In this post, I’m going to walk you through building a paladin character for your Dungeons & Dragons game. Paladins are strong and can do a lot of damage in battle! They have minor healing abilities and divine power. Really, a great class choice!
Let’s go over proficiencies and starter equipment.
(Images in this post are owned by Wizards of the Coast, LLC)
First, Choose Two Skills You Want Your Character to be Proficient in:
Remember that your proficiencies are like extra points in a set area. It simply boosts your variety of skills a bit.
Athletics
Intimidation
Insight
Medicine
Persuasion
Religion
Then, Understand Your Automatic Paladin Proficiencies:
It might help you choose the most effective starter gear to know that, as a paladin, you’re automatically proficient in the following:
Equipment
- All Armor
- Shields
Weapons
- Simple Weapons
- Martial Weapons
Savings Throws
- Charisma
- Wisdom
Now, You Can Choose Your Starter Equipment!
By now you’ve finished marking down your proficiencies on your character sheet. Now it’s time to get your complimentary starter equipment ready.
Choose One:
One Martial Weapon & Shield
Two Martial Weapons
+ Martial weapons examples: a battleaxe, flail, glaive, greataxe, greatsword, halberd, lance, longsword, maul, morningstar, pike, rapier, scimitar, shortsword, trident, war pick, warhammer, whip, blowgun, hand crossbow, heavy crossbow, longbow, net
Choose One:
Five Javelins
One Simple Melee Weapon
+ Simple melee weapons are clubs, daggers, great-clubs, hand-axes, javelins, light hammers, maces, quarter-staffs, sickles, and spears. Scimitars seem a bit expensive, at 25 gold pieces, so that is a good choice. Because starter equipment is FREEEEE.
Choose One:
One Priest's Pack
One Explorer's Pack
You Also Get Both of These Items:
Chainmail
Holy Symbol
An explorer’s pack holds the following: a backpack, 50 feet of hemp rope, 10 torches, 10 days of rations, a tinderbox, a mess kit, a bedroll, and a waterskin. If you’re into meta-gaming, you can use this printable backpack page to keep track of your items as well as their size and weight.
Level One Stats:
#FurtherReading – “How to Build a D&D 5E Character Sheet”
Your level one proficiency bonus for a paladin is +2.
You have Divine Sense which means you can detect evil. During your turn, you can perceive the location of any celestia, fiends, or undead within 60 feet of you, unless they are behind cover. You know what type of creature it is but not it’s personal identity. With the Hallow spell you can also detect the presence of any desecrated or consecrated place or object. (1+ charisma modifier)
You have Lay on Hands which is a blessed touch that can heal wounds. Your healing powers replenish after a long rest. Your healing power restores a total number of hit points equal to your paladin level multiplied by five. Alternatively, you can use this power to neutralize poison or cure a target of one disease.
