Paladin (Sacred Shield)

At 1st level, a sacred shield can call upon the powers of good to defend her and her allies against evil. This ability functions as smite evil, except that the paladin gains no benefit on attack or damage rolls against her target. Instead, any attacks the target makes against allies within 10 feet of the paladin deal half damage. Attacks against the paladin deal full damage, but the paladin gains a deflection bonus to her AC equal to her Charisma bonus (if any) against attacks made by the target of the smite. This bonus increases by +1 for every four paladin levels (to a maximum of +6 at 20th level). As with smite evil, if the paladin targets a creature that is not evil, her bastion of good ability is wasted with no effect. Feats, abilities, and the like that increa

At 4th level, a sacred shield can channel her faith into her shield, protecting any nearby allies. All allies adjacent to the paladin gain a shield bonus equal to the sacred shield's own shield bonus, including any increase from the shield's enhancement bonus. This bonus does not stack with any existing shield bonuses. The paladin herself radiates light as a light spell while the shielding is active. At 11th level, this protection expands to cover any allies within 10 feet and the radiance increases to the effects of a daylight spell. At 20th level, any allies within 20 feet are protected. Using this ability consumes two uses of the sacred shield's lay on hands ability, and the effects last for 3 rounds plus a number of rounds equal to her Charisma bonus (

At 5th level, instead of forming a divine bond with her weapon or a mount, a sacred shield forms a bond with her shield. As a standard action, a sacred shield can enhance her shield by calling on the aid of a celestial spirit. This bond lasts for 1 minute per paladin level. When called, the spirit causes the shield to shed light like a torch. At 5th level, the spirit grants the shield a +1 enhancement bonus. For every three levels beyond 5th, the shield gains another +1 enhancement bonus, to a maximum of +6 at 20th level. These bonuses can be added to the shield, stacking with existing enhancement bonuses to a maximum of +5, or they can be used to add any of the following armor special abilities: arrow deflection, bashing, blinding, fortification