Homebrew Smite Feats

[victorysaber]

Hello hello.

Posted in this in the Rules forum but was told to come here.

Here are some homebrew Smite feats.

Do comment.

ELEMENTAL SMITE [SMITE]
Prerequisite: Smite ability, base attack bonus +5.
Benefit: Choose an energy type. When you use your smite ability, you may choose to deal damage of the selected energy type.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Each time you take this feat, it applies to a different energy type.

RANGED SMITE [SMITE]
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +7, smite ability.
Benefit: You may use your smite ability with ranged attacks within 30 feet. Smiting with a ranged attack costs you two uses of your smite ability.

CONSERVATIVE SMITE [SMITE]
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +5, smite ability.
Benefit: If you attempt a smite that is unsuccessful, it does not cost you a use of that ability. For example, if you use smite evil on a non-evil enemy, you do not use up that smite attempt; or if you smite an enemy and miss, you do not use up that smite attempt.

MULTIPLE SMITE [SMITE]
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +11, smite ability.
Benefit: You may use your smite ability with a full attack. Each individual attack costs you two uses of your smite ability, thus a full attack that involves three attacks costs you six uses of your smite ability. You may choose to have any number of attacks be a smite attempt.

SWIFT SMITE [SMITE]
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +11, smite ability.
Benefit: You may make a melee attack with your smite ability as a swift action. If your target is ineligible for your smite ability, your attack does not hit, and you deal no damage or other effects. This ability costs you two uses of your smite ability.

POWERFUL SMITE [SMITE]
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +6, smite ability.
Benefit: As a full round action, you may attempt a smite with a single melee attack. You gain double the attack and damage bonuses with that smite. This ability costs you three daily uses of your smite ability.

SMITE SPECIALTY [SMITE]
Prerequisite: Any two smite feats
Benefit: For every smite feat you possess (including this one), you gain an extra +1 on your attack bonus and an extra +2 on your damage bonus with that smite. Thus, a 7th-level paladin with 14 Charisma, Smite Specialty, and two smite feats gains a +5 attack bonus and a +13 damage bonus when she smites evil.

 

[Kurashu]

I like them. They add a lot of use to smite other than just...smiting evil/opposition.

I have but one problem though.

The cost of paying in smites. Most characters aren't going to have a ton of smites to go around. And not too many people are going to invest too deeply in the Extra Smiting feat. Frankly, I'd suggest just getting rid of the "This ability costs you X uses of your smite ability." lines. That or houserule Extra Smiting to give bonus smites out the wazoo.


Just my observation.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Here is one of my own design

Powerful Smiting [General]
When you employ use of a power attack when smiting, you deal additional damage to your foe.
Prerequisite: Strength 12, Power Attack, Smite attack
Benefit: When you make a power attack against a foe you are smiting the amount of damage done toy your enemy is increased by 50%. You may make one powerful smite attack for every four levels you have attained, and no more than once per round.

 

[comrade raoul]

Re: elemental smite, conservative smite. These look great.

Re: smite specialty. A little too "meta" for my tastes but it doesn't look obviously broken.

Re: multiple smite. Is there any rule that prohibits this already? I don't think there is. I think the problem is just that smites with iterative attacks just end up missing a lot.

Re: ranged smite. Since it costs a feat and has a limited range, it's probably okay not to require extra uses.

Re: powerful smite. Way too weak, probably, since the damage you lose from your multiple attacks is almost certainly not made up for by the extra smite damage and accuracy, to say nothing of the cost for extra daily uses. This feat is probably balanced with one or the other limitation (you either get more benefit from your smite if it's a single-attack-as-full-round action or you use up three smites to double the effectiveness as one).

Re: swift smite. If your expected damage with a melee attack is higher than the marginal expected damage from the smite (that is, if the smite doesn't at least double your expected damage from the attack) this feat improves overall damage output from smiting nontrivially. This isn't a bad thing, but it also seems conceptually weird for smite abilities to speed up your attacks, or make two attacks even if you moved. Better perhaps just to design a feat that let you do extra damage on a smite (maybe up to half again your "smiter" level), or just to use the second version of the revised "powerful smite" (that is, as you designed it, but without requiring one attack as a full attack action).

 

[victorysaber]

Re: elemental smite, conservative smite. These look great.

Re: smite specialty. A little too "meta" for my tastes but it doesn't look obviously broken.

Re: multiple smite. Is there any rule that prohibits this already? I don't think there is. I think the problem is just that smites with iterative attacks just end up missing a lot.

Re: ranged smite. Since it costs a feat and has a limited range, it's probably okay not to require extra uses.

Re: powerful smite. Way too weak, probably, since the damage you lose from your multiple attacks is almost certainly not made up for by the extra smite damage and accuracy, to say nothing of the cost for extra daily uses. This feat is probably balanced with one or the other limitation (you either get more benefit from your smite if it's a single-attack-as-full-round action or you use up three smites to double the effectiveness as one).

Re: swift smite. If your expected damage with a melee attack is higher than the marginal expected damage from the smite (that is, if the smite doesn't at least double your expected damage from the attack) this feat improves overall damage output from smiting nontrivially. This isn't a bad thing, but it also seems conceptually weird for smite abilities to speed up your attacks, or make two attacks even if you moved. Better perhaps just to design a feat that let you do extra damage on a smite (maybe up to half again your "smiter" level), or just to use the second version of the revised "powerful smite" (that is, as you designed it, but without requiring one attack as a full attack action).

Okay this is the Smite Evil text from the SRD:

"Smite Evil (Su)

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 at every five levels thereafter, the paladin may smite evil one additional time per day, as indicated on Table: The Paladin, to a maximum of five times per day at 20th level."

I've always taken "one normal melee attack" to mean a single attack, not a full attack... but am I reading the rules wrongly?

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

I've always taken "one normal melee attack" to mean a single attack, not a full attack... but am I reading the rules wrongly?

I can see that interpretation, but my reading was always a lot more liberal. I figured "one normal melee attack" meant "any one attack" meaning a paladin make a full attack and any one of those could be a Smite attack.

 

[StGabe]

From my Paladin of Thorns class I have something similar to smite (that works without alignments):

Retributive Strike: Before making an attack roll, the Paladin may declare the attack to be a retributive strike. If the target of the attack has dealt at least 5 points of damage to the Paladin in the past minute the Paladin deals adds their charisma bonus to the attack role and deals additional damage equal to their Paladin level.

 

[comrade raoul]

I've always taken "one normal melee attack" to mean a single attack, not a full attack... but am I reading the rules wrongly?

Yes and no. A single smite only modifies a single attack, but there's nothing in the rules to prevent a paladin from modifying multiple attacks in a given round with multiple smites. (In order to do this, you'd have to add a rule like "a paladin may only smite evil once per round" or something along those lines.)

It helps to remember that a standard action, a melee attack, and a full attack are all different things. Think of special actions in combat: a bull rush or a feint is a standard action, but a disarm, sunder, or trip attempt is a melee attack, and you can substitute one of those actions for any melee attack you make--including attacks of opportunity or multiple attacks made as part of a full attack action. (So a character who can attack three times in a typical round could spend all of those attacks trying to break an opponent's weapon.)

The most natural reading for the smite ability is as an attack in this sense.

 

[Thondor]

Mostly the smiting feats seem very weak. Paladins have a low number of feats to begin with, and are thus unlikely to chose a feat that only rarely helps them. (i.e. they have a limited number of smites)
I suggest the following alterations to improve the feats (unfortunately I don't have the smite progression sitting in front of me or I'd also suggest some possible BAB alterations).

Elemental Smite
Effect: Each time the character uses a smite attempt he may select any element. The attack deals entirely that type of energy damage. (This includes the regular weapon damage, and transforms energy weapons energy damage to the type selected when the attack is declared.)

Ranged Smite
Benefit: Your character may now use any smite ability on a ranged attack out to 30ft. This feat also grants 1/day an additional Ranged smite which may only be used to smite at range. (You could actually throw away the within 30ft requirement. The paladin is stiking with the holy might of their deity -- it does not require increased precision/force. Just holy conviction)

Conservative Smiting
-- this is good. Without it the rest of the feats are worth less. I'd toy with the idea of this being the gateway to other smiting feats. Possibly even granting an additional use of smite.

Multiple Smite
-- scrap it. It is already possible to make multiple attempts - characters Just don't want to. It makes sense not to have to waste smites on attacks that probably won't hit (secoundary or tertiary attacks) although with Conservative stike feat it becomes a good option.

Swift Smite
- please clarify. Does this mean by spending 2 smites I gain an additional attack at full BAB with smite on that attack? ie the 1st smite is what grants the additional swift attack, and the 2nd the smite damage. ???? if so seems cool. Not sure what BAB to assign.

Powerful Smite
Benefit: By taking a full-round attack action you may smite for double your ordinary attack and damage bonus. You gain one additional use of smite per day, this additional smite must be used as a Powerful smite. (having to take a full-round action is a pretty hefty requirement)

Smite Speciality
-- i don't like it. It requires taking a lot of smiting feats to be worthwhile. If yu want all smite to grant +1 attack +2 damage then do so -- include it in their feat descriptions. If not don't. This feat seems . . . well it certainly doesn't have any flavor and as comrade raoul said 'meta'.

I'm glad to see some smite feats. And I look forward to seeing any modifications you decide to make.

 

[smootrk]

Although Paladins may only smite with 1 attack per use (even with full attack, only one is normally changed to a smite), I could envision a feat that changes all attacks in a full attack routine to smites using a single Smite Use. Your multiple smite feat just is too costly and is wholly unnecessary, as others have mentioned above.