D&D 5E The Paladin excerpt

[variant]

Am I the only one that cringed and then face palmed over the half-orc paladin?

 

[Agamon]

Am I the only one that cringed and then face palmed over the half-orc paladin?

Probably not. Just the first one I've seen here, at RPG.net, on Twitter, or on G+.

Cringe-worthy seems a bit hyperbolic. It's not like it's a beholder or balor...

 

[Henry]

Am I the only one that cringed and then face palmed over the half-orc paladin?

Given that the concept has been around since 3e, it didn't bug me. I remember a really cool Dragon Mag cover from the early 2000s with a half orc paladin on the cover.

 

[variant]

Probably not. Just the first one I've seen here, at RPG.net, on Twitter, or on G+.

Cringe-worthy seems a bit hyperbolic. It's not like it's a beholder or balor...

It's just not something I want to see in the PHB, much like I don't like the tiefling. Things like elves, halflings, gnomes, and dwarves are good because they resemble humans. This and the tiefling look like something out of a Monster Manual.

The PHB art just isn't very appealing to me despite liking the design of the interior of it.

 

[bganon]

I've come around on rangers since the 5e fighter and rogue look capable of managing most of what you'd want from a non-magical ranger, but I too was hoping for a spell-free paladin. Oh well. One consolation: in the alpha, smite is powered by spell slots, so if you're stubborn enough you can just refuse to memorize spells and smite every round!

I think this will be it, short of houserules or DMG-inspired class hybridization. Want to be a non-casting Paladin? Just burn all your spell slots on smites. Done. A tiny lizard told me rangers might also have a way of burning spell slots, but we'll see what makes it into the PHB.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Even someone who is Chaotic Evil could be doing things they feel to be "good." It could make for a great, if very deluded, anti-hero type, or the most despicable villain.

Nothing is more frightening than a villain who wholeheartedly believes they are doing the right thing for the greater good.

Heh.

"Well, I noticed that this ethnic minority being here was really causing a lot of problems, so I rounded them up and killed them all, and now everybody is happy because they don't have to deal with people not like themselves anymore! I did good!"

"Dammit, Paladin Hitler, you're not helping!"

 

[jrowland]

Hmmm...

In Warhammer, I think Priests of Sigmar and/or witch hunters make an interesting "not-so-good" paladin. Burn the whole village down, best to kill a few innocents than to let chaos get a foothold. I saw way too many warts on these people to consider it a fluke...they are chaos-tainted for sure.

I forget the name, those dudes in The Wheel of Time...Flame something...they hunted men who wielded the male magic (saidin?)...that had a holier-than-thou, paladin-goes-a-murdering vibe as well.

A LE/NE/CE Paladin (as opposed to a blackguard) could be an overly zealous member of an otherwise "good" order (oath). Heck, the entire order could be overly zealous.

 

[vecna00]

Heh.

"Well, I noticed that this ethnic minority being here was really causing a lot of problems, so I rounded them up and killed them all, and now everybody is happy because they don't have to deal with people not like themselves anymore! I did good!"

"Dammit, Paladin Hitler, you're not helping!"

There was also a group of elves in the Realms, whose name escapes me at the moment, but they were essentially racist against humans, but they believed themselves to be doing the right thing by wanting all the humans wiped out.

That's what first sparked my comment, by yours pretty much nails it too!

 

[Sonny]

Given that the concept has been around since 3e, it didn't bug me. I remember a really cool Dragon Mag cover from the early 2000s with a half orc paladin on the cover.

Yup, in fact a half-orc paladin was one of the first pieces of concept art shown when 3rd edition was announced. Drawn on my birthday no less.

 

[Talath]

Yup, in fact a half-orc paladin was one of the first pieces of concept art shown when 3rd edition was announced. Drawn on my birthday no less.

View attachment 63154

Damn. I may not like the spikes, but that's a solid piece of work. Takes me back to when I was excited for 3e.