Personally, I don't see the need for non-LG Paladins, since I like my knights in shining armour as they are, thank you very much. Still, as a thought experiment, I gave some thought to how I would construct a variant Paladin class to allow access to all alignments, and to represent any deity or alignment force.
I'm only going to describe the rules information associated with the class; I'm sure the reader can understand the concept I'm aiming for. Note also that the Paragon is not a Paladin - you can't build a Paladin by selecting a Paragon of Good with the right powers. (To be honest, I'm also not 100% happy with the disease mastery power. I think I'd prefer a more tailored power for the specific deity in question, but can't think of an easy way to implement that.)
Here's what I came up with:
The Paragon
Paragons have the following game statistics.
Abilities: Charisma enhances the paragon's self-protective capabilities and undead influencing abilities. Strength is important for her because of its role in combat. A Wisdom score of 14 or higher is required to gain access to the most powerful paragon spells, and a score of 11 or higher is required to cast any paragon spells at all.
Alignment: The paragon's alignment must exactly match that of her deity. If the paragon serves an alignment instead, her alignment must match that served, with a neutral alignment in the other component. For example, a paragon of good must be neutral good, while a paragon of chaos must be chaotic neutral.
Hit Die: d10.
Class Skills
The paragon's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge(nobility and royalty) (Int), Knowledge(religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex) and Sense Motive (Wis). See the PHB for skill descriptions.
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) X 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier.
| Level | Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | ||
| 1 | +1 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Aura, domain, smite enemy 1/day | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2 | +2 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Divine grace, lay on hands | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3 | +3 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Aura of courage, divine health | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4 | +4 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Turn or rebuke undead | 0 | -- | -- | |||
| 5 | +5 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Smite enemy 2/day, special mount | 0 | - | - | - | ||
| 6 | +6/+1 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Disease mastery 1/week | 1 | - | - | - | ||
| 7 | +7/+2 | +5 | +2 | +2 | 1 | - | - | - | |||
| 8 | +8/+3 | +6 | +2 | +2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | |||
| 9 | +9/+4 | +6 | +3 | +3 | Disease mastery 2/week | 1 | 0 | - | - | ||
| 10 | +10/+5 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Smite enemy 3/day | 1 | 1 | - | - | ||
| 11 | +11/+6/+1 | +7 | +3 | +3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | |||
| 12 | +12/+7/+2 | +8 | +4 | +4 | Disease mastery 2/week | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | ||
| 13 | +13/+8/+3 | +8 | +4 | +4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | |||
| 14 | +14/+9/+4 | +9 | +4 | +4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 15 | +15/+10/+5 | +9 | +5 | +5 | Smite enemy 4/day, disease mastery 4/week | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 16 | +16/+11/+6/+1 | +10 | +5 | +5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 17 | +17/+12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |||
| 18 | +18/+13/+8/+3 | +11 | +6 | +6 | Disease mastery 5/week | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
| 19 | +19/+14/+9/+4 | +11 | +6 | +6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |||
| 20 | +20/+15/+10/+5 | +12 | +6 | +6 | Smite enemy 5/day | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the paragon.
Weapon and Armour Proficiency: Paragons are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armour (light, medium and heavy), and with shields (except tower shields).
Aura(Ex): A paragon os a chaotic, evil, good or lawful deity (or of the alignments themselves) has a particularly powerful aura corresponding to the alignment in question (see the detect evil spell for details).
Domain: A paragon selects one of the domains of her chosen deity. If a paragon of an alignment, she gains access to the associated domain instead (Chaos, Evil, Good or Law). She immediately gains access to the granted power of the domain, and adds the domain spells of 1st through 4th level to the list of paragon spells (see below).
Smite enemy: A paragon must declare a particular group as a chosen enemy. This should be an enemy of his deity or alignment. The choice of enemy can be quite broad, so a paragon might declare all servants of a rival deity as her enemy, all evil creatures, or all heretics within her own religion. Once per day, a paragon may attempt to smite a member of this enemy group with one normal melee attack. She adds her Charisma bonus (if any) to her attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per paragon level. For example, a 13th-level paragon armed with a longsword would deal 1d8+13 points of damage, plus any additional bonuses for high Strength or magical effects that would normally apply. If the paragon accidentally smites a creature that is not part of the enemy group, the smite has no effect, but the ability is still used up for that day.
At 5th level, and at every 5 levels thereafter, the paragon may smite her enemy one additional time per day, as indicated in the table above, to a maximum of five times per day at 20th level.
Divine Grace(Su): At 2nd level, a paragon gains a bonus equal to her Charisma bonus (if any) on all saving throws.
Lay on Hands (Su): Beginning at 2nd level, a paragon with a Charisma score of 12 or higher can heal or harm by touch. A good paragon gains the ability to heal wounds, while an evil paragon may inflict wounds. A neutral paragon may choose which ability to use, although once made this choice cannot be altered (a neutral paragon who heals by touch also turns undead, while one who inflicts by touch rebukes undead. See below.) Each day, she can heal or inflict a total number of hit points of damage equal to her paragon level x her Charisma bonus. For example, a good 7th level paragon with a 16 Charisma (+3 bonus) can heal 21 points of damage each day. A paragon may choose to divide this among multiple recipients, and she doesn't have to use it all at once. Using lay on hands is a standard action. Using this power to inflict wounds requires a successful touch attack, which does not provoke an attack of opportunity, and allows no saving throw.
When used on undead, a paragon who heals by touch can instead inflict damage, while one who inflicts wounds by touch instead heals. Using lay on hands to harm undead also requires a successful melee touch attack and does not provoke an attack of opportunity. The paragon decides how many of her daily allotment of points to use as damage after successfully touching an undead creature.
Aura of Courage(Su): Beginning at 3rd level, a paragon is immune to fear (magical or otherwise). Each ally within 10 feet of her gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects. This ability functions while the paragon is conscious, but not if she is unconscious or dead.
Divine Health(Ex): At 3rd level, a paragon gains immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases (such as mummy rot and lycanthropy).
Turn or Rebuke Undead(Su): When a paragon reaches 4th level, she gains the supernatural ability to turn or rebuke undead. A paragon of good alignment can turn undead, while paragons of evil alignment rebuke undead. Neutral paragons may select whether to turn or rebuke undead, but once this choice is made, it cannot ever be changed. A paragon may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier. She turns or rebukes undead as a cleric of three levels lower would.
Spells: Beginning at 4th level, a paragon gains the ability to cast a small number of divine spells (the same type of spells availabel to the cleric, druid and ranger), which must be drawn from the paragon spell list (see below). A paragon must choose and prepare her spells in advance.
To prepare or cast a spell, a paragon must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level (Wis 11 for 1st-level spells, Wis 12 for 2nd-level spells, and so forth). The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a paragon's spell is 10 + the spell level + the paragon's Wisdom modifier.
Like other spellcasters, a paragon can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily allotment is given in the table above. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Wisdom score (see the PHB). When the table indicates that the paragon gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level (for instance, 1st-level spells for a 4th-level paragon), she gains only the bonus spells she would be entitled to based on her Wisdom score for that spell level. The paragon has access to a single domain, but receives no additional spell slots for these spells; they must be selected from the paragon's regular allotment of spells instead.
A paragon prepares and casts spells the way a cleric does, though she cannot lose a prepared spell to spontaneously cast a cure or inflict spell in its place. A paragon may prepare and cast any spell on the paragon spell list, provided that she can cast spells of that level, but she must choose which spells to prepare during her daily meditation.
Through 3rd level, a paragon has no caster level. At 4th level and higher, her caster level is one-half her paragon level.
Chaotic, Evil, Good and Lawful Spells: A paragon can't cast spells of an alignment opposed to her own or her deity's (if she has one). For example, a neutral good paragon cannot cast evil spells. Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good and law descriptors in their spell descriptions.
Special Mount(Sp): Upon reaching 5th level, a paragon gains the service of an unusually intelligent, strong, and loyal steed to serve her. This mount is usually a heavy warhorse (for a Medium paragon) or warpony (for a Small paragon).
Once per day, as a full-round action, a paragon may magically call her mount from the celestial (or infernal) realms in which it resides. The mount immediately appears adjacent to the paragon and remains for 2 hours per paragon level; it may be dismissed at any time as a free action. The mount is the same creature each time it is summoned, though the paragon may release a particular mount from service (if it has grown to old to serve, for instance). Each time the mount is called, ir appears in full health, regardless of any damage it may have taken previously. The mount also appears wearing or carrying any gear it had when it was last dismissed (including barding, saddlebags, and the like). Calling a mount is a conjuration (calling) effect.
Should a paragon's mount die, it immediately disappears, leaving behind any equipment it was carrying. The paragon may not summon another mount for thirty days or until she gains a paragon level, whichever comes first, even if the mount is somehow returned from the dead. During this thirty-day period, the paragon takes a -1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls.
Disease Mastery (Sp): At 6th level, a paragon can channel energy to either create or remove diseases. A good paragon may produce a remove disease effect, as the spell, once per week, while an evil paragon produces a contagion effect. Neutral paragons may select which effect to generate, but once this choice is made it cannot be altered. Moreover, a neutral paragon who turns undead also removes disease, while one who rebukes undead also creates disease. A paragon may use this ability one additional time per week for every three levels after 6th, and indicated in the table above, to a maximum of five times per week at 18th level.
Code of Conduct: A paragon must maintain her alignment correctly at all times. A paragon who changes alignment, or willingly acts in a manner directly contrary to this alignment immediately loses all class abilities. Additionally, the paragon's code requires that she obey the commandments of her deity, and uphold the tenets of the corresponding religion, as would a cleric of the same faith.
Associates: While she may adventure with characters of any alignment within one step of her own (including diagonally), a paragon will never knowingly associate with characters of another alignment, nor will she continue an association with anyone who consistently offends her moral code. A paragon may accept only henchmen, followers or cohort who share her alignment exactly.
Ex-Paragons
A paragon who ceases to share the alignment of her deity, who willfully commits an act contrary to her alignment, or who grossly violates the code of conduct loses all paragon spells and abilities (including the service of the paragn's mount, but not weapons, armour and shield proficiencies). She may not progress any farther in levels as a paragon. She regains her abilities and advancement potential if she atones for her violations (see the atonement spell description), as appropriate.
Like a member of any other class, a paragon may be a multiclass character, but multiclass paragons face a special restriction. A paragon who gains a level in any class other than paragon may never again raise her paragon level, though she retains all her paragon abilities. The path of the paragon requires a constant heart. If a character adopts this class, she must pursue it to the exclusion of all other careers. Once she has turned off the path, she may never return.
Paragon Spell List
1st-level: Bane, Bless, Bless Water, Bless Weapon, Cause Fear, Corrupt Weapon, Create Water, Cure Light Wounds, Curse Water, Detect Chaos/Evil/Good/Law, Detect Poison, Detect Undead, Divine Favour, Doom, Endure Elements, Inflict Light Wounds, Magic Weapon, Protection from Chaos/Evil/Good/Law, Read Magic, Resistance, Restoration (Lesser), Summon Monster I, Virtue
2nd-level: Bull's Strength, Darkness, Death Knell, Delay Poison, Eagle's Splendour, Owl's Wisdom, Remove Paralysis, Resist Energy, Shatter, Shield Other, Summon Monster II, Undetectable Alignment, Zone of Truth
3rd-level: Blindness/Deafness, Cure Moderate Wounds, Daylight, Deeper Darkness, Discern Lies, Dispel Magic, Heal Mount, Inflict Moderate Wounds, Magic Circle against Chaos/Evil/Good/Law, Magic Weapon (Greater), Prayer, Protection from Elements, Remove Blindness/Deafness, Remove Curse, Summon Monster III
4th-level: Break Enchantment, Cure Serious Wounds, Death Ward, Dispel Chaos/Evil/Good/Law, Freedom of Movement, Holy Sword, Inflict Serious Wounds, Mark of Justice, Neutralise Poison, Poison, Restoration, Summon Monster IV
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