Implementation of divine powers

[Gloombunny]

That's a good point. But it doesn't explain the equivalent for the paladin (Channel Divinity), or why the cleric has two possible effects in additional to Turn Undead.

Well, the cleric only has two alternate effects because he spent a feat on getting an extra one. That seems like the sort of thing feats do.

In general, though, I think they just came up with the mechanic and then, once it was there, didn't exercise as much self-restraint as they might have.

 

[Kalshane]

I think this turns Safeguard Smite into something potentially more flavorful and useful than its original incarnation. Instead of the paladin making a smite and somehow granting an AC bonus to an ally, it's the paladin acting as an instrument of divine protection and retribution, smiting a marked opponent that has attacked one of his allies, and interfering with the attack (giving his ally an AC bonus) as a result.

I like your idea, though I'm wondering if it maybe should be completely re-written to work as a true "protect your ally" sort of power. Like so:

Shielding Smite
Paladin Attack 1
Encounter • Divine, Weapon
Standard Action (Special)
Special: You may mark an ally as being under your protection. Should your marked ally be attacked, you may use this power, shifting up to 5 squares before attacking, as an immediate interrupt against the opponent attacking your marked ally, provided you are within 5 squares of that opponent.
Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Charisma vs. AC
Hit: 2x[W] + Cha.
Effect: Until the end of your next turn, your marked ally gains a power bonus to AC equal to your Wisdom modifier against the opponent targeted by your shielding smite attack.

I don't know if it's possible to mark allies in this way, but the idea of the paladin declaring the wizard, or whoever, under his protection and then getting a free whack at whoever tries to attack his charge, hindering that opponent's ability to attack said charge, sounds pretty appropriate to me.

I'm not sure how balanced it is with the other 1st level powers, though. That's one thing that's going to take some time for me to get a feel for with 4e.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

It's pretty much the only thing that really bothers me so far about 4E. I really like the arcane and martial classes as presented. I just hope it's an artifact of the limited preview rather than something permeating divine classes at all levels.

Yeah, it's not a 4th Editions dealbreaker for me but it's one thing about 4th Edition that I really dislike. (Although after reading the full rules that could certainly change.)