D&D 5E Avenger in 4th to 5th

[axel9fr]

Hi

I would to play a character like Avenger of the 4th edition of D&D in 5th. A sacred unarmored warrior that she is walking around the world to find and kill ennemies marked by his god.

I think that the better class to do that is the paladin with Dark Avenger subclass. But how I can simulate the "Armor of faith" ability of the 4th Avenger.


"Armor of Faith (4th)
The favor of your deity wards you from harm. While you are neither wearing heavy armor or shield, you gain a +3 bonus to AC. This bonus being untyped, it stacks with the Intelligence or Dexterity bonus for wearing light armor."


There are lot of way to simulate this :

- A Draconic resilience, based one sacred protection.
- A monk or barbarian unarmored defense with Dex + Charisma to stay in the paladin philosophy
- An mage armor at will like warlock.


How do you edit the paladin class to have this result ?

 

[Klaus]

I don't think you *need* to edit the paladin. The Oath of Vengeance paladin *is* the 5e version of the Avenger. Just put your Dex as your highest stat, followed by Charisma, and use Finesse weapons. If you really want to go unarmored, you can pick the Magic Initiate feat and choose Mage Armor as your 1st-level spell.

 

[axel9fr]

Mmmm... yes, but with Magic Initiate feat, mage armor work for 8h and need component to invoke... and a day is 24h... It's not doing the same thing like Armor of Faith 4th

 

[yakuba]

Similar to Klaus, I think a simple house rule that you can spend your Channel Divinity to cast Mage Armor is sufficient.

Also, IIRC, there's no stacking rules in 5e except for with respect to multiple applications of the same effect from the same source and the rules for temporary hit points. That said light armor and heavy armor are actually reasonably balanced, so I would only let your power work when the paladin wears no armor (again similar to mage Armor)

 

[Klaus]

Mmmm... yes, but with Magic Initiate feat, mage armor work for 8h and need component to invoke... and a day is 24h... It's not doing the same thing like Armor of Faith 4th

It's not exactly equal, but models the ability pretty well. You can replace the component with your holy symbol, you can choose Sorcerer as the list you choose from (Cha-based), plus you get two at-will cantrips, one of which could be Blade Ward, for some thematic relation to the reason you're taking the spell (using Charisma magic to protect yourself).

Now, if you want to tinker with the class, just trade in all armor and shield proficiencies with the ability to cast Mage Armor at will. The AC you get (13 + Dex modifier) is the same as if you were adding a 17 Cha modifier to your AC.

 

[TwoSix]

A trade-in of your armor and shield proficiencies for an ability identical to the Dragon Sorcerer ability (AC 13+Dex) is the best bet. Like you said, just flavor it as a divine blessing.

To really get that 4e Avenger flavor, you need to find a way to finesse a greatsword, but that's a little more challenging.

 

[CM]

I had a more direct conversion of the 4e avenger, built as a rogue archetype. You're free to check it out if you like, but it's in pre-playtest alpha form currently. I may get a chance to playtest it this summer:

Avenger conversion (google doc)

 

[Blue]

It's amusing that mechanically (but not thematically), the 5e barbarian is close to a 4e avenger. Run around in no armor with a big weapon, rolling two dice to hit most of the time.

 

[GlassJaw]

Ask your DM to trade the paladin's armor and shield proficiencies for the Barbarian or Monk ability that lets you add another stat to AC (Con or Wis respectively) when you aren't wearing armor. Done. Nice and simple.

 

[Jeff Albertson]

I would let a player drop his amour/shield proficiencies to gain Unarmoured Defence (AC = 10 + Dex + Cha modifier).