Rules edition: This guide uses the 2014 Paladin and the legacy Player’s Handbook Tiefling. It focuses on planning a character for a campaign expected to cover only a few character levels. The number of sessions does not set a character’s level; confirm the starting and expected ending levels with your DM. The 2024 Paladin and Tiefling have different rules.
A short campaign rewards choices that matter before the finale. For a Tiefling Paladin, that means planning around the class features your character is likely to reach, keeping a simple resource plan, and choosing a role the party needs from the first session. It does not mean every Paladin should maximize damage or spend every spell slot as soon as possible.
Start with a legal, useful ability spread
The 2014 Player’s Handbook Tiefling increases Charisma by 2 and Intelligence by 1. Paladins use Strength for most melee attacks and Charisma for their spellcasting and Aura of Protection. Constitution supports hit points and concentration saves. A legal 27-point-buy array before species increases is Strength 15, Dexterity 10, Constitution 14, Intelligence 8, Wisdom 10, Charisma 14. After the Tiefling increases, it becomes Strength 15, Dexterity 10, Constitution 14, Intelligence 9, Wisdom 10, Charisma 16.
This leaves a solid attack bonus and a +3 Charisma modifier without assuming that a short campaign will grant several ability increases. If your table uses the optional ability-score rules from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, ask whether those changes apply to the legacy Tiefling. Do not use a later Tiefling’s score rules by default.
Plan around the levels you expect to play
- Level 1: You have Divine Sense and Lay on Hands, but no Paladin spellcasting, Fighting Style, Divine Smite, or Sacred Oath yet. Chain mail and a shield can give AC 18 if you choose the standard starting equipment. Make sure the character has a reason to join the group before the adventure begins.
- Level 2: Fighting Style, spellcasting, and Divine Smite arrive. Divine Smite is a class feature: after you hit with a melee weapon attack, you may expend a spell slot for radiant damage. It does not use your bonus action or require concentration.
- Level 3: You swear a Sacred Oath and gain its early features. Choose an oath for the kind of decisions and encounters the campaign will include, not for a feature the character may never reach.
- Level 5: Extra Attack and 2nd-level spell slots change the character’s turn and spell choices. If the campaign begins at this level, build for those features immediately instead of following a level 1 plan.
- Level 6: Aura of Protection adds your Charisma modifier to saving throws for you and nearby allies while you are conscious. If the campaign ends at level 5, this party support will not be part of the build.
These breakpoints are more useful than guessing that a six-session campaign will reach level 6. Ask the DM about the starting level, expected advancement, and whether the group uses milestones or experience.
Choose an oath for the campaign’s actual play
Oath of Devotion, Ancients, and Vengeance are options in the 2014 Basic Rules. Devotion can suit a character who protects allies and stands by a clear principle. Ancients emphasizes defending life and hope. Vengeance gives the character a focused pursuit and tools for challenging a priority enemy. The best choice depends on the campaign’s likely situations and the player’s preferred role.
Oath spells are always prepared once you gain access to them, but they still use spell slots unless a feature says otherwise. Vow of Enmity uses Channel Divinity and a bonus action; it does not grant advantage on every enemy or refresh after every fight. Read the exact oath feature and its recovery rule before planning a tactic around it.
Use spells and innate magic deliberately
At Paladin level 2, you prepare Paladin spells after a long rest. With Charisma 16, the 2014 formula gives you a number of prepared spells equal to your Charisma modifier plus half your Paladin level, rounded down, with a minimum of one. Bless can help the party’s attacks and saving throws; Shield of Faith can protect one creature. Both require concentration, so you cannot maintain them at the same time.
The legacy Tiefling’s Infernal Legacy grants thaumaturgy, one 2nd-level hellish rebuke casting after reaching character level 3, and one darkness casting after reaching level 5, each returning after a long rest. These species castings do not use Paladin spell slots. Hellish rebuke uses your reaction when its trigger occurs; it is not a free extra turn. Darkness can also obstruct allies, so agree on its use before dropping it over a crowded fight.
In the 2014 rules, bonus-action smite spells such as searing smite require concentration. Casting one competes with other bonus actions and concentration spells. Divine Smite is a separate feature, so you can spend a slot after a hit while concentrating on a spell, but the slot still comes from the same limited Paladin pool.
Choose improvements only if you will reach them
If the campaign is expected to reach level 4, decide whether a feat or an ability increase helps more. Raising Strength improves weapon accuracy and damage; raising Charisma strengthens Paladin spell effects and later Aura of Protection. If the campaign will end at level 3, a feat planned for level 8 has no practical value in this character’s progression.
Pick a background and a personal stake that connect the Paladin to the opening adventure. Tiefling heritage does not dictate alignment, temperament, or an obligation to prove the character’s goodness. The character can define their relationship to family, faith, and community on their own terms.
Official Rules Sources and Related Guides
- D&D Basic Rules (2014), Paladin
- D&D Basic Rules (2014), Tiefling
- Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything — optional origin rules, if the DM allows them.
- Tiefling Paladin Guide (2014 Rules)
- Tiefling Paladin Build Guide (2024 Rules)
