Trade Smite Evils For Paladin Mount Buffs

[Lysander]

Here are some Paladin feat ideas I had allowing a paladin to exchange smite evils for temporary mount buffs rather than using them for attacks. Let me know what you think about their balance:

Horse Feathers

You may use up the energy of a smite evil to instead grant your paladin mount wings for 1 minute per paladin level. This allows it to fly at a speed of 60ft, or 40ft if carrying a passenger. When the time expires the wings do not immediately vanish but instead weaken and persist for 1d6 rounds, allowing the horse to only fly downward at 60ft per round.

Horse Field

Expending a smite evil grants your paladin mount a potent anti-evil field for one minute per paladin level. Any time an evil foe harms your mount with a melee or touch attack they suffer 1d4 damage.

Dimension Gallop

When mounted on your paladin steed you may use up the energy of a smite evil to instead teleport your horse and yourself up to 20 ft. You must have line of sight to the place you are teleporting to.

Iron Horse

Expending a smite evil can transform your paladin mount into an immobile statue with 15 points of damage resistance and immunity to poison (if already poisoned it will not be cured but will not suffer damage while frozen). This state lasts ten minutes, or until dismissed.

[AmberVael]

Iron Horse

Expending a smite evil can transform your paladin mount into an immobile statue with 15 points of damage resistance and immunity to poison (if already poisoned it will not be cured but will not suffer damage while frozen). This state lasts ten minutes, or until dismissed.

There is no such thing as damage resistance. Either it has damage reduction (in which case you'll need to list what can bypass it, if anything) or it has hardness.

Furthermore, what action does it take to use any of these feats?

[DracoDei]

The names are silly, but I like the effects mostly. MAYBE give Dimension Gallop a 'warm-up' time of 1 minute, so you can use it to get across a small chasm (especially if you time it so you are in mid-jump when it activates (nail-biting!)), but can't use it in combat for getting past a Wall of Force very well(don't want to make the Monk feel inadequate))... OTOH if you have to take a Feat to do these (or one for each???) that isn't so bad.

[Miles Invictus]

Hmm. I don't care whether it upstages the Monk or not. I mean, come on -- we're talking about upstaging the Monk.

I think Dimensional Gallop would be fair even if it allowed a warp of 50 feet. That's equal to your heavier horses, and the Paladin can't even use it until 6th level. For comparison, the Wizard gets Dimension Door at 7th and can teleport over 700 feet!

Horse Field is pretty weak. It only works against evil foes who attack your mount, and only inflicts 1d4 damage. First, it should work on the paladin as well as his mount. Second, it should inflict higher damage, preferably something that scales with level. Perhaps 1d8 + 1/2 Paladin level + Cha modifier? Third, it should work regardless of alignment.

Horse Feathers...I like it. I'd say it's about on par with the wizard's Fly spell -- probably because I looked it up and you just changed a few words. :smallsmile: The only thing I can really suggest is just giving the mount a full six rounds of feather fall. Yes, I know that the original fly spell rolls 1d6, but it seems like a bit of needless dice-rolling.

Iron Horse is not strictly useless, but too specialized to be worth spending a feat and a usage of smite evil on. I can protect my mount far better by simply dismissing him. Take away the immobility, and it'd be a huge improvement. If you think that's too powerful, give it some prerequisite feats.

You know, these would make for good Paladin spells. I think they'd be better as spells than as feats, actually. If you're dead set on having them as feats, I suggest giving them one free usage per day, before consuming uses of smite evil. Hell, maybe even 1 + Cha uses. It's nothing worse than what a Sorcerer or Wizard can do several times a day anyway...

[Miraqariftsky]

Sorry to be disagreeing, but between the paladin and the cleric, to whom does Smite Evil belong as an iconic ability? The cleric's iconic offense is Turn Undead. Therefore, isn't a paladin's Turn Undead more expendable than his uses of Smite Evil?

[AmberVael]

Sorry to be disagreeing, but between the paladin and the cleric, to whom does Smite Evil belong as an iconic ability? The cleric's iconic offense is Turn Undead. Therefore, isn't a paladin's Turn Undead more expendable than his uses of Smite Evil?
Yes, and there are plenty of feats for clerics that allow the expenditure of Turn Undead... so why not Smite Evil for Paladin? :smallconfused:
I mean seriously, it makes sense to me. It makes it more balanced to have a character to give up something he uses to get something else, rather than practically just adding to his abilities.

[Lysander]

The advantage of Iron Horse is that you can use it to temporarily protect your mount without unsummoning it. Remember, you can only summon it once per day. This way you can keep your mount out of harm's way and then ride on it right after the battle.

[Call Me Siggy]

Yes, and there are plenty of feats for clerics that allow the expenditure of Turn Undead... so why not Smite Evil for Paladin? :smallconfused:

Possibly because the Cleric has more uses of Turn Undead than a paladin has Smite Evil. A Paladin, without going into epic levels, will only have 5. A Cleric, however (And this is only 10 CHA) will have 3 uses at first level.

[Poppatomus]

Possibly because the Cleric has more uses of Turn Undead than a paladin has Smite Evil. A Paladin, without going into epic levels, will only have 5. A Cleric, however (And this is only 10 CHA) will have 3 uses at first level.

Than perhaps I might suggest one a bit more in keeping with trading in relativly scarce power. This may be a bit overpowered

Righteous Mount

Rather than channeling holy energy into his foes, the paladin instead infuses his already blessed mount with the power of the heavens. Upon summoning the mount, the paladin may also expend a smite to alter most of the statistics of her mount as though it were one size catagory larger. Though the mount does not actually increase in size it is considered to have done so for all effects except for AC and space occupied.

During the day the Paladin may channel this energy again to increase the mount by an additional size catagory for a number of rounds equal to paladin's remaining smites per day. However, at the end of these rounds the mount is considered exausted and can not take more than a half move action per round until it returns to the celestial plane from which it hails.

[TempusCCK]

Indeed, when compared to the things you can do with the cleric by expending Turn uses, this is weak. Not to mention a cleric can buy nightsticks for more turns, and take the Extra Turning feat, as far I as know there's nothing that allows a paladin more chances to lay some divine whoopin' on the bad guys.

[puppyavenger]

Well thats easily fixed

Extra smiting
prerequiset(sp) smite evil ability
benifit you gain a extraa daily use of smite evil.


problem solved

[Miles Invictus]

...Extra Smiting is a horrible feat. Something like this would be better:



Extra Smiting
You may Smite Evil several more times per day.
Prerequisite: Smite Evil
Benefit: You gain a number of extra Smite Evil uses equal to 1 + your Charisma modifier. You get at least one additional use of Smite Evil per day, even if you have a negative Charisma modifier.

[Poppatomus]

pretty sure you can actually tighten the language on that up a bit as well. attribute "bonus" as has been explained to me, can only ever be positive or 0, no matter what score it actually is, so:

Extra Smiting
You may Smite Evil several more times per day.
Prerequisite: Smite Evil
Benefit: You gain a number of extra Smite Evil uses equal to 1 + your Charisma bonus.

[Poppatomus]

another proposal, hoping for slightly greater power

Blessed Brilliance

The paladin channels the righteous energy normally used to smite his foes into his mount, infusing it and everything it carries with the very essence of the heavens. The mount, its rider and their equipment become translucent, and crackle with blue energy. For 1d4+(number of smites remaing) rounds the Paladin and the mount, and everything they carry, is considered to be made of brilliant energy. Additionally, during this time, the mount hovers a few inches above the ground, though it remains capable of its normal movement. This not only allows the paladin to pass through objects that a brilliant energy weapon ignores, but temporarily transforms any attacks made by the paladin or her mount into brilliant energy attacks.

[DracoDei]

Definitely sounds higher powered than some of the others at first glance
What level are Wraithform(for this one) and Statue(for the Iron Horse) again?

[Poppatomus]

Definitely sounds higher powered than some of the others at first glance
What level are Wraithform(for this one) and Statue(for the Iron Horse) again?

I like wraithform. I'm thinking around level 10 for it, since at that point if he used it as his second smite of the day, when the battle got a little more hairy, he'd get at least one bonus round on top of the d4.

For righteous mount I'd say it should also be available at 10, though it likely won't be very useful til 15.

I'll leave the level for Statue up to its originator.

[Lysander]

Since Statue isn't that powerful I'd leave it with the second smite at level 5.