S
Sunseeker
Guest
Why not just let the paladin figure out in-game what he did to upset Torm? It should be pretty obvious, and if it isn't, maybe get a cleric to commune with the deity to find out. Or he can just pray to the god and the DM should tell him THOU HAST ANGERED ME, SERVANT, ATONE IMMEDIATELY BY DOING X
I really don't see why we need to mollycoddle players for their bad in-game choices with kid gloves. If someone isn't mature enough to play a selfless champion who will risk his own hide to save the weak, and exhibit the virtues of self-sacrifice and generosity, honesty and compassion, then perhaps they deserve to lose their supernatural helper? It causes me a lot of discomfort that the player would be told this, and not the character himself. Perhaps the PC just feels "his connection to the divine slipping, his faith being lost....", and he should meditate on it. A lot of gods speak to their followers in allegories, dreams, or through animals or other religious iconography. This is D&D, the gods are in fact real...why should they not speak directly to their chosen champions? Why must it be OOC?
But that's not the LAWFUL good paladin. That's a wide range of "good" paladins. Again, I reference selfless characters in real history who broke the law in order to protect the weak, be self-sacrificing, generous, honest and compassionate. And even those figures did it in a variety of different ways.
If there should be any alignment restrictions on the paladin, it should be only to the MORAL alignment of "good", "neutral" or "evil". Because good places can have bad laws, and evil places can have good laws. The Paladin should at best be only limited in their morality, not in their legality. The authorized ajudicants of holy organizations historically broke laws on a regular basis because those laws were against church doctrine, or stood in the way of them accomplishing their chruch-given goals.
I want to state for the record that my officially "chaotic good" aligned paladin in 4e did more good and was more lawful than my mandated "lawful good" paladin I played in 3.5.
The Paladin doesn't need alignment restrictions universal to the class. The Paladin must choose a deity, and then adhere to the domains of that diety. So a Paladin of Bahamut should be honorable, just, and fair; they may follow the law when the law is those things, but when it doesn't they follow their godly code, lawful edging chaotic good.
A Paladin of Erathis however might look more lawful neutral, believing the laws of the land they are currently in to be the best guide for their actions in that land, even if the law seems harsh, stupid, or even oppressive.
A Paladin of Corellion might edge more towards chaotic neutral, defending things of beauty and nature and disregarding the laws of men entirely. A Paladin of Avandara might see laws as opposed to their god's ideals of change and luck, but still believe that the goals behind them are good, leading them to appear more chaotic good.
A Paladin(or Blackguard) of Asmodeus might see the law as a useful took to gain power and control over others, and utilize the flaws of the law to exercise cruelty and bring suffering to others by having a very strict or selective reading of the law.
That's ALL a Paladin needs, to adhere to the philosophical leanings of their god. There is no reason that Paladins from different deities are ALL going to be lawful good, it makes no sense. As long as the deities are fleshed out with some basic information on what domains they cover and their stance on good, evil, and law, then that's all a paladin needs.
Referencing my 4e paladin above, was a follower of the Silver Flame , which while not really a god, espoused exactly the ideals I felt a paladin should have and I don't recall ever deviating from them because they were specific enough to give me guidance on how to play my character, but vague enough to allow for personal interpretation.
We don't need alignment restrictions. Heck we don't really even need codes for anything more than making our paladins a little more specific, we just need some fleshed out deities to worship.