D&D 5E Adding cantrips to paladin and ranger.

[Horwath]

What do you think of adding cantrips to paladin and ranger class as they are only casters who do not have that option. Even 1/3 casters as eldrich knights and arcane tricsters have them...

You could say they have extra attack feature so it would be in conflict whit cantrips, but really how much power could those classes get from them? As the y compete with same action. and all they give is some versatility.

Paladin would get cantrips known from cleric spell list.
3 at level 2,
4 at level 8,
5 at level 20,

ranger would get cantrips known from druid spell list.

3 at level 2,
4 at level 8,
5 at level 20.

 

[spartanah]

a paladin would seriously benefit from that due to lack of ranged attacks

 

[Psikerlord#]

There is already a feat for this, which would be simpler?

 

[spectacle]

There is already a feat for this, which would be simpler?

Which feat lets paladins use charisma to cast cleric cantrips?

 

[Horwath]

Which feat lets paladins use charisma to cast cleric cantrips?

Paladin could choose something from warlock or sorcerer spell list, but feat is very expensive currency.

I wondered how would this affect power of those classes if given for free.

number of cantrips could be lower if what I suggested is too much.

 

[Psikerlord#]

Which feat lets paladins use charisma to cast cleric cantrips?

Hmm well for balance reasons it is probably good if paladins cannot use charisma to cast cantrips... Rangers not so much.

 

[Giltonio_Santos]

While I don't think that would necessarily bring balance issues to the game, I don't see paladins and rangers as classes that should have something magical to do at every round, which I think is what cantrips are all about.

 

[pdegan2814]

The Ranger & Druid aren't "caster" classes, they're more about using spells to enhance their combat capabilities. That being said, the Cleric cantrip list is pretty small, the only "attack" option in it is Sacred Flame. It's a great cantrip, but it's also kind of redundant given the Paladin's existing abilities. The Druid list on the other hand has a few attack options in it, so it would probably be of more help to the Ranger than the Paladin would benefit from the Cleric list.

If I were going to add cantrips to these classes, I would keep it VERY limited. Two, three tops. For the Ranger, I'd say one at 1st level, a 2nd at 3rd when they pick their archetype, maybe one more at a later level, all from the Druid list(with Wis as the stat just like their Ranger spells). For the Paladin, I'd say two cantrips at 3rd level when they take their Oath, maybe a third at a higher level(but possibly just the two). I thought maybe the class they choose from would be based on their Oath, mostly because having an Oath of the Ancients Paladin choosing Druid cantrips made sense. But where would Vengeance or that new one(Crown?) choose from? Warlock? A high-level Paladin with Eldritch Blast would be INSANE. That got me thinking that it'd probably be simpler if rather than have the full list available, the Paladin(and maybe the Ranger too) gets to choose from a limited selection of cantrips. For the Paladins at least, the choices would be determined by the Oath they take. For the Ranger, it'd probably just be a subset of the Druid list.

 

[Kobold Stew]

If a player wanted cantrips like this, I would ask what abilities they'd be willing to give up. The natural answer, I suggest, is Fighting Style, which also comes at level 2.

Fighting Style or Cantrips -- a straightforward choice.

 

[Mercule]

I don't think cantrips fit thematically with the Ranger and Paladin. They don't really need to be able to cast every round. In fact, I'd rather they be pushed toward a mundane solution, by default, with magic to augment.

That said, it's not the end of the world. This seems like a very good suggestion:

If a player wanted cantrips like this, I would ask what abilities they'd be willing to give up. The natural answer, I suggest, is Fighting Style, which also comes at level 2.

Fighting Style or Cantrips -- a straightforward choice.