DCC Paladin Class

So, I love the base classes of DCC, but I am of the belief for my campaign there should be a few more options to evoke the ambience of my AD&D days – at the very least adding the class options of druid, ranger, and paladin.

In Crawl #6, Jose Lira does an excellent depiction of a Paladin, but for my campaign it was missing a few things to evoke that feeling of my early dungeon crawling games.   Also, using it straight up as published I had some feedback from players who didn’t feel it was comparable to the Warrior class, so I rebuilt a large chunk of the class.

First, I wanted my paladin to clearly be Lawful,and while the CrawlPaladin hinted at using Disapproval, I wanted to lean into that more – DCC has a great Disapproval concept for clerics, but Paladins, walking a narrower path shouldn’t be able to shrug off those Disapproval points every morning after brushing their teeth.   If a Paladin accumulated Disapproval points, Bad Things ™ should start to happen, and there should be a method for Paladins to redeem themselves.  But overall, the mechanic shouldn’t be any more complicated than a Cleric managing their Disapproval rating.  I also wanted to allow some flexibility – why does the paladin hang out with the chaotic thief?  Because he thinks he can redeem him – and he undertakes hours of prayer and sacrifice to allow it.  Some paladins might take a vow of poverty, others might not – I wanted restrictions but not universal ones, so a character can play their own kind of paladin.

Spellcasting I changed to allow more powerful spells, but less of them – a Paladin can pick a handful of spells, but their focus should really be combat, and holy deeds.  I made it simpler in execution as well to flow with the DCC Core rules.

Next, I cleaned up the concept of Smite Evil and Holy Deeds – yes a paladin should be able to lay on hands or strike down demons, but it needed clarity.  I didn’t see the need to have a ‘cause fear’ submechanic for unholy creatures when Turn Unholy in the DCC Core Rulebook is more than sufficient.  I also put in a chance of gaining Disapproval if these powers were misused, or a failed check was made, much like a Cleric … that way the Paladin would be thoughtful of when to invoke their power.

And lastly, what all those Disapproval points mean, and how to rid them from the character – a few points here or there can be eliminated with prayer and careful behaviour, but the deeper into Chaotic behaviour, the harder it is – maybe a quest will redeem the paladin, or if left unchecked, they will descend into Anti-Paladinhood?

Below is my take on the class, I hope you find it useful.

Cheers! 

 

PALADIN

Also known as Templars, Knights Errant, or Crusaders, Paladins devote their lives and their blades to the service of their god.  Their combat ability approaches that of Warriors, though it is focused firmly on the enemies of their faith.  

     Hit Points - A Paladin gains 1d10 hit points at each level.

     Weapon Training - A Paladin is trained in the use of these weapons: battleaxe, club, dagger, flail, handaxe, javelin, lance, longbow, longsword, mace, polearm, shortbow, shortsword, spear, staff, two-handed sword, and warhammer.   Paladins wear whatever armor they can afford...

     Champion of Law. A paladin is Lawful, and is expected to protect the weak and innocent, and to place the needs of others above his own.  He strives to uphold the rule of law, and serve the greater good. Departure from his alignment increases the Disapproval from +1 for fraternizing with chaotic companions (per week) to +10 for not sparing a helpless foe, at DM discretion.  Unlike clerics, Disapproval does not reset the next morning, and may affect a paladin’s abilities – see the Disapproval Chart below.

     A paladin may choose to commit to a stringent code of behaviour, by adopting one of the vows below.   Any vow may be set aside at any time, but doing so incurs a one time penalty of +1d4 to the paladin’s disapproval.

     Vow of Poverty. A paladin may choose to own only that which he can carry. He may own wealth only sufficient to pay for his expenses and upkeep of horse and armor. If they choose to live this way, they reduce their disapproval by 1 each week.

     Vow of Humility: A paladin may choose to live a humble life, without titles, banners, armor or weapons worth more than 100 gp, or any trappings of a noble, appearing to be a simple peasant.  If they choose to live that way, they reduce their disapproval by 1 each week.

     Smite Evil: The paladin has the ability to empower his weapon with divine power. Instead of using his regular Attack bonus the paladin adds his Smite Die to attack and damage rolls (see Table P-1: Paladin) when attempting to strike those deemed unholy by the paladin’s god.

     Caster level: Caster level is a measurement of a paladin’s power in channelling his god’s energy. A paladin’s caster level is his level as a paladin. Many paladins adventure in search of holy relics that bring them closer to their gods and thus increase their caster level.

     Magic: Like clerics, paladins use idol magic to cast spells. They have similar chance for Disapproval. A paladin uses his Personality modifier in his spellcasting die rolls.  The paladin starts knowing the detect evil and protection from evil spells.  If the paladin has any extra spells known due to a high Personality score, determine them randomly.

     Immune To Disease: All paladins are immune to all non-magical diseases.

     Holy Deeds: The paladin is also able to perform Holy Deeds. To use a Holy Deed, the paladin declares which Holy Deed he wants to use and rolls on Table P-3: Paladin Holy Deeds. The Holy Deeds die roll is ”action die + paladin level + Personality modifier + Luck modifier.” Holy deeds risk Disapproval and each failure increases Disapproval by +1.

 

Table P-1: Paladin Holy Deeds

Roll	Lay On Hands (L/N/C)	Turn Unholy	Inspire Allies
1-11	Failure	Failure	--
12-13	1 die/none/none	-1	+1
14-19	2 dice/1 die/none	-2	+2
20-21	3 dice/1 die/none	-3 (1d3)	+3
22-24	4 dice/2 dice/1 die	-4 (1d4)	+4
25+	5 dice/2 dice/1 die	-5 (1d5)	+5

      Lay on Hands: As a cleric, paladins have the power to heal the faithful. The paladin may not heal undead, animated objects (e.g., living statues), or extraplanar creatures (eg. demons, elementals, etc.). The paladin must physically touch the wounds of the faithful and concentrate for 1 action. The paladin’s lay on hands works as the cleric’s, in that it may heal specific conditions instead of hit points. (See DCC p??).  If being used to heal Chaotic creatures, gain +1 to Disapproval and only heal the dice listed after the second slash.

     Turn Unholy: All creatures deemed unholy by the paladin’s god within 30’ suffer the listed penalty to attack rolls and morale checks for CL rounds, and if a die roll is listed in brackets, take that much damage from the searing light of Law.  Failure increases Disapproval by +1.

     Inspire Allies: A paladin may use their Holy Deed ability to grant all lawful allies within earshot a bonus to Will Saves vs fear for one turn.  Failure increases Disapproval by+1.

     Luck: A paladin’s Luck modifier applies to Holy Deed die rolls. This modifier remains fixed over time, even if the paladin’s Luck changes.

     Languages: At 1st level, a paladin automatically knows Common. A paladin knows one additional language for every point of Intelligence modifier.

     Action dice: A paladin can use his action dice for attack rolls or spell checks.

 

Table P-2: Paladin

Level	Attack Bonus	Smite Die	Crit Die /Table	Action Dice	Spells Known	Max Spell Level	Ref	Fort	Will	Title
1	+1	+d3	1d8/III	1d20	2*	1	+2	+2	+2	Gallant
2	+1	+d4	1d8/III	1d20	2*	1	+2	+2	+2	Keeper
3	+2	+d5	1d10/III	1d20	2*	2	+2	+3	+2	Protector
4	+2	+d6	1d10/III	1d20	3*	2	+3	+3	+3	Defender
5	+3	+d7	1d12/IV	1d20+1d14	3*	3	+3	+4	+3	Warder
6	+3	+d8	1d12/IV	1d20+1d16	3*	3	+3	+5	+3	Guardian
7	+4	+d10	1d14/IV	1d20+1d20	4*	4	+4	+5	+4	Chevalier
8	+4	+d10+1	1d14/V	1d20+1d20	4*	4	+4	+6	+4	Justicar
9	+5	+d10+2	1d16/V	1d20+1d20	4*	5	+4	+6	+4	Hero
10	+6	+d10+3	1d16/V	1d20+1d20+1d14	5*	5	+5	+7	+5	Champion of Law

* Spells known include detect magic and protection from evil

DISAPPROVAL 

In addition to disapproval, a paladin due to his observance of his deity’s tenets are subject to additional constraints and obligations. He must be vigilant for his own internal failings and must always strive for perfection in his own obedience to his god and their specific tenets. The Disapproval chart indicates penalties a Paladin suffers for wandering from the true path, and what amends are necessary to reduce Disapproval by -1.

Disapproval	Penalty	Amends
1	--	Take a vow, or an hour of devoted prayer per day to reduce Disapproval by -1
2-6	Paladin no longer immune to disease, -1 to caster checks	Take a vow, four hours of devoted payer per week, or tithe of 10% of wealth or 50 gp, whichever is greater to reduce Disapproval by -1
7-10	As above, plus -2 to saving throws and caster checks, loses 1 point of Luck	Take a vow, a full day of prayer per week and a successful DC 15 PER check, or slay an unholy creature of 2HD per level to reduce Disapproval by -1
11-12	As above, plus roll on Lawful Disapproval Chart each day, loses 2 points of Luck.	Take a vow, a full day of prayer per month and a successful DC 20 PER check, or a holy quest required to reduce Disapproval by -1
13-14	As above, plus paladin loses all spellcasting abilities, loses 3 points of Luck.	Take a vow, a full day of prayer per month and a successful DC 25 PER check, or a holy quest required to reduce Disapproval by -1
15-16	As above, plus paladin loses all smite evil and holy deeds abilities	Take a vow, or a holy quest required to reduce Disapproval by -1
17+	Paladin is fallen, becomes Anti-Paladin, cursed by the gods.	Paladin cannot be redeemed

 

Anti-Paladins

If a paladin ever gains 17 or more points of Disapproval, they become an anti-paladin.  They switch to Chaotic alignment, lose all penalties from the Disapproval chart, and regain their abilities versus unholy foes antithetical to Chaos (Lawful beings, angels, etc).  However, they permanently lose all spellcasting abilities.