New Design & Development: Paladin Smites!

[Bishmon]

People can't accept a spell-casting holy warrior with a single prayer that says both "Lord, aid me in smiting my foes, and guard my friends against harm"?

That would be awesome. Maybe a swift action that gives a +2 bonus to attacks, damage, and AC against evil creatures for every ally within 15'. Maybe call it 'Battle Blessing' and allow it to be used once per encounter.

Instead, we're left with Safeguard Smite and the very real possibility of:

Wizard: Ouch, that archer up in the tree way over there is shooting at me with arrows! Hey, defender, a little help!
Paladin: Well, um, you see, I can't really invoke my remaining divine power to defend you, because in order to defend you, I have to attack something.
Wizard: What are you talking about? You have enough divine inspiration left that will allow you to defend me, but only while you're attacking something?
Paladin: My god works in mysterious ways.
Wizard: So, I'm guessing it's a no go with protection from that dragon that's flying towards us?
Paladin: You know the drill, not unless he gets within range of my sword.

 

[Masquerade]

Wizard: Ouch, that archer up in the tree way over there is shooting at me with arrows! Hey, defender, a little help!
Paladin: Well, um, you see, I can't really invoke my remaining divine power to defend you, because in order to defend you, I have to attack something.
Wizard: What are you talking about? You have enough divine inspiration left that will allow you to defend me, but only while you're attacking something?
Paladin: My god works in mysterious ways.
Wizard: So, I'm guessing it's a no go with protection from that dragon that's flying towards us?
Paladin: You know the drill, not unless he gets within range of my sword.

The paladin's purpose is to sword things in the name of his/her god and thus only draws the god's attention (and favor) when swording things. I don't find that outside the realm of verisimilitude.

 

[Bishmon]

Bishmon -
The point is that Wizards is screwed either way. When people see things stripped of their trappings, such as the smites, their response is that it doesn't make any sense and that it's gamist. When they see things with their trappings, ala Golden Wyvern Adept, they say that Wizards is impinging on their creativity. As for saying people are hypocrites and idiots, I never suggested that the people in this thread are the people on that thread, so I don't grokk that conclusion.

But again, it's not an either/or. Wizards should be able to adequately describe how something works without forcing flavor on us by throwing out names like 'golden wyvern adept'. After all, it's been done for roughly 30 years now.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

People can't accept a spell-casting holy warrior with a single prayer that says both "Lord, aid me in smiting my foes, and guard my friends against harm"?

Really?

I'm sure it was originally a penalty to attack inflicted, but then they decided it was too hard to keep track of and too powerful for a low-level ability, so they used AC bonus instead.

 

[Remathilis]

Exactly. 3rd edition was bad enough. Now WOTC feels empowered to go whole hog and p**s all over the campaign world of any DM who doesn't want to go along with an over-the-top wire-fu idea of fantasy. And if a DM wants to do something that directly contradicts the official rulebook, he or she is going to find new players harder to come by. After all, WOTC doesn't sell miniatures that look like the characters in homebrew campaigns...

I'm not sure how to put this...

There is no Cabal. WotC WILL NOT break into your house and torch your old D&D books. Nor are you going to be held at gunpoint while playing OFFICIAL DUNGEONS & DRAGONS(TM) Fourth Edition Rules, D&D(TM) Miniatures, and role with D&D(TM) Dice. And they certainly don't sit in Redmond having EVILGASMS about how dragonborn, warlords, and the Shadowfell is going to royally screw up some random players homebrew world.

At the expense of being called on badwrongfun, I think you might have better luck (and much better companionship) posting here rather than raising your blood pressure in the FOURTH EDITION forum.

Just sayin.

 

[Counterspin]

I really don't care about the names, I care about how well the system runs. And dollars to donuts the Golden Wyvern lodge is going to make it easier for me to run the system, because I bet all of the spell shaping type feats are going to have the Golden Wyvern prefix, so it will be easier to build characters interested in evocations and play them. If that's all I get out of the name Golden Wyvern I'll be quite happy.

 

[Bishmon]

The paladin's purpose is to sword things in the name of his/her god and thus only draws the god's attention (and favor) when swording things. I don't find that outside the realm of verisimilitude.

See, I don't concede that at all. A paladin is and always has been more than just some guy with a sword who's god really, really wants him to kill things.

 

[Kheti sa-Menik]

Ugh. More per encounter abilities.
More and more not to like.

That killed any indication it was going to be good.
I keep looking for a reason to in any way support 4e. Keep coming up short.
Why do I bother?

 

[Counterspin]

Kheti : The whole system is based on at will/per encounter/per day now, so if that's a deal breaker for you, you are probably out of luck.

 

[Cadfan]

I'm not sure how to put this...

There is no Cabal. WotC WILL NOT break into your house and torch your old D&D books. Nor are you going to be held at gunpoint while playing OFFICIAL DUNGEONS & DRAGONS(TM) Fourth Edition Rules, D&D(TM) Miniatures, and role with D&D(TM) Dice. And they certainly don't sit in Redmond having EVILGASMS about how dragonborn, warlords, and the Shadowfell is going to royally screw up some random players homebrew world. .

This is not actually true. I myself receive a small but pleasant stipend from Wizards of the Coast (TM) for breaking the occasional knee in the alley behind my Friendly Local Gaming Store (TM). We get official D&D (TM) tire irons.

I'm not supposed to tell you that, but the last time their lawyer tried to enforce the D&D (TM) Non Disclosure Agreement against me, I broke the guy's knee.