el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
So, I have paladins in both games I am running currently, and Divine Sense is something that gets used a lot - which makes sense to me because it feels like a core aspect of the paladin class and how they can hope to achieve their righteous goals.
That said, making it available only Cha Mod +1 per long rest does not seem like enough to make it helpful if it only lasts for a turn. Maybe if the paladin happens to have an 18 or 20 Cha, they will have access to it enough times a day that it does not matter - but I don't think the usefulness of an ability should assume that any stat is maxed out. So I have been considering changing the ability in one of two ways.
Either,
A) Make it an at-will ability requiring concentration. Since anything behind full cover is not detectable, even the generous 60' radius has its severe limits.
or
B) Keep the limit on times per day but but make it last a full minute (or maybe even 10 minutes!) requiring concentration - allowing a paladin to move around and "get the sense of a place."
I am leaning towards B.
This is just a quick thumbnail sketch of a house rule, so there may be some obvious concern I have not considered. Though one thing I always consider when making house rules (or implementing any core or optional rule, actually) is to make the rule assuming good faith from the players not the type who'd abuse it.
What do you all think? How does Divine Sense play out most often in your own games? What I am I not seeing about making either of these changes?
That said, making it available only Cha Mod +1 per long rest does not seem like enough to make it helpful if it only lasts for a turn. Maybe if the paladin happens to have an 18 or 20 Cha, they will have access to it enough times a day that it does not matter - but I don't think the usefulness of an ability should assume that any stat is maxed out. So I have been considering changing the ability in one of two ways.
Either,
A) Make it an at-will ability requiring concentration. Since anything behind full cover is not detectable, even the generous 60' radius has its severe limits.
or
B) Keep the limit on times per day but but make it last a full minute (or maybe even 10 minutes!) requiring concentration - allowing a paladin to move around and "get the sense of a place."
I am leaning towards B.
This is just a quick thumbnail sketch of a house rule, so there may be some obvious concern I have not considered. Though one thing I always consider when making house rules (or implementing any core or optional rule, actually) is to make the rule assuming good faith from the players not the type who'd abuse it.
What do you all think? How does Divine Sense play out most often in your own games? What I am I not seeing about making either of these changes?