Does Divine Might require an action to use?

[Doc Century]

I thought I remembered reading somewhere a while ago that Divine Might (the feat from Defenders of the Faith) doesn't require an action to use. In other words, you just mark off a turning attempt and attack in the same round.

I've got a 7th level Paladin who has been rocking with this feat, but I wonder if it is too good. Was I hallucinating? Was there really a ruling like that somewhere? Or should I use Divine Might like the other divine feats (spend a turning attempt, along with a standard action, to activate it?)

 

[The Souljourner]

According to the book, it is explicitly a standard action. According to the Sage in an FAQ, it is a free action. You make the choice.

-The Souljourner

 

[Doc Century]

According to the book, it is explicitly a standard action. According to the Sage in an FAQ, it is a free action. You make the choice.

-The Souljourner

Heh. As the player of said Paladin, I know which one I'm going to chose. Even so, I feel a bit guilty. It's by far the best feat a paladin (or probably even a martially-inclined cleric) can take. Barring trying to turn any undead, it's like my character basically gets 18 free rounds of +3/+3 on all his attacks. That's incredible! And next level it will be 28 rounds of +4/+4. Not that I'm complaining, mind you... It just seemed too good to be true.

 

[shilsen]

According to the book, it is explicitly a standard action. According to the Sage in an FAQ, it is a free action. You make the choice.

-The Souljourner

AFAIK, the Sage clarified later that activating the ability does take a standard action. The FAQ answer says it's not an action at all, and he claimed that he was referring to the fact that once it has been triggered, it simply applies to all attacks (as long as it it active) without requiring a separate action. No, I don't have a reference, and yes, the FAQ answer does seem fairly clear, so it does seem like the Sage was backpeddling on a patently wrong answer. Still, I'd go with the standard action to activate myself. It's too good otherwise.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I seem to recall that the answer in the FAQ wasn't written by the Sage, and he was startled when it was pointed out to him...

-Hyp.

 

[reapersaurus]

only problem is - unless the character has a CHA bonus of +5 or more, than if Divine Might takes a standard action to activate, than it's arguably too weak.

See, Divine Might is a tough call. It's really the only thing that allows a Paladin to compete with the Fighter & Barbarian in damage-dealing, yet it's either too strong or too weak, depending how it's played.
The round to activate combat-applicable Divine feats is just a killer - that crucial round might make all the difference, and giving up that round's actions is a huge cost.

Perhaps if the Divine Might bonus only applied to one type of weapon, similar to Weapon Specialization, than it would be better balanced?

 

[Darklone]

Yeah. The book said clearly that it's a standard action. Then the FAQ (supposefully) thought it had to be pointed out that it's not an action during the duration (silly assumption at first hand).
The Sage said the FAQ got it wrong... he wasn't official anymore then already.

One thing, Doc Century: The feat does only give a bonus to damage, not to hit!!! (Where do people have this mistake from, it's the fifth time I hear it?)

Believe me... the feat is strong enough with only bonus to damage and activation as a standard action. Your paladin may have normal Cha... but if you'd have seen some Cha 24 dudes in action with TWF, shield bash and divine shield... it still gives me the shivers.

Edit: Reaper... restricting the feat to only one weapon would not balance it, it would only enhance the tendency to specialisation. If you think the feat is too weak as standard action,... how do you handle buff spells for the paladin ?

I like it as standard action, it gives paladins the typical cleric bonus of "I'm strong when prepared" without unbalancing them too much.

 

[Hypersmurf]

only problem is - unless the character has a CHA bonus of +5 or more...

... and when was the last time you considered a Divine Might build with a Cha bonus of less than +7?

-Hyp.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Believe me... the feat is strong enough with only bonus to damage and activation as a standard action. Your paladin may have normal Cha... but if you'd have seen some Cha 24 dudes in action with TWF, shield bash and divine shield... it still gives me the shivers.

Don't forget Shield Charge, and the Lion's Charge spell from DotF, and 3E Rhino Hide, and...

-Hyp.

 

[Darklone]

... and when was the last time you considered a Divine Might build with a Cha bonus of less than +7?

-Hyp.

Actually, the paladin in my low level group with Cha +4 was good enough...