Example Character: Paladin / Leader
We’ve now shown off example characters for combinations for nearly all the base classes in the Player’s Handbook mixed with the Leader prestige class. While there are more wonderful examples of the flexibility of the Leader that we may go over in the future (examples that involve other prestige classes as well), this marks the last example character that we have planned the Leader itself. This particular example resembles the Warlord and the Warchief in some ways, but like those examples, this Paladin / Leader character takes its own path on the prestige class feel unique to its theme -- less tactical than the Warlord, and more Inspiring than the Warchief.
Because they tend to support their allies through the sheer inspirational power of their heroic silhouette on the battlefield, we’ll be calling this example character The Stalwart. It’s a fantastic build for nobility or royalty characters who want to display their majestic nature in the mechanics and the narrative of the game. The Stalwart is a level 9 character, with 6 levels in paladin and 3 levels in the Leader prestige class. With a Wisdom of 11 and a Charisma of at least 13, the Stalwart will have an easy time meeting the ability score prerequisites for the Leader prestige class. So how is the Stalwart actually built?
The Stalwart begins by taking levels in the paladin class, making it all the way to level 6 in order to reach one of the paladin’s most powerful abilities, the Aura of Protection, before finally putting their 7th level into the Leader class. The Stalwart could select almost any paladin subclass and keep the theme of the inspiring holy warrior, though for the most resonant flavor you might find either the Oath of Devotion or the Oath of Redemption to be the most appropriate subclasses. Since it isn’t material to this example, we’ll leave the specific paladin subclass to you to choose, defining the ideals of the Stalwart however you’d prefer. Then for the Stalwart’s first level in Leader, they select two Stratagems of Command:
Hold the Line
You can choose to use this stratagem at the start of your turn. Until the start of your next turn, allies have advantage on opportunity attacks made against targets within your melee reach, and they gain a bonus to the damage rolls of those attacks equal to your leader level.
Fall Back & Assemble
You can use a bonus action on your turn to signal one ally. They can use their reaction to move up to half their speed in your direction, and they gain a bonus to AC against opportunity attacks provoked by this movement equal to your leader level. Then, each ally of your choice within 5 feet of you gains temporary hit points equal to half your proficiency bonus, which disappear at the start of your next turn.
Hold the Line is a good starting Stratagem for a primarily melee character like a paladin, and it can be used even on turns when the Stalwart has already used their bonus action (to cast a smite spell or to heal with aura of vitality, for example). It fits in with the passive-support theme that the Stalwart is aiming for, as opposed to the more active abilities like Inspiring Word. For the 2nd stratagem, Fall Back & Assemble provides the Stalwart a defensive option that can be used when they aren’t making use of their bonus action that turn. While being dedicated to the frontlines can make this stratagem’s mobility aspect a tad weaker, the Stalwart benefits greatly from the synergy with the paladin’s Aura of Protection. This stratagem not only naturally supports the allied PCs who already have good reason to stay near the paladin (for the aura), but it also helps allies who are too far away be able to actually reach the Stalwart’s paladin aura in the first place!
Then, when the Stalwart makes it to Leader level 3, they get to choose an option for Leadership Expertise, a skill expertise, and a 3rd stratagem. Expertise in Persuasion is an excellent choice for the Stalwart’s flavor, helping to fill the narrative of a warrior whose noble bearing cannot be hidden or prevented from shining out. The Stalwart also chooses Formation Master as their benefit, which helps the Stalwart keep moving around the battle as needed to strike foes and support allies, even if their allies and enemies have all piled in the small area of their Aura of Protection. It also aids the Stalwart in always being able to reach allies for things like Lay on Hands. Then for a 3rd stratagem, the Stalwart goes with Lead By Example. This stratagem is immensely flavorful for the Stalwart’s theme: imagine the noble warrior taking a critical arrow to the chest without stopping their march or even flinching -- their allies know that in the wake of such a champion, they cannot fail or falter, and they charge forward into danger to assist their friend. It can also be used, like Hold the Line, on a round when the Stalwart has already used their action and bonus action, such as to hit with a smite spell.
Formation Master
You can move through friendly creatures' spaces without treating them as difficult terrain, and when you provoke an opportunity attack by moving into a friendly creature's space, that opportunity attack has disadvantage.
Lead By Example
When you take damage, you can use your reaction to display bravery and tenacity in the face of danger. Choose up to a number of allies equal to your leader level that are within 60 feet of you. Those allies gain temporary hit points which disappear at the end of each of their next turns. The amount is equal to half the damage you took, but cannot exceed your level.
There are other good options to select for the Stalwart as well, which we avoided because we can’t select them all. The flavorful stratagem Battle Cry would be perfect for the Stalwart, but if they have the Oath of Devotion subclass as a paladin, the bonus against being frightened will overlap with the Aura of Courage feature, rendering it less useful. Inspiring Word also appears to be a solid choice, but we shied away from it for this example so that we could show a more passive-support theme for the Stalwart. A different but also very potent build might involve taking Inspiring Word instead of Hold the Line, and focusing on providing temporary hit points to allies, even taking two more levels in Leader for the Inspiring Presence feature. While such a build can be very powerful, it can also run into issues by doing nothing but granting temporary hit points, since temporary hit points don’t stack.
Now the Stalwart is a level 9 character, but only a level 6 paladin. Missing those 3 paladin levels means that the Stalwart is missing their 7th-level subclass feature (usually another aura, sometimes very powerful as for the Oath of Ancients), an Ability Score Improvement, and both a third 2nd-level spell slot and two 3rd-level spell slots. For those levels, though, the Stalwart gains a skill proficiency and a skill expertise, the ability to regularly grant their allies temporary hit points, a greater ease in locking down enemies with opportunity attacks, and the ability to move through their allies and provoke movement from them in turn. As they continue to gain levels, the Stalwart can decide whether to keep leveling paladin to start catching up on those missing spell slots and class features, finish leveling leader to gain access to a 4th stratagem and a Leader’s Presence (like Inspiring Presence, which would work very well for the Stalwart), or even do something else, such as multiclassing into fighter, cleric, or the new Guardian prestige class if they wanted to highlight the martial side, the magic side, or the defender side of paladin (respectively). With D&D Unleashed, you can ensure that your paladin build -- or your build for any class, for that matter -- is adjusted as you level to the exact mixture of themes and abilities that you envisioned for the character!
