Smite as the signature move of Paladins.

[Zaphling]

Just a question to the devs, and it really bugs me.

If you put a Divine Smite ability to clerics, what now is the signature/niche of the paladin? since clerics already took it away.


anyone can answer. this is my greatest concern to my most fav class

 

[Kzach]

I agree.

I think paladins are the most watered down concept of all the archetypes to come out of D&D. Clerics should have Turn Undead, Paladins should have Smite.

 

[DogBackward]

This gives me hope, actually. Paladins are not distinct enough to require their own class. All a Paladin is is a Fighter/Cleric. And actually, with the flat math, you can easily get a Paladin by just playing a battle-Cleric. Oh, hey... kind of like the Cleric of Moradin. Y'know, with his Knight Background and Guardian Theme, it's almost as if they're giving us a "Paladin" right from the start.

Fancy that...

I am almost certain that the Cleric will take all of the Paladin's stuff. And I like this, I like it a lot. The Paladin concept is a great archetype and trope, but it doesn't need its own class, not by a long shot.

 

[underfoot007ct]

This gives me hope, actually. Paladins are not distinct enough to require their own class. All a Paladin is is a Fighter/Cleric. And actually, with the flat math, you can easily get a Paladin by just playing a battle-Cleric. Oh, hey... kind of like the Cleric of Moradin. Y'know, with his Knight Background and Guardian Theme, it's almost as if they're giving us a "Paladin" right from the start.

Fancy that...

I am almost certain that the Cleric will take all of the Paladin's stuff. And I like this, I like it a lot. The Paladin concept is a great archetype and trope, but it doesn't need its own class, not by a long shot.

Gygax did not agree with you on the Paladin.
In OD&D you had Fighting men, Clerics, & Magic Users. Then in the Greyhawk supplement, He added Paladins & Thieves classes.

 

[Walking Dad]

Gygax did not agree with you on the Paladin.
In OD&D you had Fighting men, Clerics, & Magic Users. Then in the Greyhawk supplement, He added Paladins & Thieves classes.

Weren't there also assassins? Anyone arguing we need all OD&D classes?
This was also before the idea of themes and such (there was a humanoid paladin fighter theme in AD&D 2nd). Broadening possible uses and abilities of classes lessens the need for special classes for every slight ability change.

 

[variant]

I don't play a battle-Cleric or a Fighter/Cleric or any such thing when I want to play a Paladin. I play a Paladin to play a Paladin.

 

[Kzach]

Gygax did not agree with you on the Paladin.
In OD&D you had Fighting men, Clerics, & Magic Users. Then in the Greyhawk supplement, He added Paladins & Thieves classes.

Yeah, but the paladin was also special in that he had the most restrictive code of conduct and the most powerful abilities to compensate. That's not going to be the case in 5e so quite frankly I'd be happy if the paladin didn't have its own class in this edition because of that.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I always thought that the niche for paladins was 'fearless, heroic crusader against evil who heals people'. Smiting was originally so infrequent that it couldn't really be onside red a defining characteristic; unlike amazing saves, fearless and lay on hands.

 

[DogBackward]

Gygax did not agree with you on the Paladin.
In OD&D you had Fighting men, Clerics, & Magic Users. Then in the Greyhawk supplement, He added Paladins & Thieves classes.

Um... so? Gygax might not have agreed with my thoughts on American Foreign Policy, either. But that means as little to me as what he'd think of my ideas on Paladins. Gary Gygax may have been instrumental in creating D&D way back when, but that was way back when. Things change.

The Paladin has no need to be a separate class anymore, since all it's become is a higher BAB version of the Cleric, with smite and weaker magic. There's no such thing as BAB anymore, and the Cleric has smite. You can easily model a Paladin using a Cleric now, which makes the Paladin obsolete. It doesn't matter what Gygax thought, it matters the way things stand now.

 

[variant]

Paladin has been a class in most editions of D&D. There are many of us that want it as a class in 5e as well.