Paladin
Note – before learning any other weapon, a Paladin must be proficient in all of these weapons. lance (required of the 1st-level Armiger), long sword OR broad sword OR bastard sword; short sword OR horseman’s mace OR horseman’s flail OR horseman’s military pick OR dagger OR scimitar, and javelin.
- At 1st level, the cavalier is + 1 “to hit” with the lance, if used while mounted.
- At 3rd level, the cavalier is + 1 “to hit” with either the broad sword, long sword, or scimitar (player’s choice).
- At 5th level, the cavalier is + 1 “to hit” with either the horseman’s mace, horseman’s flail, or horseman’s military pick (player’s choice).
- At 7th level, the cavalier is + 2 “to hit” with the lance, if used while mounted.
- At 9th level, the cavalier is + 2 “to hit” with either the broad sword, long sword, or scimitar (depending upon what was chosen
at 3rd level).
- At 1lth level, the cavalier is + 2 “to hit” with the horseman’s mace, horseman’s flail, or horseman’s military pick (depending upon what was chosen at 5th level).
- At 13th level, the cavalier is + 3 “to hit” with the lance, if used while mounted.
PARRYING: A cavalier’s expertise in weapons allows the cavalier to parry with weapons of proficiency more effectively than fighters can. Should a cavalier choose to parry rather than attack, all of the cavalier’s “to hit” bonuses (including those due to strength, magic, and weapon of choice) can be subtracted from one attacker’s die rolls. A parrying cavalier may use his or her shield to parry a second opponent’s attack; a shield parry reduces the attacker’s roll by 1, and by a further 1 for every “plus” of the shield, if it is magical. If the cavalier is using a shield parry as well as a weapon parry, any further attackers beyond the second may ignore the shield bonus in determining their chances “to hit.” If a cavalier performs one or two parries, the cavalier cannot attack in that round, even if he or she is capable of making multiple attacks in a single round.
As a cavalier increases in level, he or she improves still further in horsemanship, and in the handling of other creatures as mounts.
Horsemanship abilities increase as follows:
-At 3rd level, the cavalier can vault into the saddle with bulky armor and have the steed underway in a single segment.
- At 4th level, a female elven cavalier (and only a female elf) may
handle and ride a unicorn as a steed.
- At 5th level the cavalier can urge his or her mount to greater speed than normal. The additional speed possible equals a 2” bonus to movement rate, and can be sustained for up to 6 turns. The additional speed thus gained has no ill effects upon the mount, although normal rest and feeding are always necessary.
- At 7th level the cavalier can handle and ride a pegasus as a steed.
- At 9th level, the cavalier can handle and ride a hippogriff as a steed.
-At 11th level, the cavalier can handle and ride a griffon or a similar creature (DM’s judgment) as a steed.
Other benefits of a paladin are:
1. Detect evil or good at up to 60' distance, as often as desired, but only when the paladin is concentrating on determining the
presence of evil and seeking to detect it in the right general direction. Good paladins can only Detect Evil; Evil paladins can only detect Good; paladins neither good nor evil must choose which they can detect at character creation time.
2. Make all saving throws (q.v.) at +2 on the dice.
3. Immunity to all forms of disease.
4. The ability to "lay on hands", either on others, or on his or her own person, to cure wounds; this heals 2 hit points of damage per level of experience the paladin has attained, but laying on hands can be performed but once per day.
5. The ability to cure disease of any sort; this can be done once per week for each five levels of experience the paladin has attained, i.e. at levels 1 through 5 one disease per week, at levels 6 through 10 two diseases, at levels 11 through 15 three diseases, etc.
6. The continuing emanation of protection from evil (or good, as above) in a 1" radius round the paladin.
Furthermore:
7. At 3rd level, the paladin gains the power to affect undead and devils and demons as if he or she were a 1st level cleric, and
this power goes upwards with each level of experience the paladin gains; so at 4th level the effect is that of a 2nd level cleric, at 5th it is that of a 3rd level cleric, etc.
8. At 4th level - or at any time thereafter - the paladin may call for his warhorse; this creature is an intelligent heavy warhorse, base AC 5, and the speed of a medium warhorse (18"); it will magically appear, but only one such animal is available every ten years, so that if the first is lost the paladin must wait until the end of the period for another.
Note that for my game, which is high level and dangerous, I have made these steeds much more durable and powerful. A paladin's mount will always have as many hit points as the paladin has (not counting bonuses from magical items and spells). They also gain +1 on all saving throws for each 3 full levels of the paladin, cumulative, and are immune to disease.
Their beginning stats will be STR 18 INT 12 WIS 12 DEX 15 CON 17 CHA 15 COM 15. The will gain 2-20 percentile points on each of these ratings for each level of the paladin, retroactively. They are able to attack four times per round, as follows: bite x 1 (1-3), kick x 2 (1-8), rear kick x 1 (2-16) (both hooves, assuming some foe is immediately behind the creature). They attack as a fighter as the same level as their paladin, with appropriate strength bonuses. They understand common, or whatever the main language of their paladin is.
9. If a paladin has a "Holy Sword" (a special Magic Sword which your referee is aware of and will explain to you if the need arises), he or she projects a circle of power 1" in diameter when the Holy Sword is unsheathed and held; and this power dispels magic (see CHARACTER SPELLS, dispel magic) at the level of magic use equal to the experience level of the paladin.
10. At 9th level (through 20th level) of experience, paladins gain the ability to employ cleric spells (q.v.). They may never use
scrolls of spells, however, except those normally usable by fighters.
You may ignore the rules in the Player’s Handbook about limitations on magic and wealth, and who you may associate with. You would, however, only hire henchmen of your alignment.