Exchanging Class Abilities - Paladin

[FireLance]

There is a thread on replacing the Summon Mount ability for a dwarven paladin over in House Rules. In it, I suggested giving the character access to a single domain, including the benefit of one extra spell slot per level for the domain spell. You might want to consider the same - Good, Healing, Protection or Sun may be appropriate choices depending on the character's god and personality.

 

[masque]

I've removed mounts from my paladins and allowed them an item familiar (from the variant rule in Unearthed Arcana). In my campaign it's their weapon imbued with the power of their patron -- as they grow in stature it grows in power and establishes itself as a conduit between them and their deity (kinda like the old paladin's Holy Weapon abilities). It also acts as a visible symbol of the paladin's purity and blessed nature.

Sounds like a decent idea. Thanks.

Staying within the pale of the class as it is written, I'll offer a few suggestions. Reguarding the weapon and armor proficiencies, I'd say this calls for self limitation. <snip>

Instead of a war horse, get a wolf companion that receives special abilities identical to special mount.

If I were to play this character, the campaign it would be in is a very highly optimized style, so if I were to give something up, I would be compromising the character's survival beyond where her luck can carry her. The DM agrees, so that is why I was looking at that particular point. I suppose I shouldn't be playing a limited character in this kind of setting, but I like the concept.

I had considered it, but I was really looking at something more internal to the character. The DM suggested a (single) favored enemy bonus, among other things that could possibly work in that campaign but might be unworkable in a more general sense.

Did you check the Favored Soul in the MiniHB? It might fit the background better than a usual paladin...

There are I few reasons I have not. Foremost is the fact that my DM does not allow that particular book in his campaign due to balance issues (and he doesn't own it, which stems from the supposed balance issues). If that particular class is reasonably balanced, it would be a hard fight to get it in anyway. How is Favored Soul?

There is a thread on replacing the Summon Mount ability for a dwarven paladin over in House Rules. In it, I suggested giving the character access to a single domain, including the benefit of one extra spell slot per level for the domain spell. You might want to consider the same - Good, Healing, Protection or Sun may be appropriate choices depending on the character's god and personality.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll talk to my DM about it.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your input.