cleric willing to cast the spell atonement on him. Such a cleric would certainly demand a high price, perhaps even a quest, to perform such a service.

Multiclassing Paladins

Like a member of any other class, a paladin may be a multiclass character. However, a paladin who gains a new class or, if already multiclass, raises the level of another class, can never again raise his paladin level, although he retains his paladin abilities. Also, a multiclass paladin can still fall from grace as described above and lose his paladin abilities until he atones.