Paladin’s Plea
School echantment [charm, language-dependent, mind-affecting]; Level Paladin 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S,
Range close (25 ft +5 ft per level)
Target 1 creature that can understand you
Duration instantaneous
Saving throw: none Spell Resistance: yes
You beg a creature with all the compassion you can muster to follow a particular course of action in line with your alignment. You make either a Diplomacy check or an Intimidate check (your choice) against the target with a +5 bonus to try and get them to do as you would in their situation. You can attempt to inspire, cajole, plead, or convince them into acting. Highly reasonable suggestions may grant you an additional +2 bonus on the check, at GM’s discretion.
Notes
Here’s a way to get Paladins to stop killing teammates and laying waste to random stubborn people with little provocation. You may not be able to change the mind of the big bad guy, but Paladins should be able to convince the local captain of the guard to stop bringing corrupt charges forward, or get a goblin to take his family and leave in peace. Paladins should not resort to violence as a first option, but as a last. This spell is an attempt to help fight against “lawful stupid.”
This spell reflects the more functional uses of Diplomacy and Intimidate rather than the strict rules-as-written versions. You’ll also notice that Paladin’s Plea allows for the possible existence of paladins of alignments other than Lawful Good, should that ever be necessary.
-Max
RPG Design by Max Porter 
I’d probably add:
Saving throw: none
Spell Resistance: yes
You could add either of these tags: mind affecting, charm
Makes the spell usable considering the paladins probably poor spell DC but creatures that are spell resistant or immune will shrug it off.
Very true. I forgot to add those.
I’m glad you see the use tailored to Paladins, who need spells that don’t use DC, because they’re not straight casters. Paladins and Rangers need spells that improve their power as characters but don’t interfere with the other things their class can do.
I’ll edit the spell to reflect those excellent suggestions.
-Max
My two cents:
This is a great idea for a spell, but I’d be hesitant to remove the saving throw. I generally have problems with spells that have neither an attack roll nor a saving throw. There’s much less of an excuse in Pathfinder for a Paladin to have low spell DCs b/c they removed Wisdom (compared to 3.5) as a necessary stat for Paladin spellcasting. Now all Paladin special abilities, including spellcasting, are Cha-based.
I think a better compromise is to follow the trend set by the suggestion spell. It allows the GM discretion to give the spell’s target a -1 or -2 penalty on their will save for very reasonable suggestions.
Finally, I feel that the spell descriptor should be (language-dependent, mind-affecting). Not only would this version of the spell allow for a Bard’s countersong to negate it, but I feel it falls short of a charm spell. However, I’m not so against the idea of it being a charm; I am adamant that it should be language-dependent. This would also allow you to simply change the target descriptor to “one creature.”
Also, what about having the bonus to the Diplomacy or Intimidate check scale with caster (or Paladin) level?
-Chris
The reason that this spell doesn’t have an attack roll or saving throw is because its main function is to give you a bonus on skill check and let you use that skill in a particular way. Perhaps the Charm descriptor should be removed as you suggest, as this is more about giving yourself a bonus than about affecting the opponent’s mind.
The suggestion spell would be way more powerful and probably shouldn’t appear on the Paladin list as a 1st-level spell 😛
I’m not sure about scaling, but it’s a thought.
-Max
You _may_ have also forgotten ‘Language Dependant’. 🙂 I know, it’s underscored by just giving a bonus to a conversation, but it’s helpful to remember that it requires a check. All the same, love this spell, as I 100% agree. The paladin who cleaves everything I put in front of him is a paladin that’s going to fall… or has fallen, as the case may be ;). I’m slowly reading up on your goodies, to see what I want to include, if anything, in my campaigns.
Well thanks! Good catch! I’ll add “language-dependent”
This spell has gone through a lot of those kinds of edits…who knew that something so simple could end up being so complex.
I think it would be awesome if Paladin design as a whole could move farther and farther away from the tough nut with a beatstick. I’m so glad you like this spell and think it accomplishes that goal!
-Max