That hex lasts up to an entire day if you hold concentration, and comes back on a short rest if you don’t, while eldritch blast never runs out. Mediocre.”, “(Barbarians and Fighters) are just one character in a party. Hope you caster boss has a lot of spell lots because if one player has this he’s never casting anything. You forget the sorc gets to do this at range vs melee for the Paladin. It is available on Summoner's Rift.It is required to buy Just gotta remove the short rest-recharging features and make short rests (generally) just for restoring HP. Mr. Invincible, a paladin, Mr. Average, a fighter and Mr. Perhaps they have a flame tongue enchant, the paladin gets 4d8 = 21 extra damage while the battle master gets 16d8 = 84 extra damage. In fact, they are arguably better at doing single target damage than pure spellcasters throughout most of the game. Paladins helping the group solve puzzles/non-combat encounters? At Higher Levels. @JeremyECrawford Can you stack a Paladin smite spell with divine smite? You could be casting haste, fireballs, fear. The designers of the D&D are very clear they don’t RECOMMEND any number of encounters a day, though they do mention that as an assumption in some places in the DMG. He can add 200 hp to the party’s total and keep two giant monsters on your team. This is, of course, just my take on things, and i fully understand we may continue to disagree. In comparison, how many spell slots of cure wounds is that the equivalent to? You are pretty keyed-in to your own table, and you’ve offered lots of rules-fixes on this blog that have worked for your group. That solves a lot of the problems with it in one go! Casting Time: 1 bonus action Just limit a paladin’s smite to the highest level slots they should have as a pure paladin at that level. But it’s not fair or reasonable to make a blanket claim that the paladin is broken. Either meteor swarm for 40d6 (140 damage) HALF ON A SAVE, to like as many as many as 1650 people in one round While I still believe other factors balance it out, a change I’d make is declaring a smite before a hit rather than after. One guy throws extra dice in "I just like rolling multiple dice. Hexblade D: 8d8 + 5d10 + 38 = 101.5 Mr. Invincible and Mr. Average: We’ll survive. Now it’s the dragon’s turn. He can get 2 of these per day Nothing broken about it compared to the monk that can stun lock dragons or the sorc that just wills more spell slots back, or the fighter that just keeps attacking until its not funny anymore, or the short rest warlock that fills literally ANY roll.
(I’ve just considered the possibility of a Paladin using an off hand weapon as a bonus action and getting a third smite per round… *shudder!*). There’s nothing wrong with the paladin.
(I apologise for sounding so harsh, but if you’re going to toot your own horn so blatantly then this is one bubble I’m going to burst with no hesitation). I’d rule that Cleansing Touch requires the paladin roll an ability check against the spell. Look, I’m a big fan of 5e obviously. I mean, if a 9th lvl Paladin sits around the entire day never smiting anything and saving all of their spell slots until the final battle and then blows everything in the first 3 turns of combat more power to them? Isn’t the core problem that the game is designed for ~6 combat encounters per long rest? Not so great. That’s a massive difference. 7th level spells And you can do it all at once. [4th turn and thereafter]
8d6 + 2d10 +2*mod If all your fights are against mobs, the aoe casters will steal the show. Name another class feature that allows you to do an extra 11d8 (radiant) damage in one round at level 9? No take-backs. And it certainly doesn’t mesh with the preferred play styles of a lot of D&D players. I think it’s really just an issue of Fighters, Monks, Rogues, Rangers, and to a lesser extend Barbarians being underpowered relative to Paladins and all the spellcasters. Which is a lot but that’s HALF of the paladins main resource gone in one turn. You are not, in fact, knowledgable about the “peccadillos” of fifth. Clarification: The Arcane Archer and Samurai don’t need that higher damage output to be in their first 2 or 3 turns of combat. They really tried to make caster martial disparity smaller this edition and the paladin was the greatest success on that front. You create more instances of the players having to make very difficult decisions that may affect them later, giving them the feel of having more player agency, you create spaces for inter-party roleplaying and downtime activities during the extended periods of light activities needed to complete rests, you eliminate somewhat the feeling of a character growing from levels 1-8 in two weeks as time passes more consistently and you have the opportunity to create rest-interrupting scenarios more varied than “your camp is raided at 3am” and you could use the Arduous Rally optional rule to permit a short rest in a pinch, penalising the PC’s with something like an exhaustion level but creating a classic moment of the players pep-talking and bonding before a major battle.
The other smite spells (with exceptions) are considered weak spells in general and I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen Paladins make good use of command, misty step and thunderous smite. For what it’s worth, I think your proposed changes would be good *in the style of game you want to play*. — David Johnson (@Ceepo_77) March 6, 2016. Hi Tyler, thanks for the comment. It’s only ever single target, uses a far more limited number of spell slots than a full caster’s spells (if using the three attacks as you suggested before, they’re blowing half their resources at level 5, on a maximum of 3 enemies, they’re going to be in about 6 more fights that day. 6th level spells, 2 more Druids at level 20 have unlimited wild shapes, literally a new hp bar every round forever. After that the 9th level Paladin can use up two of his 2nd level spell slots to do another 8d8 (10d8 if undead) the following round, and then back that up with another 7d8 (9d8) in the third round of combat, and then 6d8 (8d8) and still have a spell slot left. I am not too familiar with sorcerers, however as I understand quickened spells allow you to cast a spell that takes an action as a bonus action instead, however you can still only cast one spell a round (plus a cantrip). Just guaranteed. Oathbreaker Paladin D: 2d8 + 12d8 + 4d8 + 3d10 + 29 = 126.5 Assassin D: ((1d8 + 10d6) x 2 + 7) x 2 = 172, [1st, 2nd, and 3rd turns only] They can split it up, just like the Hexblade, but can do it for only 2 or 3 turns in any combat encounter. The best criticism you can really make is that spellcasters are also overpowered which… yep, that is also a big problem with the game at higher levels. The fact that most paladins only use their slots to smite is proof that its an overpowered ability… if it was balanced they would use other spell options as well. But I also concur that that amount of encounters can prove difficult to adjust to the pacing of a lot of campaigns. Level 20 maximum average non-critical damage per turn using mundane weapons against random enemy with no resistances, immunities, or vulnerabilities assuming all attacks hit.
I can’t speak for Duncan’s experience with the game, but as someone who has been running D&D games across multiple editions for over 20 years and who often takes deep dives into the math behind the mechanics of the game and how they play out in actual sessions, I agree with his criticisms. Locate Object. Yes I argue my case as strongly as possible, but it’s for you to take or leave my suggestions…. CR is garbage and doesn’t make sense anyways. And if so, isn’t it better to fix one or two overpowered abilities, than change the whole way you want to play the game? You forgot that a Sorcerer can also cast a cantrip, in addition to that magic missile. Which is just a bit boring, if you’re not the one playing the Paladin. ), it too much to have them as the best nova damage dealers. As other commentators have pointed out – usually calling me a terrible DM into the bargain – you can plan encounters that will ensure that divine smite won’t shine too brightly in the mean time. Have you considered that vanilla 5e just isn’t the game for you? (Polymorph, Plane Shift, Control Gravity) etc. I’d urge all starting DMs to play with the rules as written for a good year or so, before making any changes. Mr. Squishy: Shit, I forgot. It’s duncan@hipstersanddragons.com in case you’re trying to reach me Jeremy. I actually don’t understand why others can’t see what I’ve seen and experienced in every campaign i’ve played. Samurai TWF: 5d6 + 25 = 42.5 Really, it feels like the game just isn’t balanced that well to make Fighters, Monks, and Rogues shine compared to the Paladin.
I can feel with that. This is extremely consistent DPS. Even the most cursory look at two-weapon fighting shows that it’s absolutely pointless for most dedicated melee classes and absolutely worthless for the paladin in particular. I also think it’s worth noting that other spell casters don’t seem to have quite the same problem. So maybe 10+ medium to challenging encounters. The first would be limit its use to one time a round, like Sneak Attack. Mystic D: 3d8 + 7d10 + 7 = 59 There are added benefits to this: suddenly CR rules to decide encounter difficulties are A LOT more logical, for example. “In fact I’ve been so efficient in dealing with the peccadillos of 5th edition that I’m surprised Mr. Crawford hasn’t looked me up and offered me a job on the 6e team.”, “(I’ve just considered the possibility of a Paladin using an off hand weapon as a bonus action and getting a third smite per round… *shudder! In 3.5, multiclassers got distinct spell pools for each of their casting classes, but that’s not how it works in 5e. You’re doing 10d8+weapon damage. Rogue D: 1d8 + 10d6 + 7 = 46.5 #DnD https://t.co/0m11gBoKLp, — Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) March 15, 2016. I have 1 full caster, 2 half-casters, and 2 full-martial PCs. then 16d6 (+ CHA Mod x 8). Also the fact that the only solution people seem to put forward is making the party battle 6-8 encounters per day, which is really a crap solution if you play for more than just combat. Also, a fighter can grab feats way easier than a palidan can. Conquest Paladin GWF: 6d6 (d6= 4.16…) + 12d8 (d8 = 5.25) + 6d8 (d8 = 5.25) + 15 = 134.5, ___________________________________________, [When Blood Hunter is at or above 1/4th CURRENT max HP] The 15 Things I Love Most About 5th Edition…, Drinking a Healing Potion in Combat (New Rule).
It’s okay to play the way you want, or even adopt some (or most!) Level 8 – maddening darkness – 8d8 damage (36), half on failed save, 60 foot radius. Mr. Average: I also charge at the dragon.