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(still catching up on the rest of the thread...) Firstly, I don't really understand (or just forgot) what a Chaotic god is (vs an Unaligned god, which is what I think they should be). I think I got confused when CE primordials want to rearrange the world, the CE demons want to destroy the world...

I like everything you wrote, but this one bugs me as a possible oxymoron. As a paragon of liberty, a Paladin of Freedom would seek freedom from any constraining expectations or rigid code of conduct, including liberty from his/her own crusade for freedom.

Saying that all paladins must be lawful doesn't necessarily define what is the Lawful outlook. The alignment restriction can define a paladin as a warrior dedicated to a specific code and cause. The Paladin is restricted to Lawful exactly because he/she rigidly follows this code. The Lawful...

It's interesting how the same character concept could be labelled as Unaligned or Lawful Neutral depending on the edition. It reminds me of the Great Wheel cosmology. I never liked it, but it had some internal logic with the 9 alignments. When 4E simplified alignments, the Great Wheel lost the...

I think those questions should be campaign-specific. So in one world, you have chaotic evil orcs. In another world, you have noble savage orcs. At least if that would result in different mechanics (if the mechanics are the same either way, I guess it doesn't matter much). But now you have a...

Incenjucar, I can't agree with the way you're defining assassins, and others have argued along the same lines (here too) but I'm going to drop it before things get out of line.

I think this is a good question, because it's getting to the heart of why we draw lines in the sand in a fantasy rpg. We know that there have always been sacred cows in D&D: even going into 5E, Monte and Mearls are talking about retaining D&Dish elements to be inclusive and avoid an angry...

Then you got me. But you see, my grandfather was a sniper in World War II. He wasn't an assassin, he sat in a tree for days dropping Nazis near what turned out to be a concentration camp. Not in my experience; we weren't playing Battlestar Galactica or Game of Thrones and exploring all the...

There are so many variations of what it means to be a Paladin, with some strongly held views one way or another, that's fine... But I still don't see any compelling reason why a Paladin is mechanically best suited as a class, and not a theme. If Paladin means a knight, take a fighter and add a...

Definitely yes. Not just for organizational purposes. It might also allow for easy labels: Bob: Hey Jim, want to join our game? Jim: What system? Bob: 5E Jim: Ya, but what variation? Bob: In the sidebar, they call it "basic low-fantasy" except I add the "grid combat" for the boss battles Jim...

See, this is what really worries me. Ability scores become really important, which creates strong incentives to use a certain ability score that you have a high score, and then players and DMs have arguments about whether this or that ability score is valid for that situation.

Do you remember the "player advantage" threads??? Sounds like we may have an official answer: Yes, charismatic players get an "Advantage".

That's fine with me theoretically (did you see my post #30?). OTOH, I could pick any class, divine or non-divine, fluff the character as having zealotry towards a deity or cause, and have him/her call herself a champion (self-styled or not). Don't need class mechanics at all. It would be great...

OK, I saw it, it was a parody of a sniper, and a video game character at that. Why did we "need" see to that -- is this supposed to reinforce that a D&D character must be like a videogame character?

Yes, that makes sense. What I find interesting is that the core classes are very generic and flexible and don't have a lot of conceptual baggage. If you pick a fighter, there aren't a lot of players who would complain that you're not a fighter. The advanced classes start to pigeonhole...

Can someone kindly explain the reason(s) for why playing a non-lawful Paladin? Is it because you disagree with the story of a Paladin that is a paragon of honor and cannot fluff/customize a Cleric to match your vision of a holy warrior, or you're playing the Paladin for mechanical/tactical...

That would lack internal consistency to me. If a half-orc is strong, he's strong. Doesn't seem cohesive to me that high strength is only expressed in limited discreet situations, like being able to carry more. Also, practically speaking, it's easier/simpler to remember, orc = strong, than orc =...

IIRC, didn't DDXP rumors suggest that: A Priest is a Caster who serves a Deity A Cleric is Warrior who serves a Deity So a Paladin is a... ?

For better or worse, that seems to be part of the history of D&D. Paladin = front loaded 'good' motivation (honor, etc.). Ranger's bonus attack to favored enemy = front loaded motivation against a specific species. And of course, assassin comes with front loaded baggage and cognitive dissonance...

I don't think they're assassins (unless they're purposefully taking potshots at civilians). It seems to me that the difference between a sniper and an assassin depends on the nature of the target and the reason for the killing. Snipers are defined by how they kill, assassins by what or why they...