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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hawk Diesel" data-source="post: 7490223" data-attributes="member: 59848">I don't mean to be a Negative Nancy, so I really hope you don't take this as such. But since it seems like you are really using the Paladin as the base to generate this new class, would it not be simpler to create an arcane oriented Paladin archetype? You could give them appropriate domain spells (or perhaps even allow them to choose spells off the wizard list that are abjuration or evocation) to give them a more arcane flavor, and this way you wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel. My thing is that each class, from a design perspective, is built around some kind of unique power or ability. Barbarians rage, Bards have inspiration, druids have wildshape, fighters have lots of attacks and action surge, sorcerers have metamagic and sorcery points, warlocks have pact magic and invocations, Paladins have their aura and divine smite, rogues have sneak attack, monks have Ki and unarmed strike...Each class has something unique to their design (and perhaps this is why rangers tend to fail against other classes, as they have no real defining characteristic around which to build their identity without including archetypes, forcing them to take Hunter's Mark, or relegating Favored Enemy to a ribbon ability).I think if you truly wish to create a new class, it would be better to start by building their identifying mechanic. Something that is wholly unique to this class but also interesting enough to build a class around it. Being able to GISH, IMO, is a poor place to start, since that is really the job of the archetype or build rather than a class identity. I think this is why you see the paladin as being a good GISH class, since it is built somewhat like a fighter, but its divine smite is clearly meant to make it a melee combatant that can literally cast and attack at the same time by feeding spell slots into attacks. This is why other options will fail to be as good as a GISH because the action economy for every other GISH attempt makes you choose between weapon attacks or spell attacks. Paladins with Divine Smite are the only ones that can fluidly combine both without impacting their action economy.So, I would reflect upon and ponder a unique mechanic that can achieve similar results to divine smite and build the class around that. But in all honesty, I think it would be easier to reflavor and tweak the Paladin rather than reinvent the wheel.</blockquote>

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