Editing Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition (section)

===[[Paladin]]===
Now has cooler flavor that finally makes them something more than gimped cleric and doesn't have alignment restrictions, as mentioned above, so no "be [[Lawful Good]] or else be a [[Blackguard]]/sucky-ass fighter" crap. The flavor of the default Oaths is clearly leaning towards either a Good (all) or Neutral (Ancients, Vengeance) alignment.

Smite now uses spell slots, and there is a number of Smite spells, allowing a paladin to burn his foes, hit them with lightning, or torment them for their sins on attack. Sadly, no ranged smites (aside from casting Branding Smite on a ranged weapon) and almost no ranged spells. Their famed ''lay on hands'' ability is now a kind of pool they can draw on in discrete intervals, and they eventually get some auras to buff their teammates.

Paladins also use Charisma for spellcasting now. This helps to ease some of their MAD problems and lets them multiclass into Charisma classes more easily, but further distances them from the holy warriors they once were.

A paladin's Vow is now tied to their archetype or Oath.
* '''Oath of Devotion''' (PHB): Makes you a classic lawful good paladin, bent on honor and duty, but with somewhat more freedom. Their buff aura and personal immunities let them shrug off mind-control, their capstone turns them into a demon-and-undead-slaying living rod of sunlight, and their spells are basic religion stuff.
* '''Oath of the Ancients''' (PHB): You're now a sort of hippie knight, champion of light and life - imagine a [[Green Knight|stag-riding knight in green armour]], with some druidic spells. Their aura grants resistance to ''all'' spell damage, which is sweet, one of their personal abilities slows their aging and lets them shrug off incapacitation once per day, and their capstone transforms them into a regenerating fast-spellcasting nightmare for the bad guys, who also get disadvantage on their saves vs. the pally's shit because fuck evil.
* '''Oath of Vengeance''' (PHB): Become a typical [[inquisitor]] - his oath basically says "for greater good" and "by any means necessary", which is cool. Blackguards wish they were this cool. Spells are hunting/ranger stuff, and they get a number of single-target fuck-you powers, but they don't get an aura like the others to support their team with.
* '''Oath of the Crown''' (Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide): Basically a civilization-supporting Paladin. Has a number of [[knight]]-type abilities, with powers like issuing challenges that force enemies to fight the paladin. Their Channel Divinity can mimic the effects of one of their spells, ''compel duel'', and has the bonus of healing allies nearby. You can also intercept damage for an ally within 5 feet, and have advantage on saving throws vs. being paralyzed.
* '''[http://i.imgur.com/slrKm8D.jpg Oathbreaker] (or [[Blackguard]])''' (DMG): DMs are presented with the option to immediately switch a paladin who dramatically breaks their oath to an Oathbreaker instead of "just" depowering them, too. It quite amply fills the Blackguard's former shoes as a fiend and undead-cavorting, black magic-wielding black knight type character class. Oathbreaker paladin ''must'' be Evil, but there's actually nothing saying that other Paladins can't be evil so long as they still uphold their Oath (although once you break your oath, you cannot redeem yourself while evil - apparently, even if you began as an evil Vengeance paladin).
<!--The Underdark Characters UA adds two new Fighting Styles that the Fighter, Paladin and Ranger can all take. The first is the Close Quarters Shooter fighting style, which as you might expect gives bonuses to using ranged weapons even when you're up close and personal, and is a pretty decent reskin for a pistol-packing [[Gunslinger]] type character. The second is the Tunnel Fighter, who can go into a defensive stance that lets them freely strike at anything that gets too close or tries to move around them.-->
* '''Oath of Conquest''' (Xanathar's Guide to Everything): Lawful Evil Paladin, or at best a [[Hellknight]] out of [[Pathfinder]]. All focused on crushing the weak and exerting its own strength. It gets a bunch of warlock/enchantment spells, some terror-inflicting abilities, immunity to charm, and turning into an uber-warrior badass once per day. This one got some touchups in the March 2017 UA.
* '''Oath of Treachery''' (UA: Paladins): Outright referred to as the archetypical Chaotic Evil [[Demon Prince]]-aligned anti-paladin of old, with a bundle of illusion and misdirection related powers. If you think the Oathbreaker might be too powerful, this is your style.
* '''Oath of Redemption''' (Xanathar's Guide to Everything): Another callback. Unfortunately, it has already been widely panned for being a huge throwback in flavor and abilities to the incredibly annoying "pacifist character" archetypes of old. These guys specialize in nonlethal ways to take down opponents, mixed with some tanky attributes in order to give them the guts they need to survive the effort. The XGE print removes the obstructive restrictions of utter pacifism, but also removes the unarmored AC boost.
*'''Oath of Heroism/Glory''' (Mythic Oddyseys of Theros): The Oath of Heroism leans into the [[Fighter]] side of the Paladin, with all but one of your features improving your weapon attacks, and the one that doesn't lets you provide temporary HP to your allies or frighten your enemies whenever you crit or kill something. Put simply, you're a gladiator Paladin. The official release in Theros makes the healing power more effective by making it equal to your smite damage and replacing the THP/Fear power with an aura that gives everyone boosted speed. Was reprinted in ''Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.''
*'''Oath of the Watcher''' (Tasha's Cauldron of Everything): You protect the mortal world from extraplanar creatures. As such, basically all of your features hurt extraplanar creatures in some way or another, from one of your Channel Divinities being Turn Undead but for extraplanar creatures up to your 20th level feature which essentially gives you an automatic Banishment when you hit one with an attack and damage it. And you get advantage on the attack roll.