D&D General Instead of Steed

[Zaukrie]

What would you do for a paladin at 5th level instead of faithful steed? That's not the kind of paladin one of my players really is.....

 

[sevenbastard]

Good Topic, the paladin should have options.

 

[Shardstone]

A "Judgement" effect that replaces a smite's damage with another, more pronounced, longer term effect.

Maybe flex them towards a "Saint" and give them more ways to spend Lay on Hands points, such as ending spell effects on players and eventually bringing back the dead with a touch.

Perhaps give them a special Magical Weapon as a blessing/gift/manifestation of their Oath, and that weapon gains another magical effect at 11th level.

Could also have them attract Followers and make them into a kind of team or warlord-esque class, where they can give Orders to their two Squires and at 11th level the Squires become Paladins and you have a squad one person RPs as.

You could have them gain Blessings as a result of their Oaths -- something like invocations, or other passive effects that essentially make the Paladin more "holy" at certain levels.

Finally, you could have them become more like Spellblades, and maybe they just flat out can cast spells combined with their Smites, dropping two spells slots a turn to do this but making for some wild turns. Not the wildest idea I've listed so far though.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

In the 2024 rules, this is just a free cast of a second level spell. So replace it with a different spell of 2nd level or lower? Find Familiar? Summon Beast?

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

The ability is more or less a ribbon so I wouldn't replace it with anything. Don't like it? Don't use it! Your character won't be any weaker for it.

 

[Horwath]

2nd level smite

 

[Stormonu]

Good Topic, the paladin should have options.

They do. Don't use the spell slot to summon the mount and use it for something else instead.

(Though I'd like to go the other way, giving the paladin a companion/squire/mount that was more beneficial).

 

[Paul Farquhar]

They do. Don't use the spell slot to summon the mount and use it for something else instead.

(Though I'd like to go the other way, giving the paladin a companion/squire/mount that was more beneficial).

Substitute it for a sidekick of the appropriate type.

You do get a "free" use of the ability once per day.

 

[TiQuinn]

Gain a sidekick as a squire or follower.

 

[CreamCloud0]

What would you do for a paladin at 5th level instead of faithful steed? That's not the kind of paladin one of my players really is.....

i don't know the bastion rules all that well but i might take inspiration from them and give them the ability to summon for up to 8 hours a day an extradimensional space that's a cross between tiny hut and bastion rules, you get a bunkroom for your party and any one of the facilities that require a holy symbol to establish(that you are of an apropriate level to have), you don't have hirelings but unseen servants carry out the duties they would perform even while the space is unsummoned, any items or boons bestowed by a facility only persist while that facility is chosen to be the active one (if you swap the sanctuary for the sacristy a holy symbol created by the sanctuary's craft option would cease to exist).