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Paladins who are members of the Order of the Golden Cup serve Ilmater and have dedicated themselves to healing the sick and weak and protecting the innocent. Peaceful counterparts to the Companions of the Noble Heart (see page 100), they don't shy away from combating evil, but they allow their companions to actively hunt it down while they focus on protecting those who can't protect themselves.

Requirements

Class Features

Defend the Weak (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a Golden Cup paladin can protect nearby allies in combat. If she uses Combat Expertise, fights defensively, or uses the total defense action, she can grant the dodge bonus to AC from these actions to any single creature standing adjacent to her in addition to herself.

This benefit replaces the standard paladin's aura of courage class feature.

Shield Other (Sp): Beginning at 4th level, a Golden Cup paladin can use shield other as a spell-like ability. She needs no focus for this ability, but she must be able to touch the character. She can use this ability a number of times per day equal to her Charisma bonus (minimum 1/day), though she can't affect more than one target simultaneously (a second use ends the duration of any previous use). Her caster level is equal to her paladin level.

This benefit replaces the standard paladin's turn undead class feature.

Expanded Healing (Su): Beginning at 10th level, a Golden Cup paladin can treat her paladin level as three higher than normal for the purpose of determining the maximum amount of healing she can bestow with her lay on hands ability per day. She can also treat her caster level as three higher than normal for the purpose of any conjuration (healing) spell she casts.

This benefit replaces the third daily use of the smite evil ability gained by a standard paladin at 10th level. From this point forward, she has one less daily use of smite evil than normal.

Advancement