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Pathfinder 2's Armor & A Preview of the Paladin!
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7745888" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>If the paladin in the game is meant to emulate the archetype found in idealised and romanticised histories and stories of knighthood, then certain contemporary ideals and practices need to be excluded.</p><p></p><p>For instance, issues of efficiency and expedience are very important in most contemporary contexts. And practices or requirements that are pointless tend to be rejected or reformed. But this is not consistent with the ideals of paladinhood. Honour, thruthfulness and forthrightness are paladin ideals, not expedience. (I therefore think it's a mistake to take the prohibition on poison use out of a paldin's code. Poisons are expedient, but dishonourable.)</p><p></p><p>Likewise I don't think paladins are law-reformers. The whole idea of law reform is a contemporary one. A paladin who thinks that a purported legal requirement is abhorrent or unjust is going to try and show that <em>it is not really a legal requirement</em>. Or if the concern is that applying the law in this particular instance would be unjust, the paladin will present an argument as to <em>why it ought not to be applied.</em></p><p></p><p>In LotR, Aragorn remits the death penalty against Beregond for valour, and because he acted out of love - and the sentence of exile is also the bestowal of an honourable office newly created.</p><p></p><p>In [MENTION=6801209]mellored[/MENTION]'s example of the orphan who inadvertantly enters the forbidden area of the palace, the paladin might take the child before the queen and seek (or even just expect) mercy to be granted. Depending on the tone of the game, maybe mercy is granted by way of the child instead being ordered to enter the queen's service. (Again, depending on tone, if the orphan is a boy this might mean entering the queen's servicd as a eunuch.) Or, if the paladin has authority to enter the forbidden area, maybe the paladin facilitates the grant of mercy by taking the child into his/her service - thus rendering the child no longer a forbidden person.</p><p></p><p>I think honouring the law - which includes treating the law in a way that renders it worthy of being honoured - is in keeping with a conception of paladinhood in a way that wriggling through loopholes and reforming the law is not.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7745888, member: 42582"] If the paladin in the game is meant to emulate the archetype found in idealised and romanticised histories and stories of knighthood, then certain contemporary ideals and practices need to be excluded. For instance, issues of efficiency and expedience are very important in most contemporary contexts. And practices or requirements that are pointless tend to be rejected or reformed. But this is not consistent with the ideals of paladinhood. Honour, thruthfulness and forthrightness are paladin ideals, not expedience. (I therefore think it's a mistake to take the prohibition on poison use out of a paldin's code. Poisons are expedient, but dishonourable.) Likewise I don't think paladins are law-reformers. The whole idea of law reform is a contemporary one. A paladin who thinks that a purported legal requirement is abhorrent or unjust is going to try and show that [I]it is not really a legal requirement[/I]. Or if the concern is that applying the law in this particular instance would be unjust, the paladin will present an argument as to [i]why it ought not to be applied.[/I] In LotR, Aragorn remits the death penalty against Beregond for valour, and because he acted out of love - and the sentence of exile is also the bestowal of an honourable office newly created. In [MENTION=6801209]mellored[/MENTION]'s example of the orphan who inadvertantly enters the forbidden area of the palace, the paladin might take the child before the queen and seek (or even just expect) mercy to be granted. Depending on the tone of the game, maybe mercy is granted by way of the child instead being ordered to enter the queen's service. (Again, depending on tone, if the orphan is a boy this might mean entering the queen's servicd as a eunuch.) Or, if the paladin has authority to enter the forbidden area, maybe the paladin facilitates the grant of mercy by taking the child into his/her service - thus rendering the child no longer a forbidden person. I think honouring the law - which includes treating the law in a way that renders it worthy of being honoured - is in keeping with a conception of paladinhood in a way that wriggling through loopholes and reforming the law is not. [/QUOTE]
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Pathfinder 2's Armor & A Preview of the Paladin!
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