Lodestone Paladin (paladin archtype)

Lodestone Paladin

A lodestone paladin absorbs the evil energy of undead and outsiders he slays into himself, preventing them from being reborn.

Absorbing Smite Evil- Smite evil does not gain the damage bonus against evil dragons, only undead and evil outsiders.

If an evil outsider or undead is brought below zero HP as part of a smite evil, the paladin absorbs the creature into his body, where it remains trapped in suspended animation indefinately, as per the imprisonment spell. This process is painful to the paladin, who must make a fort save. DC = 10 + HD of the absorbed creature. If he fails the save he takes 1 negative level and is paralyzed with pain for 2d6 rounds. A successful save removes the negative level and reduces the time paralyzed to 1d6 rounds.

Creatures trapped in this way are imprisoned rather than destroyed, so they cannot be resurrected, raised, reanimated, nor can they be reborn, such as a lich. Spells such as freedom can remove trapped opponents, one a time.

The lodestone paladin's smite evil effect only bypasses DR from undead and evil outsiders, not from all evil creatures.

 

Mercy- Add the following options for paladin mercys.
3rd level- paladin can delay the pain effects to the person touched for 1 round/paladin level, including that from absorbing smite evil.
6th level- the paladin can delay the gaining of negative levels caused by evil outsiders and undead (and the absorbing smite evil) ability for 1 round/paladin level.
12th level- the paladin can remove 1 negative level caused by undead, evil outsiders, or the absorbing smite evil.

Divine Bond- The paladin may not choose a mount as a divine bond- only a weapon. Add ghost touch to the types of bonuses that can be applied to a weapon, but remove merciful.

Relive Memory- The paladin at 11th level, when absorbing an enemy using absorbing smite evil the paladin automatically relives some of the creatures memories, as if sensitivity to psychic impressions, with each round being paralyzed revealing a new memory. This replaces aura of justice.

Holy Absorbtion- At 20th level, the paladin's smite automatically attempt to imprison evil undead and outsiders, though if they are not out of HP they get a will save to avoid the effect (using paladin level as caster level and charisma to set DC). The paladin suffers the pain effect normally. This replaces the banishment effect from holy champion.