D&D (2024) 2024 Player's Handbook Reveal #3: "New Paladin"

"the paladin who, if they were in a movie, would ... have impossibly white teeth".


New Paladin preview: here are some notes, focusing on what's new and changes from the playtest materials. Last time we saw the Paladin was in Playtest 6 [=PT6 below].
See also this comparison at D&D Beyond (by someone who saw the video before it was streamed!)

OVERVIEW
  • spellcasting starts at level 1, specifically called out as an advantage for multiclassing. (Same for Rangers).
  • Lay on Hands and Weapon mastery at 1
  • Paladin's smite at 2, along with fighting style.
  • NEW: Paladin fighting style restriction is removed (all are available). You may forego fighting style to learn cantrips. [The option to get cantrips was given in Tasha's. They're letting us have it, but it's not called a "fighting style". I suspect this ties to the decision that fighting styles are feats now, and this would be weaker than magic initiate (which also gives a level 1 spell).]
  • Paladin's smite gives you the spell Divine smite, with one free casting.
  • channel divinity [CD]: uses increase: start with 2, plus 1 on a short rest.
  • divine sense in CD option (as in PT6). duration lasts 10 minutes.
  • Find steed spell at level 5, cast 1/day with no slot. Redesigned so that spell can be upcast, with a unique steed statblock. [This strongly implies that it's a class-specific spell, not on others' lists. Awesome. (Will a Lore Bard be able to select it? I hope so, and the discussion of spell lists (see below) makes me think they might, since identifying class-specific spells is harder.)]
  • Abjure Foes a CD option (given at 9 in PT6)
  • Auras are single things, with a single radius, that gain abilities/functionality (not separate auras as in 2014).
SUBCLASSES

Oath of Devotion.
  • NEW: Sacred Weapon is part of the attack action. (PT required a Bonus action).
  • Smite of Protection (level 15 in PT6)
  • Holy Nimbus (level 20) is a bonus action (as in PT6).
Oath of Glory ("...this for me is the paladin who, if they were in a movie, would look at the camera, have impossibly white teeth, with a little sparkle on them as they smile")
  • Peerless athlete lasts an hour (as in PT6)
  • NEW: Aura of Alacrity affects allies if they enter your aura on their turn (they no longer need to start there)
  • Oath of Glory has a new spell at level 17: Yolan's Regal Presence. Created by the Queen of the Elves, and makes others kneel before you and take psychic damage. [It's said that others can cast this spell too -- if right, then it's a 5th level spell and Clerics (likely) will be getting this at level 9. Perhaps he misspoke, and it's a class-specific spell.]
Oath of the Ancients
  • Nature's wrath range "has been extended"
  • Aura of Warding as in PT6 (resistance to Necrotic, Psychic, and Radiant)
  • Undying Sentinel at 15 as in PT6 (you don't return with 1hp, but [?] 3x class level.
Oath of Vengeance
  • NEW: Vow of Enmity part of attack action (not Bonus action); can transfer (as in PT6)
  • NEW: Level 20 Avenging Angel activated as a Bonus Action, and lasts an hour (not 10 min as in PT6)

NEW RULES
  • new area of effect: it's been there since 2014, but hasn't been named. It's for AOE that emanate from a character or monster -- the Emanation.
  • new approach to spell lists. Spell list is part of the class description (as we saw with the Artificer). Entries give the school, whether it needs concentration, and required components. [I presume spell descriptions will still be at the back of the book: this is referring to the lists currently on PHB 207-11.]
  • oath spell lists, patron spell lists, etc. have all been vetted and updated throughout.
 

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Because those were just additions, while Divine Smite was a core class feature, that got turned into a spell. And just as Hunter's Mark being a spell and Eldritch Blast beign a cantrip, it now makes what was supposed to be the class' main damage thing into something anyone can get and it's only a matter of time befoire optimizers figure how to out-smite a Paladin.
Considering they considered making eldritch blast and hunter's mark class exclusive and then backed off of it, WotC might consider poachability a feature, not a bug.
 

Right, but really - is that ever going to actually happen at the table? Really?

And the one time it does, that your evil necromancer stops the Paladin from killing him by counterspelling the smite that would take him down - why would that not be awesome? Does the Paladin player have to win all the time to have fun? I just don't get it, I'm afraid.

And I really, REALLY don't get anyone complaining that not being able to smite twice in the same round would be a problem. Smite is awesome enough when it happens once. Ditto for Sneak Attack, and I play Rogues a lot.

Maybe I'll just never understand.
IMO, the player base mostly does want to win all the time, yes. More generally, most folks aren't going to be sanguine about losing power for their PCs, even if it's minor or circumstantial. At the end of the day, you used to be able to do something a certain way, and now you can't. You can not care about that personally, but apparently plenty of folks do.
 

Killing an enemy on turn 1 (with double smites) saves more resources than healing them after the battle.
Yeah, rocket tag combat is not a good design principle. It leads to the paladin winning the fight before anyone else can act or the DM dropping the paladin with a stupid amount of damage before they can act.
 


For years we wanted WotC to fix bugs and loopholes in the game. That meant buffs but also nerfs. How many threads complained about GWM/SS being OP, banned or necessary tech and when WotC finally gets around to fixing it, people cry how "WotC iz nerfing mah martials!"

Did we want WotC to fix things or did we want 2014 with new art?
Neither please.
 


oneD&D is effectively a Patch for 5th ed. Sometimes, you favorite character in a patch gets nerfed. This is a good thing actually and it really doesn't matter if it makes you feel bad. The game is in a healthier spot with paladins being specifically weakened. The quality of the game is more important than avoiding upsetting people who liked the overpowered character options.
 

A lot of the "smite" spells did (Wrathful smite, Blinding smite, banishing smite, ect...)

You probably forgot they exsist because they where so crappy. But now they work.

Generally theme for 2024.
Less raw power, more options.
You think people aren't going to complain about less raw power?
 

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