Cleric and Paladin - What's the Difference?

Steely Dan said:

I think Paladins are more focused on advocating and avenging a specific god, whereas Clerics are broader in divine concept.

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Which, interestingly, is exactly the reverse of what the relationships between Paladins/Clerics and deities was in 3E (at least in my campaign world). Paladins were the champions of 'good', i.e. more of an abstract principle, while clerics chose to dedicate themselves to a certain temple (and thus the worship of one or several related deities).

But I agree with the notion that character classes in 4E are not really meant to represent a certain group or cultural role in societies. For me they're just building blocks to realize a certain character concept. Their background is entirely up to the player.

It's pretty much been stated over and over that the Medieval - Renaissance Knight and Priest (specifically the Crusaders) are the "proposed" template for these two classes, but I think they way they have been instituted, the wrong side of the Crusades was used....

For me the priest is much closer to the Imam or Alim of the Saracen opposition, leading the people in word and occasionally in deed to spread their faith, the paladin being the Holy Warrior or Jihadist sworn to cut out heresy or opposition like a cancer with their blades of truth, a more, shoot first ask questions later kind of guy. However, alignment seemed to blur that line in all the previous editions (and just sifts them together in this one.)

Frankly, an Islamic setting seems to have always been easier to create within the rules than a faux European one; even with the Eastern monks. Which is a shame, because I really love D&D and the 'classic' European settings and the Middle-Eastern settings have all pretty much fallen flat. (I'm looking at you Al Qadim).

As far as 4e is concerned I can't see a way to make anything resembling anything else without a few adjustments. PoL just whitewashes everything so badly that there really isn't anything interesting to work with.

YMMV -
Thunderfoot ~ currently working on the Cleric and Paladin to make them more accessible in my game.