A Paladin and a Cleric are praying to the same god, which is heard from first?

[Herobizkit]

When your house is broken into and you call 9-1-1, does dispatch send the local police or the SWAT team?

IMO, it's the same idea. Paladins are the uber-champions of Good and (in earlier editions of D&D) much rarer than Clerics. Clerics, or more specifically the amount of Cleric followers a deity might amass, determine just how powerful a deity might be.

In theory, a Deity might be able to champion a Paladin BECAUSE of the size of the faithful clergy.

On top of this, Clerics (used to) depend on their Deity for direct access to higher level spells. They also have a larger roster of spells to choose from.

So yeah. Clerics are far more important than Paladins. Paladins may have the ear of their God/dess, but Clerics have the hand.

 

[DM-Rocco]

Well, if I can shoot good in all directions at once then I reckon I can hit em both at a dead run.

If not, all other things being equal, and they are both praying hot and heavy then does one have a + 3 prayer rug or maybe a hopped up holy symbol?

I'm just wondering if one of them has a inside track to me?

Nope, everything even down the board. If it helps, let's say they are naked.

 

[Rechan]

A paladin is as much cannon fodder as a general is.

Paladins are, in essence, the wrathful vengeance of a God. They are the mortal angels that carry the torches into the darkest places. And, they are also the rallying point of the community. People don't march to the tune of the cleric, but they will fall in line behind the Paladin, due to his charisma. Paladins lead by example; they live the life that clerics preach about.

Paladins are also Knights. Since their character is rather pure (at least, assumedly), they can serve as impartial justices and judges. (Either due to their Discern Lies, or because they have fat Wisdom/Insight checks).

If the Paladins are cannon fodder, then clerics are the spineless bureaucrats and clerks that send the cannon fodder off to war, while they hide under their bed.

But I'd say both are equal.

 

[Drowbane]

My view is that Clerics are far more important. Paladins (who are just Fighters with alignment baggage, a poke'mount, and some minor divine powers. ), as written, are best left as guarding the local Church and leaving the heavy lifting to the guys who can wield divine powers from lvl 1.

IMC, (I know - nobody asked!! but I failed my Will save!!)) Paladin is a title, not a class. Anyone can aspire to Paladinhood (many fail), with Clerics being the most likely to succeed.

I'm bad with numbers, but lets say that roughly 80% of the church hierarchy are lay-priests... Historians, scribes, and priests who tend the flock. 18% are actual Clerics (priests bestowed with divine power) and 2% are Paladins... basicly living saints (Both of the living Paladin NPCs written up thus far in my campaign have the Saint Template). So, in my case a Paladin gets heard above normal Clerics, who are heard above the lay-priests.

 

[I'm A Banana]

What do you think?

That before they hear either of them, the God will hear the voice of a repentant sinner, a praying peasant, a fearful doctor, or a tithing churchgoer.

Though more seriously, both at once because they don't have to choose. Gods don't suffer opportunity cost, right?

 

[Oni]

Well until recently clerics got more power with less restriction, who do you reckon the gods love more.

Seriously I've never been able to figure out, if paladins are so great and rare and awesome, why are they so inferior in their divine power.

Paladins are just fanatics held in check by an overly demanding set of rules, that don't even apply to the actual clerical emmisaries of the gods, designed to make them feel like special warriors while actually controlling them.

Give me a champion who's been empowered to fight for their cause, not some yahoo who's been hamstrung by the very entity that they're supposed to be fighting for.

Consequently I like the 4e Paladin a lot more than previous incarnations.

[I will allow exception for the Eberron setting, where the difference made more sense. Clerics basically learned to manipulate divine power and didn't have to behave in any particular manner, paladins were actually granted power and thus held to a standard.]

 

[Ulrick]

The answer depends on who rolled the highest initiative.

 

[Rechan]

Well until recently clerics got more power with less restriction, who do you reckon the gods love more.

The designers aren't gods. 3e clerics are powerful to get players to play them.

If we're going to go on "Who's the most powerful", then clearly the gods love The Wizard.

Honestly, in 2e clerics' great divine power ultimately meant they were wussies carrying around a box of bandaids. They didn't do much more than heal and a few other things.

 

[CleverNickName]

I think it would depened on the deity:

A god of war or battle would probably favor paladins over clerics.

A god of knowledge or protection would probably favor the cleric over paladins.

A deity who is distant and aloof would probably consider them equal (if at all.)

 

[Oni]

The designers aren't gods. 3e clerics are powerful to get players to play them.

If we're going to go on "Who's the most powerful", then clearly the gods love The Wizard.

Honestly, in 2e clerics' great divine power ultimately meant they were wussies carrying around a box of bandaids. They didn't do much more than heal and a few other things.

Let's see a paladin call down a miracle, or raise the dead, or summon divine agents of immense power. See there is a small difference in the access granted. Until recently, fluffwise, clerics got more power with less restriction.