Paladin



Obsidian has confirmed that the Paladin base class will be included in NWN2.

DnD 3.5 Paladin
Description: Paladins take their adventures seriously, and even a mundane mission is, in the heart of the paladin, a personal test - an opportunity to demonstrate bravery, to learn tactics, and to do good in the world. Divine power protects these warriors of virtue, warding off harm, protecting them from disease, healing them and their allies, and guarding against fear. Divine power also guides their sword arms, making them among the most effective warriors against undead and evil outsiders. Many of the paladin's special abilities also benefit from a high Charisma score.

Alignment Restrictions: Lawful good only

Hit Die: d10

Proficiencies: Armor (Light, Medium, Heavy), Shields (except Tower shields), Weapons (Martial, Simple)

Skill points: (Int mod * 4 at 1st level) 2 + Int mod

Class skills: Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Heal, Knowledge (nobility and royalty), Knowledge (religion), Profession, Ride and Sense Motive

Base Attack Bonus progression: High

Primary Saving Throw(s): Fortitude

Spellcasting: Divine (Wisdom based, armor related chance of spell failure is ignored). Must have a Wisdom score of 10 + the spell’s level to cast a spell.

Special Abilities & Feats

 * Level 1 Aura of Good, Detect Evil, Smite Evil 1/day
 * Level 2 Divine Grace, Lay on Hands
 * Level 3 Aura of Courage, Diving Health
 * Level 4 Turn Undead
 * Level 5 Smite Evil 2/day, Paladin Mount
 * Level 6 Remove Disease 1/week
 * Level 9 Remove Disease 2/week
 * Level 10 Smite Evil 3/day
 * Level 12 Remove Disease 3/week
 * Level 15 Remove Disease 4/week, Smite Evil 4/day
 * Level 18 Remove Disease 5/week
 * Level 20 Smite Evil 5/day

Spellcasting
Beginning at 4th level, a paladin gains the ability to cast a small number of divine spells, which are drawn from the paladin spell list. 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. The Difficulty Class 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 of each spell level per day.

At 4th level and higher, her caster level is one-half her paladin level.

Spellcasting is unaffected by Armour-related failure.

Spells
Level 1
 * Bless
 * Bless Weapon
 * Cure Light Wounds
 * Deafening Clang
 * Divine Favor
 * Endure Elements
 * Protection from Alignment
 * Resistance
 * Virtue

Level 2
 * Aid
 * Aura of Glory
 * Bull's Strength
 * Eagle's Splendor
 * Remove Paralysis
 * Resist Elements

Level 3
 * Cure Moderate Wounds
 * Dispel Magic
 * Magic Circle against Alignment
 * Prayer
 * Remove Blindness/Deafness

Level 4
 * Cure Serious Wounds
 * Death Ward
 * Freedom of Movement
 * Holy Sword
 * Neutralize Poison

Code of Conduct
A paladin must be of lawful good alignment and loses all class abilities if she ever willingly commits an evil act. Additionally, a paladin’s code requires that she 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.

Associates
While she may adventure with characters of any good or neutral alignment, a paladin will never knowingly associate with evil characters, nor will she continue an association with someone who consistently offends her moral code. A paladin may accept only henchmen, followers, or cohorts who are lawful good.

Multiclassing
Like a member of any other class, a paladin may be a multiclass character, but multiclass paladins face a special restriction. A paladin who gains a level in any class other than paladin may never again raise her paladin level, though she retains all her paladin abilities.

Ex-Paladins
A paladin who ceases to be lawful good, who willfully commits an evil act, or who grossly violates the code of conduct loses all paladin spells and abilities (including the service of the paladin’s mount, but not weapon, armor, and shield proficiencies). She may not progress any farther in levels as a paladin. She regains her abilities and advancement potential if she atones for her violations (see the atonement spell description), as appropriate.

Pre-release notes

 * The skills Climb, Jump and Swim have been confirmed as not being implemented in NWN2.
 * Dispel and healing magics are highly likely to be in NWN2 as they are almost integral to the magic system of DnD.
 * NWN did not include any abilities which used a x/week restriction so NWN2 may restructure the Remove Disease ability.

NWN comparison

 * The Discipline and Parry skills were created by NWN and are not features of DnD 3.5. It is unlikely that they will re-appear in NWN2 as the were not considered particularly successful.
 * NWN ignored the "code of conduct", asscoiation, and "evil act" restrictions, though it did prevent characters from gaining further Paladin levels if they did not meet the Lawful Good class requirement.

External resources

 * NWNWiki:Paladin