-
The VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Paladin poll: How do you see paladins?
- Thread starter Dragonblade
- Start date
diaglo
Adventurer
Darklone said:You know, Diaglo, I never would have thought to see the day so soon when I have to agree with you that things were better 20 years ago
I'm pretty sick of hearing people describing paladins as smiters and killing machines for the greater good. I'm out.
this was in a recent campaign.
read the story hour in my sig.
I voted neither.
Yes, they are holy warriors but if they smite all evil that they encounter, where is the chance for redemption? A threat like a demon or dragon, yes, smite away. But a mortal person, who can be saved, sorry, to kill blindly is
unjust and ungood.
Paladins should be beacons of goodness, faith, and hope, ideal examples of the god. To use them as cold and unthinking killing golems designed to detect, locate and smite evil...well, it's just boring. ymmv of course.
Yes, they are holy warriors but if they smite all evil that they encounter, where is the chance for redemption? A threat like a demon or dragon, yes, smite away. But a mortal person, who can be saved, sorry, to kill blindly is
unjust and ungood.
Paladins should be beacons of goodness, faith, and hope, ideal examples of the god. To use them as cold and unthinking killing golems designed to detect, locate and smite evil...well, it's just boring. ymmv of course.
Henry
Autoexreginated
I said neither; I see Paladins as Arbiters of Justice.
This means they don't go around and indiscriminately kill whoever "bleeps on a detect evil radar". This means that they DO act as punishers of the wicked when they see it.
Sheriff of a town flogging a bunch of priests for worshipping their good god? Free them, because the act is not just. Try to obtain their freedom legally first, but if it can't be done, then start busting heads and busting stocks.
Is a Jack the Ripper type murdering people in back alleys? Find him, and END him.
Is a lying cheating bartender shortchanging customers? Expose him, but don't slay him outright; it's not just.
Is a dryad you JUST rescued trying to charm the party? Punch her in the nose and tell her to leave. It's a just lesson for being a jack.
That's my take, but by no means the only way to do it. In all curcumstances, the paladin has to me obeyed the local law where it itself is just, and FREED those when the local law was NOT just. The Neutral but scandalous can be corrected, but the evil needs to suffer the punishment mete to the crime.
This means they don't go around and indiscriminately kill whoever "bleeps on a detect evil radar". This means that they DO act as punishers of the wicked when they see it.
Sheriff of a town flogging a bunch of priests for worshipping their good god? Free them, because the act is not just. Try to obtain their freedom legally first, but if it can't be done, then start busting heads and busting stocks.
Is a Jack the Ripper type murdering people in back alleys? Find him, and END him.
Is a lying cheating bartender shortchanging customers? Expose him, but don't slay him outright; it's not just.
Is a dryad you JUST rescued trying to charm the party? Punch her in the nose and tell her to leave.
It's a just lesson for being a jack.That's my take, but by no means the only way to do it. In all curcumstances, the paladin has to me obeyed the local law where it itself is just, and FREED those when the local law was NOT just. The Neutral but scandalous can be corrected, but the evil needs to suffer the punishment mete to the crime.
Bendris Noulg
First Post
Like many others here, I'd say it's dependant on the deity. Some deities are more Lawful than they are Good (Cuthbert), while others are more Good than they are Lawful (Pelor); as such, I would expect their Paladins to have similar leanings.
My own take on the matter is to go with Paladin Prestige Classes rather than a single Core Class; Each Prestige Class is then geared towards the faith they come to represent. This, consequently, allows for Holy Generals that are LN Paladins of War Deities, Holy Beasts that are NE Paladins of Murder/Hunting Deities, etc. Of course, we don't use the term "Paladin" except for one religion (being a Lawful Good religion of Honor, Courage, and Rulership), of which it (along with the others) are simply entitled "Divine Champions". This allows PCs to be drawn towards the champion-type with the behavioral expectations that most appeals to them.
To date, the only taker thus far has been for a Neutral Good faith of Mercy, Repentance, and Enlightenment; the character was thus bound to a code that enforced capture over slaughter, redemption over punishment, and re-education over execution. Not that slaughter, punishment or execution were forbidden, but foes that have been captured or have surrendered usually had options available other than the chopping block.
My own take on the matter is to go with Paladin Prestige Classes rather than a single Core Class; Each Prestige Class is then geared towards the faith they come to represent. This, consequently, allows for Holy Generals that are LN Paladins of War Deities, Holy Beasts that are NE Paladins of Murder/Hunting Deities, etc. Of course, we don't use the term "Paladin" except for one religion (being a Lawful Good religion of Honor, Courage, and Rulership), of which it (along with the others) are simply entitled "Divine Champions". This allows PCs to be drawn towards the champion-type with the behavioral expectations that most appeals to them.
To date, the only taker thus far has been for a Neutral Good faith of Mercy, Repentance, and Enlightenment; the character was thus bound to a code that enforced capture over slaughter, redemption over punishment, and re-education over execution. Not that slaughter, punishment or execution were forbidden, but foes that have been captured or have surrendered usually had options available other than the chopping block.
Khaalis said:
Indeed not. But bear in mind that in my book 'becoming' means "flattering to the appearance", "decorous", "suitable". For a paladin to wear pants with the arse out of them is unflattering to his appearance, indecorous, and unsuitable, especially to a person such as a paladin who is supposed to be a credit to the authority he wields. To wear pants with no seat is unbecoming to a paladin, but it is not a breach of the Code, and it ought not to affect his powers.
In what respect do you disagree? Only in that you expect me to understand an obscure euphemism in an American military lawbook, and to have a character of mine from 11th-century England use it.
Arnwyn
First Post
I voted "fantasy cop", which out of the choices given is the closest to how I feel about paladins (though it is overly simplistic).
I use the concepts of modern morality for paladins IMC, as that is something that my players can understand (as we have no interest in being "amature historians").
I use the concepts of modern morality for paladins IMC, as that is something that my players can understand (as we have no interest in being "amature historians").
Similar Threads
- Poll
