D&D (2024) 2024 Player's Handbook Reveal #3: "New Paladin"

"the paladin who, if they were in a movie, would ... have impossibly white teeth".


New Paladin preview: here are some notes, focusing on what's new and changes from the playtest materials. Last time we saw the Paladin was in Playtest 6 [=PT6 below].
See also this comparison at D&D Beyond (by someone who saw the video before it was streamed!)

OVERVIEW

• spellcasting starts at level 1, specifically called out as an advantage for multiclassing. (Same for Rangers).
• Lay on Hands and Weapon mastery at 1
• Paladin's smite at 2, along with fighting style.
• NEW: Paladin fighting style restriction is removed (all are available). You may forego fighting style to learn cantrips. [The option to get cantrips was given in Tasha's. They're letting us have it, but it's not called a "fighting style". I suspect this ties to the decision that fighting styles are feats now, and this would be weaker than magic initiate (which also gives a level 1 spell).]
• Paladin's smite gives you the spell Divine smite, with one free casting.
• channel divinity [CD]: uses increase: start with 2, plus 1 on a short rest.
• divine sense in CD option (as in PT6). duration lasts 10 minutes.
• Find steed spell at level 5, cast 1/day with no slot. Redesigned so that spell can be upcast, with a unique steed statblock. [This strongly implies that it's a class-specific spell, not on others' lists. Awesome. (Will a Lore Bard be able to select it? I hope so, and the discussion of spell lists (see below) makes me think they might, since identifying class-specific spells is harder.)]
• Abjure Foes a CD option (given at 9 in PT6)
• Auras are single things, with a single radius, that gain abilities/functionality (not separate auras as in 2014).

SUBCLASSES

Oath of Devotion.

• NEW: Sacred Weapon is part of the attack action. (PT required a Bonus action).
• Smite of Protection (level 15 in PT6)
• Holy Nimbus (level 20) is a bonus action (as in PT6).

Oath of Glory ("...this for me is the paladin who, if they were in a movie, would look at the camera, have impossibly white teeth, with a little sparkle on them as they smile")

• Peerless athlete lasts an hour (as in PT6)
• NEW: Aura of Alacrity affects allies if they enter your aura on their turn (they no longer need to start there)
• Oath of Glory has a new spell at level 17: Yolan's Regal Presence. Created by the Queen of the Elves, and makes others kneel before you and take psychic damage. [It's said that others can cast this spell too -- if right, then it's a 5th level spell and Clerics (likely) will be getting this at level 9. Perhaps he misspoke, and it's a class-specific spell.]

Oath of the Ancients

• Nature's wrath range "has been extended"
• Aura of Warding as in PT6 (resistance to Necrotic, Psychic, and Radiant)
• Undying Sentinel at 15 as in PT6 (you don't return with 1hp, but [?] 3x class level.

Oath of Vengeance

• NEW: Vow of Enmity part of attack action (not Bonus action); can transfer (as in PT6)
• NEW: Level 20 Avenging Angel activated as a Bonus Action, and lasts an hour (not 10 min as in PT6)

NEW RULES

• new area of effect: it's been there since 2014, but hasn't been named. It's for AOE that emanate from a character or monster -- the Emanation.
• new approach to spell lists. Spell list is part of the class description (as we saw with the Artificer). Entries give the school, whether it needs concentration, and required components. [I presume spell descriptions will still be at the back of the book: this is referring to the lists currently on PHB 207-11.]
• oath spell lists, patron spell lists, etc. have all been vetted and updated throughout.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Another thing I'm not seeing anyone mention, but I think is going to have a really noticeable impact?

Since spellcasting is starting at level 1, Divine Smite is starting at level 1. You are going to have some VERY happy level 1 characters who are going to feel that power of hitting someone for 3d8+3 damage which is likely pasting anything they are fighting at level 1.

Minor in the grand scheme of things? Maybe. But very, very satisfying.

 

[Scribe]

And somehow that is worse from a single bland option that everyone used to the point people forgot options existed?

 

[Scribe]

Since spellcasting is starting at level 1, Divine Smite is starting at level 1. You are going to have some VERY happy level 1 characters who are going to feel that power of hitting someone for 3d8+3 damage which is likely pasting anything they are fighting at level 1.

Divine Smite is Level 2.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Whilst I definitely agree that counterspelling a Smite is probably the dumbest possible use of Counterspell, to the point where it might even be a good thing, given the changes, I think the objection is more of an aesthetic one - in that, stylistically, Smite is not the "sort of magic" that should be possible to counterspell. You can't counterspell just any old magic - it has to be spells - and Smite isn't really "spells" in people's minds, and that's not going to change after a decade of it literally not being a spell.

It being aesthetic doesn't mean it's invalid, either - it just means it's not a game balance concern.

One smite wasn't a spell. All the others were.

The fact that the vast majority of people only used one of them was a problem that needed fixing.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Divine Smite is Level 2.

No, Divine Smite is a level 1 spell.

You might be thinking of the Paladin Smite ability, which states "Always have the Divine Smite spell prepared." That doesn't mean you could not prepare it at level 1, just that it wasn't free at level 1. It becomes free at level 2.

 

[Remathilis]

Divine Smite is Level 2.

For free, yes. But as a first level spell, you can pick it at level 1, cast it with your regular spell slots and then get it always prepped at level 2 and choose something else for your spell prep.

 

[Scribe]

No, Divine Smite is a level 1 spell.

You might be thinking of the Paladin Smite ability, which states "Always have the Divine Smite spell prepared." That doesn't mean you could not prepare it at level 1, just that it wasn't free at level 1. It becomes free at level 2.

For free, yes. But as a first level spell, you can pick it at level 1, cast it with your regular spell slots and then get it always prepped at level 2 and choose something else for your spell prep.

Ah my mistake, I thought it had shifted with the update here.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1749-2024-paladin-vs-2014-paladin-whats-new

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Can someone explain to me why there is so much hate for Divine Smite as a spell? I can't say I like it much (in that I would have gone the other way and made things like Hex and Eldritch Blast, along with Smites into Exclusive Class Features) but it seems to me to be (mostly) an organizational thing, much like Fighting Style Feats (that one is even easier to understand why it was done that way - so that they don't have to keep printing them in each class that gets them).

Because this is a continuing trend of 5e: turn things that would be simpler, easier, and better as individual class features into spells, forcing them to dance to the rules of spellcasting regardless of how it fits.

Because it means that the game leans EVEN MORE into "everyone must be a spellcaster to have cool features" problem that already frustrates a number of fans, so every new feature that gets turned into a spell just aggravates it that much more.

Because there's really no need for it to be a spell, and if it's a spell, it reduces the class's internal synergy and combo potential, which some fans like. (I'm ambivalent about this one, but I get why folks would be annoyed.)

I think that about covers the bases, even if I've missed something. And the thing is, there are a number of people who only care about one of these things (or some other thing I've neglected), but all roads lead to Rome. It doesn't matter whether you want a lower-magic game or hate the idea of offloading damn near every class feature into spells or are annoyed by the removal of combo potential. Whatever gets you there. With many of these reasons being heavily non-overlapping, there's a lot of pathways for very different people to come to the same conclusion.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Here's one change that I actually think is underwhelming: Oath of Devotion has "sacred weapon" and similar lasting 10 minutes rather than 1. However, I'm old school. 10 minutes is the length of a combat or an exploration turn, so it doesn't actually extend it enough! (It only works if you rush from one combat to another -- I'm not sure how many battles are that close together in dungeons. And if they're that close, aren't they all merging into one anyway?)

Cheers,
Merric

I've had a couple situations in the LMoP adventure where something lasting 10 minutes would have been really great.

 

[MerricB]

I've had a couple situations in the LMoP adventure where something lasting 10 minutes would have been really great.

Ten minutes is weird, because it's FAR longer than most combats in 5E (especially in Wizards adventures, where 3 rounds often is long).

But it's not enough to accommodate exploration. So, it means the players rush from one room to the next without checking anything because otherwise their boons end.

Cheers,
Merric